Shepherd’s Pie is a hearty, filling dish featuring meat, vegetables, and gravy under a fluffy bed of mashed potatoes. Bake this up for some ultimate comfort food.
Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the beef, onion, carrots, and mushrooms and cook until the beef is browned and the onion is translucent. Add the flour and stir until the drippings have completely absorbed the flour. Stir in the broth and spices. Simmer until thickened. Stir in the green beans or peas.
In a large pot of salted water, boil the potatoes until very tender.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and mash the potatoes until very fine. Add the butter and continue mashing, until the butter is melted and incorporated into the potatoes. Stir in the milk and cheddar cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon the meat mixture into the prepared baking dish.
Spoon the mashed potatoes over the meat mixture, taking care to seal the mashed potato topping all the way to the edges of the pan.
At this point you can chill the pie and refrigerate to bake later or chill, cover, and freeze up to 2 months. Before baking, thaw the pie in the refrigerator .
Bake the pie for 30 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the top is golden brown. If the pie is very cold, you may need to increase the baking time up to an hour.
Notes
Freezing notes: I recommend assembling the pie after the potatoes and filling have cooled off a bit. Do not bake it prior to freezing. Instead, chill it completely, wrap well for freezing, label, and freeze. You can bake it from frozen, adding about 20 to 30 minutes baking time, or thaw it completely and proceed as directed here.