Most of the delicious recipes I share come directly from my mom! I’m just the blogger who puts it out into the world. My mom made this shepherd’s pie recipe earlier in the year for us and I immediately knew I wanted to make at home. The whole family loves this wholesome and classic and hearty meal. Veggies and protein all mixed together, topped with mashed potatoes. I mean, how can you go wrong?! Here’s how to make shepherds’s pie using store bought mashed potatoes (the ultimate shortcut)!
I used ground turkey for our meal, but you can certainly use ground beef. When I substitute turkey for beef, my family can never tell and it’s healthier and cheaper! I also “cheat” and use Bob Evens precooked mashed potatoes. It takes so much time off when cooking – I love making things semi-homemade! Recipes that once seemed daunting, now seem easy because of this mashed potato hack! In my opinion, Bob Evans potatoes are the best precooked option and we use them often.
Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 carrot stick, chopped
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- 1 pound ground beef or turkey
- 3 Tablespoons flour
- 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 (14.5 oz) can beef broth
- 1 beef boullian cube
- 2 Tablespoons worchestire sauce
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- Pre-Cooked Potatoes from the refrigerated aisle (or make your own!)
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic, carrots, and celery until tender.
- Cook beef/turkey in a separate pan until cooked through. Drain any grease.
- Combine veggies + meat and remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat until bubbly.
- Spray a casserole dish or a 9 x 13 dish with cooking spray (I use avocado spray). Add veggie and meat mixture to the pan.
- Heat the mashed potatoes through according to package instructions. Top the veggie and meat mixture with heated mashed potatoes.
- Drizzle the top of the potatoes with EVOO and add salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
You can bake with the bay leaves, but remove before serving (don’t eat)! Everything is already “cooked”, so technically you are putting in the oven to heat through. Right before you are doing to pull it out, you can take the extra step of turning on the broiler for a 1-3 minutes to brown the top a little (not necessary though)!
This Shepherd’s Pie recipe is simple to pull together and it gets my family eating veggies! When I told my kids that I was getting ready to blog about Shepherd’s Pie and they both said, “let’s have that again soon”! Who doesn’t love a meal the whole family enjoys?! I usually serve with a side salad and maybe some fruit! Let me know if you make it and what you think! XO
