Homemade Cottage Pie

Welcome to Foodie Friday! Have you ever had cottage pie (or shepherd’s pie)?  They’re pretty much the same thing except that the former uses ground beef and the latter uses lamb!

I made this with my NJ hiking buddy somewhere last year! We had a bunch of plans to clear out our “east coast hiking bucket list.” …Quite unfortunately, the world had other plans and there were thunderstorms every weekend that I wasn’t on call and we were mutually free.

So instead of hiking to the top of a mountain in a thunderstorm, we instead decided to hole up instead and cook delicious food + watch movies on those days. This was from one of those days! :]

I’m finally getting around to writing up the recipes that we made once upon a time! Last year was a super busy one, what with taking boards, getting stuff ready for and then graduating from residency, as well as my cross-country road trip. My blog definitely ended up on the back burner, but I guess I’m making up for it now! :P

Homemade Cottage Pie

Print Recipe

Homemade Cottage Pie

Check out this variation of a shepherd's pie (using ground beef instead of lamb) for a tasty comfort food!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: English

Servings: 1 pie

Calories: 448kcal

Ingredients

Mashed Potato Topping

• 2 lb potatoes peeled + quartered
• 1-2 tbsp butter-flavored coconut oil
• 1 cup milk
• sprinkle of sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Filling

• 1 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 small onion diced
• 2-3 small carrots diced
• 3-4 garlic cloves minced
• 2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• sprinkle of sea salt
• shredded cheese optional

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400 F.
• For the mashed potatoes, boil until very tender, then drain + mash with butter + milk. Season with salt and pepper.
• Saute beef in a pan over medium-high heat until browned (~8-10 min), then remove beef and place in a bowl. Add the garlic + veggies to the pain and cook until softened (~8-10 min).
• Reduce the heat to medium, then add in the tomato paste + flour and use spatula to mix together. Add the beef back along with the vegetable stock, Worcestershire sauce + thyme. Let it simmer for 5-10 min until it thickens. Season with salt + pepper.
• Transfer the meat + veggie mixture into a circular baking dish and spoon the mashed potatoes over the mixture. Top with shredded cheese.
• Cook for 20-30 min or until top is golden.
• Let cool for 5-10 minutes prior to serving.

Notes

If you want to freeze this (before baking) to eat later, just let it thaw in the fridge overnight and cook as above!

End-of-Week-ish Recap!

• Come join me virtually to see how to maximize your time if you’re spending just one day in Arches National Park for this week’s Travel Tuesday!

Check out other Foodie Friday recipes!

• Have you ever had cottage pie?
• What’s your favorite type of comfort food?