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.
Made this tonight and thought it was great!
Delicious
Easy to follow directions
Will absolutely make it again
This was so good, out of all the Shepherd pie recipes I am glad that I picked this one!!! I will be making this for sure in the colder months ahead.
This was delicious! Only had 3 potatoes, 2 Russet and 1 Sweet potato. Combined them to make a thin topping. The addition of Parmesan cheese and spices put the potatoes over the top. Was wondering about the calorie content, is 400 calories correct?
Delicious! The seasonings make the difference. Unused ground turkey and beef broth to give it that beefy flavor. Would definitely make again.
The best ever…quick and easy and the best tasting Sheppards pie I’ve ever had!! Can’t ever make enough for my family.
So you never drain the grease from the burger?
i always do…cook the ground first and drain = less fat
My granddaughter said “Nana will you make me a Shepard pie? Of course I couldn’t refuse. I was looking at recipes and came across your recipe Oh my goodness it was easy to make and so very good !! She was pleased with it as well. She said yours is so mush better than mommas😂 I most definitely will be making this again. Thank you for sharing your recipe with us .
Excellent recipe, but in honour of my grandma who made this for us frequently, 50 years ago, I added maple baked beans, so I “ britished it up a bit”. It was delicious.
Wow! This Shepherd’s Pie recipe is delicious. I made it for the first time tonight and my family loved it. My 11 year old said it was in her top 3 favorite recipes now. I made the recipe as written, just had to sub gluten free flour. Turned out perfect!
This was delicious. I did add a bit more Worcestershire because I love it and I was out of carrots but had frozen peas and corn. So I added chopped cabbage that I needed to use with the onions. This is a perfect Shepherds pie recipe!
AMAZING!!! I made it w the lamb… soooo good! This is a keeper and “make more often dish”.
I didn’t have rosemary, but it still came out quite delicious! Great recipe!
I used beyond meat and cut the butter down to 3 tablespoons and it was delicious.
I made this tonight for dinner. I accidentally thawed cubed beef steak instead of ground beef. (I still chopped it up into small pieces and used it.) I also added 1/2 cup red wine and 1/2 cup veggie broth instead of one cup of beef broth. I also didn’t have any corn or mixed veggies so instead I used a can of fire roasted tomatoes and it still turned out great!! I also added shredded ghost pepper cheese instead of parm. I will definitely make this again!! 😍🤤🤤🤤😍
This was so good and easy to make. Thank you for the recipe. I did make it with a can of Manwich sauce in replace of tomato paste, because I didn’t have any on hand. Turned out super yummy!
Made this for my brother and his wife for the freezer when their baby came early. They are begging me
To make it again. Best they ever had they said. I think the definite thing that makes it is the rosemary.
Awesome recipient
My second time making this recipe, and it’s just as delicious as the first time. My folks loved it, too!
The first time I made it, I made the mashed potatoes according to the recipe – so good! (My new go-to recipe for homemade mashed potatoes.) This time, as a time saver, I used the Bob Evans mashed potatoes from the refrigerator section of the grocery store. I mixed them up with a couple tablespoons of butter and garlic powder, then added the parmesan cheese. It turned out just as tasty!
Thanks for the recipe.
Delicious! This is my go to cottage pie recipe from now on.
I’ve made this twice now. Once following the recipe with minor changes such as seasoning since I found I didn’t have fresh garlic or thyme. Family loved it! Second time I used milk rather then half and half. Still a huge success. Usually I have at least a serving left of dinner they can have for lunch the next day, but neither time have I had so much as a spoonful, but neither have they asked for a snack after. 🙂
It was runny and had a lot of grease, next time I would brown & drain meat mixture before mixing in spices and Tomato Paste. My husband and granddaughter like it though they thought it a bit runny also.