Basic Cottage Pie Recipe (Easy, One Pot Staple Meal)
The comfort food staple that can be transformed with the seasons, depending on what you have on hand. This basic cottage pie recipe is a regular on our menu, perfect for both a family weeknight dinner and entertaining company.
Cottage pie is a ground beef filling loaded with veggies and a savory gravy sauce, and topped with creamy, buttery mashed potatoes. What could be better?! There’s a lot of flexibility in what you put in it depending on what you have available to you and what you enjoy eating. We are always switching this recipe based on the seasonal produce we have available to us.
Cottage Pie Vs. Shepherd’s Pie
These two terms often get thrown around interchangeably, but just to clear it up, the main difference is that cottage pie is typically made with ground beef while shepherd’s pie is made with lamb (hence, shepherd). Besides that, they are both savory British dishes loaded with meat, veggies, gravy sauce, topped with a layer of mashed potatoes, and baked through.
Basic Cottage Pie Ingredients and Substitutions
There’s a lot of flexibility with this recipe, so feel free to use this as a starting point and then make it your own!
The Filling:
Ground Beef – As mentioned above, cottage pie is typically made with beef, but if you want to use a different ground meat or a combination of ground meats, have at it!
Veggie Mix-Ins – This is where you can really experiment. We always start with garlic and onion and from there add what we have on hand. In the spring, I like to chop up fresh nettle along with whatever frozen veggies we have. Great options to add to your cottage pie are: carrots, peas, beans, broccoli, corn, mushrooms, and celery. If you want to make it easy on yourself, just add in a frozen vegetable mix and away you go.
Worcestershire Sauce – Essential for flavor, in my opinion, to add that deep, umami taste to your ground beef. We like to buy this Worcestershire sauce in bulk from Azure Standard.
Apple Cider Vinegar – When paired with the Worcestershire sauce, ACV creates the perfect flavor balance and helps to tenderize the meat.
Herbs – I like to add thyme and rosemary to our cottage pie, but feel free to experiment. Other great additions could be bay leaf, parsley, and sage.
Sea Salt
Flour – This is to thicken the broth into a gravy. You can use a wheat flour or all-purpose gluten free flour.
Broth – Beef broth or chicken broth would both make a great gravy. In a pinch, you could substitute water if needed.
Tomato Sauce – The tomato sauce could be omitted for extra broth if preferred, but I like the flavor and creaminess the tomato sauce adds.
Mashed Potatoes:
Potatoes – Russets and Yukon Golds are the standard when it comes to making mashed potatoes. The big thing to avoid is highly waxy, low starch potatoes that can turn gummy.
Butter – An essential mashed potato ingredient in our house!
Liquid – You could use heavy cream, milk, or broth, depending on how you like them and what you have on hand. We typically do a mixture of broth and cream or milk.
How to Make Cottage Pie
I like to start by making the mashed potatoes and setting those aside.
To cook potatoes, you can boil them or cook in the Instant Pot for 13 minutes on manual pressure. After they are cooked, remove peels if desired and mash with butter and liquid. You can use a potato masher to mash, or I like to use an immersion blender for this until they are smooth and creamy. Set aside.
A heavy bottomed pan, like a 12” cast iron pan or dutch oven, are perfect for making cottage pie in.
Start by sautéing the garlic and onion directly in this pan. Then add ground beef and brown. Once the ground beef is cooked, add in your veggie mix-ins (fresh or frozen) along with the Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, herbs, and sea salt. Mix together.
Sprinkle flour over the top of the beef/veggie mixture and stir in completely. Then pour in the broth and tomato sauce. Cook until the gravy has thickened, then remove pan from heat.
Spoon the prepared mashed potatoes over the top of the meat filling. Use the back of a spoon or spatula to spread evenly, covering the entire pan.
If using a shallow dish, like a cast iron pan, place on top of a rimmed cookie sheet before baking to catch any drips that ooze over the edge.
