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 !over the recipe and all friends loved it…. I have to make it all the time now for my girls night in with a movie and drinks.
Made a double batch for the family hoping for leftovers but not a chance. I did simmer a bay leaf in the stew and omitted the rosemary and it was still great. Won’t ever use another recipe.
I’ve been using this recipe a couple of years now. We absolutely love it!
I use totel tomatoes and before the potatoes topping I put can of creme corn I’ve got this recipe down now after all these years..mine is awesome don’t mean to brag but Omygoodness!!!
Just right!!! TYTYTY will def be made again!
10
Delicious
This is an awesome recipe. I’ve made it several times and it never fails to impress me and my wife. I triple this recipe so we have plenty of leftovers and, like many leftovers, it tastes even better the 2nd and 3rd day.
Just made it and it is a rousing success! I used a deep cast iron pan for the meat. Once I had the potatoes ready, I simply put that on top and into the oven. One less dish to clean is always better!
This was a dish that has a long history but I never got around to try to equal that of my mother who learned this in the UK during bombing of London (WWII) I finally decided to buy the ingredients and go for it. The result would have made my mother happy to spoon along in the casserole. Why bother with dishes?? Combination of photos and text made the production easy. Installs confidence. Added baked beans….yummy. Used local charollais beef >>>not a waste !! Thankx. will be visiting site again reel soon
Excellent!!
I don’t leave reviews for recipes very often, but this was amazing!! Ground beef recipes aren’t usually my favorite, but my husband loves shepherd’s pie so I wanted to make it for him. We all really liked it and I’m excited to have leftovers for lunch. I followed the recipe exactly, except for adding some shredded Colby jack cheese to the top. Chef’s kiss! 👌🏼👌🏼
This was my first time making Shepherds Pie myself and it was so delicious I had to go back for seconds. I did not use peas, but I chopped fresh carrots and used canned corn instead. Adding this recipe to the favorites list!!!
This turned out great! You can totally sub the fresh mashed potatoes with packages garlic parmesan mashed potatoes and added a touch of half and half to make them creamier. I used 2 bags and that was the perfect amount. I also topped it with shredded cheddar cheese and laid down a little pie crust under the filling which added a crunchy buttery crust to the dish.
Very tasty with lamb. Would make again!
My husband loved it. All ingredients we had in the house too.
This was absolutely delicious!!! I’m admittedly a mediocre cook, but this recipe came out beautifully. It’s the perfect hearty and comforting meal.
This was delicious!! I used ground turkey and had to substitute tomato paste for tomato sauce. Other than that, I had all the other ingredients, Definitely making this again!
This is great. It’s very flavorful and delicious. This will definitely be in regular rotation at my house.
Made this dish tonight for supper. It is the best Shepherd’s Pie recipe EVER !!! Will definitely make this again. The family loved it ❤️.