Easy Shepherd’s Pie recipe made with ground beef and frozen vegetables with buttery cheesy mashed potatoes on top. This simple casserole dinner is ready in 1 hour from start to finish.
Easy to Make Shepherd’s Pie
Shepherd’s Pie is one of my family’s favorite meals, especially on a cold Winter night. Not only is it delicious, but it’s easy to make with basic ingredients I usually always have in my kitchen. We make it with ground beef, but some people would say it’s only traditional if you use ground lamb – really, it’s up to you.
I prefer making the mashed potatoes from scratch, but you can also use instant potatoes if you’d like. For the frozen mixed vegetables, I like pea, carrot, corn mixture, but you could totally just use all peas, or all corn if that’s what you have in the freezer.
I hope you try this Easy Shepherd’s Pie recipe soon!
Ingredients
Here’s everything you need to make this recipe.
- potatoes – peeled and diced
- butter
- ground beef
- green pepper
- bag of frozen mixed vegetables
- can of tomato soup
- onion powder
- shredded cheese
How to Make Shepherd’s Pie
Make the mashed potatoes. We do this by boiling the potatoes for about 20 minutes (or until you can easily slide a fork through them). Drain, and then add the potatoes back to the pot. No hand mixer is required, just use a potato masher or a spoon. Add butter and mix.
Make the ground beef. Cook the beef with a chopped green pepper until the meat is browned, about 10 minutes. Once it’s cooked add in frozen vegetables, tomato soup and onion powder.
Layer 1. Add ground beef mixture into a 8×8 baking dish, spreading it so it covers the bottom.
Layer 2. Now add the mashed potatoes on top, spreading them all around.
Layer 3. Finally, sprinkle the shredded cheese on top. I prefer white cheddar but you can use orange cheddar or colby jack if you want. Also, my helper showed up to stuff some cheese in her mouth while helping me make dinner. 🙂
Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.
Can I make this with instant potatoes?
If you want to make this recipe even quicker, you can skip boiling potatoes in the beginning and instead use instant potatoes. Just make instant potatoes per the directions on package and then add on top. If you go this route you can skip both potatoes and butter in the recipe ingredients.
What to Serve With the Best Shepherd’s Pie
The recipe includes meat and vegetables already so I recommend either something bready or some fresh vegetables. Here’s some suggestions:
Fluffy Dinner Rolls
Bread Machine Italian Bread
Flaky Biscuits
Easy Garlic Knots
Kale Salad With Cherry Tomatoes
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Easy Shepherd’s Pie
PrintIngredients
- 3 large potatoes peeled and diced
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 green pepper chopped
- 1 16 oz bag of frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 10.75 oz can can tomato soup
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until potatoes are soft and a fork easily slides through them, about 20 minutes. Drain. Add potatoes back into pot. Add butter and mix until mashed.
- In a pan, cook ground beef and green pepper until beef is browned, about 10 minutes. Add in frozen mixed vegetables, tomato soup and onion powder, mixing to combine everything.
- Place ground beef mixture into a 8×8 baking dish, spreading out to completely cover the bottom. Add mashed potatoes on top of ground beef mixture, using a spoon or spatula to spread out.
- Sprinkle shredded cheese on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes before serving.
Hayden says
Can I make it without cheese I despise it with a burning passion
Pamela says
You can absolutely skip the cheese if you’d like! 🙂
Rick Trimble says
Old recipe ….but always a good one!
Jon DoeUK says
Looks good. But technically a Cottage Pie. Shepherd’s Pie is made with lamb or mutton, not beef.👍
Susan anderson says
Very tasty, very easy, recipie. I made this, with salad, an bread. You can, also, make it in, little soup bowls, for small get-together.
Anna M Bunt says
Easy and looks yummy.
Sue says
Thanks for this recipe, Pam….my mother used tomato soup in soooo many recipes. Never occurred to me to try it for Shepherds Pie. Delish!