Bake at 400°F (204°C) for 25 minutes until bubbly and the mashed potatoes are beginning to brown.
Basic Cottage Pie Recipe
Serves: 8
Filling Ingredients:
– 2 lbs ground beef
– 1 small onion, diced
– 4 cloves garlic, minced
– 2-3 cups veggie mix-ins (fresh or frozen corn, peas, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, celery, etc)
– 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
– 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
– 2 tsp thyme, dried
– 1 tsp rosemary, dried
– 1 tsp sea salt
– ¼ cup flour
– 1.5 cups beef or chicken broth
– ½ cup tomato sauce
Mashed Potatoes:
– 2 lbs of yellow or white potatoes (i.e. Yukon gold or russet)
– 1 tbsp butter (or more if preferred)
– 1 cup liquid* (heavy cream, milk, chicken or beef broth – or use a combination)
– 1 tsp sea salt
Directions:
1. Begin by making the mashed potatoes. Boil the potatoes on the stove or cook them on the steamer rack of an Instant Pot with 1 cup of water at the bottom for 13 minutes on manual high pressure. Once soft, peel if desired.
2. Mash potatoes along with butter, liquid, and sea salt with a potato masher or immersion blender. Set aside.
3. In a heavy bottom pan like an enameled dutch oven or a 12” cast iron pan, sauté garlic and onion.
4. Add in ground beef and brown.
5. Once beef is cooked, mix in veggies, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, thyme, rosemary, and sea salt.
5. Sprinkle flour over the top of beef/veggie mixture and mix in until no longer visible.
6. Pour in the broth and tomato sauce. Stir together until the gravy thickens, then remove from heat.
7. Spoon mashed potatoes over the top of the filling until the top is completely covered in a smooth layer.
8. Bake at 400°F (204°C) for 20-25 minutes until bubbly and the mashed potatoes are beginning to brown slightly. If you are using a shallow dish, like a cast iron pan, place pan on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips.
9. Wait a couple of minutes before serving.
*You may need to add more liquid to your mashed potatoes until you get the right creamy texture. I always err on the side of adding more so they aren’t dried out.
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For more one pan dinner ideas:
Basic Cottage Pie Recipe
The comfort food staple that can be transformed with the seasons, depending on what you have on hand. This basic cottage pie recipe is a regular on our menu, perfect for both a family weeknight dinner and entertaining company.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2-3 cups veggie mix-ins (fresh or frozen corn, peas, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, celery, etc)
- 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp thyme, dried
- 1 tsp rosemary, dried
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ¼ cup flour
- 1.5 cups beef or chicken broth
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- 2 lbs of yellow or white potatoes (i.e. Yukon gold or russet)
- 1 tbsp butter (or more if preferred)
- 1 cup liquid* (heavy cream, milk, chicken or beef broth – or use a combination)
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Begin by making the mashed potatoes. Boil the potatoes on the stove or cook them on the steamer rack of an Instant Pot with 1 cup of water at the bottom for 13 minutes on manual high pressure. Once soft, peel if desired.
- Mash potatoes along with butter, liquid, and sea salt with a potato masher or immersion blender. Set aside.
- In a heavy bottom pan like an enameled dutch oven or a 12” cast iron pan, sauté garlic and onion.
- Add in ground beef and brown.
- Once beef is cooked, mix in veggies, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, thyme, rosemary, and sea salt.
- Sprinkle flour over the top of beef/veggie mixture and mix in until no longer visible.
Pour in the broth and tomato sauce. Stir together until the gravy thickens, then remove from heat. - Spoon mashed potatoes over the top of the filling until the top is completely covered in a smooth layer.
- Bake at 400°F (204°C) for 20-25 minutes until bubbly and the mashed potatoes are beginning to brown slightly. If you are using a shallow dish, like a cast iron pan, place pan on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips.
- Wait a couple of minutes before serving.
Notes
*You may need to add more liquid to your mashed potatoes until you get the right creamy texture. I always err on the side of adding more so they aren’t dried out.
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