After making (and devouring) my Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes last week, I was really craving some shepherd’s pie. But, because of the strict budget I’m working with, I decided to make a vegetarian shepherd’s Pie. This warm and comforting dish is still full of deep and rich flavor, even without the meat, and I love all the color and texture that the vegetable medley brings to the plate.
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What’s In Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie?
To make up for the meat I made sure to use plenty of vegetables, including mushrooms, which give a nice “meaty” umami flavor. I also added in a cup of cooked lentils for bulk and extra protein. Lentils are great because they cook super fast, have a small shape, and a mild flavor that helps them blend really well into recipes. I often use them half and half with meat to stretch my dollar, but that same technique also works well with vegetables. If you’re not a fan of lentils, no worries. You can just leave them out and you’ll still have a delicious and hearty straight vegetable filling for your vegetarian shepherd’s pie.
What Kind of Mashed Potatoes Should I Use?
I made a second slightly smaller batch of my Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes to top the pie, but you can use any type of leftover mashed potatoes you have (make sure to use vegetable broth in your mashed potatoes to keep this recipe vegetarian). Another great option is to use my Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes, which are dairy-free, and will make this whole Shepherd’s Pie vegan!
You can make your mashed potatoes fresh, or use leftovers. Just be sure to warm them up before trying to spread them onto the pie because cold mashed potatoes don’t exactly “spread.” LOL
Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked lentils (optional)* ($0.21)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.31)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 3 carrots ($0.37)
- 2 ribs celery ($0.38)
- 8 oz. button mushrooms ($1.99)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 1 tsp dried thyme ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste ($0.11)
- 1 Tbsp flour ($0.01)
- 1 cup vegetable broth ($0.13)
- 1 cup frozen peas ($0.45)
- 4 cups mashed potatoes ($1.36)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and dice the onion. Sauté the onion and garlic with olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent (3-5 minutes).
- While the onions and garlic are cooking, peel and dice the carrots, dice the celery, and slice the mushrooms. Once the onions are soft, add the carrots and celery to the skillet and continue to sauté until the celery begins to soften slightly (5 minutes).
- Finally, add the mushrooms, salt, thyme, smoked paprika, and freshly cracked pepper to the skillet. Continue to sauté until the mushrooms have fully softened (3-5 minutes). Add the tomato paste and flour to the skillet. Stir and cook the vegetables with the flour and tomato paste until the vegetables are coated and the pasty mixture begins to coat the bottom of the skillet (about 2 minutes).
- Add the vegetable broth to the skillet, stirring to dissolve the flour and tomato paste from the bottom of the skillet. Allow the broth to come up to a simmer, at which point it will become slightly thicker. Stir in the cooked lentils and frozen peas, and allow to mixture to heat through.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Pour the vegetable mixture into a casserole dish, or use your skillet if it is oven safe. Spread the mashed potatoes out over the surface of the vegetables and gravy. Use your spoon to make a decorative pattern in the mashed potatoes, if desired.
- Bake the shepherd’s pie in the fully preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until everything is heated through. To achieve a browned surface on the mashed potatoes (optional), turn on the oven’s broiler (and place the pie under it, if not already), and watch closely until the top has browned to your liking.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie – Step by Step Photos
Using lentils in your Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie is entirely optional, but I find that it provides more bulk, texture, and protein. You’ll want one cup of cooked lentils for this recipe, which is about 1/3 dry. Cooking lentils is simple, just boil a pot of water, add the lentils, then continue boiling until they’re tender (brown lentils take about 20 minutes). After cooking, drain in a colander. Note: without the lentils you’ll get about four servings out of this recipe.
For the vegetable mix I used 2 stalks celery, 3 carrots, 8oz. button mushrooms, 1 cup frozen peas, 1 yellow onion, and two cloves garlic. Both my celery and peas were on their last leg, but this is a great recipe to use up older vegetables in because they get cooked down and slathered with tasty gravy. :)
Begin by mincing the garlic and dicing the onion. Sauté the onion and garlic with 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the onions are soft.
While the onions and garlic are cooking, peel and dice the carrots, and dice the celery. Add them to the skillet and continue to sauté for a few more minutes, or until the celery begins to soften just a tad.
While the celery and carrots are cooking, slice the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms to the skillet along with 3/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp thyme, and some freshly cracked pepper. Sauté the mushrooms and seasonings until the mushrooms are soft. My mushrooms came pre-sliced and they were in HUGE pieces, so I broke them up into smaller pieces with my spatula as they cooked.
