How to Make Shepherd's Pie

Nothing is more comforting than a delicious slice of shepherd's pie, especially in the Fall.

It’s officially October and as soon as the temps begin to drop, I start using the crockpot and thinking of making pies and comfort foods. I recently made a delicious shepherd’s pie and I just had to share the recipe on my blog.

Shoutout to Gordon Ramsey’s video on TikTok, as well as Natashas Kitchen on YouTube for helping inspire me to make this!

Click here to watch a video of me making this on TikTok.

Shepherd’s Pie is an English recipe, invented during the 18th and 19th centuries in the United Kingdom. Originally made with lamb, hence why it’s called Shepherd’s Pie, it is traditionally a meat pie with vegetables, topped with mashed potatoes. This is a hearty comfort meal and perfect for cold weather. 

Shepherd's Pie Recipe

Ingredients

Filling:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 small/medium onion diced

1 tbsp minced garlic or 4 garlic cloves

½ cup of red wine (optional)

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup of Beef broth or chicken broth (whatever you have on hand)

1 tbsp of tomato paste or 3 tbsp of tomato sauce

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey

2 tbsp flour

4 or 5 potatoes cut into quarters

1 bag of mixed frozen vegetables

½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese

2 tbsp butter, melted 

Mashed Potato Topping:

½ cup of heavy whipping cream (you can use regular milk or half & half if that is what you have on hand)

1 large egg

Shredded parmesan cheese

Dash of salt

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Dash of pepper 

Directions

1. In a medium size pot, bring water and evenly diced potatoes with some salt to a boil. Boil for about 15 minutes or until fork tender

2. Drain potatoes and place back into pot – using a potato masher, mash the potatoes

3. Add heavy cream (or milk or half and half) to mashed potatoes. Mix well and incorporate the egg and cheese to the potatoes. Once everything is evenly mixed and the potatoes are fluffy, set aside

4. In a sauté pan, heat up olive oil and brown your ground beef (about 6-8 minutes) over medium high heat until no longer pink

5. Add onions to ground beef and cook for 2 minutes

6. Add garlic to pan. Mix and cook for about 1 minute or until garlic is fragrant

7. Add flour to the ground beef mixture and mix until well incorporated and no white flour appears – about 2 minutes

8. Pour ½ cup of red wine and the broth to the pan. Mix well

9. Add tomato paste or tomato sauce to pan and mix

10. Pour Worcestershire sauce into pan and mix

11. Add thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper to pan and mix

12. Pour in the frozen bag of vegetables and mix everything evenly

13. In a baking dish, pour the ground beef and vegetable filling into the dish

14. Layer the top evenly with mashed potato topping

15. OPTIONAL – Taking a fork, I carefully traced lines with the fork around the edges of the potato topping, working my way around the dish towards the middle, to create a design.

16. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top

17. Pour melted butter on top of the potato and cheese topping, to give it a nice brown color while baking

18. Bake in the oven at 400° for 30 minutes, or until the topping is a nice golden brown

19. Take shepherd’s pie out of the oven, let cool for 5 minutes and enjoy!! 😊

Please leave comments below and share a photo if you follow this recipe! Also feel free to tag me on social media - I would love to see how it turns out for you. :)