Shepherds Pie

This recipe is adapted from therealfooddieticians.com. They use sweet potatoes as the topping, which I would love, but my family prefers regular mashed potatoes so I haven’t tried it with sweet potatoes yet. Visit therealfooddieticians.com for the full recipe with sweet potatoes. I’ll update here once I try that version.

My husband balked about eating shepherds pie because he thinks it’s too bland. Even he likes this version so I call that a win. And… always taste test the meat mixture to add seasonings to taste. You may need to add more salt and pepper than the recipe calls for.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 heaping teaspoons garlic, minced
• 3 ounces tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary or dried herb of choice
• 1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt or more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper or more to taste

Mashed Potatoes

• 3-5 lbs potatoes
• butter
• milk
• salt
• pepper

Directions

Peel, cut and boil potatoes.

While potatoes are boiling, brown the ground beef, onion, garlic and frozen vegetables in a 10 inch cast iron skillet.

Once meat is browned and vegetables are soft, add tomato paste, spices and salt and pepper. Adjust seasonings to taste, be sure to make this flavorful now as shepherds pie can be bland if not properly seasoned.

When the potatoes are soft enough to mash, strain the liquid from the potatoes and add butter, milk, salt and pepper to taste. Mix to combine and continue adding ingredients to taste.

Layer mashed potatoes on top of meat mixture in your 10 inch cast iron skillet or add meat mixture to a greased 9×13 dish and then top with mashed potatoes. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.