When the mushrooms are soft, add 1 Tbsp flour and 1 Tbsp tomato paste. Stir the flour and tomato paste into the vegetables until everything is coated in a paste-like mixture. Continue to stir and cook until the paste begins to coat the bottom of the skillet.
When the flour and tomato paste coat the bottom of the skillet (be careful to not let it burn), add 1 cup vegetable broth. Stir the broth and vegetables to dissolve the paste off the bottom of the skillet. Allow the mixture to heat through and come to a simmer, at which point the broth will thicken slightly.
Finally, add the frozen peas and cooked lentils (if using), and allow the mixture to heat through. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pour the vegetable mixture into a casserole dish, or just use your skillet if it is oven safe (this is a deep skillet).
Cover the vegetable and gravy mixture with about 4 cups of mashed potatoes. Spread the mashed potatoes to evenly cover the surface (mashed potatoes spread easier if they are warm). Use the side and back of a spoon to create a decorative pattern in the mashed potatoes, if desired.
Bake the vegetarian shepherd’s pie for about 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until it’s heated through. To get the nice browned top, turn on the boiler and watch the pie closely until it’s browned on top (if your broiler is under your oven, you’ll have to transfer the pie to the bottom drawer).
Ohhhhh that gravy, though! 😍
Yep. This recipe is right on the money for rich (umami?) vegetarian flavor. Probably this and chickpea cauliflower masala recipe have been my two favorite BB dishes so far. As others have mentioned, would definitely recommend adding some wine.
Non vegetarians and vegetarians alike love this dish at our house. My husband is British and was super skeptical, but he prefers this Vegetarian Shepherds Pie to the meat version he grew up with. This has become a recipe in our regular rotation. I make the potatoes ahead for a healthy meal that pulls together quickly.
This is in regular rotation at my house, and it’s definitely my go-to comfort food. I make a bit of a variation of this recipe – 1 cup dried brown lentils, cooked (more than called for); no celery, and about 1/2 cup dry red wine added into the mixture. It fits well into a 9×13″ casserole pan, and makes six huge servings that last me a whole week. The lentils really make the heartiness of the recipe and I wouldn’t skip them. Non-vegetarian husband makes his shepherd’s pie with beef but always steals a bit of mine – it’s a hit in our household!
I’m a new pescatarian and struggle with the taste of the fake meats. I’ve tried it all and I think it grosses me out just as much as the real stuff. I was craving so “good for the soul” food and came across this recipe. OMG obsessed. I read through the comments and took a few tips from a few people, added red wine to the veggies, dried rosemary and added my own: Panko bread crumbs on top. My husband is a meat lover and he gave this recipe 5 stars! I’ve had a hard time turning my old favorites in to vegetarian meals without losing the hearty taste. This gave me hope! Thank you for sharing!!! 💜
Have you frozen this before? Do you think it would thaw/reheat well?
I haven’t frozen this one, but I think it would freeze well. Sometimes people don’t like the texture of mashed potatoes after they are frozen and thawed, but I personally have never noticed a difference.
Do you have nutritional info?
No, I’m sorry.
This was amazing! I didn’t add mushrooms or the celery because I’m not a fan of either. I added some rosemary, sherry cooking wine, and veggie crumbles. It was so full of flavor and even my parents (non vegetarians) loved it.
Delicious!
Made this tonight, was absolutely amazing. Adding some red wine while the veggies were sautéing, definitely added to the overall flavor. I made my mashed potatoes out of red potatoes and added garlic, olive oil, thyme, rosemary and almond milk
would you mind letting me know what kind of red wine and how and when you added it to the recipe? It sounds like a good addition but I’m clueless as to how to do that. Thanks!
Made this tonight and it was so yummy! My 3 yo gobbled it up, so I consider it a total success :)
I did half lentils and half pearled barley and the texture was great. I would add a little red wine next time to make it just a tad richer, but over all it was a great recipe. Thanks for sharing!
The main dish for a family gathering was Shepherd’s Pie so I made this pie for the vegetarian daughter-in-law. This pie was awesome. To speed up the assembly, I bought precut mirepoix and add another chopped carrot. I also used packaged mashed potatoes. Thanks for a great recipe that I put in my “make it again” file!
Just made this tonite… was delish!! I also made a vegan gravy which went awesome with it.
Next time, I’ll try adding either some veggie ground round or vegan sausage to add some different texture.
Great recipe!!
This was so delicious and easy! I added a little bit of chopped vegetarian sausage.
Yho yho I made this with sweet potatoes it was toooo delish…love love your simple recipies
Subbed edemame for peas, added crumbled tempe and a bit of red wine while simmering the veg and it came out great!