Curried Shepherd’s Pie Recipe (2024)

Instead of stirring peas into the mashed potatoes, I put them as a layer above the meat and then put the potatoes on top of them. Beautiful looking and delicious!

Very tasty once I doubled the amount of spices in the ground beef.

This was great. I used more curry, turmeric and cumin than suggested and added some grated sharp cheddar cheese to the top.

I have made this cottage pie twice but it was better the second time with these modifications: a) used a mix of ground beef, ground veal, sage sausage, b) reduced and thickened meat sauce by simmering longer and adding 1 T tomato paste, c) adding whisked egg to potatoes, d) topped casserole with dabs of butter and 1-2 T grated parmesan, e) baked 25 mins at 375 until top lightly golden and casserole piping hot. Much more enthusiastic reception second time around.

I find myself beginning to resent recipes that call for "imported tomatoes". Aside from the fact that they don't specify a provenance (Timbuktu, anyone?) I can't imagine that in a recipe such as this (or any other, really) domestic tomatoes wouldn't serve as well.

I made this with Pierre Franey's Pureéd Cauliflower (http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1445-pureed-cauliflower) in place of the mashed potatoes. It tasted comfortably olde timey. Great winter dish. I wimped out and used 1 tablespoon of curry but might up it to one and a half next time.

Very nice flavor with the spices and tomatoes. However, next time I think I'll cook 3 T of flour in with the onions and garlic before I add the ground beef and broth for some thickening. And perhaps cook in an egg yolk with the potato topping. But we will make this again. In my supermarket 2 pounds of Russet potatoes was 3 potatoes. Go with the weight--the proportions between meat underneath and potatoes on top was just right.

Very tasty. The spices, in spite of the quantities, were not at all intrusive -- in fact I might add more hot curry. The peas in the mash were a great addition for color, taste and texture. Will do this with all future shepherd's and cottage pies. For two a half recipe made two pies -- one to eat with leftover lunch portion and one to freeze.

Double the spices regardless of your heat tolerance. It's far too bland when made with the posted amount. Turmeric makes a nice addition. A few pinches of paprika on top presents nicely.

As written, everything is hot when you put it in the casserole so you just want a bit of color on the top. You can dot with butter, or brush with melted butter (my preference) and pop it in a very hot oven ~400 for 10 minutes or so until the top is to your liking. Hope this helps.

Re the flour add; instead, try just letting the beef/tomato mixture simmer a while longer to reduce and thicken. This intensifies the flavor of the jus the preparation results in.

I made this with half the beef, a carrot, a celery stalk and garam masala in place of the spices. Used pureed rutabaga to top. It was delicious!

The original Shepherd's (leftover roast lamb) and Cottage (leftover roast beef) pie calls for the addition of HP or A1 sauce instead of the curry flavor. Taste it as you add until you have the flavor you like. Not like curry at all, so it should satisfy the curry hater in your house.

This was so tasty! I did the meat in my cast iron skillet and once the potatoes were ready I simply added them atop the meat and into the oven it went, which saved a dish. Will definitely be making this again. I shared some with a neighbor and he said “holy traditional English dinner Batman”

That would just be a regular Shepard's pie. Look up any recipe.

Great recipe, but here in the UK _shepherds_ pie is made from lamb (shepherds keep sheep). The same but made with beef is inexplicably called 'cottage pie'.

1 1/2 T garam masala2 tsp cumin and coriander

Overall really good, could be a little better. Perfect to use up leftover mashed potatoes, alternated blobs of potato with mashed butternut squash. I did increase the spices but still needed a little something. Next time I'll add a little tomato paste for depth of flavor and cook the meat mixture longer, it was a little watery.

I really enjoyed this and think it's an excellent basic recipe. I also think there are a ton of edits that could be made to this. There was too much liquid, and I had to drain it a bit. The spices are too mild, even for the most delicate palate. This makes about 10 servings. Plan to do some garlic/tomato/onion sauce to top it with, so we'll see.

Made this tonight. After reading all the notes, added some carrot and celery with the onion, doubled the spices, and added tomato paste with the beef. Also mixed the peas in with the meat because it sounded better. This was incredible! The entire family went for seconds including my 7 year old. And even with the seconds we have enough leftovers for another dinner Will be adding to our saved recipes for sure!

Winner

I used only one pound of beef, about double the amount of onion, and more spices. Delicious.

I’ve made this recipe a few times and it’s always a huge hit! I do basically double the amount spices as some other commenters mentioned. Overall very delicious

Add tomato pasteCarrotExtra spices

Use more aromatic veggies

This is cottage pie. Shepherds tend to sheep, not cattle.

I’m another one of those annoying comments, sorry. Added tomato paste, deglazed with beer & beef stock, added two blocks of Japanese curry roux instead of the curry powder, added white cheddar and double butter to the potatoes. Dynamite.

I used less beef and subbed in about a pound of cooked lentils. Added tomato paste with the crushed tomatoes. The beef mix definitely benefits from very generous spicing and a longer cook time to help amplify its flavors. Delicious, easy, filling, and relatively inexpensive. Will be making again.

Update: sweet potatoes overpowered the dish. Couldn’t taste the meat filling. Sorry , wish I could edit my post. I was overconfident. Cooking can be very humbling.

Thanks for suggestions! Twists and hacks: Increased spices to 1.5-2x recipe. Made a sofrito using onion and sweet red pepper, then spices, then ground turkey. Added golden raisins with the peas. Made a sweet potato and 1/3 mashed potato custard with 2 eggs, 3/4 milk, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, agave syrup, not too sweet. Baked at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Raving ridiculous. Show stopping.