Beef Shepherd's Pie
In the UK: Cottage Pie
- 1 h 14 mintotal time
- $2.80£1.78a serving
- 661633calories
- 2931 gprotein
Serves 4; price is an estimate. Dinner Plan is a paid weekly plan for your household and budget. You see your week before you pay.
Rich beef and vegetables under fluffy mashed potato, baked until golden on top.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 1 lb ground beef (80/20)
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 7 oz carrots, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2.25 lb russet potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
- 2 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ½ cup cheddar cheese, grated, for the top (optional)
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Contains: milk, celery. Check the label: wheat (gluten), soy, sulfites. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15–18 minutes until very tender.
- Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large pan on medium-high heat, add the ground beef and wash your hands after handling the raw meat. Brown the beef for 6–8 minutes, breaking it up, until no pink remains (160°F). Add the yellow onion, carrots and garlic and cook for 6 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste and dried thyme, then add the crumbled bouillon cube and 1½ cups (350 ml) of water. Simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, drain the potatoes and mash with the butter, whole milk, salt and black pepper.
- Mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water, stir it in and let it bubble until thickened. Add the peas, season and spoon into a baking dish.
- Spread the mash over the filling, rough up the top with a fork and scatter over cheddar if using. Bake for 20–25 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Leftovers: Fridge 3 days or freeze up to 3 months; reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 450 g beef mince (20% fat)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 200 g carrots, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 150 g frozen peas
- 30 g tomato purée
- 1000 g white potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
- 30 g butter
- 75 ml semi-skimmed milk
- 60 g mature cheddar, grated, for the top (optional)
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Contains: milk, celery. Check the label: gluten, soya, sulphites. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15–18 minutes until very tender.
- Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large pan on medium-high heat, add the beef mince and wash your hands after handling the raw meat. Brown the beef for 6–8 minutes, breaking it up, until no pink remains (71°C). Add the onion, carrots and garlic and cook for 6 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato purée and dried thyme, then add the crumbled stock cube and 350 ml of water. Simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, drain the potatoes and mash with the butter, semi-skimmed milk, salt and black pepper.
- Mix the cornflour with 2 tablespoons of cold water, stir it in and let it bubble until thickened. Add the peas, season and spoon into a baking dish.
- Spread the mash over the filling, rough up the top with a fork and scatter over cheddar if using. Bake for 20–25 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Leftovers: Fridge 3 days or freeze up to 3 months; reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 661 |
|---|---|
| Protein | 29 g |
| Carbohydrate | 63 g |
| Fat | 33 g |
| Fiber | 9 g |
| Sodium | 828 mg |
| Calories | 633 |
|---|---|
| Protein | 31 g |
| Carbohydrate | 65 g |
| Fat | 30 g |
| Fibre | 10 g |
| Sodium | 599 mg |
Worked out from the ingredients, 533 g a serving; optional extras and salt to taste aren't counted. US and UK values differ a little because each uses that country's food data and products. US values from USDA FoodData Central.UK values from McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset 2021, under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What it costs
About $2.80 a serving in the US (range $2.14–$3.71) and £1.78 in the UK (range £1.36–£2.35). That's the share of each ingredient this recipe uses; basics like oil, salt and spices aren't counted.
Prices are estimates. Item prices come from public price data where available (US: Bureau of Labor Statistics and USDA; UK: Office for National Statistics). Where that data has no match, we use our own estimate. Ranges set using Open Prices data (Open Food Facts, ODbL). Prices as of October 2026. How we estimate
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