Shepherd’s Pie Recipe (2024)

I added a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce, as a previous poster suggested, plus 1.25 C of frozen peas with the carrots and onions.

Cheese in the mash I have never heard of. Shredded cheese on top is characteristic of a Cumberland pie, but I always add it to my cottage (beef) or shepherds’ (lamb) pies too. Other than that, Worcester sauce essential, garlic unnecessary (it’s in the Worcester sauce) and peas best served on the side. A fat tablespoon of wholegrain mustard is great in the meat sauce, too, if you have it to hand.

Always found shepherd’s pie lacking in many ways but this is a winner. Added celery (same amount as carrot) which increased the veggie count and reduced the carrot sweetness. Now a standard in our home.

To keep fat low, don't add cheese to the potatoes, it's not necessary and isn't really a problem for flavour. You can always sprinkle grated cheese on top of the potatoes if you want. If you drag a fork over the mashed potato topping, it will give it a nice crisping and looks nice. Definitely let it stand before serving or else you get a gloopy mess.

I always use leftover roast lamb in my version. Get a bigger leg of lamb than you need when doing a Sunday roast and keep the leftovers in the fridge for a Shepherd’s Pie a few days later. I don’t have a meat grinder, so I chop the lamb into a coarse dice by hand while the vegetables (onion, carrot and celery) are cooking. Worcestershire Sauce is a must, while cheese in the mashed potatoes is definitely not traditional.

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Tasty! Modifications: 1) Instead of 3/4 cup stock, boiled alcohol off 1 cup dry red wine, added 1 cup beef stock, reduced all to 3/4 cup; 2) Added 1 Tbs of worcestershire sauce to the reduction; 3) Mixed in a cup of frozen peas prior to adding the potato layer, which I scored w a fork. Cooked everything in a 12" cast iron skillet which had plenty of room. My 10" skillet volume was 2.25 qts. At 30 min., the edge browned nicely, but center was pasty. Fixed by a few minutes under the broiler.

My Only addition to this recipe was I added Worcestershire sauce. It made all the difference. This was easy and utterly delicious.

I put cauliflower in with the mashed potatoes so used less potatoes. Next time, I will only use cauliflower.I used olive oil and the potato water to mash them together instead of butter and milk.I substituted Parmesan cheese for the cheddar.It was really good family friendly, feed a crowd food.

This was fantastic! I made some changes, based on all the recommendations here: Added half bag each of frozen peas and frozen corn right before adding potatoes on top, used Yukon golds instead of russets, doubled the cheese in the potatoes, brushed the top with melted butter, added the 2-3 shakes of Worcestershire to the meat, drained about half a cup of fat out, used 1# each of ground lamb and 90/10 ground beef. I will not be waiting until next St Patrick's day to make it again!

I vegetarian-ized this recipe with the following changes:+1 carrot+8 oz porcini mushroomssubs. med. onion for small onion+1 cup peas+2.5 tbsp vegetarian worchestire saucesubs. vegetable Better than Bullion for beef broth+10 oz Beyond Beef Beefy CrumblesOmit lamb and beefIt turned out very well! I'll be making this again, perhaps swapping turnips for the potatoes.

I've made Shepherd's Pie for years, and fancied an alternate way of doing it. I did the potatoes as suggested, but for the meat, I fried 4 rashers of good quality bacon for the fat. I also didn't add the stock. Instead I added 14.5oz of chopped tomatoes. I did add Worcestershire to the veggies when they were almost done. I also added frozen peas. Its now cooking so I will report back when its done. Oh! And a tip from a Brit... score the potatoes with a fork. It helps to brown.

Added peas and mushrooms, and a turnip to the potatoes. Delish!

Substituted a cauliflower mash for the potatoes. A nice healthful twist to the recipe. Obviously not quite as delicious as mashed potatoes but still really good. I would definitely make again.

I added Worcestershire (1 tb.), whole grain mustard (1 tb.) and frozen peas (3/4 c.) as suggested by others. Instead of cheddar, I used parmesan (2 generous tbs.) in the mashed potatoes and on the top (4 generous tbs.) for a good crisp. Next time, I'll add a little more Worcestershire. It was delicious.

I followed the receipe but used all 80% ground beef and did not drain any fat. Very tasty. I will try some of the suggestions next time.

Made with beef, this would be a cottage pie. Lovely recipe for shepherd's pie.

My cousin taught me the easy, kid-friendly version of this dish when I was about 12 years old. Still one of my favorites. Briefly: brown ground beef with some chopped onion. Season with salt and pepper. A little shake of soy sauce helps, too. Place it in a casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Top with a can of French cut green beans, drained. Spread over that a can of undiluted Campbell’s tomato soup. Top with mashed potatoes. Bake at 350 for about a half hour or so. Keep it simple.

Thanks to all the wonderful advice of this community, I added 4 strips of bacon, 2 tbsp whole grain mustard, 1 cup sliced mushrooms, and 1 c dry red wine to the meat mixture. The flavor was complex and wonderful! Served it with Irish soda bread and a butter lettuce pub salad.

Traditional shepherds pie does not have cheese. Or need it. And it would be all ground lamb, or really, cooked left over lamb that has been finely cut up.I include celery and peas, and use leeks rather than onion if I have them. No garlic. Add a dash of worcestershire sauce. And playing on the idea of moussaka, I place a layer of thinly sliced zucchini between the meat and potatoes.

A bit of tarragon and wine does a lot for the meat mixture as it cooks.

Stop, just stop. I have done this recipe twice. Convinced by my English neighbour that Sheppards Pie is good. I believe that this is a childhood or regional recipe that people have fond memories of, but in reality it is unlivable. Lamb? No. Pork? No. Beef? no. Any combination of same? No. It is meat like substance, topped with potatoes that are mashed. Any spices cannot change it.

shepherd's pie should be lamb, shouldn't it? 'Shepherd's' pie?

Love your recipes. Difficult to reduce ingredients to fit meal for 2 people- Also, cost of ingredients can make these meals expensive to serve. Many spices that are used in preparation could be dated before next recipe. Still working around portion size and better utilization of spices.

A French Canadian version of this, called “paté chinois”, uses creamed corn between the layers of meat and mashed potatoes. Mustard is the preferred condiment.

I made this vegetarian by subbing 1 pound Beyond Beef and adding 4 oz of diced crimini mushrooms to the carrots and onions. Used veggie stock instead of beef. I also added 2 tbsp vegan worcester sauce after the tomato paste to up the "umami" factor. Comforting, easy, and delicious!

Made this last night with a few of the modifications in comments. Added peas and Worcestershire sauce. I found that 1/3 c of tomato paste was way too intense. Next time I'll add 2-3 T. I put a little shredded cheddar on top, but I'll omit next time. I used dried herbs and swapped out Rosemary in favor of Marjoram. It was good on a cold night. I'll make it again.

I heavily adulterated this recipe based on what I had on hand, but still followed recipe for some guidelines. The end result was FANTASTIC. No herbs other than parsley and added that right at the end of cooking. I had frozen corn and some carrots in the fridge, and red onion instead of white, so that was my veggie mix. I did not have worcestershire sauce to add as some commenters mentioned, but I made my own and did not regret adding a hearty splash, recipe from Little House Living.

Used only beef and added Kitchen Bouquet to give sauce more depth. Next time I will also add rutabaga / swede and celery, to round out the classic cottage pie flavors.

Just made this tonight with ground lamb, which was not too fatty. Cut down on the butter overall and used chicken stock in the mash and with the lamb. Added peas, carrots, not too much tomato paste. Really tasty. I think it can be as flavorful as you want to make it!