One of the perks of running a food blog is that my job makes it super easy to score bonus points with friends and family since I am constantly feeding them the food I make to the site. People love good food, and they love you a little more if you’re the one giving it to them. 😉 And I hit the mother lode of bonus points with my dad for today’s recipe, easy shepherd’s pie with ground beef. My dad loves Shepherd’s Pie so leftovers from my test version went straight to him, and that single 7×5-inch dish of food immediately catapulted me to #1-favorite-daughter status.
Some Really Excellent Shepherd’s Pie
I totally earned that position because this is some really excellent shepherd’s pie I’m sharing with you today. The ground beef filling, which is made completely from scratch, is rich and a little tangy, with a hint of sweetness from the carrots and the onions. It’s so good that you’ll want to eat it with a spoon before it even goes into the oven. And the potato topping is buttery and creamy and glorious. My dad has already requested this for Father’s Day (replacing his traditional feast of Chicken Curry), and I don’t know what better recommendation there is for this dish than that. And before I get a million messages about this, I want to pause and say, I know that this pie is technically a Cottage Pie.
Shepherds Pie vs Cottage Pie
For those who don’t know the difference, both shepherd’s and cottage pies are made with meat, gravy, and usually vegetables, and covered with potatoes. Generally, shepherd’s pie is made with lamb, cottage pie with beef. Though the term “cottage pie” was used as a blanket term for all meat/potato pies for about 100 years before people started calling the version with lamb “shepherd’s pie.” That said, in my experience, most people don’t make that distinction here in America. Every shepherd’s pie I’ve ever been served, except those I’ve had in the UK, have been made with beef, and when I was doing research for this post, no one I asked had any idea what cottage pie was. Since I’d like the people in the US who enjoy shepherd’s pie to be able to find this “shepherd’s pie,” that’s what I’m going with. (Sorry, fellow grammar pedants. It hurts my heart too.)
Ingredient Notes
Ground beef: As mentioned above, traditional shepherd’s pie is made with ground lamb. Feel free to substitute it here instead of beef. I used 80% ground beef in this recipe, but any ground beef will work because you’ll be draining off the fat anyway. Tomato paste: Tomato paste adds a bit of depth of flavor to the filling. If you don’t have any handy, you can use the same amount of ketchup. If you have leftover tomato paste, check out my post What to Do With Leftover Tomato Paste for storage tips and recipes to use up the leftovers. Peas: If you’re not a fan of peas, you can replace them with corn or just add corn along with the peas if you’re a fan of corn in your shepherd’s pie. An egg yolk: An egg yolk in the potato topping helps with browning and adds just a little extra richness. If you’re out of eggs, feel free to skip it, but don’t expect the same golden color you see in the photos. For ideas on how to use the leftover egg white, check out my What to Do With Leftover Egg Whites post.
How to Make Shepherd’s Pie
Shepherd’s Pie is actually an incredibly easy dinner to make, and if you cook your potatoes and filling simultaneously, the active cooking time is only about 20 minutes before the whole thing goes into the oven. The potato topping is just your standard easy mashed potatoes with an egg yolk whisked in at the end (the yolk helps with browning and gives the topping a little extra richness). And the filling comes together quickly. While your potatoes are cooking, you brown a bit of hamburger and then cook some onions, carrots, and garlic in the same pan. Stir in some ketchup or tomato paste, which adds a great depth of flavor, and flour to thicken the mixture, along with broth and Worcestershire sauce. That simmers for a couple minutes to thicken, and then you just stir together your meat and gravy and peas, layer your pie and bake. Dinner’s done when the top is a lovely golden brown, which will take about 25 minutes, just enough time to clean up and pour yourself a glass of wine.
More Easy Beef Recipes
American Goulash Oven-roasted Tri-tip Easy Chili Recipe Quick Beef Teriyaki Easy Lasagna
Recipe Notes
This recipe makes two huge servings or three more reasonable ones. If you’d like to double the recipe, it doubles with no preparation changes and can be made in an 8×8-inch baking dish. You can omit the peas completely if you don’t like them or replace them with corn. You can also add corn to the peas if you just really like corn. To make a true Shepherd’s Pie, ground lamb can be substituted for the ground beef.
Recipe Adapted From The Best One-Dish Suppers
