What Is Your Tried and True Recipe for Shephard's Pie?

I use a quick, cheater sort of recipe. Ground sirloin, sprinkled with seasoning salt, browned and drained. Mix in an envelope of brown gravy mix and however much water the gravy mix calls for. Layer vegetables on top; I use stuff from a can, drained. On top go the instant mashed potatoes already prepared according to package directions. Last is grated cheddar cheese. Bake on 350 until hot and browned.

When I'm feeling spunky, I make my own gravy, use fresh pre-steamed veggies, and make home-made mashed potatoes. You can also use some dried herbs - I love thyme in this recipe.

I take my *fav* homemade soup, cook it down until it's a super thick stew. Then I ladle it into ramekins, freeze, top with mashed potatoes, and seal in plastic and refreeze. The day before I want to eat it, I let them defrost in the fridge, then bake at 400 until the potatoes are crisp and golden and the soup is hot all the way through.

I do it this way, because I make BIG soups. After the first night, I split the left overs in half. Half becomes shepard pie (or pot pies) for eating in a week or three... and half for soup and sammies throughout the week. There would be no reason not to just make the stew and turn into shepards pie for that night (aka put in baking dish and add mashed potatoes) BUT it can get difficult to get the mashed potatoes on the top, unless the soup is already frozen.

Mine is a traditional Irish Pie...

1c Carrots chopped
1c Onions chopped
1c green peppers chopped
1/2 stick butter
1/2c HP Brown Sauce
1 1/2 lbs Ground Beef (or lamb)
1tspn salt
1tspn ground pepper
1 can small peas
4c prepared masshed potatoes
1c shredded cheddar cheese

In a sauce pan, melt butter and stir in onions, peppers, & carrots, stir until browned. Stir in drained ground beef, HP brown sauce, peas, salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes over low-medium heat. Place in cassarole dish and cover with potatoes, bake at 350 for 20 minutes, sprinkle cheese on top and bake another 10 minutes.

Simple, easy, and delicious

In my cast iron skillet, I sautee fresh jalepeno, 1/2 a yellow onion, and ground beef. Cook until done and little/no liquid at bottom of skillet. Pour into a 9x13 pan. Then on top of that, I put 2 cans of corn and lately we've put one can of french-style green beans too. Then on top of that I put mashed potatoes (boiled potatoes with butter, cheese, ranch dressing, salt, pepper). I like to make it the day before so for dinner the following night, we can just stick it in the oven. Bake it till it's hot and potatoes on top get a toasty top (350 for about 30 minutes if taken out of the fridge). Then we get brown gravy packets from the grocery store and pour that yummy hot gravy on top. We put a lot of gravy on and our bowls look kinda mushy gross, but it tastes SO good.

My husband's not a fan of ground beef. So we have made it with ground turkey and it's wonderful that way too. Ground venison isn't sold in stores that I know of, but we have mixed 1 lb venison with 1 lb ground beef and it's yummy.

i do exactly what anneka does lol...right down to those days where i feel "spunky" lol. have fun!

I don't use lamb - I use ground beef.

In a cast iron skillet, brown about 1 lb of beef and drain. Then chop really small carrots, onion, peppers and whatever other veggies you like. Saute until tender. Add in frozen peas and corn, and toss back in the browned meat. I then make a mix of about 1.5 tspt tomato paste diluted in about 1/2-3/4 cup water with about a tbsp of flour mixed in. I stir that in until it has thickened and made a sauce for the meat, about 5 minutes. I season with just salt, pepper, oregano, and a little mrs. dash. Top with mashed potatoes (I prefer homemade - with lots of butter) and brown in a preheated oven.

I do it this way instead of layering because the kids are much less likely to just pick out the vegetables : )

Find your local English Food store or English section at your grocery store and buy some Bisto (red container). This is a gravy mix. When you have everything (hamburger, onions, veggies) cooking nicely in the skillet, add some water(about a cup) and spinkle on some bisto, stir until mixed in and allow to thicken (a minute or two) sprinkle on more Bisto granules until you hve the right consistency.

I don't bother putting the meat and potatoes in another pan just to put in the oven for browning it only means you have more dishes to wash. If you want to have the potatoes on top of the meat then serve in a bowl instead of a plate.
Enjoy.

I have the easiest and actually a really tasty recipie for Shephards pie.... Here it is:
Brown up a pound or 2 or ground beef in a frying pan and drain off the fat. Then mix in 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, straight from the can without adding any water. (If you use 1 lb of beef, use 1 can of soup, 2 lbs of meat, use 2 cans of soup, etc.)
Once you mix the meat and soup together well, let it cook for a few minutes. Then, put the mixture in a casserole dish. On top of the mixture, open and empty the contents of a can of corn. Again, you can use 1 or 2 cans, depending on how much meat you have used. Then, you will need to prepare some mashed potatoes in another pot and then you will spread the mashed potatoes on top of the corn and meat after you have finished preparing those. I like to layer the potatoes a couple inches thick, and also have sprinkled the top with cheddar cheese too occasionally to add a nice hint of color. When you have assembled the whole thing in the casserole dish, you will need to cook it in the casserole dish in the oven at 350' for about 30 to 45 minutes, until the top of the potatoes is golden brown and the soup is bubbling up through at spots. You can poke the potatoes in a few places before you put it in the oven to make some holes to allow this to happen. This is one of my oldest daughters favorite meals, and it has just the right amount of seasoning from the soup mix. I never even have to add salt, although my husband still adds a little pepper. Good luck!

1 lb ground beef
1/2 small/medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
seasoning salt
3/4 cup beef stock
1 1/2 cups frozen corn and peas
4 -6 carrots, chopped
3 cups your favorite mashed potatoes

Preheat oven to 375.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add carrots and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. (if not using leftover mashed potatoes, cook potatoes and carrots together)
Brown ground beef with onions and garlic while carrots are cooking.
When carrots are finished, drain, mash and set aside.
Add flour and mix well.
Add ketchup, wocestershire, stock, and cook to thicken. Taste and add seasoned salt to desired taste.
Add mixed veggies and simmer.
Pour into a 2 quart casserole or deep glass pie dish and top with a layer of mashed carrots, then the mashed potatoes.
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.