With tons of flavor from herbs, vegetables and meat, you'll instantly fall in love with The Best Shepherd's Pie. Satisfying, filling and delicious for the whole family.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Add the 2 Tablespoons olive oil and 1 sweet onion, diced to a 12” skillet and cook on medium heat.
Once the onions have become soft and translucent (about 5 minutes) add the 2 pounds lean ground beef, 1 Tablespoon dried parsley, 1 sprig fresh rosemary, 1/2 Tablespoon dried thyme and 1 teaspoon black pepper.
Cook and crumble the meat until it is no longer pink.
If you are using a lean ground beef, you shouldn't have much excess grease. However, if your meat did produce a lot of grease, be sure to drain most of it out and put it back into the pan.
Then add 2 garlic cloves, minced and cook for another 2 minutes.
Stir in 4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour and 2 Tablespoons tomato paste. Cook 5 minutes on medium heat.
Add the 12 ounce bag frozen peas and carrots, 2 cups beef broth and 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce and combine well. At this point I like to taste it and see if it needs any additional salt and pepper.
Cover pan and turn heat to low and start peeling 6-8 russet potatoes. Cut them into small 1-2” pieces.
Add to water and bring to a boil. Boil potatoes for approximately 15-20 minutes (or until potatoes are fork tender).
Drain potatoes and place back in the pot and add the 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, 1 Tablespoon ranch seasoning mix (optional) and salt and pepper, to taste. Mash well until no lumps remain.
Remove rosemary stalk and add meat mixture to a 9x13-inch casserole dish and top with the mashed potatoes evenly. I like to press the fork into the mashed potatoes to make a pattern but that is optional.
Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, until the pie starts to bubble at the sides. I place a piece of foil or large baking sheet on the shelf underneath to catch any overspill.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with 1-2 Tablespoons chopped parsley,and serve!
Notes
Traditionally Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb. You can use either lamb or beef in this recipe. Technically a Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb and Cottage Pie is made with beef. But we all know it as Shepherd's Pie so that's what I'm going with.
Russet potatoes are used for the topping, but you could also use Yukon gold as well.
I like to create fork marks in the potatoes to create that browning texture on the top. Plus, I like that way it looks. That is completely optional.
I also use frozen carrots and peas for this recipe. A lot of people don't know that frozen vegetables are often better than fresh. They are frozen at the peak of freshness so they retain all their flavor and nutrition. However, if you want to use fresh you could as well.
Since I use a fresh sprig of rosemary in the filling mixture, it needs to be removed before putting in casserole dish. You do not want to include that in with the meat mixture. It adds a lot of really great flavor though so don't skip it!
If you really want to amp up the flavor of the mashed potatoes, try boiling them in chicken broth.
You do not need to grease your pan for this recipe.
Try topping this with some shredded cheddar cheese. About a cup to a cup and a half! Remove baking dish from the oven after cooking, sprinkle on the cheese then put it back into the oven for a few minutes to melt.