Shepherd's Pie I
Serves 4 Difficulty 3/5 Ingredients 11 Steps 13
Cottage pie, or shepherd's pie, is a meat pie with a mashed potato top. It is traditionally made with leftover roast meat, but today it is more often made with fresh minced meat.
Ingredients
- 30 g (1 oz) lard (optional)
- 1 lb (450 g) minced or ground lamb or beef
- 3 lb (1.3 kg) powdery old potatoes, such as King Edwards
- 1 large or 2 small onions
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 cups (300 ml) beef stock (alternatively, bouillon cubes can be used, or gravy powder, if the flour is omitted)
- Cheese, grated (optional)
- 1 handful of mixed vegetables such as sweetcorn or carrots (optional)
- Mixed herbs
- Milk
- Butter
Steps
- Heat oil in pan. Brown mince. Skip added oil for lean meat.
- Finely chop onion. Lightly fry in a little butter with small amount of salt until clear.
- Add onions, mixed herbs and some pepper to mince.
- Sprinkle flour over mixture. Stir. Cook 3–4 minutes (omit if using gravy powder).
- Cover with lamb or beef stock (or water and beef bouillon/gravy powder). Simmer 30 minutes.
- Test seasoning. Without gravy, more salt may be needed.
- Meanwhile, peel, chop and boil potatoes 20 minutes until cooked. When meat is cooked, skim excess fat. Reduce mince until liquid is level with mince and onions. Drain potatoes completely dry. Mash smooth. Add butter. Taste and season. Slowly add milk while mashing until soft and creamy; heavy mash will not float on mince.
- Put mince mixture in shallow oven-proof dish.
- Layer mash over meat. Brush potato tops with melted butter.
- If desired, sprinkle grated cheese on mash.
- Without cheese, rough up mash surface by dragging fork across it.
- Bake in hot oven 30–50 minutes until top is golden brown.
- Serve with peas, beans or other green vegetables.
Notes from the original
- The terms are often used interchangeably, regardless of meat, though many cookbooks refer to "shepherd's pie" if made with lamb, and "cottage pie" if made with beef, or highlight the possible variations within a single recipe.
- Adding the butter and milk to the potatoes before they are properly mashed is the best way to make lumpy mash.
- Roughing up the surface of the mash makes the top crisper, by increasing the surface area and providing thin sections which dry out and crisp faster; compare roast potatoes.
- Frying the meat in lard can improve the texture and consistency of the finished product, although this also has the effect of increasing drastically the saturated fat content.
- As with many dishes based on minced meat, the mince can be cooked for much longer in the stock than specified, up to two hours. Some cooks prefer this as it gives longer for the flavour to develop. People often comment that shepherd's pie tastes better when reheated the day after for this reason. A quicker alternative is to add a splash of Cookbook:Worcestershire Sauce or Cookbook:Soy Sauce, both of which act as flavour enhancers.
- Peas or small chopped carrots are often integrated into the mince during the reduction step.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Shepherd's Pie I” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-12-03, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Shepherds Pie.jpg by Samuel Engelking, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.