Cottage Pie is comfort food central! A tasty ground beef (mince) gravy filling topped with mashed potato, baked until golden perfection. Swap the beef for lamb, and you’ll turn this into a Shepherd’s Pie.
Easy to make, and freezes really well. I love this Cottage Pie so much, I make it all year round – even in the height of summer!
I am pretty sure I am the most frequent visitor of my website. Not just because it’s my job. But also because it’s my actual “recipe tin” – albeit a digital form of the old recipe boxes I used to collate recipes in.
I popped onto my blog to grab my Cottage Pie recipe….and had a moment of disbelief.
I hadn’t shared Cottage Pie yet??
Me – the Potato Queen, the lover of all things gravy, the girl who craves hot comfort food even in the height of summer – hadn’t posted Cottage Pie yet.
Well. I decided I better fix that quick smart!
Cottage Pie is a fabulous English classic, one that Australians have also adopted as one of our beloved winter favorites. Or in my case, all-year-round-favourite.
There is quite often confusion over the difference between Shepherd’s Pie and Cottage Pie. Both are made the same way – a ground beef (mince) filling in a gravy sauce that is topped with mashed potato, then baked. (That crusty top is everything!!) The only difference is that Shepherd’s Pie is made with lamb instead of beef.
So if you want, just swap the beef in this recipe with lamb and you’ll have a Shepherd’s Pie.
This is an easy Cottage Pie recipe. Actually, I am not sure how hard Cottage Pie recipes can be, but I’m sure there are posh versions around. 🙂 Mine is a classic, and I don’t fiddle with it and try to fancy it up. Oh wait, I lie. Sometimes I add peas. And when I feel deserving of a treat, or if I’m making this for company, I add a big handful of cheese into the mashed potato. But for every day purposes, I don’t feel the need to add cheese into the potato because Cottage Pie is so tasty as it is anyway.
The only tips I have for making Cottage Pie are:
- To stop the potato from sinking into the filling, cool the filling first. But this isn’t a deal breaker; and
- Ensure the filling reduces down enough (see video) to ensure you don’t end up with a watery filling after baking. It’s so disappointing when you break through the potato to be greeted with a beef sitting in a watery sauce!
Those of you familiar with my Baby Hands will recognise that the hands in the video are not mine (see below recipe). My mother did most of the cooking for the video, I filmed and “directed”. By “directed”, I mean I stood behind the camera, instructing my mother to move “faster, faster, faster!” as she added the ingredients into the skillet (because, as I tell her, whenever I watch footage of my mother cooking, I feel like I’m watching a movie in slow motion – ba ha ha!!)
She hates being my hand model. Claims I stress her out. 😉
– Nagi x
PS Is it just me who wants to do a face plant in this bowl?
MORE COSY PIES
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Shepherd’s Pie (lamb – because Shepherd’s herd sheep!)
- Chunky Beef and Mushroom Pie
- Fish Pie
- Leftover Turkey Pot Pie with Garlic Bread Topping
- Browse all cosy Winter Warmers
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Cottage Pie
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 1 carrot , finely chopped*
- 1 rib celery , finely chopped*
- 750 g / 1.5 lb ground beef (mince)
- 1/4 cup / 40 g flour (plain)
- 1/4 cup / 55g tomato paste
- 2 cups / 500 ml beef stock / broth
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml red wine (or water)
- 1 beef bouillon cube , crumbled
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp dried thyme or 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 dried bay leaves
Topping
- 1.2 kg / 2.5 lb potatoes , peeled and cut into 2.5cm / 1" cubes
- 2/3 cup / 165 ml milk
- 2 tbsp / 30g butter
- Nutmeg (optional)
- Olive oil or melted butter, for drizzling
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 1 minute. Then add carrots and celery. Cook for 3 minutes or until softened and sweet.
- Turn heat up to high. Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until browned.
- Add flour and mix in. Add tomato paste, broth, red wine, bouillon cube, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and bay leaves.
