Shepherd’s Pie – in potato skins! Making this my “express” way, it takes just 15 minutes to prepare to pop into the oven to get those gorgeous brown crunchy bits on the mashed potato!
“That moment when you cut through the creamy mashed potato with the golden crunchy ridges and the filling comes oozing out….I can’t describe how satisfying it is!”
As a potato-obsessed-carb-o-holic, I take great interest in any potato related dishes. However, with potato skin recipes, the thought that always crosses my mind is, “what shall I make with the potato I scoop out?” That’s why I love making these Shepherd’s Pie Potato Skins. It’s efficient. And there’s a double potato hit. Win, win!
Here’s a bit of food trivia for you: Shepherd’s Pie vs Cottage Pie. Do you know the difference? The recipe is the same – a mince filling topped with mashed potato. The only difference is that Shepherd’s Pie is traditionally made with lamb mince whereas Cottage Pie is made with beef mince. I always get the names confused! And most people know the version made with beef as Shepherd’s Pie, so that’s the name I’ve gone with. I even took a poll!
I first saw this recipe in a Women’s Weekly magazine way back in the 90’s. Well, not this exact recipe because I make the filling “my way” which is super fast. And a few weeks ago I saw it on Instagram and it prompted me to make it. The Instagram post was by Christina’s Cucina, a Scots-Italian food blogger based in LA. I mean, with that bloodline, how could you not be a great cook, right?? So thanks Christina, for reminding me of this!!
I made a bit of an effort to make these pretty by piping on the potato, but ordinarily I would just dump the potato on with just a spoon. It doesn’t impact the flavor at all. Just fluff up the potato with a fork and you pretty much get the same amount of brown crunchy ridges.
As a “fast food” blog, I make this the express way. Firstly, I microwave the potatoes. It takes about 10 minutes, compared to 50 minutes to bake. And because you pop the potatoes in the oven after filling it, the skin crisps up a bit so I don’t really see any difference between roasting or microwaving them. But you can bake the potatoes if you have an aversion to microwaving. 
Secondly, I make my filling using frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas and carrots). A decade ago I never would have done this, but nowadays the frozen vegetables are really great for dishes like this. Saves a whole lot of chopping! But if you prefer to use fresh vegetables, feel free to substitute!
I am not sure what moment is better – when it’s fresh out of the oven, ready to dig into, or that moment when you cut through the golden crunchy top through the creamy mashed potato and the filling oozes out…..What do you think??
- 250g/8oz beef mince (ground beef)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ onion (brown, white or yellow), diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1½ cups frozen mixed vegetables (pea, corn, carrots) (or fresh)
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 cup beef stock/broth (or 1 stock / bouillon cube dissolved in hot water)
- ½ cup water
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- Black pepper
- 4 large potatoes, scrubbed clean (about 400g/13oz each)
- ½ to 1 cup milk (full or low fat)
- 2 tbsp butter (optional – but highly recommended)
- Salt to taste
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Prick the potatoes with a fork (about 6 times on each potato) and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Then turn and microwave for a further 5 minutes. Pierce with a knife to check if they are cooked.
- Remove from microwave (use a dish cloth). Cut off the tops and scoop out the center using a spoon, leaving a fairly thin skin (about 0.5 cm / 0.2”).
- Place the potato scooped out in a bowl. Add milk, butter and salt and mash with a potato masher until smooth, or to your liking.
- If you want to pipe the filling, place the mashed potato into a piping back with a large star tip nozzle.
- Meanwhile, make the filling. Heat the olive oil in a large fry pan over medium high heat.
- Add onion and garlic, sauté for 2 minutes until softened.
- Turn up heat to high. Add mince beef (ground beef) and cook, breaking up the mince as you go, until nicely browned and cooked – about 3 minutes.
- Sprinkle over flour and stir to combine.
- Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to simmer and continue to stir until the sauce is thick and glossy – around 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Fill each potato with the Filling so it is slightly heaped. Push down lightly to pack the filling in well.
- Pipe over the mashed potato, or scoop it on with a spoon then fluff it up with a fork. You probably won’t use all of it – save the remainder or serve it on the side.
- Place in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the mashed potato is starting to brown on the ridges.
- Serve immediately!
2. You can bake the potatoes if you prefer, rather than microwaving them. They will take around 40 – 50 minutes at 180C/350F.
3. If you are in a real hurry, you can skip the step of baking and just brown the top under the grill/broiler. But note that the baking gives the Filling time for the flavours to develop as well as browning the top.
4. You could also sprinkle some grated parmesan cheese on top of the mashed potato. Adds even more crunch and flavor!
The Nutrition Facts assumes that you use all the potato scooped out for the topping. But actually, you probably won’t so the actual calories per serving are less.
Mahi,
Is a serving one or two halves?
Made these tonight exactly by the recipe…. With the exception of substituting chicken broth for the beef ( what I had on hand). They were delicious! I am not a big shepherds pie lover, but my husband is. He ate two halves, but my daughter and I could only eat one.
