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.
I’ve been making Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie for awhile and always have been told that I make them great, but this recipe is just perfect. I play around with some of the proportions (a bit more Worcestershire and beef broth, maybe a bit more garlic for the mashed potatoes), but I don’t stray far from anything you’ve laid out here. Thank you!
It turned out great. Was easy to make and my husband loved it. Will definitely add to our meal plan. Thank you for sharing.
Can you freeze this. Should it be frozen before or after cooking?
It’s just fantastic!
best i have made. love the worshtershire and parm and tomato. The amount of flour for thickening was perfect. And the tase was amazing.
A family favorite!
Finally, a recipe that’s both easy and tasty without cream soup! For those dairy sensitive, this is the recipe. Easy to adjust to your tastes.
This!!! It’s my go to recipe. I use to make shepherds pie but nothing like this. This recipe is comfort food and we all LOVE it! I gave my neighbour the recipe and she’s anxious to try it since she hears me raving about it. Thank you! I didn’t change a thing as it is delicious as is and hearty. I honestly have to STOP myself from eating the whole thing 🙂 I make this once every week as it is that yummy:)
Thank you for this amazing recipe!!
I did 2lbs of ground beef bc I buy the cheap kind and added an extra half amount of every other ingredient and it came out perfectly. Delicious and a hit with the fam!
I’ve always loved Shepherd’s pie since I was a kid, so this was great. Also, I have to make this in a few days for culinary day soooo…
Just made this. Really really yummy and relatively easy. I used lamb. Husband ate half. Lol. Doubling would be a good idea! Thanks.
Very tasty recipe! My husband loved it. Next time I will double it. The only change I made was using fat free milk instead of the cream. Definitely a keeper!
My family and I love this recipe! It always turns out perfectly.
If I wanted to make this Gluten free for someone with Celiac’s, would there be a way to substitute or omit the flour?
Im not sure if someone who can’t have flour can have cornstarch but if so you can use cornstarch as a thickener instead of flour.
I have celiac and made this with 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour. It turned out wonderfully. They sell small bags of premixed 1-to-1 gluten free flours and they’re perfect substitutes for small amounts of flour like this recipe.
I had my own version of Shepherd’s Pie but THIS recipe will be my permanent version! The gravy that it makes is absolutely delicious! My husband loved this recipe. 🙂
I made this yesterday with the lamb. This is hands-down the best Shepherd’s pie I’ve ever eaten. I will be making this routinely. Thanks!
This was great! I doubled the recipe for a potluck and it all disappeared. Thank you.
I’ve been searching for a good shepards pie recipe and I finally found it. Now I just need to burn some Irish peat in the fireplace to complete the experience
I’ve made SP throughout the years. I decided tonight I wanted to try a different variation than my usual. I came across the recipe and decided to give it a try. We loved it! I thought I had dried rosemary on hand; I did not. A quick Google search gave me some suggestions (I went with Thyme). I will be using this receipt from now on!!!!
Delicious and easy to make
Just outstanding. I use the entire 16 ounce package of frozen peas and carrots and double the corn. It uses all everyday ingredients. Leftovers are great, too. It takes longer than 20 minutes to prepare.