Shepherd’s Pie Smashed Potatoes

Smashed potatoes with a shepherd’s pie (or cottage pie in this case) topping, is a super simple way to get your shepherd’s pie fix in without fussing too much with the potatoes. This recipe was something I came up with from a failed recipe, but I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome!

I baked potatoes for about an hour while I prepared my shepherd’s pie filling, or cottage pie if you use ground beef (which I usually do).

Using my go to shepherd’s pie recipe, but this time using vegetable stock to change the flavor a tad, and added a little more Worcestershire sauce for a little more robustness.

Don’t forget the wine.

When the potatoes were done i started to scoop them out to make a twice baked potato with shepherd’s pie filling (check back later for that recipe). This is where failure happened.

They weren’t cooked enough and weren’t scooping well. I about abandoned the recipe at this point, but the thought “let’s try this as a smashed potato recipe”

I smothered the smashed potatoes with some Parmesan topped with shepperd’s pie filling and put them back in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. They came out all melted and ready to dig it. And they were really good!

They beauty about this recipe, is that it’s no frills, full of flavor, and a perfect “serve family style” type of meal. Set the pan on the table with a few plates, and everyone scoop a heaping of shepherd’s pie smashed potatoes and dig in!

Shepherd's Pie Smashed Potatoes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings: 4 people

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 large potatoes
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 4 cloves garlic chopped
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1/2 cup baby carrots
• 8 oz tomato paste
• 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme chopped
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh parmesan flakes more to taste

Instructions

FOR THE POTATOES

• Preheat oven to 400° F. Rub olive olive and a little kosher salt on the outside of your potatoes, wrap each on in tin foil in and place in the oven; about 1 hour

FOR THE FILLING

• In a pan over medium heat, brown the ground beef for about 5-7 minutes until no longer pink. Drain excess grease
• With a cheese grater, grate onion and carrot over beef. Season beef with salt and pepper. Added in chopped garlic; stir for about 2-3 minutes.
• Stir in tomato paste, rosemary thyme, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour in wine and simmer for about 5 minutes; Add vegetable stock and simmer for about 25-30 minutes.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

• Take the potatoes out. with a large spoon smashed them down leaving large chunks in place. drizzle with more olive oil and top with Parmesan and chives. top with shepherd's pie filling and more Parmesan. Cook for about 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted. Enjoy!