Is a serving considered a whole potato or 1/2?
Definitely keeping this one!
Woo hoo! I’m so glad you enjoyed this Miriam, thanks so much for letting me know! N x
Can’t wait to try these! They sound sooooooo yummy!
These would be good to take camping.
Have everything done beforehand and fill them at the campsite.
They would be PERFECT FOR CAMPING! Thanks for the idea, I’m going to do that myself!!! Love camping!
Just finished making this for my husband for dinner (I won’t touch shepherd’s pie). He loved it! I baked my potatoes for over an hour so assumed they were done, but as I started to scoop I could tell they were a bit under cooked. They mashed fine but it made the potatoes break a little while scooping. I actually had one casualty and ended up with just 3 potatoes. This is such a perfect meal for my husband cuz he doesn’t get shepherd’s pie since I don’t like it. This is a nice little individual dish instead of a whole casserole. Will definitely make for him again and hopefully next time they’re as pretty as yours
They must have been GIANT potatoes if they weren’t cooked after an hour in the oven!! BA HA!!! So glad you enjoyed this Torrey, thanks so much for coming back to let me know!!
Did you let them sit prior to scooping
Just until they are cool enough to handle – or use a tea towel!
Hey Nagi, for starters i just want to say i love shepherds pie (well cottage pic to be exact lol). I just wanted to ask if it was alright to use your recipe in a school competition I’m in for my school. I just wanted you to know and i hope you are okay with it.
This was my point as well. Shepards pie is traditionally made with lamb. This would be considered a Cottage pie since it is made with beef.
Hi Nagi i love shepherds pie (well cottage pie to be exact lol) but i hope u don’t mind if i use your recipe for this competition that im in for my school it just looks amazing and pretty.I just hope u don’t mind if i use it
I would be HONOURED!!!
This was delicious. ..but it definitely took much longer than the mentioned time to do all of it. One should be prepared to spend at least an hour preparing all of this from start to finish. As I said, however, it was a delicious dinner.
Thanks Victoria!! So glad you enjoyed it!!
Awesome its yummy.
Thanks Emily! Hope you try it!
I tried this last night and it was awesome! So yummy!! My only critique is with the timing… everything took at least twice as long to cook. The potatoes I had were less than half the size and it took over 20 mins in the microwave. At the end, I also baked them for about 20 mins and then broiled for 5 and they still weren’t browned and crispy. At that point, I was so hungry, I didn’t care, but I don’t think I missed much! I’m pinning this recipe so I don’t loose it and I’ll definitely make these again
Hi Sarah! So glad you enjoyed it, I’m sorry it took longer for you
I literally just made potatoes in the microwave this morning and the time was bang on. Microwaves differ vastly in strength so I am guessing that was the reason!!
Excellent. Thanks for sharing. The only change I made was to use cornstarch instead of flour to make the recipe gluten free. Do you know if they freeze well?
So glad you enjoyed it! And yup, they freeze very well!
I have been cooking more than 50 years and never thought of doing potatoes this way so thank you!My hubby and I had these with a salad last night and they are awesome!WE have 4 of them left and he wants them for dinner tonight.I added parmesan c.heese to the potato topping but changed nothing else.I have a feeling I will be making these alot.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed these!!!! Well, what hubby wants, he must have….better serve them up for dinner again tonight! <3
I made this tonight using Canned beef and Canned mixed vegetables. I used beefy mushroom souppotatoes and flour to thicken it all and garlic pepper. I added Feta to the Mashed potatoespotatoes. I could have just eaten the filing and mashed potatoes! Thanks for this recipe…… I sort of put it through my own grinder but it came out fantastic!!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Joseph!!!
Made this tonight for dinner – yum! Really enjoyed it and will definitely be making them again. One thing, though…the “5 minutes” listed for prep time is totally unrealistic…it was more like 25 minutes from the time I started til the time I put them in the oven. Very tasty, though!
YEE HAA!!! SO GLAD you enjoyed it Danette!!!
Sorry for the prep time error 
I was thinking more about non cook time – but yes, it is still understated!!!
I made these tonight. Family liked them….even both kids. For me (I have no sense of smell which does affect taste) they didn’t have much flavor at all. Maybe next time I’ll add more spice, maybe. Bit of taco or Cajun spice, less flour and not cook as long …. Oh and maybe the Parmesan cheese on top too!
The good thing is kids that like things on the plain side with no spice…..this is perfect.
I’m so glad that the whole family enjoyed this!! Especially the kids!
Nagi,
You might just be a genius! I made these tonight and it’s so easy and delicious! I might add some beef gravy the next time I make it for some extra gooeyness in the filling. I also added some cheese to the potato topping. If you are going for it you might as well go big right!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Rachel!! As for extra gravy and cheese in the potato…you’re right. GO BIG or GO HOME!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!