Shepherd's pie with a portion removed

Easy shepherd’s pie

Name: Easy shepherd’s pie
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients: 500g lamb mince; 2 onions finely chopped; 2 carrots grated; 2 stalks celery finely diced; 2 tsp of chopped leaves thyme; 1 tbsp of chopped leaves rosemary; 2 tbsp plain flour; 600ml light lamb or chicken stock; 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 tbsp tomato purée; 1.5kg floury potatoes (such as King Edward or Maris Piper) peeled and quartered; 50g butter plus extra for the top

Janine Ratcliffe

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Serves 6

Easy

Total time: 1 hr and 50 mins

A star rating of 5 out of 5.2 ratingsRate

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Try this family favourite for a super comforting winter warmer

Low calorie

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Try this easy shepherd's pie recipe then check out our cheese and potato pie, vegetarian shepherd's pie, spiced shepherd's pie, classic cottage pie, chicken and leek pie and more comforting pie recipes.

What is a shepherd's pie?

Shepherd’s pie was originally an old English recipe invented as a way to make the leftover meat from a Sunday roast go further, chopping the meat into small chunks, mixing with veg and onions and making a stock from leftover bones. Topped with mash and baked this provided an extra meal for families. Modern recipes are more likely to start from scratch, cooking the lamb from raw.

What's the difference between and shepherd's pie and a cottage pie?

Shepherd’s pie and cottage pie use exactly the same method and share many similar ingredients, the only real difference being shepherd’s pie uses lamb and cottage pie uses beef. In both cases mince is the most commonly used cut.

How do you make the best shepherd's pie?

The secret to a really good shepherd’s pie is packing flavour into the base. Browning the mince properly gives a deep colour to the finished filling and extra flavour from the caramelisation on the meat. Adding a mix of gently cooked onion, carrots and celery gives a savoury depth to the filling. A little flour stirred into the meat and veg before the stock is added will make sure your gravy has a decent body. Extras like a splash of Worcestershire sauce will give depth to the finished sauce. Strong woody herbs lie thyme and rosemary are best in this recipe.

If you want to get more veg into your pie, then then you can bump up the amount of carrots and celery or use other root veg like parsnips and sweet potato or even a couple of handfuls of frozen peas.

How do you make the best mash for shepherd's pie?

You want the mash for your shepherd’s pie to be quite dense as if it’s too loose you will end up with a sloppy pie that doesn’t keep its shape. For a lighter mash push the cooked potatoes through a potato ricer then beat in diced butter. Season the mash really well – potato is bland so it can take it. Before baking dot the mash with a little extra butter, this will help the surface get really golden and crisp up on the peaky bits.