Shepherd’s pie baked potato is a unique way to serve an old British classic. Impress your company, or simply serve them for a weeknight comfort food meal everyone will love!
One of the most sobering moments of my life was when I came to the realization that I would die before being able to make all of the recipes I wanted to try. Luckily I make shepherd’s pie baked potato often!
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That may seem silly to a lot of people, but it hit me like a ton of (recipe) books!
What is a Shepherd’s Pie Baked Potato?
To explain in detail, shepherd’s herd sheep, so a shepherd’s pie is made with lamb and a mashed potato topping. If you make this dish using beef, it is called a cottage pie. No clue why that is! So a shepherd’s pie baked potato is a twice-baked potato that’s filled with a meat and gravy filling, and is SO delicious!
It was years ago when I had been going through old cooking magazines and was overwhelmed at the amount of recipes that I was keeping. I wanted to try making all of the recipes at least once.
Another fabulous recipe from a magazine: honey pear cake.
Did I narrow them down, throw some of the magazines away, or donate some of my cookbooks, you ask? Of course not, however, I must tell you that I am very, very happy when I eventually make something which I’ve been eyeing for years!
I saw a photo of these lovely individual shepherd’s* pies in a “Women’s Weekly Cookery” Magazine (I guess it’s not for men!) which my Aunt Elvira had given me many years ago, and had wanted to make them since.
Well, that day finally came, and I did it; of course I knew it would be simple, but I just LOVED the presentation, so I decided to post this as an idea for a Valentine’s day dinner. It’s easy to make, can be prepared in advance and tastes delicious; what could be better?
Shepherd’s Pie Baked Potato
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 4 to 6 large baking potatoes, preferably from Idaho
- a little butter, salt and half & half (or milk)
- 1/2 recipe of shepherd’s (cottage) pie meat filling
Step by Step Directions
Bake the potatoes in a 375º F (190º C) oven for about 50 minutes or until cooked.
Remove from oven and scoop out the center, leaving a little potato as a shell.
Next, peel the skin from the top part of the potato which was cut out, and mash or rice the remaining potato with some butter, salt and half and half (or milk) to a creamy consistency.
Fill the potato shells with the prepared meat then add the potato on top. (To make the potatoes look the same as the ones in my photos, place the mashed potato in a piping bag with a large tip or you can just spoon the potatoes on top, and fluff them up with a fork.)
Next, place the shepherd’s pies in baked potatoes in a baking dish or tray and bake in 375º F (190º C) oven for about 20 minutes. To brown the top, place under the broiler for a minute or two, but be careful as they will brown very quickly.
Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Serve your shepherd’s pie baked potato immediately, but warn your diners that the filling will be extremely hot.
*Remember that authentic shepherd’s pie is made with lamb; this is truly cottage pie, but most Americans wouldn’t know what cottage pie is, therefore, I’ve entitled it as the former.
How about serving a British banoffee pie for dessert after this main course?
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Shepherd's Pie Baked Potato
A cute and different way to serve Shepherd's Pie. Perfect for a weeknight meal, or even for company.
Ingredients
- 4 to 6 large baking potatoes
- a little butter
- 2 Tbsp half & half (or milk)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 recipe of shepherd’s (cottage) pie (see recipe below)
Instructions
- Bake the potatoes in a 375º F (190º C) oven for about 50 minutes or until cooked.
- Remove from oven and scoop out the center leaving a little potato as a shell.
- Remove the skin from the top part of the potato which was cut out, and mash the remaining potato with some butter, salt and half and half (or milk) to a creamy consistency.
- Fill the potato shells with the prepared meat then add the potato on top. (To make the potatoes look the same as the ones in my photos, place the mashed potato in a piping bag with a large tip or you can just spoon the potatoes on top, and fluff them up with a fork.)
- Place the potatoes in a baking dish or tray and bake in 375º F (190º C) oven for about 20 minutes.
- To brown the top, if it's not as golden brown as you'd like, place under the broiler for a minute or two, but be careful as they will brown very quickly.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Notes
Use lamb for shepherd's pie and beef for cottage pie.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 470Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 381mgCarbohydrates: 97gFiber: 10gSugar: 5gProtein: 12g
Nutrition information is only estimated.
