This simple and easy homemade shepherd's pie recipe is the best! It's so delicious, healthy and comforting. Truly the perfect, hot meal to warm you up on a chilly evening.
Start by browning your ground beef and combine with an assortment of veggies and spices. Cook it all together to create a pie filling and cover with a layer creamy mashed potatoes.
You can't beat that!
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How to make a shepherd's pie:
Keep scrolling down to find the full recipe. We'll start here with a quick overview!
- Get your potatoes boiling in a large pot of salted water on the stovetop.
- Brown hamburger. Add onion, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, peas & corn. Add red wine, beef broth and seasonings.
- Mix corn starch with cold water and add to the simmering mixture to thicken.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Mash potatoes with butter and milk.
- Place filling in the bottom of your baking dish and top with layer of mashed potatoes.
- Bake 20-30 minutes, and then broil for 2-3.
Handy tips:
- To get those beautiful brown marks on the top of your shepherds pie, you'll need to broil it briefly. Be careful during this step, don't burn the top of your pie (speaking from experience). When you turn the oven to broil, keep a close eye on the pie, check it every 30 seconds. Once brown marks start to form, pull it out of oven.
- I use a 2.5 quart baking dish for this recipe. It's plenty big enough and I actually have some leftover space after layering filling and potatoes into the dish. I would recommend using at least a 2 quart baking dish.
- Looking to save some time? Use instant potatoes instead of making your own! You can also use mixed frozen veggies.
Easy Homemade Shepherd's Pie Recipe
Hamburger and veggies mixed with broth and wine to make a pie filling. Cover with a layer of creamy mashed potatoes!
Servings: 5
Ingredients
Mashed Potatoes *see note below
- 2 & ½ lbs russet potatoes, peeled & cubed
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup nonfat milk *or non-dairy milk of choice *see note below
- ½ teaspoon salt
Pie Filling
- 1 lb lean ground beef *I use 93/7
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 3 large carrots *peeled & diced *see note below
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic *see note below
- 1 15oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup frozen corn *see note below
- 1 cup frozen peas *see note below
- 1 cup beef broth
- ½ cup red wine
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasonings
- 1 teaspoon salt *see note below
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons cold water
Toppings
- Chopped parsley *optional
Recipe notes:
Mashed potatoes: to save some time, you can use instant potatoes! Milk: if you have trouble spreading mashed potatoes atop filling, add a little more milk. This will make them a little easier to work with. Minced garlic: I always keep a jar of minced garlic in my refrigerator. It's a huge time saver. I love garlic but I don't always want to mince by hand, this is a great alternative! Carrots, peas & corn: if you prefer, use a frozen veggie mix to save time! Salt: I use 1 teaspoon of salt in this recipe, but I recommend adding the salt slowly and taste testing to see if you need more. Canned broth & tomatoes have different levels of sodium (depending on the brand) so you may need less!Instructions
- Place a large pot of salted water on the stovetop and turn heat to high. While waiting for water a boil, peel and cube potatoes. Carefully and gently add cubes to boiling water. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Once soft, drain potatoes and set aside.
- Peel and dice onion and carrots.
- Place a large sauté pan on the stove top and turn heat to medium. Add hamburger meat and allow it to fully brown. (Tip *I recommend using a 2.5 quart sauté pan, or larger. You'll be adding all other ingredients to this pan so you need adequate space. You can also use a large pot instead of a sauté pan.)
- Once your hamburger has completely browned, drain excess fat from the meat and return it to the sauté pan. Place pan back on the stovetop and reduce heat to medium low.
- Add diced onions and carrots. Allow onions, carrots and hamburger to cook together for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add minced garlic and sauté 30 seconds longer.
- Add frozen corn, frozen peas, diced tomatoes, beef broth, red wine, bay leaf, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine.
- Increase heat to medium high. Once filling mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat down to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While filling simmers, finish making your mashed potatoes. Combine boiled potatoes, butter, milk and salt in a large mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer to mash potatoes until smooth.
- Measure corn starch and cold water into a small bowl and whisk. Add this mixture to the simmering pie filling on the stovetop. Stir and allow the mixture to continue simmering for 5-10 more minutes, it will begin to thicken. Remove from heat.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Transfer pie filling to a 2 - 3 quart baking dish and cover with a layer of mashed potatoes about an inch thick.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until filling begins to bubble. Turn oven to the high broil setting and allow the top of the pie to brown slightly (this will not take long at all, keep a close eye on the pie during broiling).
- Remove pie from the oven and let it cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Add parsley flakes on top, if desired.
- Serve and enjoy!
Did you make this recipe?!
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More cold weather recipes:
- Easy Butternut Squash Casserole
- Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- The Best, Easy Tailgate Crockpot Chili
- Creamy White Chicken Chili
- Slow Cooker Potato Soup
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Austin says
I’m a huge fan of this one!
Bethany says
I made this recipe tonight and it was fantastic! Hearty and flavorful and perfect for a fall evening.
stacey_olson says
So glad you liked it!!