Easy Shepherd’s Pie

5 from 4 votes

This shepherd's pie recipe is filled with tender ground beef, sautéed vegetables, and topped with silky and buttery mashed potatoes.

Prep Time15

Cook Time50

Total Time1 5

Course: dinner

Cuisine: English, irish

Servings: servings

Calories: 336kcal

Author: Morgan Peaceman

Equipment

1 large pot
1 hand mixer
1 mixing bowl
1 oven safe baking dish
1 large frying pan
measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients

For the Mashed Potatoes

2 medium russet potatoes peeled and roughly chopped
2 tablespoon butter salted or unsalted
¼ cup half and half
1 tablespoon garlic powder

For the Meat Filling

1.5 lbs ground beef or ground lamb
1 cup corn
½ cup carrots finely chopped (3 large stalks)
½ medium onion finely chopped
½ cup celery finely chopped (2 large stalks)
3 tablespoon tapioca or arrowroot starch/flour or sub with cornstarch or regular flour
¼ cup vegetable stock or sub with chicken or beef stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon Garlic powder
½ teaspoon Onion Salt
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

For the Mashed Potatoes

Fill a large pot of water and bring to a boil.
Peel the russet potatoes and roughly chop.
Add the potatoes into the boiling water and boil for 30 minutes or until fork tender. Strain and add to a mixing bowl
To the mixing bowl, add the butter, half and half, and mix with a hand mixer.
Add in the garlic powder, then fold together with a spatula. Mix until the garlic powder is incorporated then set aside.

For the Meat Filling/Assembly

In a large skillet or frying pan, sauté the onions, carrots, and celery until fragrant and the onions become translucent.
To the same pan, and in the ground beef and let it brown. Continue to cook the ground beef and add in the corn.
Pour in the water or stock and stir in the flour to thicken the meat mixture.
Let simmer on low to thicken, stirring occasionally.
Preheat the oven to 375º. Pour the meat mixture into a cast iron skillet or oven-safe casserole dish and evenly distribute so there is an even layer of meat.
Add a few dollops of mashed potatoes on top, then smooth out with a spatula.
Sprinkle some paprika on top and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top of the mashed potatoes is a golden brown and slightly crisp. Serve immediately.

Notes

Add a little cornstarch or all purpose flour when making the meat for the filling. From my experience making this recipe a bunch of times before posting it here, it really helps to thicken it up and keep it from falling apart when assembled and baked.

When choosing potatoes, I like to recommend Russet potatoes as these are a standard potato that has a good amount of starch, will boil easily and consistently make a creamy mashed potato.

Broil the mashed potatoes for 2-3 minutes when you bake the dish to give the potatoes a little bit of a golden color. You can also sprinkle a little paprika on top before baking like I did for color.

If you choose to go more low carb, make mashed sweet potato instead of traditional russet mashed potatoes. Or, if you want to double up on recipes, make my garlic herb red bliss mashed potatoes to go on top of the shepherd's pie filling.

Nutrition