Simple Shepherd's Pie
A classic traditional British dish. Real comfort food and perfect for cold days.
Ingredients
- 1 OXO beef bouillion cube (or 1 tsp Beef Better Than Bouillion)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground lamb (for authentic Shepherd's Pie, use ground lamb instead of beef -if you use beef, call it cottage pie)
- 1 medium to large onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp Bisto
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- salt & pepper
- mashed potatoes (made with butter and half and half)
- (optional: shredded Cheddar cheese)
Instructions
- Sauté the diced onion for a few minutes over medium high heat, stirring occasionally. Close the lid for another few minutes, and continue to cook.
- Once the onion is translucent, and just starting to brown, add the ground beef and break the pieces up into smaller bits. Stir often, and continue to cook until the liquid starts to dry (if not using Bisto, add a tablespoon of flour at this time).
- Add enough water, just to almost cover the ingredients, and simmer. At this point, add about 1/4 tsp. salt, one OXO cube (or 1 tsp Beef Better than Bouillon), 1 tbsp Bisto granules, 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce and some ground black pepper to taste.
- Now, preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC).
- Continue to simmer the meat over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, then taste; if needed, add more salt or Bisto. Remove from heat.
- Ladle the beef and gravy into oven safe ramekins or bowls, to make individual Cottage Pies, or just one large dish. Spoon (or pipe) mashed potatoes onto each dish to cover completely. Add shredded Cheddar cheese on top, if desired.
- Place dishes/ramekins onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake until bubbly and the potato is browned a little, approximately 25-30 minutes.
Notes
Omit the Bisto if you want to make it gluten free (may contain traces of gluten).
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 bowlAmount Per Serving: Calories: 867Total Fat: 59gSaturated Fat: 23gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 31gCholesterol: 227mgSodium: 954mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 56g
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Hi Christina!
Love the idea of making the cottage pie in the potato skin will surely give that a go on the weekend as hubby has been away fishing where it has been much colder than he expected so I’m thinking he’ll be hoping for a nice hot and cozy meal when he comes home.
Oh my gosh, I get you on coming to the understanding you’ll never be able to make everything you’d like to make before your final days as I’m the same. I have walls and extra book shelves of cookbooks, upstairs, downstairs, some in a spare bedroom, some in the den, some cookbooks are new, some old, some are mine, some are my mothers and grandmothers. Add to cookbooks, I have numerous recipe boxes crammed with old clipped magazine recipes and hand written recipes from family and friends, also have cardboard boxes of pages torn out of magazine dating back years, some are from UK magazines, some are from US magazines, some are from Canadian magazines, some are from Asian magazines. Also have scrapbooks and photo albums I’ve filled with even more recipes some being my mothers clipped recipes, some being hand written from family or friends, some being mine, some about different diets I tried off and on throughout the years until I came to the realization I don’t look that bad anyway so give up the darn diets!
You’d think I’d not want another cookbook or recipe to deal with ever again but with my obsession ( only explanation for it ) for the latest promoted cookbook I read about online that have a link to the book which I usually end up buying, then there’s my favourite cooking blogs who generously offer some pretty tasty sounding recipes that readers like myself able to print out so I can add it to the gazillion recipes I’ve already printed and filed under Make Soon, I doubt it will ever happen.
As for the history behind the origin of Cottage Pie check out the link, it gives a pretty good explanation even though a wee bit of the history will I think, always be a mystery.
http://thompsonhouse.ca/2017/11/cottage-pie-history/
Stay well everyone
Be Kind
Be Calm
Be safe
Sounds like you’re outdoing me on the recipe front, Joycelyn! Wow, and I agree, I can’t stop myself from being enticed by more magazines and cookbooks! Yes, I know about cottage vs. shepherd’s according to meat, but wonder what the actual reason is for it being called a cottage pie? We’ll probably never know. Happy cooking and hope you enjoy them in the potato skins!
I made these and now this is my go to cottage Pie. Not only good but a great conversation dish as guests ooh and ahh.
That’s great to hear, Mary Beth! Thanks so much!
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