Shepherd's Pie Recipe

closeup of scooping some shepherd's pie out of the dish.

4.89 from 9 votes

Shepherd’s Pie is a comforting layered casserole that consists of ground beef with vegetables in sauce on the bottom and fluffy mashed potatoes on top.

Prep Time20

Cook Time1

Total Time1 20

Course: dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 491kcal

Author: Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

Mashed Potatoes:

2 lbs potatoes
1 bay leaf
salt
fresh cracked black pepper
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
save about 1/2 cup of cooking water
1 tsp garlic powder

Beef layer:

1 yellow onion
1 medium carrot
4 garlic cloves
2 lbs ground beef 90%/10% meat to fat ratio
1 cup peas frozen or fresh
1 cup corn canned, drained
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 cups beef stock
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp crushed dry rosemary leaves
salt
fresh cracked black pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Mashed potatoes:

You can use Idaho, red, or gold potatoes for the mashed potatoes.
Peel potatoes and cut them into about 1 inch chunks. Cutting the potatoes will make it faster to cook and easier to mash. (If you want to leave skin on, make sure to wash potatoes well.)
Place potatoes into a cooking pot and pour in enough water to cover the potatoes. Add bay leaf and season water with some salt and pepper. Cook potatoes over medium heat until potatoes are tender enough to be pierced with a fork easily.
Drain potatoes but save some cooking water. Add butter, heavy cream, about 1/4 cup of cooking water, garlic powder and salt. Mash potatoes until all lumps are broken and it’s smooth. If you need to, add another 1/4 cup or so of cooking water to reach desired consistency. Mashed potatoes should be soft enough to easily spread over the beef.

Beef layer:

Preheat a large (12-inch) cooking pan over medium heat. Saute diced onions and carrots until softened and add minced garlic. Saute until garlic is fragrant.
Add ground beef and break it up into as many pieces as possible. Season the beef with some salt and pepper, cover and let it cook until browned about half way. Stir and break up as many lumps as possible. Add peas and corn, cover and cook for a few more minutes, until meat is browned.
While meat is cooking, heat up beef broth and mix it with Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste. Set it aside.
Sprinkle flour over the beef and stir well until flour is evenly incorporated.
Pour in beef stock mixture and stir it in carefully. Add herbs and taste to see if more salt and pepper is needed. Stir and cook for a few minutes, until the gravy is thickened.

To Assemble Shepherd's Pie:

Preheat oven to 375° and lightly grease a 9×13 casserole dish.
Spread beef mixture evenly over the bottom of the casserole dish. Spoon mashed potatoes over the beef mixture and gently spread it over the top.
Bake it for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Video

Notes

*Make it Gluten Free: Shepherd’s pie is actually a very easy dish to make gluten free because the only part that contains gluten is flour in the gravy. Simply use 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour in the gravy instead of regular one.
Make Ahead: You can easily prepare Shepherd’s Pie ahead of time. Prepare it up to the step of baking and instead of baking it, cover it air-tight with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
Put away into the refrigerator. When ready to bake, take the casserole dish out of the refrigerator and set on the counter for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven, take off the cover, and bake for 35-40 minutes.
Storing: You can easily store cooked Shepherd's Pie in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Make sure that the dish is cooled to room temperature, cover it air-tight with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator.

Nutrition