Hearty Beef and Mushroom Shepherds Pie! – A favorite around here !
I really racked my brain trying to figure out what to call this dish besides just ‘Shepherds Pie’. ‘Fabulous’, ‘Ultimate’ and ‘The Best’ were all contenders. But when I think of this dish…I think ‘Hearty’ all the way.
In my world of lightened up food, this Hearty Shepherds Pie is a rich and wonderfully comforting meal that still remains relatively healthy with whole ingredients!
Yes, there is some butta in them taters but I didn’t add the whole cube and the mushroomy gravy is simply beef stock, thickened with a bit of flour, cooked right in the skillet with the beef so it gets a super rich flavor. The mushrooms really kick up the beefy flavor as well.
I have a fairly limited amount of beef recipes on this blog, ground or otherwise. I love beef, I just don’t always cook it well. I leave that to the steak houses. Ground beef can be a bit, well, ‘economical’ tasting for me :). But in this dish it is perfect. I suppose you could sub ground turkey or chicken and it was tempting for me. But sometimes…a girl just needs a little beef and tater casserole. Have to say, Mr. LS sure did appreciate it too.
It’s a mans meal and there was a big old happy food grin looking over at me!
The ‘plan’ to make this Hearty Beef and Mushroom Shepherds Pie:
- Start large pot of water to boil for potatoes.
- Peel potatoes and carrots. Cut up potatoes.
- Chop onion, garlic and carrots.
- Heat large skillet for beef mixture.
- Add potatoes to boiling water.
- Start browning your beef while potatoes boil.
- Add veggies to beef, flour and stock.
- Drain potatoes – put back into large pot where you will mash with sour cream, butter and milk.
- Assemble casserole – bake and done!
Not so daunting at all! Clean up while casserole is cooking and you are done! You can even make this early in the day and eat all weekend long as it reheats really well.
NOTES:
- Add ins – There are a lot of things you can do here. Corn, peas and cheese are the first three things that come to mind but if you have broccoli or celery, those all work. This dish is a fridge clean out receptacle. Almost anything goes!
- You will notice the addition of nutmeg. If you have not tried nutmeg in savory foods you are in for a treat! You can leave it out but it adds a wonderful nutty flavor.
- A thicker mashed potato consistency is recommended for this dish. Adjust the addition of milk accordingly.
- For a larger crowd or if you want to feed your family for a few more days. Simply double the recipe and use a 9 x 13 baking dish.
Another of my favorite hearty casseroles is Baked Spaghetti Casserole!
Too beefy, hearty, make your hubs happy meals!
Clink!
Kathi
Hearty Beef and Mushroom Shepherds Pie
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef I used 85/15
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped carrot
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup beef stock
- 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Mashed Potatoes
- 3 pounds large russet potatoes - Peeled and cut into 3 inch pieces about 2.5
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup milk approximately - adjust to desired consistency
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Butter a 9 x 9 baking dish.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil for potatoes.
- In large skillet, brown beef and drain off excess fat.
- Add carrots, onion, garlic and mushrooms to beef.
- Saute for 5 minutes until veggies are tender.
- Sprinkle beef mixture with flour and cook until flour is no longer visible.
- Add beef stock, worcestershire, salt, pepper and nutmeg
- Continue to cook until thick and bubbly. Turn off heat and mash potatoes.
- For Potatoes
- Drain potatoes and place back into large pot.
- Add butter, sour cream, milk, salt and pepper.
- Whip with electric mixer or use a hand masher (I use a hand masher).
- Add more milk is thinner consistency is desired. A thicker mashed potato is recommended for this dish.
- Pour beef mixture into baking dish. Top with mashed potatoes.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until top is brown and sides of casserole are bubbly.
- Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Rick Appleyard says
It cannot be shepherds pie if it contains beef !!! Shepherds pie is made with lamb. Cottage pie is made using beef, this is straightforward British cooking.
Kathi & Rachel says
Considering we’re not British, I appreciate your thoughtfulness to explain. In America, we refer to shepherd’s pie as the dish itself, regardless of the meat content (we sometimes even use ground turkey or chicken- gasp!). Happy Holidays, Rick!
John Bridgman says
Really good. I changed a few things based on what I had – mostly sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes, and a lot more mushrooms (a bit over 20 oz). I added the extra mushrooms partly because I only had a 9×13 pan and partly because I needed to use them up. I didn’t add beef stock because the mushrooms generated so much liquid, but I did add a bit of beef stock concentrate.
The only “personal taste” changes I made were the addition of a chopped-up jalapeno pepper and some sliced olives.
Hayley says
In this beef and mushroom shepherds pie receipe at no time in the preparation does it mention cooking, adding or when to add the mushrooms, which is the only reason I clicked on the site as I was worried about the effect of the mushrooms and causing the receipe to contain too much liquid.
Please can you reply and advise.
Many thanks
Hayley
Kathi & Rachel says
Line 5 of instructions in the recipe card :).
Alexis says
This was easy and soooooo good. Will definitely make again and again!
Carol says
This turned out very savory! I threw in some dried tomatoes that were on sale, so I added the other half cup of beef stock. It all cooked down nicely anyway! The half slices of dried tomato were fruity but too big. I liked the effect, so I’ll try the julienned version next time. I ended up munching on bits of the cottage pie as I fiddled with the topping.
I also replaced the mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower. I took a frozen box, microwaved it until the instructions said to mix them up, then threw it into a pan with a tablespoon of Feta cheese and mixed white cheeses each. Then kept occasionally mixing it until it started to brown against the pan. Then I poured it on top of the cottage pie mix and cooked it as above.
Whitney M says
Very very good. This went quickly. I actually almost doubled everything and put in a larger pan. The mushrooms are a must from now on. I added a tad of paprika to the potatoes as I usually do. This is a keeper 🙂
Thomas Cappiello says
Made this pretty close to recipe . Added kambucha squash to the potatoes and left everything in the skillet to bake rather than transferring to another dish. Also didn’t have beef stock so just used water. Came out pretty good. Will make again.
michele says
I love shepherds pie, but have never even thought of adding mushrooms? Brilliant!!
Kathi Kirk says
I’m adding mushrooms to everything lately…its a phase 🙂 Thanks for your note!
April @ Girl Gone Gourmet says
Bring on the meat and potatoes! Loving this classic comfort food dish 🙂 PS. Thanks for the laugh… “economical” tasting beef, so funny
Kathi Kirk says
Thanks April!
Kaitie says
We are in the middle of a snow storm right now, and all i can think of is warm comfort food for dinner… and this looks like it will definitely fit the bill! Delicious!
Kathi Kirk says
Well this would fill you up and you could shovel snow for hours! 🙂 Thanks for your note!
Fareeha says
This looks so good that i can have it any day, every day, all day
Kathi Kirk says
Thanks Fareeha, hoping you get a chance to try it!
Julie says
Hmm…how can you give it 5 stars if you haven’t tried it? I want to hear someone who has tried it. I agree it looks delicious, and I will try it, but then I will review and give it the stars my taste buds think it deserves.
Martha G. Plattse says
Hi Julie, no one cares. 🙂
best wishes, Martha G. Plattes
Ilona @ Ilona's Passion says
This is such a delicious dinner idea. I’ve never had Shepherds pie yet, so I want to try it. Pinning!