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.
What an excellent dish, this recipe ROCKS, MY wife loves it and so do I, the favor is out ofthis world!
Absolutely the most delicious Shepherds Pie I’ve ever made. I didn’t have all the ingredients. Substituted 1 can cream corn and 1 can sweet corn. Didn’t add to the meat, I layered it on top. Used Better Than Bouillon to make my broth. Used tomato sauce instead of paste and no onions. It came out incredible!
Can you premake this and then put it in the oven the next day?
Delicious and oh, so yummy! I made it exactly as it was written, and my entire family loved this recipe – even my picky eater son!
Very good..I put it together a little differently..but, the exact ingredients….
I’m making it right now it does not say to drain the ground meat?
This is my first time ever making a cottage pie and the results are fantastic. I followed your recipe and it is absolutely delicious! Thank you.
We absolutely LOVE this dish. It’s a frequent meal in cold weather. The seasoning is perfect! Yummy!!
I really enjoyed this and would recommend this recipe! Thank you!!
My kids are addicted to this and can eat almost a whole recipe in one sitting. I follow the recipe exactly except I use half cup each of frozen corn and peas, and 1-1.5 cup fresh finely chopped carrots. Sometimes add a handful of chopped fresh green beans. Very easy and delicious.
Great recipe. Very tasty and best part, easy to make. Good directions.
Excellent and easy to follow directions.
I made a small change for family preferences. Deleted the corn and peas. Used chopped Celery instead.
Found that the meat mixture was a little bland for my taste. Will increase worcestershire next time.
Loved the taste of the mashed potatoes with parmesean cheese in it.
Soooo good. I added diced fresh portobello mushrooms, and left out the peas. Used ground beef, and used a little bit more Worcestershire sauce. Next time we’ll be adding a bit more the potato as it did create a thin layer.
This is amazing. I could just eat the filling! The spice mixture is perfect and it’s easy!
Great recipe! My grandmother used to make shepards pie for me as a kid, and I always loved it. This is the closest recipe to hers. The only thing I do differently is add biscuits to the pie. I layer my baking dish with biscuits and cook for about 5 minutes than I add the meat, potatoes and cheese. The biscuits go so well topped with brown gravy when done! Awesome recipe, thanks for sharing!
This was DELICIOUS! I shredded some parm on top too.
Absolutely delicious! I decided to try a different recipe & omg I’m soooo glad I did 🙂
I meant a can of RoTel tomatoes not cantaloupes LOL
This is a wonderful recipe but the only thing I had different than yours is a cantaloupe tomatoes and before I put the mashed potatoes on top put a can of cream corn mine is off the chain too
In case any vegetarians are looking to try a meatless version, I’m happy to report that this recipe was delicious with beyond beef. I kept everything the same besides that swap.
I didn’t have any beef so I had to use ground Turkey and this was amazing im definitely going to be making this as often as I can without getting sick of it. Literally 10/10 my husband loved it & my toddler even ate it and she is so so picky! Must try
Things I did differently were, used beef bone broth and mixed veggies I had in the fridge. Didn’t add Parmesan cheese to the potatoes. Taste delicious, definitely will make it again. Used lamb.
My sisters and I do a weekly dinner swap and have done so for almost three years. I made this Shepherd’s Pie early on and it has consistently been the most requested repeat dish. It comes together easy and is just so yummy! Thanks for a terrific recipe and easy-to-follow instructions!
Yes very nice.