Shepherd’s pie (aka cottage pie) is a classic dish consisting of a meat sauce that’s topped with mashed potatoes and baked, kind of like a pie except that mashed potatoes are easier than a pie crust! The meat sauce by itself is super tasty and I often like to make and serve it simply over mashed potatoes, pasta or rice! The star of the show is the meat, which is ground, and you can either use lamb of beef. Other than the meat, the sauce contains veggies, often onions, carrots and peas but you can use others like celery, corn, etc. The sauce is seasoned with garlic, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, thyme and bay leaves. in total, it takes less than 30 minutes to make so you can easily make some mashed potatoes, rice or pasta for a complete meal in no time at all!
I like to add bacon and in the photos I served it over French onion mashed potatoes
Deconstructed Shepherd’s Pie
A quick and easy ground meat version of shepherd’s pie that’s great served over mashed potatoes!
ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil (or butter)
- 1 pound ground lamb (or beef)
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup carrot, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon rosemary, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
- 1 teaspoon thyme, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
- 2 bay leaves (optional)
- 1 cup peas
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 cups mashed potatoes*, hot
directions
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat, add the meat and cook, breaking it apart as it cooks, until cooked through, about 7-10 minutes, before setting aside and draining off all but 2 tablespoons of grease.
- Add the onions and carrots and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic and tomato paste, and mix before sprinkling in the flour, mixing again and cooking for a minute.
- Add the broth, meat, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf, bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens, about 5-7 minutes.
- Mix in the peas, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve over mashed potatoes!
Option: Add 1 cup diced celery along with the onions.
Option: Add 1 cup diced mushrooms along with the onions.
Option: Add 1 cup corn along with the peas.
Option: Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce or fish sauce before seasoning with salt and pepper.
Option: Use your favourite mashed potatoes! Some options: Salt and Vinegar Mashed Potatoes, White Cheddar and Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Creamy Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes, French Onion Mashed Potatoes, Slow Cooker Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Colcannon
Apparently it’s shepherd’s pie if made with lamb and cottage pie if made with beef.
That is correct…..
You beat me to it.
Tasty recipe! When I made it, though, I found that I needed twice the amount of broth as the recipe states, 2 cups total. Otherwise, it didn’t really develop enough of a sauce.
Frozen peas thawed or canned peas?
I usually use frozen but canned will work.