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 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.
MaryAnn Coy says
When made with ground beef the correct name is Classic English Cottage Pie. Classic Shepherd’s Pie is always made with ground lamb. To make either pie less soupy decrease the liquid, to taste and use flour or cornstarch to thicken the sauce. Otherwise this is a very good (classic made from scratch) recipe). Ground lamb can be more expensive than beef at times, if you need to stretch the lamb (or beef) trying adding chopped or sliced Baby Bella Mushrooms. They aren’t “classic ingredients” but they can add a lot of flavor.. Also, for a healthier Vegan option, substitute 16 Oz of chopped baby Bella’s or Portobello mushrooms. Many meat substitute products, contain less than heathy additives,, using the flavorful mushrooms eliminates this possibility, with less than 10 extra minutes of prep. The cooking time is roughly the same.as meat. Portobello mushrooms have a stronger flavor than baby Bella’s, to allow for some people’s tastes.
Cat says
I thought it taste very good but the texture was to soupy.
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. 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.
Anastasia says
Currently making this seems soupy with the meat and vegetables is that normal?
Brian Nagele says
I am so excited right now after reading this! Thank you!
Erin says
LOVE this recipe! I make it at least once a month. I use whatever meat we have left over (my husband loves to BBQ, so I have used brisket, pork, and rib meat! I think I'm going to try chicken with sweet potatoes on top next.
sonda polson says
Made this tonight for dinner and after a few tweaks it was fantastic! Thanks for sharing.
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
So glad you liked it!
Jessica M. Deusa says
Odd question but have you had cream of mushroom soup to the mixture?
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Hi Jessica! I don't used canned soup in my recipes, and I don't make cream of mushroom soup at home often, but if you do try it with this recipe, please let me know how it goes!
Brian says
Honest question, but with a deeper dutch oven style cast iron do you have trouble getting the slices out without them falling apart? Seems like it'd be hard to serve, although I'm sure it still tastes just as good!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Brian, that's a good question. Personally, I am not a stickler for serving dishes like shepherd's pie as slices - I scoop and serve :) But how it's served also has to do with the serving utensil you use, so I'd use one with a wider base to grab more of the filling as a slice. Also, if you want the filling to stick together more, you could always try adding more cornstarch and less liquid, which would allow you to slice through it more and serve as slices. If you try this, let me know how it goes!
Maggie says
Your recipe says 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Only 2 tbsp is mentioned in the instructions. Please clarify, I was hoping to make this. Thanks.
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Thanks for catching that, Maggie! It's 2 tbsp olive oil. I just updated the recipe. Thanks!
Marybeth Crabtree says
How do we know how much flour and water to use ?? It does not say it anywhere in the recipe ???
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
2 tablespoons flour and 3/4 cup water. Just updated the recipe. Thanks for letting me know, Marybeth! :)
Katie says
Going to give this recipe a try! Beautiful cast iron set 😍
Trixie says
Girl you better stop with this Shepherd’s Pie! Finally one with authentic and yummy ingredients even my finicky nieces will enjoy. Well done!
meghan says
This is awesome and delicious!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Thanks Meghan!
Jenn says
I’ve just put mine in oven and realized I still have milk.... When do you add milk? How bad will this meal turn out?
Evoma says
Very nice and great recipe. A great addition to our cuisine.