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.
My husband said, “the best shepherds pie I’ve ever had”. I substituted the beef meat with ground turkey because we needed to use it up, BUT added in a couple big spoonfuls of our bacon grease from the morning for some extra flavor. I had never had shepherds pie before but this was SO good!!
Delicious! I made a mistake and added 2 tbsp of parsley instead of 2 tsp and removed as much as I could and it still turned out delicious. I added a little more vege’s, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste bc I had 2 1/2lbs frozen ground beef and I couldn’t separate it until most cooked down. I’m glad I did because it offered more servings. I had to show some restraint and not eat the entire dish in one meal! It ended up being a bitter cold day so this dish was perfect! It’s also calls for ingredients most have in stock.
The lamb definitely makes it. Friends mother from England said it’s the best she’s ever had.
Absolutely awesome
I purchased a LARGE individual muffin pan
This recipe made a perfect 6 portions
Easy to make too
Great recipe. Very delicious result!
This is closer to my Irish mom’s recipe. She made it with ground beef because here in the states, it is more affordable than back home she said. But whenever lamb was on sale, she would stock the freezer and make her own grounded lamb for this dish and others, as well as tubing it for stews and her other recipes. Around certain holidays, there was a man who sold lamb roasts and chops around Easter she would buy from him.
I follow her recipe, except I use gravy that I make up 4 times a year and freeze in 1-cup containers. It’s from scratch from bones trimmings, etcetera. I also make stock too. Chicken gravy and stock I also do around the same time. When I saw this recipe my first thought was this would be mom approved!
Great recipe for best classic shepherd’s pie…. Even my toddler, a picky eater, enjoyed it…. Delicious!! 👍👍
The family loves this recipe. I use ketchup instead of tomato paste.
I made this dish using textured pea protein (2 cups rehydrated with 1.5 cups of water), used a little butter to help add back some fat to the recipe. It was fantastic, and I am not a great cook. I have never cooked with tpp before and this was a great introduction. I used an extra splash of Worcestershire. So glad I found this recipe!
Very easy and tasty.
Absolutely phenomenal, I’ve made this twice now and the leftovers never last long. Thank you!
My husband raved about this dish and he is not a raver! I also used half the butter in the potatoes.
Awesome! Wanted a different recipe for hamburger meat and it didn’t fail me! So good and great flavor! I left out the tomato paste and worcestershire sauce because I didn’t have either. The beef broth and flour combination makes a wonderful gravy mixed with the other spices! So good and so easy!
Omg the best (and easiest) I’ve ever made. Definitely will make this again.
I have made this recipe many times and each time it is terrific! If you are in a time crunch (which I usually am) I have used already prepared mashed potatoes and that cuts the prep time down. Such a great, versatile recipe. Thank you!
I have made this twice now, and let me tell you… this stuff is on another level. The seasoning on the filling will change your life. Outstanding work. Thank you!
2nd time making this, always so good! My dad loves it too and he’s a picky eater.
Loved it. Perhaps will use a bit less thyme next time. Added Celery & used fresh carrots.
First time making shepherds pie in years. Think I found a winning recipe, so delicious! Not too hard to pull together if you have the time. Followed the recipe but added a touch more salt and pepper to taste.
I made this almost exactly the way the recipe was written. This is not my normal way of cooking, but it looked right to me and I had never made Shepherd’s Pie. My only deviation was to use a frozen mix of corn, green beans, carrots and peas as that was what was available at the store and I put in 2 cups. The dish was delicious and had good. eye appeal. I do not see any need to modify it as the spicing was perfect to my tastes. I did make peaks on purpose on the mashed potato topping to get good browning. A great comfort food dish.