Filled with ground beef and vegetables and topped with a cheesy mashed potato layer, this hearty Easy Shepherd’s Pie will be a family favorite.
This Easy Shepherd’s Pie recipe is the epitome of comfort food. I took the classic English and Irish dinner recipe and threw the American twist on it to make our family favorite, Shepherd’s Pie.
Ground beef, veggies, and cheesy mashed potatoes all layered together to craft a super easy, super flavor, and filling dinner that your family will be going back for seconds, maybe even thirds- it’s that good.
It’s one of those meals that sticks to your ribs and leaves you full and satisfied. No midnight cravings after this fantastic dinner recipe.
Everyone in our family loves this and I love that it’s packed with so many different things that it is a meal in itself that doesn’t even require a side dish.
If you are looking for something hearty and delicious to serve up to family or a dinner party, this Easy Shepherd’s Pie is one that you will want to make.
Some of our other favorite hearty and filling main dish recipes we have on our site include: The Best Lasagna, Ground Beef Stroganoff, and Smothered Beef Burritos.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Hearty, filling, and family approved.
- Great make ahead meal or one to make and take for potlucks, parties, or food trains for family and friends.
- Easy to customize- add more of your favorite vegetables, swap some out, etc
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM)
Russet potatoes
Salted butter
Whole milk
Grated parmesan cheese
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Unsalted butter
Lean ground beef
Sweet onion
Garlic cloves
Garlic powder
Onion powder
All-purpose flour
Beef stock
Worcestershire sauce
Mixed frozen veggies
Fresh chopped parsley for garnish, optional
HOW TO MAKE EASY SHEPHERD’S PIE, STEP BY STEP:
- Preheat the oven to 375ยฐF. Add the diced potatoes to a large pot and cover them plus two inches with cold water. Cover, bring to a boil, and boil for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Drain the potatoes and let them sit in the cooking pot uncovered for 10 minutes to allow excess steam to escape.
- Add the butter, milk, cheese, salt, and pepper.
- Mash until smooth.
- While the potatoes are cooking, make the filling. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, then brown the ground beef, breaking it up into crumbles until there is no pink left. 10 minutes.
- Add the onions and continue to cook until softened and translucent, occasionally stirring for 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the flour, stir and cook for 1 minute.
- Next, add the stock and Worcestershire sauce, stir to combine.
- Add the frozen veggies and mix them in, bring the mixture to a simmer then take off the heat.
- Add the filling to a 9×13 baking dish in an even layer.
- Top with the mashed potatoes and smooth out the top.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until dark golden brown on top and bubbly. Let cool for 15 minutes, then serve with parsley if using.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTAGE PIE AND SHEPHERD’S PIE?
We, Americans, call this Shepherd’s Pie. But, in reality, the English and Irish, who created these recipes would call this a Cottage Pie.
Traditional Shepherd’s Pie from England or Ireland would be made with ground lamb. Cottage pie would be made with beef.
However, in general, Americans tend to make this dish with ground beef more often than ground lamb and they tend to refer to it as Shepherd’s, rather than Cottage Pie.
Whichever you want to call this recipe, just know that you can swap the meat out for other things. Ground beef can be swapped for ground lamb, ground pork, ground chicken, or even ground turkey. You can even serve a combo of any of them.
WHAT OTHER VEGETABLES CAN I ADD IN?
While we like using the frozen vegetable mix that has peas, carrots, corn and green beans. You can certainly add in others.
Try adding in summer yellow squash, diced tomatoes, or zucchini.
DO I HAVE TO USE RUSSET POTATOES?
We used russet potatoes for a classic mashed potato topping, but you can swap these out for other potatoes.
A sweet potato mash would be fantastic on top as well. Just be sure to use a savory mashed sweet potatoes- you don’t want a sweet one on top of this.
HOW TO STORE:
Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container or you can cover your baking dish with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil before refrigerating and leftovers should keep for 3 days.
This can also be frozen, cover your baking dish with plastic wrap and then foil or place in an airtight container where it will keep for up to 3 months.
To defrost, remove to the refrigerator overnight until thawed. Reheat leftovers in smaller portions in the microwave, or in a baking dish in the oven until warmed through.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Adding more vegetables is always a good idea, see some more of our favorites above.
- If you don’t have the frozen vegetable mix, you can use 2 cups of your favorite canned or fresh chopped and diced vegetables.
- You can freeze this recipe. I like to make a second batch and freeze it for later, see how to freeze above.
- This recipe uses ground beef, but beef can be swapped out for other options. see my ideas above.
- The cheesy potatoes on top really make this dish, but you can swap them out for mashed sweet potatoes.
- Instead of parmesan cheese in your potato mixture, you can swap it out for other shredded cheese options. You can also try sharp cheddar, smoked gouda, Gruyere, Swiss, or Pepper Jack cheese.
- This is an easy recipe to double, just be sure to use a separate baking dish for the second portion.
Ready for a dinner that will fill everyone’s bellies and will have no complaints? Then you must make this hearty, Easy Shepherd’s Pie recipe for dinner!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried this EASY SHEPHERD’S PIE or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Easy Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
For the topping:
- 2 pounds russet potatoes peeled, 1-inch dice
- 8 tablespoons salted butter
- ยฝ cup whole milk
- ยฝ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
For the filling:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small sweet onion small diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup beef stock
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 12 ounces mixed frozen veggies
- Fresh chopped parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ยฐF. Add the diced potatoes to a large pot and cover them plus two inches with cold water. Cover, bring to a boil, and boil for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Drain the potatoes and let them sit in the cooking pot uncovered for 10 minutes to allow excess steam to escape.
- Add the butter, milk, cheese, salt, and pepper.
- Mash until smooth.
- While the potatoes are cooking, make the filling. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, then brown the ground beef, breaking it up into crumbles until there is no pink left. 10 minutes.
- Add the onions and continue to cook until softened and translucent, occasionally stirring for 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the flour, stir and cook for 1 minute.
- Next, add the stock and Worcestershire sauce, stir to combine.
- Add the frozen veggies and mix them in, bring the mixture to a simmer then take off the heat.
- Add the filling to a 9x13 baking dish in an even layer.
- Top with the mashed potatoes and smooth out the top.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until dark golden brown on top and bubbly. Let cool for 15 minutes, then serve with parsley if using.
Notes
- Adding more vegetables is always a good idea, see some more of our favorites above.ย
- If you don't have the frozen vegetable mix, you can use 2 cups of your favorite canned or fresh chopped and diced vegetables.ย
- You can freeze this recipe. I like to make a second batch and freeze it for later.ย
- This recipe uses ground beef, but beef can be swapped out for other options. See my ideas above.
- The cheesy potatoes on top really make this dish, but you can swap them out for mashed sweet potatoes. See more above.
- Instead of parmesan cheese in your potato mixture, you can swap it out for other shredded cheese options. You can also try sharp cheddar, smoked gouda, Gruyere, Swiss, or Pepper Jack cheese.
- This is an easy recipe to double, just be sure to use a separate baking dish for the second portion.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Leave a Reply