I think British purists might insist that Shepherd’s Pie is made from “lamb mince” rather than ground beef, but here in the States everyone I know thinks of ground beef as the main ingredient to Shepherd’s Pie. Lamb is not overly popular here I guess. I never ate it growing up. Maybe it’s different in different parts of the country. I can only speak for my West Coast upbringing. I do see lamb in the grocery store, but only know one family that cooks it regularly.

For me, Shepherd’s Pie means ground beef cooked with some onion, garlic, and spices, maybe with some added peas and carrots, topped with mashed potatoes. When I was perusing recipes tonight I saw various additions to the ground beef, including:

tomato sauce versus ketchup
different herbs (cumin was the one that stood out, as opposed to the more typical parsley, etc.)
onions and/or garlic cooked with the ground beef
Worcestershire sauce was a common addition, but not ubiquitous
liquid: varied from beef broth to white wine to red wine

Basically, brown the beef (and onions and garlic), add the herbs and liquid and simmer a few minutes. One recipe had oats added to stretch the beef. Another used a mixture of mashed turnips and potatoes.

Then there was the “thickener.” Some recipes had added cornstarch; some had sour cream stirred into the cooked ground beef.

I love seeing the patterns of recipes like this. It makes it so much easier for me to wing it and fix dinner based on what I have around, rather than strictly following some recipe. Mine came out delicious and was, as best as I can remember, based on:

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup oats if you want to stretch the meal
1 cup or more mixed frozen vegetables
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup red wine (because it was open)
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup sour cream
a few cups mashed potatoes
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Brown the ground beef with the onions and garlic. Drain any accumulated fat. Rinse with hot water for extra fat-leaching or blot with a paper towel. Stir in the vegetables and seasonings (up to the sour cream) and cook a few more minutes to blend. Turn the heat off and stir in the sour cream.

I had made extra mashed potatoes last night with the plan of using them tonight so I heated them in the microwave to make it easier to spread them.

Put the meat and vegetable mixture into a 9×9 pan. Spread the mashed potatoes over the top, then sprinkle the grated cheese on top of the potatoes. We thought it looked a bit bare at that point so sprinkled some paprika across the cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until heated through. Likewise, if your skillet is oven-proof you could just put the potatoes on top of the meat, top with the potatoes and cheese, and then put the whole skillet in the oven rather than dirtying another dish.

Half of this served 3 of us.