Easy Shepherd’s Pie

Looking for a meal that’s easy to pull together on a weeknight? Even better, what about pulling one out of the freezer? Then you must try my easy shepherd’s pie recipe. With a few simple ingredients, you can have a meal for now or later!

Leftover Casserole

I do not like leftovers. With very few exceptions, I am not a big fan of leftovers. They often end up going bad in the fridge because I don’t like them reheated. This is a problem since there are only two of us and most recipes make enough for at least four. So I make half of the meal for now and half for later. I’ll toss it in the freezer to pull out on a busy day. It has been working great!

Despite my efforts we always end up with little bits of food leftover in the fridge. Plus we have fresh produce that goes bad because we can’t eat it up fast enough. My easy shepherd’s pie is like a leftover casserole. The leftover vegetables, the leftover mashed potatoes, and the leftover gravy all mingle in the pan to create a brand new meal! It’s leftovers, but it’s not the same.

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About the Ingredients in Easy Shepherd’s Pie

When I make the ground beef, I like to sneak in a little bit of liver. My husband has no idea because there’s not enough to change the flavor. Although it’s good for us, neither of us like the flavor. 

I’ll normally hide some onions in there too. He claims to hate onions, but I’ve been hiding onions in his food since 2018. 

For the vegetables, you can use fresh or frozen. If there are a few leftovers from the night before just toss them in as well. My favorite combination is peas, carrots, and corn. It’s a great way to use up leftovers and clean out the fridge before things go bad.

This goes for potatoes too. Leftover mashed potatoes make this meal even easier. Often I’ll make up large batches of mashed potatoes to freeze before the potatoes go bad. 

The cheese is whatever is on hand. Sometimes it’s colby, often it’s cheddar. Just grab some cheese and start shredding. 

If we happen to have some brown gravy, I’ll add it. But this recipe is totally fine without it too.

Easy Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

5 potatoes mashed

½ gravy (optional)

1 cup mixed vegetables

½ cup shredded cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. First you will need to brown the beef and mash the potatoes. Make sure to salt and pepper to taste. 
2. Now you just need to layer the ingredients in a greased pan. Start by adding the ground beef to the bottom. Then put in about a cup of mixed vegetables. Top that off with some brown gravy if you have some. Then cover everything with a thick layer of mashed potatoes and sprinkle shredded cheese over the top. 
3. If you want to freeze it for later stop here. If not, bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Freezing Easy Shepherd’s Pie

If you’re going to freeze this for later, I suggest using some disposable metal pans or Pyrex so that it’s oven safe. I love disposable metal pans because then there aren’t as many dishes to wash.  Make sure you label and put directions on top. Then anybody can grab it out of the freezer to make dinner. 

When you’re ready to eat the shepherd’s pie, I suggest letting it thaw out first. This makes the baking time faster and helps it to get hot all the way through. If that’s not an option because you ran out of time, just know that it will take longer to bake.

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Disposable metal pans

Pyrex