Try this incredible easy Shepherd’s Pie recipe with red wine! This delicious comfort meal is made with hearty ground lamb/beef, vegetables, red wine gravy filling and topped with fluffy mashed potatoes.
If you are looking for a delicious comforting meal, you should try this amazing recipe for Shepherd’s Pie! It’s made with a hearty filling of ground lamb/beef, vegetables, red wine gravy and topped with creamy mashed potatoes. There are so many flavors melded together in one pot!
Like many of my other comforting meals (Cheesy Broccoli Chicken and Rice Casserole, Classic Chicken Parmesan Recipe, Best Beef Chili Recipe, Borscht with Beef, Old Fashioned Goulash Recipe, and more) this recipe is easy to make and will be a great dish to feed your whole family.
Table of contents
What is Shepherd’s Pie?
This is a classic Irish dish traditionally made with ground lamb filling with carrots and peas and topped with creamy mashed potatoes.
Here, in the US, this recipe is usually made with ground beef instead of lamb and in this case is usually called Cottage Pie.
No matter what type of meat you use in this recipe, it is a great comfort meal to serve for a family dinner on a cold day.
How to make this recipe
Beef Filling
Preheat a large oven-safe skillet over medium/high heat and add some olive oil.
When it’s hot, add chopped onion and for about 5-7 minutes, or until the onions are soft and caramelized. Add chopped carrots and cook for additional 2-3 minutes, until softened. Add minced garlic and stir for about 30 seconds to release the aroma.
Add ground lamb or beef. Break it in smaller chunks and cook until you don’t see any more red pieces, about 8-10 minutes. Then add red pepper flakes, flour and stir. Add tomato paste, stir, and cook for a minute or two.
Now we can add red wine, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves. Stir and bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer uncovered for about 25-30 minutes, stir occasionally.
When it’s almost done, add frozen peas and cook for a couple of minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.
Mashed Potatoes
You can make this part in a Pressure Cooker, using my recipe for Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes or make it on the stove.
Place diced potatoes in a pot and cover with water.
Bring it to boil and cook until the potatoes are fully tender. Drain the liquids and add butter.
Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes and gradually add milk until the desired consistency. Season with salt and mix again.
Assemble
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
If you are using an oven-safe skillet, leave the filling in it and top with the mashed potatoes in an even layer. If your skillet in not oven-safe, transfer the filling in a baking pan or a casserole and then top with the potatoes.
Transfer the skillet or casserole to the oven and bake at 425°F for about 20 minutes, until the filling is bubbling.
Tips for best results
- To reduce the prepping and cooking time, you can start with boiling the potatoes. While they are cooking, start working on the meat filling. Both the potatoes and filling should be done pretty much at the same time. So, just mash the potatoes, top the meat, and bake. The whole process shouldn’t take more than an hour.
- Make sure you give enough time to reduce the sauce to have thick flavorful gravy. Taste it a few times to see if it needs any adjustments or seasoning.
- When you assemble the dish, I prefer to bake it instead of broiling, so it has enough time to bring the flavors together.
Options and Substitutions
- If you don’t want to use wine, just substitute it with more beef broth. The flavor will be less intense but still delicious. I also tried making this recipe with homemade chicken stock. It has much lighter flavor but still works quite well.
- If you want more vegetables in this dish, you can add more frozen mixed vegetables at the same time you would put frozen peas.
- Sometimes, I like to sprinkle some grated parmesan or sharp cheddar over the mashed potatoes and then bake, in this case you will have a nice cheesy golden crust.
- If you don’t count calories and want richer and creamier potatoes, you can add some heavy cream or half and half instead of milk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can make the meat filling and the mashed potatoes a day before and refrigerate. When you are ready to serve, assemble the dish and bake in the oven.
I prefer to use Cabernet Sauvignon, like Decoy (not sponsored). It’s not expensive and you can drink the rest of the wine. I also use this wine in my Red Wine Braised Short Ribs and Instant Pot Boneless Short Ribs.
Transfer the leftovers to an air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. You can reheat it in a microwave or put in a preheated oven and bake at 350°F for about 10-15 minutes.
You can easily serve this meal on its own or with some side dishes and bread.
Bread (Easy Dinner Rolls, Homemade Sandwich Bread)
Salads (Farro Salad Recipe, Roasted Beet Salad, Olivie)
Side Dishes (Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan, Oven Roasted Butternut Squash)
Did you make this recipe?!? I’d love to know how it turned out! leave a comment and a rating below👇 thank you!
Easy Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for Filling:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 2 large carrots finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 pounds ground lamb or beef
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ cup red wine
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- salt, pepper to taste
- 1 cup frozen peas
Ingredients for Mashed Potatoes:
- 2 ½ pounds Russet potatoes peeled and diced into chunks
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½-1 cup milk
- salt to taste
Instructions
Filling
- Preheat a large oven-safe skillet over medium/high heat and add some olive oil.
- When it’s hot, add chopped onion and for about 5-7 minutes, or until the onions are soft and caramelized. Add chopped carrots and cook for additional 2-3 minutes, until softened. Add minced garlic and stir for about 30 seconds to release the aroma.
- Add ground lamb or beef. Break it in smaller chunks and cook until you don’t see any more red pieces, about 8-10 minutes. Then add red pepper flakes, flour and stir. Add tomato paste, stir, and cook for a minute or two.
- Now we can add red wine, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves. Stir and bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer uncovered for about 25-30 minutes, stir occasionally.
- When it’s almost done, add frozen peas and cook for a couple of minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.
Mashed Potatoes
- Place diced potatoes in a pot and cover with water.
- Bring it to boil and cook until the potatoes are fully tender. Drain the liquids and add butter.
- Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes and gradually add milk until the desired consistency. Season with salt and mix again.
Assemble
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- If you are using an oven-safe skillet, leave the filling in it and top with the mashed potatoes in an even layer. If your skillet in not oven-safe, transfer the filling in a baking pan or a casserole and then top with the potatoes.
- Transfer the skillet or casserole to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until the filling is bubbling.
So yum. The wine makes all the difference!