A favorite comfort food, shepherd’s pie is an easy, hearty dish that traditionally consists of meat and veggies topped with leftover mashed potatoes. For a delicious twist, add a sprinkling of shredded cheddar to form a rich cheesy crust.
Time-saving Tip: I love to “Cook Once, Eat Twice or More!” So to save time, I like to buy a few pounds of ground turkey (or grassfed ground beef) and brown it in a skillet over medium-high heat with some finely diced onion.
Then, I divide the cooked meat into 1-2 cup portions and freeze it for future use. That way, I have precooked ground meat on hand to make quick dinners on busy nights, such as crockpot chili, taco salad, spaghetti with meat sauce, and of course, this easy shepherd’s pie recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup diced fresh organic carrots
- 1/3 cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 lb ground grassfed beef, or ground turkey
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
- 1 cup of your favorite frozen organic veggies (such as peas or green beans or a combo)
- 1/2 cup diced tomatoes, drained (if using fresh, be sure they're peeled and seeded)
- Sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper
- 3-4 cups leftover mashed potatoes (seasoned w/salt & pepper to taste)
- Optional: 1/2 cup shredded raw or grassfed cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil abd sauté carrots, onion and garlic until onion begins to soften (about 2-3 minutes).
- Add ground beef (or turkey), breaking up meat with a wooden spoon; cook until no longer pink, about 4-5 minutes.
- Next, add thyme, ketchup, and arrowroot powder; stir until combined.
- Add frozen veggies and diced tomatoes. Cook until vegetables are warmed through and liquid has thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Spoon mixture into a two-quart baking dish.
- Spread mashed potatoes evenly over top of beef mixture. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar, if desired.
- Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until potatoes are lightly browned, approximately 15 minutes.
Just wanted you to know I made this last night ( a bit too hot for it…but it sounded good!!) and it was a HIT! Will definitely be doing this again…so easy and basically the recipe calls for everything I have in pantry and freezer. Thanks again!! The Dunlap fam
Awesome! So glad you and your family enjoyed this – even on a hot summer evening! LOL! Thanks so much for leaving a kind note! Blessings, Kelly
I made this for dinner last night. I had planned on making my same ole shepherds pie recipe but this one looked good. So I made it instead. The only thing I added was a packet of natural beef flavoring (from my health food store). My family loved it and even my fussy son ate it. I highly recommend trying this. It wasn’t hard to make at all and had lots of flavor.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a kind note, so glad you and your whole family enjoyed it!
Nice recipe, I like the addition of tomatoes, but I just have to say (and blame the British grandmother) this isn’t shepherd’s pie, it’s cottage pie. Shepherd = sheep (ie lamb).
I can’t argue that, Grace! You know us Americans, we get everything wrong – just look at what we’ve done to scones! yikes!