This healthful and flavorful Shepherd's Pie defies tradition by forgoing the usual ground or minced meat, and uses portabella mushrooms instead. This version also leaves out the butter and milk, but leaves in the mashed potatoes, carrots and peas!
Shepherd’s Pie
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 mins
- Yield: 6 to 8 1x
Ingredients
- Mashed Potatoes:
- 3 pounds russet potatoes (about 5 medium-large), peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 teaspoons granulated/dried onion
- 1 teaspoon granulated/dried garlic
- 1-2 cups unsweetened nondairy milk or cooking water
- Vegetable filling:
- 2 large portabella mushrooms, chopped small (about 4 cups)
- 1 medium yellow or white onion chopped (about 2 cups)
- 2 medium carrots, cut into ¼-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
- 2 ribs celery, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped (1 tablespoon)
- 1½ cups water
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 cups green peas
- 1 cup mashed potatoes
Instructions
- In a soup pot on high heat, add the potatoes with enough water to cover. Stir in the granulated onion and garlic, and bring to a boil uncovered, cooking until tender (10 to 15 minutes).
- While the potatoes are cooking, in a large frying pan or soup pot on medium-high heat, add the mushrooms, onions, carrots, and celery, and cook while stirring for about 3 to 5 minutes, adding the garlic during the last minute (and adding water as needed to keep things from sticking).
- Add to the frying pan, the 1½ cups water, tomato paste, thyme, and paprika. Stir and cover. Cook on medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Stir in the peas. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375°F and set out a 13x9-inch baking dish.
- When the boiling potatoes are tender, drain off the cooking water into a bowl (or use a slotted spoon to remove the potatoes), and transfer the potatoes to a separate mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer (or potato masher), gradually pour in the 1 to 2 cups of nondairy milk (or cooking water, or a mix) until your desired consistency is reached and the potatoes are smooth.
- Stir 1 cup of the mashed potatoes into the vegetable filling in the frying pan. Pour the filling into the baking dish and spread evenly. (The filling at this point should not be watery, but like a thick stew. If there is extra liquid, just spoon some out.)
- Add the remaining mashed potatoes to the top and spread evenly. Create some texture in the potatoes using a large serving fork or other utensil (you can get creative here).
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are lightly browned on the high spots (or see Notes). Let cool for 10 minutes before serving (it will thicken as it cools). Season with black pepper to taste.
Notes
Instead of mushrooms, try cooked lentils (2-3 cups).
Also try adding cooked green beans and/or corn in step 3.
For a smoky flavor, use ½-1 teaspoon smoked paprika in place of regular.
Sage is also a great fresh or dried herb to use in this dish instead of or in addition to fresh thyme.
If you want to make this in a standard or deep-dish pie pan instead, halve the recipe. (If your dish is pretty full, you may want to bake it on a baking sheet, so no filling boils over onto your oven.)
If your mashed potatoes are not sufficiently browned after baking, bake for 1-3 minutes on broil (but keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn, which can happen quickly).
- Prep Time: 55 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 337 g (⅛ of recipe)
- Calories: 242
- Sugar: 6.5 g
- Sodium: 129 mg
- Fat: 0.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 52.3 g
- Fiber: 8 g
- Protein: 8.3
- Cholesterol: 0
Above: Here is a visual for the chopped vegetables. You want them pretty small, especially the carrots, as these take the longest to cook.
Top left: Adding about 1 cup of mashed potatoes to the frying pan of cooked vegetables. Right: Spreading the mashed potatoes over the filling (see how the filling isn't too soupy? If it has too much liquid, it will make the potatoes harder to spread).
Create some texture on the top of the potatoes before baking. Here I used a soup spoon to create cloudy swirls.
Here I used a large serving fork, first going across one direction, then another.
The finished top of the Shepherd's Pie, nicely browned. Yum!
This looks delicious! Love your recipes.
Wow! This was a fantastic addition to my non-SOS arsenal. It was flavorful, easy, and very satisfying. I paired it with your zucchini bread which was also a winner! I'm so in debted to you for all these wonderful and healthy recipes. Thank you!
Thanks for the comment Michele! Glad you liked it! 😉
I made this last night, and surprisingly my meat loving dad (who usually mocks my food) loved it! Thanks for the recipe!
Nice! Love to hear that! 🙂
I'd like to make and take this to a family gathering (12 hr drive) this Thanksgiving. Can this be prepared ahead and frozen? Thanks!! Devra
I would make up the filling, make the mashed potatoes, and keep them separate on the drive (in an ice chest) then assemble it and bake when you get there. Mashed potatoes won't freeze well, so I wouldn't freeze it ahead of time. If you want something that will freeze well, try the lentil-rice loaf. That is a nice main dish. 🙂
Thank you, I'll try both!
Kathy, this is similar to one I make so I know it’s delicious. Kids love it, too. One thing I do differently is add a rich vegetable stock ad the liquid for the mashed potatoes. And for the water sauté. Flavorful. I make my own stock and freeze it in 1 cup batches. So handy.
Matie, can you post your recipe for your vegetable stock? Thanks!
Made this for dinner tonite! Delish!!! I also threw in some lentils. Thank you so much! This recipe is a keeper!
