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 for the 1st time tonight and it was delicious. I made 1/2 the recipe since it’s just me and left out the corn that I do not eat. This is definitely a keeper.
I’m trying to prepare some meals in advance to freeze since I’m expecting my first baby in 7 weeks. Does this casserole freeze well?
This is ALWAYS my go to recipe. I always use lamb and bake it in my cast-iron Dutch oven pot. It’s absolutely delicious!!
WOW! So good! A little time consuming but what a great flavor. Will make this a lot. ❤️
This was AMAZING!!!! My husband told me he didn’t like shepards pie and asked if I would be mad if he made his own dinner with the meat I wasn’t going to use… I said sure. A little bit later he came out and said it smelled so delicious, he was going to try it. He got up 3… THREE times for more! He said “how did I ever doubt this?!” Lol. It was amazing. Thank you!
Thank you for such a delicious recipe! My picky toddler and 15 month old baby ate every last bite!!
This was delicious and so easy to make. I will be making it again!
I have always wanted to try this recipe. I’m so glad I came across it, it was a hit with my picky eaters! Thank you so much!
This is an awesome dish. I made this for dinner, mind you my husband is a Chef and he absolutely raved about the dish. He went to work the next day and made it for his residence. This is a keeper!!!
I made this recipe this evening for supper and everyone LOVED it!
I used ground sirloin, it was so delicious, and everyone came back for seconds!
THIS RECIPE IS MOST DEFINITELY A KEEPER! 🙂
I have made this recipe many times with both the lamb (traditional Shepherd’s Pie) and with Beef (Cottage Pie). I have had rave reviews every time. I had an original recipe an original recipe that was lost when we had Superstorm Sandy and this is even better.
I am keeping this recipe and even had to reprint since it is very dogeared!!
Made just as directed– rave reviews from all six diners! Satisfying comfort food!
Amazing!!
This recipe is sooo good !
great flavors, but what kind of coverage do you get with 2lbs (2 lg russet potatoes) of spuds? Has ANYONE managed to do this with 2lbs of potatoes and put more than 1/4-1/2″ of potatoes over the meat filling? 🙂
It’s a 5/5 recipe, but be prepared to use more potatoes!
That’s exactly what I was wondering!!! Two potato’s? I’m gonna try more like 5-6 and if it’s too much I’ll save it for another meal. But just 2 potato’s sure doesn’t seem enough!
Second time making this and definitely the BEST shepherd’s/cottage pie ever! My husband and I love it! I always rice potatoes for mash. Only change I made.
This was so amazing it was bursting with flavors and it’s also good with sharp cheddar cheese on top as well.
All the herbs, tomato paste, beef broth gave the meat sauce a nice flavor with no one herb or the garlic standing out. It is a nice blend. I used Resers Main Street Bistro mashed potatoes. They aren’t as good as following the mashed potato recipe listed here, but they saved this old, disabled woman quite a bit of time.. Also, my husband says cooking ground meat as thoroughly as most recipes direct turns the meat into little hard balls of protein with no flavor. Therefore, we always make any sauce and simmer it; cook the ground meat slightly in a separate pan then add the meat to the sauce. Letting the meat fully cook in the oven with the sauce enhances the meat flavor to blend with all the ingredients. I have several shepherds pie recipes, but this one is easier and still very tasty. I will make this one again.
Hi! I was wondering if you drain the grease from the ground beef? Or is that apart of the sauce?
Very good.
The Shepherds pie turn out so good! My family really liked it and they are really picky eaters. I used ground beef and I added more cheese in the potato topping and I sprinkled some cheese on top. So yummy 😋