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Easy Shepherd's Pie
This easy shepherd's pie recipe (aka cottage pie) with ground beef is simple, gluten free, and uses only 6 ingredients! A cheap, make ahead freezer meal.
Prep
20 min
Cook
30 min
Total
50 min
Serves
8
Instructions
- 01
Cover potatoes with cold water and 1 tablespoon of kosher salt in a large pot, and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are fork-tender, about 15-20 minutes.
- 02
While potatoes are cooking, sauté the diced onion in 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet until softened (about 2 minutes). Add the ground beef and sauté until JUST fully cooked, breaking it up with a spoon into small pieces (about 5-7 minutes). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Don't overcook it or it will be dry (see notes).
- 03
When potatoes are soft enough to pierce easily with a fork, drain, and mash with 4 tablespoons butter and the milk (3/4 cup). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- 04
Layer ground beef mixture, frozen vegetables, and mashed potatoes in a 9x13 baking dish. Alternatively, divide the ingredients into two smaller baking dishes to freeze one (see notes).
- 05
Use the back of a spoon to smooth the potatoes, leaving some ridges, or use a fork to "rake" a ridged pattern into the potatoes.
- 06
Melt remaining tablespoon butter and drizzle evenly on top of potatoes.
- 07
Bake at 425° F for approximately 30 minutes, or until potatoes begin to brown. Run the broiler for the last 5 minutes for extra crispy potatoes.
Nutrition
per serving · 1 serving
- Calories
- 346
- Protein
- 24g
- Carbs
- 26g
- Fat
- 17g
- Fiber
- 6g
- Sugar
- 2g
- Sat. fat
- 10g
- Sodium
- 210mg
- Cholesterol
- 85mg
Variations & swaps
Variations
- Make it paleo/whole30 by using ghee instead of butter, green beans and carrots for the veggies, and chicken stock instead of milk in the mashed potatoes.
- Make it low carb by using mashed cauliflower in place of the mashed potatoes. Here’s a recipe for low carb shepherd’s pie made in a skillet!
- Make it lighter: Use ground turkey in place of the beef, and less butter. Even healthier: make a ground turkey and sweet potato shepherd’s pie!
- Use lamb instead of or in addition to the beef, if you prefer.
- Add flavor: other shepherd’s pie recipes use garlic, spices, Worcestershire sauce, and red wine in the meat mixture. Feel free to experiment!
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