- Bring to simmer, then turn down heat so it is simmering rapidly - I have it on medium high. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it reduces down to a gravy consistency (Note 1) (see video).
- Transfer to 6 cup pie dish (1.5 litre / quart). Cover, then refrigerate to cool for 1 - 2 hours or overnight (optional, Note 2)
Assemble Pie
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Cook potatoes in boiling water for 15 minutes or until soft. Drain then return to pot on turned off stove. Shake briefly and allow to steam dry for 30 seconds or so (Note 3).
- Add butter and mash until melted, then add milk and salt (+ optional nutmeg). Mash until smooth.
- Spread onto pie, use a fork to rough up the surface (rougher surface = more golden bits), drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden on top and bubbling on the edges. Stick a knife into the middle to ensure it is piping hot.
- Stand for 5 minutes before serving, garnished with fresh thyme leaves if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Cottage Pie cooking video. Dozer fans – don’t miss Life of Dozer at the end of the video!
LIFE OF DOZER
That’s what Dozer looks like when he’s peeved. In this case, I’m pretty sure he’s cranky because he squeezed himself under this tiny table, waited so patiently for me to finish taking photos and he didn’t get a taste test.
SaveSave
We just finished supper. I used the sliding scale feature to increase the portions to 15, and I baked it in a hotel. To save time, I used Idahoan brand Instant Mashed potatoes (shame on me?) and I also added frozen peas to the cooled filling before topping it with the main. The next time I make it, I’ll use slightly less wine and slightly less dried thyme. I thought they were a bit too assertive, but there were no complaints and no leftovers.
Awesome David, I’m so glad it was a hit!!
Hi Nagi I’m sure I’ve seen your recipe for a (lower carb) cauliflower mash to replace the potato topping but I can’t find it anywhere?
Hi Lia, I do have a cauliflower mash on the cards, stay tuned!!
Funny! Up here in New England, when this is made with ground beef, we call it Sheppard’s Pie. Have not heard of it being made with ground lamb. But then again, lamb here is just too expensive to use in something like this.
This is a very good recipe. As a variation, I sometimes cook stew beef meat in a slow cooker until very tender then drain it and add it in with the ground beef. It gives a really nice texture and flavor to the dish.
Sounds great Tina!
Ooo that sounds lush but I have a few questions. At what point do you add the stew beef in? Do you use the stewing liquid as part of your broth for this recipe? Do you reduce the beef mince to accomodate the stew beef?
Sorry Nagi, I know this isnt a forum but this does sound an intruigingly good idea.
Thank you for sharing your recipe for Cottage Pie. It is absolutely amazing!! First time making it. So glad I found your page.
I’m so glad you found me Joy! I hope you enjoy many more of my recipes!
If I was your Mum I would NOT BE YOUR MODEL AFTER TELLING HER TO BE FASTER. REALY WOMAN?? My RESIDENTS USE TO TELL ME JUST YOU WAIT WHEN YOU CAME TO MY AGE OR YOU DO NOT HURRY ME, OK. UHHH, wouldn’t say anything. Did not know about this Pie until I came to this country and its nice extra plus for adding cheese to mash, YUMI. Dear Dozer if and only if he could talk would be more fun for us telling us story about Nagi, Haaa, Haaa. Until next time try to be good….
Hi,
I make this pie a bit different. Not so much liquid in the meat. PLUS, I spread a can of creamed corn on top of the meat – this helps separate the meat from the potatoes.
Sounds delish!
Would you believe that we had Hunter’s Pie yesterday — actually we had Shepherds pie using venison, beef, and sausage. I didn’t realize it was called Cottage pie in other parts of the world. It was spectacular. We decided to add a little oomph to our topping — OH MY! Was is ever good. We made a small casserole for Hubby and I thinking that the rest of the family wouldn’t like it —sniff, sniff, we got a teaspoon out of it — the family then proceeded with the rest of the pie/stew. We are definitely making it again — SOON. Happy New Years and hugs to you and Dozer!!
Sounds Divine Marisa!