When it’s cold out which it is in most places these days, except for you lucky people down under, this is the kind of recipe that can warm you right up. The origin of Shepherd’s Pie was the shepherd using what he, or she, had around to make a dish worth eating.
Since we are shepherding in a new way of eating for many people, I have gone beyond the usual commercial meat substitute used for this dish. There are two steps to this Shepherd’s Pie recipe, but it is well worth it. Not only do they look beautiful the taste is what will really win you over.
I received a note about this recipe that it is actually called Cottage Pie. I explained that most ignorant Americans are more familiar with the term Shepherd’s Pie than Cottage Pie, and no matter what this main course is certainly not traditional. In any case, it’s a tasty, hearty and soul satisfying dish.
Shepherd’s Pie from Vegan Under Pressure
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup diced carrot
- 1/3 cup diced celery
- 1/2 cup diced turnip or peeled sweet potato
- 1 cup French green lentils rinsed and picked over
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or ¼ teaspoon dried
- 1¾ cups vegetable stock
- 1 to 2 tablespoons browned rice flour or other browned flour (see Note)
- 1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 1 to 2 teaspoons tamari to taste
- 1 cup diced fresh or canned tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste optional
- 1 recipe Garlic Parsley Mashed Potatoes
Instructions
- Heat a stovetop pressure cooker over medium heat or set an electric cooker to sauté. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and dry sauté for 3 minutes. Add the turnip, lentils, thyme, bay leaf, rosemary, and stock.
- Lock the lid on the cooker. Bring to high pressure; cook for 10 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally. Remove the lid carefully, tilting it away from you.
- Add 1 tablespoon of the browned flour*, or 2 tablespoons if the filling seems thin, plus the Worcestershire sauce, tamari, tomatoes, and tomato paste, if using. Stir. Cook on the stove top, stirring to prevent burning; or lock the lid in place and let sit for 3 minutes. Quick release any built-up pressure.
- Discard the bay leaf. Transfer the filling to a casserole dish or 4 or more ramekins. Top with the mashed potatoes. Run under the broiler to brown, or at least heat, the potatoes.
Has anyone every tried freezing this? I am looking to make some freezer meals and I LOVE shepherd’s pie….
You can freeze the filling separately but mashed potatoes sadly don’t freeze really well.
I just made this the other day and my family loved it. Instead of lentils, which I like and will try sometime, I used Trader Joe’s Vegan Beefless Ground Beef. I followed the rest of recipe as is. It is an easy recipe and it is going on our dinner rotation list.
Hi Jill,
Sounds delicious and I will give this a go with your Beef-style seitan. I just looked at the recipe in your book and was wondering about the flour you are adding to the seitan. I’ve got store-bought seitan powder at home – would you still add the flour or only the spices and then follow instructions on the label?
Best regards
Marion
I did this recipe yesterday and it was delicious! My family loved it! I added one diced Italian vegetarian sausage with the lentils and it came out nice. I didn’t have Tamari or tomato paste so I added a bit of Putanesca tomato sauce instead. I also used diced butternut squash instead of sweet potatoes or turnip because I found diced butternut squash at the store and I loved the convenience of it. This recipe was easy and yummy! Thanks!!
The potato also came out great!! It was my first time doing mashed potatoes on the instant pot and I was pleased with the result. I used 3 potatoes and one bag of cauliflower rice (again, very convenient) and it still came out great. I’m going to try 2 potatoes and two bags of cauliflower rice next time. Since cauliflower is less firm than potatoes, I didn’t add milk and used margarine instead which was already on the recipe.
The combination of the lentils and the mashed potatoes was really good! 🙂
Thank you for letting me know. I love that you used what you had. Sounds great.
Hi there and thanks for sharing recipes on your site. This is my first one, but unfortunately it really didn’t turn out well. I followed the instructions exactly the only change was I forgot to include the Thyme. I cooked in my Instant Pot as per the recipe, but the lentils came out undercooked. And even the mashed potato ratios seemed to be somewhat off because when, despite using the exact measurements in the recipe, I added the non dairy milk (just 1/4 a cup) the potatoes became even more runny. The flavors are good, but I would have been very upset had I been expecting guests. No one has posted any reviews of this recipe yet, so I feel compelled to share mine here.
I am truly sorry to hear that it didn’t work out well for you. It might have to do with your pot although lentils can be tricky. I have made the potato recipe more than 25 times and it has generally worked out OK.
Many people have made the recipe with success.
What size Instant Pot do you have? Have other recipes worked out well?