Skillet Shepherd’s Pie is a delicious comfort food dinner. Seasoned ground beef, carrots, peas, cheddar cheese, and more topped with potatoes and baked in the oven to finish off this skillet pie.
Now you can use ground lamb for a more traditional shepherd’s pie. This is a great dinner that is loaded with protein, nutrients, and veggies that your children will gobble right up.
If you like this one pan dish, try my Citrus Chicken or Garlic Butter Shrimp with Asparagus!
What is Shepherd’s Pie
Shepherd’s pie is a vintage recipe that has been around forever. The dish is loaded with lamb, vegetables and a rich broth. Then it is topped with mashed potatoes, which is supposed to mimic sheep fleece.
Depending on where you live and the recipe you use, will find the recipes have adapted over the years. A lot of them in today’s time uses ground beef instead of lamb.
Ingredients Needed
- Potatoes – I used russet potatoes as they are a great potato that makes tasty and creamy mashed potatoes.
- Salt
- Salted Butter – I do recommend using real butter not margarine for this recipe.
- Cheddar Cheese – The cheese adds such a delicious flavor to the dish. Feel free to omit if you are not a fan of cheese.
- Sour Cream – You can use Greek plain yogurt in replace of sour cream if you want.
- Milk – Whole milk works best for this recipe.
- Ground Beef or Lamb – You can use ground beef or ground lamb. Both proteins will work great for this recipe.
- Vegetables – Peas, onion, carrots, are all I used to add extra flavor. Feel free to change up the veggies used.
- Seasoning – Garlic, parsley, and dried oregano help to flavor your protein.
- Flour – This is the thickening agent to make a roux for the sauce of this pie.
- Beef Broth – You can also use bone broth if you don’t have a classic beef broth.
How to Make Skillet Shepherd’s Pie
Step One: Preheat the oven as directed. Then in a saucepan you will work on cooking your potatoes to make mashed potatoes.
Step Two: Once the potatoes are fork tender, drain the water, and add in the milk, sour cream, parsley, and part of the cheese. Mix until fluffy and fully combined.
Step Three: Now you will cook up the meat, carrots, onion and garlic. Cook until the meat is fully browned. Then add in peas, and salt.
Step Four: Add the flour over the mixture and then slowly stir in the broth and oregano and parsley. Mix until the mixture begins to thicken.
Step Five: Remove from heat and then spoon the mashed potatoes over the beef mixture. Then add on the cheese, and bake.
Slice and serve up this comfort food dinner!
Storing Leftovers
Refrigerate – You can refrigerate any of the shepherd’s pie you do not eat right away. Simply store in an airtight container for 2-3 days in the fridge. Then warm it up in the microwave or reheat in the oven.
Freezer – If you want to freeze the cooked shepherd’s pie in single serve freezer containers. Freeze for 3-4 months, and thaw in the fridge overnight before you reheat. Or reheat straight from being frozen.
Helpful Tips and Variations
- Feel free to use up any vegetables you want from your produce drawer.
- For the mashed potatoes if you want the top decorated, place potatoes in a piping bag and top the skillet like you were decorating cupcakes.
- If you don’t have an ovenproof skillet you can transfer the casserole into a baking dish.
- Season your meat as you would like.
Recipe
Skillet Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
- • 6-8 russet potatoes peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
- • 1 tablespoon and ½ teaspoon salt divided
- • 2 tablespoons salted butter
- • 1 cup old cheddar cheese grated
- • ½ cup sour cream
- • ⅓ cup milk
- • 1 pound ground beef or ground lamb
- • 1 cup carrots chopped
- • ½ cup onion chopped
- • 1 cup frozen peas
- • 3 cloves garlic minced
- • 3 tablespoons flour
- • 1 cup beef broth
- • 3 tablespoons fresh parsley
- • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a medium saucepan, add potatoes and 1 tablespoon of salt and cover with water. Boil until tender and drain. Return the potatoes to the saucepan.
- Add the butter and mash the potatoes.
- Add milk, sour cream, 1 tablespoon of the parsley and ½ the cup of cheddar. Using your beaters, whip the potatoes until fluffy. Set aside.
- In a large cast iron skillet, fry the ground beef, carrots, onion and garlic over medium heat until the meat is browned. Add the peas and ½ teaspoon of salt and cook for another few minutes.
- Sprinkle flour over the mixture and add the beef broth, the oregano and the rest of the parsley. Cook until the broth is thickened. Remove from heat.
- Spoon the potatoes over the beef mixture. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 15-20 mins.
- Let stand for 10 mins and enjoy!
Nutrition Disclosure
Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
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