Shepherd’s Pie is a savory classic from the flavorful meat and gravy up to the creamy mashed potatoes! Instant Pot instructions included to make this meal a one pot wonder!! This classic comfort food is the perfect meal for your family!
Shepherd’s Pie- The Savory Classic that always hits the spot!
Things are cooling down, we are at the end of October and all things FALL are going on around here! Yesterday I made some delicious Snickerdoodle Muffins, last week it was Mini Apple Pies. Fall comfort foods are just the best!
I work with the youth in my Church and we all get together once per week on Wednesdays and have a fun activity. Tonight, we all went to a corn maze! Have you ever been to a corn maze before?
I haven’t been in YEARS! Pretty sure the last time I went, I was in high school, it was spooky and I think I may have cried. #noshame Tonight, there was literally hundreds of youth aged 12-18 running around in this giant corn maze. I am a very short person, and in the dark I blend in with the youth extremely well. A 13 year old might have asked for my phone number. *face palm*
It was CHILLY tonight though! I was so happy when I got home to find that there was a little bit of this Shepherds Pie leftover. I popped the leftovers into the microwave and it warmed my heart right down to my toes!!
Ever since getting my Instant Pot, I haven’t made Shepherd’s Pie any other way! If you don’t have an Instant Pot yet, watch those Black Friday sales, YOU NEED ONE!! I’ll include instructions in the post on how to put this together if you do not own an Instant Pot (yet).
How to make Shepherd’s Pie in the Instant Pot
First, brown the ground beef. I like to purchase my ground beef in bulk, brown the ground beef and then freeze it cooked. So this step for me looks like, pulling my cooked ground beef out of the freezer and letting it sit on the counter for a few minutes. I always freeze the ground beef 1 lb at a time, flat in ziplock bags.
Once your ground beef is cooked (or thawed!) Toss that, a diced onion and carrots into the Instant Pot. Season with salt, pepper and some parsley.
Pour some beef broth into the Instant Pot. Set aside.
Peel and cut your potatoes. Toss those into your steamer basket.
Place the steamer basket on top of the ground beef, carrots etc.
I have this steamer basket that I bought off of amazon. There are a lot of things I like about it, but I think a silicone steamer basket might be better. A silicone steamer basket will be more pliable and it will be easier to fit more into the pot with a silicone basket.
Pssst. Look at those cute little photo-bombing hands. All the heart eyes.
Pressure cook this on Manual HIGH for 3 minutes. (Yes, 3 minutes!!) Quick release the pressure.
Remove the steamer basket and pour the potatoes into a large bowl.
Add some frozen peas and a packet of Au Jus seasoning mix to the Instant Pot. Return the lid and let it sit for 5 minutes while you make up the mashed potatoes!
I love to add some butter and sour cream to my potatoes and then quickly ‘mash’ them using my hand mixer.
Turn the Instant Pot onto sauté and add in a cornstarch slurry to thicken the gravy. You’ll want to add the cornstarch slurry when the broth starts to boil.
Pour the contents of the Instant Pot into an oven safe dish. Top with the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle some shredded cheese on top of the mashed potatoes, if desired.
Broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Make sure to keep an eye on it though! If your oven is anything like mine, it will go from cold to burnt/black/on fire in about .2 seconds.
Serve with a side salad and a dinner roll. Then eat at least 3 salted caramel cookies for dessert. ?
How to make Shepherd’s Pie on the stovetop
To make this on the stove top, you will brown the ground beef first. then add the onion, carrots and broth. Simmer until the carrots are cooked. Add in the peas, au jus seasoning mix and simmer for 2 minutes. Add in a corn starch slurry to thicken the gravy.
In a separate pot, boil the potatoes until cooked and ready to mash. Mash the potatoes
Transfer the meat and gravy to an oven safe dish, top with the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle cheese onto the mashed potatoes, if desired. Broil until golden brown
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Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef browned
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cups petite carrots
- 2 cups beef broth
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 4 medium potoates 6 small, peeled and cubed
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 1 pkg au jus seasoning mix
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 tbsp sour cream
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese
Instructions
- For the Instant Pot: Brown the ground beef. If browning in the Instant Pot, make sure to use the beef broth to deglaze the pot.
- Add the browned ground beef to the Instant Pot liner along with the onion, carrots and beef broth. Season with parsley, salt and pepper.
- Peel and cube the potatoes. They should be cut fairly small, approx 1 inch cubes. Add the potatoes to your steamer basket.
- Place the steamer basket into the Instant Pot, on top of the beef and carrots.
- Cook on Manual HIGH for 3 minutes. Quick release the pressure.
