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.
So delicious! It was a hit with the family.
I have made this recipe a number of times now, just as written. It is excellent, savory with the seasonings very well balanced. So, so yummy!!
Great recipe and so easy! Parents love old fashioned good recipes and this was perfect!
I just put it in the oven to bake. The beef mixture is wonderful and the potatoes, yum! Can only imagine it is going to be awesome after baked together. Thank you for the recipe.
The best and easiest shepherds pie I’ve eaten
Made this today. Very easy and so delicious! I used ground turkey so I increased the amount of spices a little. I also used fresh chopped carrots and cooked with the onions. I decreased amount of butter in the potatoes and they were still very creamy and good. Next time I’ll get some lamb, which will be a treat.
We make it monthly, it’s so good
A really rich tasting shepherds pie. I think the only change I would make is less butter in the potatoes, it’s just a little bit too much. I would probably substitute some sour cream instead. I made it with ground elk and it was super delicious.
I have to say that this is a terrific recipe! I made it to the specs and it was perfect. The right amount of herbs and everything else was great! THANK YOU!
Best recipe! I have made this several times and my husband loves it. However the last time I only had chicken broth so I used that instead of beef broth, and was concerned it would not be as great. And, to my surprise it was as delicious as it was with beef broth! So it’s yummy either way!
I love this recipe, but I did some playing and changed it into a breakfast pie. I use sage sausage, mixed veggies with a white pepper gravy with cheesy hassbrowns instead of mashed potatoes.
Absolutely delicious 😋. Thank You for sharing.
Easy and delicious!
This really is the “best “ Shepherd’s pie! I added a splash of red wine in with the meat mixture , otherwise I followed precisely . The ultimate comfort food!
Just made this recipe for tonight’s dinner. I love how it’s full of flavor, cost efficient, filling, and so tasty. Ive tried other versions of recipes and this is my favorite one. Thank you for sharing with us. Keep up the great work.
I really like this recipe. I substituted turkey for beef or lamb and cauliflower for potatoes. Delicious and very easy to prepare quickly.
This is the Best Shepherd’s Pie recipe I’ve come across. The instructions are clear and easy to follow and the results are absolutely delicious. I’ve already made this a number of times and it never disappoints. I even made a vegan version of this for my friend, with cooked lentils as the protein, soy sauce instead of Worcestershire sauce, and subbed oat milk and nutritional yeast for the mash, it actually turned out to be very tasty, she loved it!! This is a great recipe that can be altered to your dietary needs.
This was easy and very good. I made a double batch. I used ground round, ground turkey and spicy sausage to add more flovor. I also added more carots, corn and peas. The second time I made it I used store bought Simply Potatoes becasue I had them in the refrigerator and wanted to use them. everyone loved this
This concoction was delicious. I added 1/2 lb of lean ground beef to the pound of ground lamb. The spice mixture in the recipe is balanced. I used red potatoes instead of russets, and shaved fresh parmesan from a chunk. Easy peasy to make and it does lend itself to early preparation. Some steamed broccoli with sesame seeds is the perfect companion, along with a Portuguese red.
This was delish!! Even the picky eaters loved it. Easy and flavorful.