Thanks so much, Deb! Yes, I am guessing lentils would be a nice alternative to mushrooms too; I'll have to try a version like this and add a note for it. 🙂
This looks delicious. 🙂 I've been craving comfort foods. Will the leftovers freeze well? How long would you recommend keeping it in the fridge before it spoils?
I don't think mashed potatoes would freeze that well, but you could try a piece and see how it goes. In the fridge I'd probably keep it 2-3 days.
I have frozen regular mashed potatoes many times so I’m guessing these would work great to freeze too! I’m going to experiment and then I will report back .
Yes, let me know how it turns out. Generally potatoes thaw with a different texture than before freezing, kind of chalky, but still tasty. 🙂
This may be a silly question, but do I mix the cup of mash into the veggie filling before pouring it into the baking dish? Does this help thicken the filling before layering the mash potatoes on top? This looks delish! Going to store to get ingredients now 🙂
Yes, exactly; it does help thicken the filling. 🙂
I don't eat white potatoes. Do you think I could substitute sweet potatoes or riced cauliflower? Would that thicken it? Maybe I could use lentils or ground flaxseed for a thickener if you think I need it with the substitution.
I think sweets would be best, or lentils. 🙂
Thanks! I'll try it later this week. Right now I have the Tu-No in the oven. Last night my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the Apple Pineapple Crisp. I even had some for breakfast this morning. So delicious!!! Thanks for all your work on making such wonderful recipes.
Thanks Cheryl! 😉
I am trying to use your print feature, but it does not work on my iPhone. It comes up with the page grayed out. For an example, I am able to print from brandnewvegan’s blog. I haven’t looked at the source code to see what the difference is.
Hi Margaret, yes, I see the same with my iPhone. I'm not sure what the issue is, as I've never tried printing from a phone before. But I will look into it. Thank you.
I just made this recipe and it’s fantastic. Thanks so much for this “clean” recipe. Your methods have shown me how to make healthful versions of old favorites and they always taste better!
Great, thanks Richard! 😉
I just made this for my kids and they absolutely loved it. It’s so hard to get them to eat a variety of veggies. This is perfect and going into a weekly rotation. Thank you so much for so many great recipes 😊
Yay! Thanks Kathy. 🙂
This is better than Mark Bittman's plant based recipe. I love cloudy swirls! <3
Have made this twice now for a family dinner!! Very yummy and easy to make!!
Thank you Kimberley! 🙂 Yay!
Looks delicious ... Going to make ❤️
Dillon posted this & made it on well your world ❤️
We had this for dinner tonight. My goodness, this was so good. My entire family loved it. That is including my two college age, omni sons who both told me this was a "make again."
Yay! Thanks for the comment Maisey! 🙂
I LOVE that you showed how the vegetables should look chopped! I haven’t cooked in years and am a bit rusty, so this helps tremendously. My husband used to do all the cooking, but I am eating this way on my own, so am having to learn all over again. Ha!
I just made this and this is one of my new favorites of your dishes, it tastes fresh and clean and I am so happy you have made these resources free. I have many many digestive issues, and eating a whole food plant based diet has brought me back to as close to normal as i have been in years. If people are having digestive issues, this may be a good path to try. i thank you again, as well as my nutritionist that took the time to really lay ot out for me.
Yay! Thanks Amanda! 🙂
Just made this a few hours ago and I LOVE it. Will definitely make again.
Thanks Shae! 😉
What a treat to come across a healthy, vegan version of one of my childhood favorites! As I’m not a mushroom fan, I opted to swap the mushrooms for lentils, which was easy enough. However, I’m afraid it was lacking flavor over all. Are mushrooms that much more flavorful than lentils? Do you have suggestions for how to make it more flavorful? e.g., I saw some folks wrote they used broth or Worcestershire sauce. Thank you very much!
I have this in the oven now. I used what I had.... baby bellas, I didn't have enough russets, so I threw in a sweet potato. I added a little vegan Worcestershire sauce for a little extra flavor. I added some corn with the peas. I'm sure it will be delicious!
Yum! Thanks for the comment, Mary! 😉
Made this yesterday for dinner. Oh WOW! WOW! WOW! I have been craving shepherds pie for a while and came across your recipe. I was glad to see you used mushrooms in place of ground meat. For some reason at 78, meat just isn't high on my consumption list anymore. I defrost meat for dinners and by the time dinner rolls around I just don't want to cook it or eat it. My hubby gets to eat it. Anyway, this wonderful recipe was absolutely brimming with flavor. I followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect! Because it was only me eating it I halved the recipe. Just had another small portion for my lunch today and it tasted even better! So now I think I'll just spend some time browsing through your many recipes to see what I'll make for tomorrows dinner. Many thanks for such a wonderful meat free recipe.
Thanks for your comment Joanne! 🙂 Welcome!
Made this for Christmas dinner and am enjoying the leftovers as much as I enjoyed the original meal. Next time I think I'll add additional mushrooms. All in all, a terrific addition to my meal rotation. Thank you!
Thanks for the comment Rosemary! 🙂 I love mushrooms too! Happy Holidays!