The Best Classic Shepherd’s Pie – AKA Shepards Pie or Cottage Pie. Ground Beef (or lamb) with vegetables in a rich gravy, topped with cheesy mashed potatoes, and baked.
Shepherd’s Pie
So, this is how you spell it: Shepherd’s Pie. But, from doing a quick google search, it came to my attention that TONS of people think it’s Shepards Pie.
Irish Shepherd’s Pie
Traditional Irish Shepherd’s Pie would actually call for ground lamb. The difference between Shepherd’s Pie and Cottage Pie is the meat. Cottage Pie uses ground beef, while Shepherd’s Pie uses ground lamb.
I called this recipe Shepherd’s Pie. But, I wrote the recipe so that you could use ground beef or ground lamb.
I typically use ground beef because it is widely available. But, for a special occasion, like St. Patricks day, I would use ground lamb.
How To Make Shepherd’s Pie
(Note – The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post)
- Sauté some chopped onions in olive oil.
- Add ground beef or ground lamb.
- Add dried parsley, dried thyme, dried rosemary, salt, and pepper.
- Stir and cook the meat mixture until the meat is browned.
- Add minced garlic and Worcestershire sauce.
- Cook the garlic for a minute.
- Add flour and tomato paste.
- Add beef broth, frozen mixed peas and carrots, and frozen corn kernels.
- Simmer the meat gravy until it is thick.
- Boil some peeled and chopped potatoes until they are soft.
- Drain the potatoes
- Add butter, half & half, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Mash the potatoes until smooth.
- Pour the meat mixture into a casserole dish.
- Top it with the cheesy mashed potatoes.
- Bake until the meat is bubbling and the potatoes are golden.
Easy Shepherd’s Pie
Making the best Shepherd’s Pie is not difficult. But, there are a few steps to it. You have to make the meat mixture, the mashed potatoes, assemble the casserole, and bake it.
I find that the easiest way to make this dish is to work ahead. You could make the beef or lamb mixture ahead of time. Or, you could make the mashed potatoes ahead of time.
You could also make the whole recipe ahead of time. Just assemble the casserole, cover the dish, and keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake it. I find it is best to bake it within 3 days of preparing it.
When you are ready to bake it, take it out of the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before you need to bake it to let it start coming to room temperature. Uncover it, and bake.
What to serve with The Best Shepherd’s Pie
- Deviled Eggs
- Roasted Broccoli from Skinnytaste
- The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Watch the Video for the Best Classic Shepherd’s Pie Below.
Find more of my recipes on TikTok
Best Classic Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
Video
Ingredients
Meat Filling:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 lb. 90% lean ground beef -or ground lamb
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 garlic cloves -minced
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup frozen mixed peas & carrots*
- 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
Potato Topping:
- 1 ½ - 2 lb. russet potatoes -about 2 large potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter -1 stick
- 1/3 cup half & half
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
Make the Meat Filling.
- Add the oil to a large skillet and place it over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the onions. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the ground beef (or ground lamb) to the skillet and break it apart with a wooden spoon. Add the parsley, rosemary, thyme, salt, and and pepper. Stir well. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until the meat is browned, stirring occasionally.
- Add the Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the flour and tomato paste. Stir until well incorporated and no clumps of tomato paste remain.
- Add the broth, frozen peas and carrots, and frozen corn. Bring the liquid to a boil then reduce to simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Set the meat mixture aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Make the potato topping.
- Place the potatoes in a large pot. Cover the potatoes with water. Bring the water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are fork tender, 10-15 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes in a colander. Return the potatoes to the hot pot. Let the potatoes rest in the hot pot for 1 minute to evaporate any remaining liquid.
- Add butter, half & half, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mash the potatoes and stir until all the ingredients are mixed together.
- Add the parmesan cheese to the potatoes. Stir until well combined.
Assemble the casserole.
- Pour the meat mixture into a 9x9 (or 7x11) inch baking dish. Spread it out into an even layer. Spoon the mashed potatoes on top of the meat. Carefully spread into an even layer.
- If the baking dish looks very full, place it on a rimmed baking sheet so that the filling doesn’t bubble over into your oven. Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes.** Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Check out all of my great ground beef recipes.
