Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

Holy moly, this vegetarian shepherd’s (cottage) pie is like speed dialing the cozy-and-delicious-dinners hotline. This dish has a saucy layer of browned meatless “ground beef”, nestled in with veggies and fresh herbs. Then, it’s topped with a cozy layer of fluffy mashed potatoes. AND as if that’s not all: once the potatoes are baked to golden brown perfection, they’ll get drizzled with some melted butter, a sprinkle of cheese, and a bit of parsley (for some token greenery). This recipe can be easily adjusted to make it vegan-friendly too. We’ve made it seven times now, at least - and every time it got absolutely devoured (mostly by meat-eaters!). So, are you ready to dig in?

To make this recipe, we’ll be cooking up the “meat” and vegetable filling in a skillet pan. And then, at the same time, you can get the potatoes going in a separate pot for the mashed potatoes. We find it faster to multi-task and have both cooking at once; but you can definitely make the filling first, and then let it cool while you move onto the potatoes. Totally up to you.

For the filling, you’ll need:

• Aromatics and herbs: Onion, garlic, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary
• Umami flavor boosters: Tomato paste and vegetable broth
• Meatless ground: Use your favorite uncooked meatless “ground beef”
• Vegetables: Carrots, celery, frozen corn and frozen peas

We prefer using fresh carrots and celery because they’ll retain a bit more firmness than frozen veggies tend to have. It helps provide some texture to the filling. For the corn and peas, we actually prefer buying these frozen for most of the year (except during summer). Vegetables are picked and frozen at their prime, so for very seasonal items like corn and peas, during the off-season you’re likely getting a better product when you buy it frozen. Also, frozen corn niblets and shelled peas are so much easier to work with!

For the mashed potatoes, you’ll need:

• Potatoes: We recommend Yukon Gold potatoes. Yukon Golds are less likely to get waterlogged when boiled, have a slightly buttery taste, and make for super smooth and creamy mashed potatoes. Russets are tasty, but we prefer to bake those (rather than boil).
• Milk and butter: For flavor and to make a smooth, soft mash. You’ll want to add enough so the mashed potatoes are creamy and loose enough so you can run the back of a spoon through them. If you’re vegan, you can use dairy-free milk and butter. Just make sure the milk is unflavored and unsweetened to keep it savory.
• Salt and garlic powder: For seasoning! You can’t have mashed potatoes without salt, it just wouldn’t be right. We use garlic powder here for a slightly milder garlic flavor, compared to how sharp raw garlic would be.
• Cheese: Optional, but delicious! We add it into the mashed potatoes and sprinkle it on top (with a bit of melted butter).

We recently bought a potato ricer and have since been obsessed with using it to make all the mashed potatoes. It really helps them get nice and fluffy. If you don’t have a potato ricer, you can definitely make the mashed potatoes with a regular potato masher. The step of using a spoon to make swoops in the mashed potatoes isn’t just for looks (although we do think it looks cute). More importantly, it creates ridges of mashed potatoes that will get extra brown in the oven; and then the butter will pool in the pockets, which is just magical. 

This recipe was developed in a shallow 2 quart oval baking dish, but it would work in a different shaped dish with the same capacity (for example, an 8x8 baking dish). If you want to make a larger amount of shepherd’s pie in a bigger casserole dish, just make sure you scale up the recipe accordingly.

Usually when we serve this Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie, it gets completely polished off at the table. But leftovers would keep well in the fridge, tightly wrapped or in an airtight container. Reheat before serving.

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📖 Recipe