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.
Delicious!!!!! Mine doesn’t look like the picture but it doesn’t take away from the taste. My mashed potatoes were fluffy before I baked them but turned out runny afterward. My bad. My son absolutely loves it! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!!!!
Have made this several times. This recipe simplifies the manner of assembly and the use (in order) of the ingredient list.
I use more mashed potato, probably because I’m Irish.
excellent comfort food
I followed the recipe exactly. This dish was amazing! Thanks for sharing!
This recipe was delicious! I used 90% lean ground beef and didn’t drain the meat, as I was concerned that the meat filling would be dry if I did. I substituted vegetable stock. I was out of beef stock. I added 1 teaspoon of paprika to the spice mixture. I would definitely make this again. During this Covid 19 pandemic, we all need some comfort food. Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe!
My 16 year old son just requested this for dinner tomorrow! Never made, but willing to give it a shot! I’ll let you know how it goes! Sounds like I can’t go wrong! Thank you! Be safe and well.
Best Shepherd’s pie EVER!!!! I used extra lean ground beef, no need to drain…
I cook a lot and use lots of online recipes but this is the first review I have ever written. This is a superb recipe!
I would put this Sheperd’s Pie up against ANY pub pie I have ever had that has used ground beef as the main meat ingredient. I did once have a pie that used pot roast instead of the ground beef, and I have to admit it was pretty fantastic, but barring that, no other Shep Pie i have ever ordered has been this good. A quick side note. Topped with just a little Brown Gravy, it’s literally to die for.
I made this for the first time ever and he made mashed potatoes for me. We loved it so much I made it again at the end of the week. I did not use Worc. sauce but instead used some bottled Stella Beer for more flavor. I used a little more meet and was able to use a 13×9 pan. I had little less meat the first time and still made it work. Absolutely a great dish. Thank you!
Perfect rendition. You rock! I’ll be following. Thank you.
Made this last night it was delicious..
I actually reheated some for breakfast the next morning.. great flavor !!
Tracy
Never say at what temperature to bake.
It shows 400 degrees, just further up on recipe directions.
Says preheat to 400
Excuse my ignorance, but what is half and half?
Half and half is cream. We use this cream for coffee usually. It will make your potatoes creamier. I hope this is helpful.
Half and half is 1/2 whipping cream and 1/2 milk. In the US you can buy it as such in the grocery store. Any kind of cream should do the trick though.
excellent
Awesome recipe – My Family was really impressed! Did use 93% lean ground beef and still needed to drain onions ,HB, and herbs before adding rest of ingredients. Definitely a Keeper….Happy St.Patricks Day 2020!
Heavens, I’ve been making Shepherd’s Pie all wrong! My recipe, one I’ve been using for years that I thought was pretty good, doesn’t hold a candle to this one. This is delicious and fairly simple to make. It’s my new go-to. LOVE IT!
Wonderful recipe, thank you! My picky kids went for seconds! Since I’m on a low-carb diet, I substituted mashed potatoes for mashed cauliflower for myself, and it was also super delicious! Made the cauli the same way your recipe called for potato.
I made this tonight with ground beef. I had leftover mashed potatoes and added the parmesan cheese. It was terrific! My 3 year old loved it so much he had two helpings. He’s not a picky eater but it can be hard to get him to sit down long enough to eat one portion, let alone two. My only other modification was leaving out the corn.
I made this recipe for Book Club this week. I had traveled Ireland in June 2019. I ate Shepard’s Pie iseveral times in various Pubs. This recipe was awesome. Reminded me of the Shepherd’s Pie I had in Ireland.