Excellent recipe!
So delicious! True comfort food.
Have made this for years, but occassionly we space up some red yams aka sweet potatoes. You can’t g wrong!
This was AMAZING! I’ve hated all Sheperd’s Pie recipes I’ve been fed – potatoes so bland and meat more tomatoey than gravy. But this knocked them all out of the park. 😋 The potatoes were like heaven (admittedly not super budget friendly…), and the meat rich and savory. Thank you! This will be a happy staple in our home now. 😊
If you want to make it vegan Chickpeas can be subbed for the meat. And you can make cashew cream mashed potatoes. So good. Thanks again for the recipe! I made it with meat this time and didn’t have Tomato paste, so I used a little pasta sauce. That worked too!
I have several recipes for Sheppard’s pie, and this one is a keeper! I took an ear of fresh corn and used the corn in with the meat and other veggies, also added about 3 tablespoons of horseradish to the mashed potatoes and it was out of this world. Also topped the potatoes with more cheese and stuck the dish under the broiler to melt and brown the cheese. It was picture perfect for my guests who were most impressed!!
Thanks!
The best I’ve ever made!!!
Best shepherd’s pie ever. I’ve made this at least a dozen times family and friends all love it.
I made this for my family and it was so good! Loved it for leftovers the next day. Wondering if you could freeze it? I’d like to make some freezer meals for a friend and this would be a great one.
So delicious! Didn’t have to change a thing ! Thank you
Best Shepard’s pie EVER! I wish I had made more to freeze, next time we’re going to double it. We substituted Yukon gold potatoes and they were incredible. Thank you for this recipe.
So delicious! My family loves shepherd’s pie but we don’t eat meat anymore. I substituted Beyond ‘Beef’ for the meat and veggie broth for the beef broth. It worked out fantastic. I will definitely be making this again.
That’s exactly what I do! It works out fantastic!
I have made many shepherds pie recipes. This one is the best. It is my go to. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe the best ever.
Love this recipe! I added a little more beef broth, and wostershire sauce also I added some mint sauce as I used lamb mince! It was amazing.
What’s half and half
Half-and-half, also known as half cream in the United Kingdom, is a simple blend of equal parts whole milk and light cream. It averages 10 to 12% fat, which is more than milk but less than light cream. Due to its lower fat content than cream, it can’t be whipped.
This is absolutely DELICIOUS! I’ve made it a few times now, and my only complaint is that it always comes out extremely oily/greasy. Am I doing something wrong?
Make sure you drain the hamburger and onion mixture before adding anything else. It doesn’t say to , so I’m not sure if you did. That should help
I prefer to cook my ground beef with a lid on to retain the moisture in the pan, often also cooking it from frozen or sometimes partially thawed. Once it’s cooked through but still full of moisture I drain the meat (can use a colander). Much of the grease is removed when doing this. I then add my seasonings after this step and then return to heat to brown and continue with recipe. Great recipe!!! Made this today and it was loved by all. Definitely going to be a keeper in my recipe book.
I would try draining the fat (or just some of it) off after browning the meat. Then add a little extra broth if you feel likes it needs it.
Drain your meat before you add the Worcestershire sauce. That’s what I do.
I have made cottage pie with beef and this recipe with ground lamb
The ground lamb seems to.have more moisture than ground beef. I love.this recipe but may use a little.less stock. The lamb may have.less.moisture depending whether it is.bought in a packet or from a butcher
You could try using a lower fat ground beef, like 90/10 -or- after you cook the meat remove all the drippings from the pan, -or- place all the meat on a paper towel to soak up the fat. I love this recipe too!
90% lean
So good!! I drain the meat after cooking before adding the flour, tomato paste, etc, I’m going to add mushrooms next time as one reviewer suggested. Sounds like an awesome idea. I also always add extra corn, carrots and peas.
Loved it. I would substitute the Worcestershire for something else next time, not a fan.The rest is wonderful.
This must’ve been the 15 th time I’ve used this recipe, and each time better than ever! GREAT! AWESOME! ITS THE BEST RECIPE EVER!!
Soooo good.
Absolutely the best shepherds pie ever 🙌