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Single Serve Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd’s Pie is a great way to use up remaining bits of vegetables and or left over mashed potatoes. If one is in a hurry, instant potatoes work just fine. When I’m hungry for a single serving of Shepherd’s Pie, I will usually just go with instant potatoes, while they may not have the same pedigree as a riced Yukon Gold…they make up for it in pragmatism – they work fine, and save time.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, British, Irish
Keyword: beef, Comfort, dinner, Fall, shepherd's pie, simple, single serve, Winter
Servings: 1 person

Equipment

  • 6" Ramekin

Ingredients

  • 8 oz Nebraska Star Beef® All-Natural Ground Beef
  • 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter (AA)
  • 1/4 cup Onion minced
  • 5 cloves Garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup Green Pepper minced
  • 1/4 cup Zucchini minced
  • 1 tsp Thyme minced
  • 1 tsp Rosemary minced
  • 1/3 cup Tomato Sauce (or 3 tbsp Tomato Paste)
  • 1/3 cup Beef Boullion
  • 1 dash Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1-2 dashes Red Wine

Mashed Potatoes

  • Potatoes
  • Instant Potatoes

Instructions

Mashed Potatoes

  • There are a number of ways to arrive at good mashed potatoes, one can peel and boil potatoes then rice and mash them with a bit of salt, butter and milk or cream. Or, simply use instant potatoes, which work just fine and save a pile of time. (Just follow the instructions on the box for “2 servings”.)
  • Start by making the mashed potato topping. Again, there are a number of ways to end up with perfectly serviceable mashed potatoes, but the quickest way is to use instant potatoes. If you prefer to make traditional mashed potatoes, that works great too. To tailor the mashed potatoes for the Shepherd’s Pie topping, I like to add extra butter (or cream) and cheese. Make sure the consistency is “spreadable, but not runny” Parmesan cheese works great, but most any will work. Use a cheese flavor that you like, but keep in mind that a firmer variety of cheese, grated finely is probably best. Set the mashed potato topping to the side. Prep time can range from an hour or more for traditional mashed potatoes, to just a couple minutes if you choose the instant route. This is 100% why I prefer instant. Life is short enough already.
    shepherd's pie ingredients

Filling

  • Preheat 12” pan. Add butter, let it melt and begin to brown, and add all minced vegetables and herbs. Cook them until they begin to soften, this will only take a minute or two.
    vegetables
  • Add ground (minced) beef and brown with the vegetables while stirring to prevent it from clumping. When the mixture has cooked most of the way through, add tomato sauce or paste and bullion and continue to reduce. Once reduced, add a dash or two of Red Wine (cheap stuff is fine for cooking) and reduce again. Finally, add a dash of Worcestershire sauce and a couple pinches of salt, then reduce to desired final consistency. I prefer a firmer consistency than I would use for sloppy joe’s, as this tends to amplify the flavor and keeps it from turning to a sloppy mush during the final cooking phase. The potato topping will seal in all the moisture that is left in the filling, so prepare the filling exactly the way you want it before you bake it.
    meat mixture
  • Spoon filing into the bottom of a 6” ramekin while still piping hot. Make sure there is at least an inch of depth in the ramekin for the topping. Spoon in the mashed potato topping and spread it flush with the top of the ramekin. Sprinkle some additional cheese on top of the potato topping, and garnish with a by leaf or two if desired.
  • Place in an oven that has been preheated to 350° F for approximately 20 minutes, or until the top takes on a nice golden-brown color and light crust.

*NOTES

  • For a more traditional Shepherd’s Pie, substitute the green peppers and zucchini for carrots and extra onions. I also LOVE minced mushrooms in this dish, just add them toward the end of the cooking process so they maintain a bit more integrity. Mushrooms cook quickly.
  • I am a big fan of black pepper, but I generally avoid using too much of it in my Shepherd’s Pie. Sticking to the robust flavors created by the vegetables, thyme, rosemary, garlic, red wine and Worcestershire sauce is what makes this dish great. Cranking up the black pepper can take a way from the great flavors that are built into this recipe.
  • Making a great filling is key. It can be modified many, many different ways to suit individual taste, but the key is keeping things chopped very finely or grated. This allows the filling to be a filling and not a lumpy-clumpy hodgepodge….nor a soupy stew. It should be somewhere in between. The texture of the proper filling, mixed with the rich, creamy mashed potatoes, just does something magical. Enjoy!!