Dutch Oven Shepherd's Pie is the ultimate comfort food. It's cooked in one pot and packed with veggies, ground beef, and topped with creamy mashed potatoes.
When you think of comfort food, what comes to mind?
For some it's a big bowl of thick, creamy soup or hearty chili on a cold night. For others, it's indulging in once-in-a-while food, like loaded pub chips or loaded pulled pork nachos on Game Day.
Shepherd's Pie is one of those dishes that definitely falls under the Comfort Food Recipe category for me. It's also quite popular in Ireland, served as both pub food enjoyed with a pint, and Sunday family dinner.
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🥔 Ingredient notes
This is the best shepherd's pie recipe: hearty and satisfying, and packed with veggies and protein. I use the classic combo of:
- ground beef
- potatoes
- beef broth
- carrot
- peas
- celery
- corn
- onions
- garlic
- oregano
- thyme
- salt and pepper
You can almost add any of your fave other veggies to this dish. Just make sure you chop the veggies up to a uniform size and shape so that they all cook evenly.
✅ Step-by-step instructions
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the beef, onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes, or just until the beef has browned.
2. Add the broth, carrots, peas, corn, celery, oregano and thyme. Stir and cook on medium heat, uncovered, for 3 to 5 minutes, just until softened. Reduce heat to medium-low. In a small bowl, combine flour and water until well blended, then pour over the filling in the dutch oven. Stir together. Reduce heat to low, and cover.
Preheat oven to 350°F, and then make the mashed potato topping.
Mashed Potato Topping
3. Add potatoes to a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and boil until potatoes are fork tender, about 12-13 minutes. Drain potatoes and return to the pot.
4. Add the butter and mash potatoes until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Assemble and Bake
5. Remove the Dutch oven with the filling from the heat, and top with the mashed potatoes, smoothing into an even topping layer.
6. Bake, uncovered, at 350° F for about 30 minutes. To create a slightly browned, slightly crisp top, turn on the broiler at the end of the 30 minutes and broil for about 5 minutes. Watch the oven to make sure the top doesn't burn. Serve immediately.
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQs
According to some food sources, you can only call it shepherd's pie if you use ground lamb. If you use ground beef, many call that cottage pie. However, most people these days use the meat that they love and is available to them. Ground beef, ground pork, ground lamb, or ground turkey work well. I find that ground beef works best. Ground lamb also works well. If you're going to use ground turkey or ground pork, try not to use meat that is too lean, or the dish may end up dry and lacking flavor.
Extra liquid at the bottom of cooked shepherd's pie can come from a variety of sources. One of the main sources is the ratio of meat to broth. If you are using a type of meat that doesn't soak up the broth well as it cooks, you'll have extra water. If you're using frozen vegetables that aren't thawed and dried, some of the frozen ice around the veggies - even a teeny tiny amount - will melt and add liquid to the dish.
If you have extra liquid, simply lift the pot and very carefully pour the excess liquid into the sink.
🍽 Serving ideas
One-pot meals like this are some of my favorites during busy weeknights. But they also make amazing dishes to bring to potlucks and holiday gatherings.
Shepherd's pie can be a full meal all on its own. But we like to serve at least one side that balances out this hearty dish.
If you're planning a full Irish meal, consider adding on Instant Pot Irish Lamb Stew, Guinness Brown Bread, and some Shamrock Shakes or a Green Velvet Cake for dessert.
The richness of the dish goes well with vegetable-focused side dishes such as Air Fryer Broccoli, Garlic Lemon Asparagus, and Mushrooms Marsala. You can also serve it with Garlic Rosemary Focaccia Bread or Gougere Bites.
🥘 Kitchen tools and equipment
I like to make a classic shepherd's pie in a Dutch Oven. This one goes straight from stovetop to oven to table, thanks to the gorgeous Finex 5-Quart Dutch Oven you see in these photos.
I also like to use my Staub Coq au vin Cocotte 5.75 quart pot.
More comfort food recipes
Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Classic Shepherd's Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
Shepherd's Pie Filling
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ lb ground beef
- 1 cup yellow onion, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup beef broth
- 2 cups carrots, peeled and chopped into 1" pieces (about 3 large carrots)
- 1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
- 1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
- 1 cup celery, chopped (2 stalks)
- 1 teaspoon oregano leaves (fresh or dried)
- 1 teaspoon thyme (fresh or dried)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup water
Mashed Potato Topping
- 4 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup milk (I use almond milk; you can use any milk you prefer)
- salt & pepper
Instructions
Make the meat and vegetable filling
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the beef, onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes, or just until the beef has browned.
- Add the broth, carrots, peas, corn, celery, oregano and thyme. Stir and cook on medium heat, uncovered, for 3 to 5 minutes, just until softened. Reduce heat to medium-low. In a small bowl, combine flour and water until well blended, then pour over the filling in the dutch oven. Stir together. Reduce heat to low, and cover.
- Preheat oven to 350°F, and then make the mashed potato topping.
Mashed Potato Topping
- Add potatoes to a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and boil until potatoes are fork tender, about 12-13 minutes. Drain potatoes and return to the pot.
- Add the butter and milk, then mash potatoes until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Assemble and Bake
- Remove the Dutch oven with the filling from the heat, and top with the mashed potatoes, smoothing into an even topping layer.
- Bake, uncovered, at 350° F for about 30 minutes. To create a slightly browned, slightly crisp top, turn on the broiler at the end of the 30 minutes and broil for about 5 minutes. Watch the oven to make sure the top doesn't burn.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is a general estimate. Actual nutrition details may vary depending on the exact foods & brands you use to make this recipe. It does not take into account any substitutions, toppings, or optional ingredients.
Phillip says
Milk is in the ingredients list but not the instructions
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Thanks for catching that, Phillip! It's added along with the butter. I just updated the recipe card.
Anne says
Recipe is our new family favorite! Thank you
Kimber says
I doubled the recipe & made this dish both vegan & gluten-free. For the ground beef, I substituted Gardein Beefless Grounds. For the beef broth, I used Better Than Boulion No Beef Base. Instead of the flour, I used arrowroot starch. I used oat milk instead of dairy milk because it is creamy. It was my first time making shepherds pie & my first time using a dutch oven (mine holds 6 quarts). It turned out fantastic. My friends & I loved it.
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Glad you and your friends loved it! :)