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.
I made this today. Awesome! I substituted garlic cheddar for the cheese and it was amazing
We made this with ground venison and it was fantastic. I am generally not a huge fan of red meat,and hamburger would have been more to my liking. However,my husband has been searching recipes to use with some ground venison from a hunter friend. This was perfect blend of spices, so to my discerning taste buds there was none of the “gaminess ” I’ve noted in other venison dishes. . It was delicious ! Other than the meat choice, We followed the recipe exactly .
Delicious. Would give 10 stars if I could. This is an instant addition to our regular rotation. Thank you so much for an amazing recipe!
Excellent recipe, the only additional step I did was to pour off any grease after browning the burger, before adding the spices. Will use lamb next time.
Made with ground lamb, this is absolutely delicious! I used fresh herbs rather than dried. Takes a little time to prepare, but well worth it.
First time I’ve made this dish in 18 years. It is an outstanding recipe and my family LOVED it! This will definitely go into our rotation!
I’ve been making this dish for years, but this is THE BEST RECIPE by far! I didn’t have any potatoes, so I used instant potatoes and added the garlic and Parmesan. This is now in my recipe book – thank you.
so so good! I made it the first time a few weeks ago and followed this recipe to the dot. It turned out absolutely delicious!!!! my husband loves it so much so I made the second time tonight. because I had spinach in my fridge, I added this tonight and also a small can of mushroom. YUMMY! thanks for putting this page for us to follow.
I haven’t made shepherd’s pie in 20 years but wanted to make something different so I was glad I found this recipe. I substituted frozen mixed vegetables and used cheddar cheese instead of parmesan. It was delicious! The only thing I’d change next time is I’d reduce the rosemary and thyme to 1/2 a tsp as we thought they overpowered the dish a bit. Very yummy and will make again for sure!
I add a ca nor 2 of creamed corn and take out the tomatoe paste. Definetly agree on the cheder over parm.
This was so delicious that my family had seconds!! Thanks for sharing this recipe, it’s a keeper!
Haven’t made it yet; it looks great. But you forgot to say what temp oven or else I just couldn’t find where you wrote that.
Wow! So delicious & tasty. Will definitely be making again❣️
Great recipe, wonderful flavor!
Made this for dinner tonight. Delicious and easy… my favorite kind of recipes! Followed recipe as written. Definitely saving this one to make again!
Thank you to everyone for the awesome suggestions. I’ve written this down for the recipe box, adding a bunch of ideas for next time. This seems like it would be good as a new-baby, pot-luck, or care dinner. If I were to freeze it, what do you think the reheat instructions would be? Seems super freezable.
Be well, everyone! Hugs!
This is by far the best Shepherds pie recipe ever – ok…so the first I have made at home…we doubled the batch and added a wee-bit more Worchestershire sauce and apparently my husband, who made the potato half, added 1 tbsp of honey dijon mustard (couldn’t tell – but tasted amazing!)
Thank you – will definitely make this again!!
A taste of the ” Old Sod ” and pure comfort. Best recipe, ever! Ground lamb is the best.
Can you freeze this?
This recipe is my grandsons’ most favourite Shepherd’s Pie ! I think the parmesan cheese in the potatoes compliments the dish so well. There is never any left overs, a sure sign that it is delicious & a great comfort food!! Thank you !
instead of lamb or ground beef..I used leftover prime rib..cut into chunks..used an antique meat grinder..instead of chicken broth…or beef broth..I used the left over Au jus beef dip Juice sauce..