Shepherd’s Pie is a classic English dish which is traditionally made with ground lamb. Generally speaking, from what I have heard and read, North Americans seem to have a stronger preference to make Shepherd’s Pie with ground beef rather than lamb. I personally love lamb however my kids not so much! So in my recipe I opted to use ground beef because us moms have to find ways to make mealtimes go smoother!
I love making this classic dish, some call it Shepherd’s Pie others might say it’s called a Cottage Pie. Whatever you may call it, in the end it’s just another variation on an extremely yummy casserole dish.
As a mom, I love making meals that have everything in one dish: meat, carbs, and vegetables. This way I don’t have to worry about making other sides.
I like to make my mashed potatoes in my stand-up mixer. Sure, I can exercise my arms a little and use a masher, but I’m happy with my mom-hack of throwing everything into a bowl and letting the mixer deal with it! Plus the mashed potatoes turn out lighter and fluffier than hand mashing them.
If you happen to have some leftovers, store them in an air tight container. It should be good for 3 – 5 days in the refrigerator.
Shepherd’s Pie is considered a comfort food in my books and right now with the cooler temperatures coming in, I think we all could go for a little comfort these days!
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 med onions chopped
1 lb ground beef
2 tsp dried parsley leaves
½ tsp dried ground rosemary
1 tsp dry ground thyme
½ tsp each salt and pepper
1½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 garlic cloves minced
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
1 ½ cup frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots and corn)
Potato toppings:
3 large potatoes peeled and cut into cubes
1 stick of butter
1/3 cup of milk of your choice
1 tsp garlic
½ tsp salt and pepper
¼ cup of parmesan cheese
Directions for meat filling:
1. Heat oil over medium high heat and add onions. Sauté for 5 minutes
2. Add the ground beef and break it apart until browned.
3. Season the meat with parsley, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper and Worcestershire sauce and minced garlic and let cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add the flour and tomato paste, stirring well until no clumps of tomato paste remains
5. Add broth, and frozen veggies and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
Set aside and preheat the oven to 425 F
Potato Topping
1. Place the potatoes in a large pot with water and let it boil until the potatoes are fork tender, approximately 15 mins.
2. Drain the potatoes well.
3. Add the butter, milk, and garlic powder salt, pepper and parmesan cheese, and mash the potatoes until all ingredients are well mixed together. I like to use my stand-up mixer for this with the mixer attachment. I find that this is quick and effortless and gets the potatoes very creamy.
Assemble:
Lightly spray a 9×13 baking dish and spread out the meat in an even layer. Spoon the mashed potatoes on top of the meat in an even layer.
*optional* using a fork make wave design on top
Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Looking for more comfort food ideas? Check out these recipes for Jamaican patties * Curried Butternut Squash Soup and Creamy Chicken Alfredo and Spinach Casserole.
A coloring page and activity sheets can be printed for free. The activities included in the bundle are:
- Ingredients word search
- Ingredients word unscramble
- Word maker using the words SHEPHERDS PIE
- Kitchen scavenger hunt
- Coloring page
- Cryptogram joke
- Scavenger hunt with a different theme
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