- Remove the steamer basket and pour the potatoes into a large bowl. Set aside.
- Add the frozen peas and au jus seasoning mix to the Instant Pot. Stir to combine and then place the lid back on. Let the pot sit for 5 minutes.
- While the pot is resting, add the butter and sour cream to the potatoes and mash. You can add a splash of milk to your potatoes if you'd like, I like mine thick though.
- Turn your Instant Pot onto saute. Carefully remove about 1/4 cup of liquid from the Instant Pot, mix in the cornstarch and then return the cornstarch slurry to the Instant Pot once the broth is boiling.
- Stir until thickened. Transfer contents of the Instant Pot to an oven safe dish.
- Carefully spread the mashed potatoes onto the beef mixture. Top the mashed potatoes with shredded cheese.
- Broil for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- For the Stovetop: Brown the ground beef. Drain the grease.
- Add in the carrots, onion, parsley, salt, pepper and broth. Simmer until the carrots are cooked through.
- Add the frozen peas and au jus seasoning mix. Simmer for 2 minutes.
- Remove 1/4 cup of liquid from the pot. Mix in the cornstarch and return the cornstarch slurry to the pot. Stir to thicken.
- In a separate pot, boil the potatoes until fork tender. Mash the potatoes with the butter and sour cream.
- Transfer contents of the Pot to an oven safe dish.
- Carefully spread the mashed potatoes onto the beef mixture. Top the mashed potatoes with shredded cheese.
- Broil for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Nutrition
Tanis Stanley says
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE … correct the spelling. I was born and raised in the UK. I believe this dish originated in the UK [England [my birth country]; Ireland, and Scotland each have a spin/variation — but the commonality is the spelling: SHEPHERD’S PIE [Sheep Herder = “Shepherd”]. Thank you.
karlibitner says
Hi there, Tanis! I obviously need more sleep! Everything should be fixed. Thanks for catching my mistake! ❤️
Rebecca says
I LOVE this recipe! So so good. It has replaced my moms shepherds pie, and that is saying something. 😉 So glad you have instructions for both the stove and instant pot because my instant pot was dirty tonight and I really wanted to make this.
karlibitner says
I am so glad you love this recipe so much!! Thanks for taking the time to comment, means the world! 🙂
Rose says
Is that au jus gravy mix?
Rose says
I haven’t been able to find au jus seasoning mix in a packet. However, I found au jus gravy mix in a packet. Are you using the gravy mix in this recipe?
karlibitner says
Yes, that is correct.
karlibitner says
Yes, I have found that different parts of the country call it different things! The au jus gravy mix will work great!
Serena says
I dont have a steamer basket for my instant pot. Would anything else work? Such as wrapping the potatoes loosely in a foil packet leaving it open so the steam can get to them?
Serena says
If anyone is wondering, it did not work. I just laid a long sheet of tinfoil overtop of the meat mixture with the potatoes in it, but they came out still uncooked. So, I had to boil them in a separate pot until they were soft. Another problem I had was the gravy never thickened. I waited several minutes after adding the slurry made with cooking liquid, but it didn’t thicken. I tried to make an additional slurry with cold water and it still didn’t thicken, so I’m not sure what my problem was. The finished product tastes good, but there is lots of liquid left in the baking dish.
karlibitner says
Hi Serena! I am sorry I didn’t get to answer your question before you made the dish! I go through and answer all comments at night before I go to bed. The potatoes were undercooked because they weren’t down in the liquid like they would be with the steamer basket. Using foil increases the cook time, too, in any dish. The dish was extra liquidy because the potatoes were not down in the liquid to soak some of the liquid up while cooking and the potatoes let off some starch while cooking which helps to thicken the gravy, too. I hope this helps explain and makes sense. Instant Pot recipes are like a delicate science experiment sometimes so it is best to follow recipes exactly as written for guaranteed success. 🙂
Bob Warner says
Hi, what size oven-safe pan do you use for this?
Karli Bitner says
You’ll want a 2 qt dish- this is the same as an 8×8 inch pan.
Anna says
I would love to try this recipe out. What size instapot did you use? Is it doable for a 3qt pot?
Karli Bitner says
You should be able to fit this in your 3 qt!
Mac says
My steamer basket sits more on top than it goes down into the liquid; consequently, it took forever for the potatoes to cook! After only 3 minutes, though, the carrots were also pretty crunchy but, even after putting it back on for at least ten minutes, I still had to finish off the meat part and do the potatoes afterwards. Not a huge time-saver with the Instant Pot, then, but it still tasted good!
Karli Bitner says
I am glad it still tasted good for you, Mac. 🙂
Patty says
In my humble opinion, it would taste GREAT no matter how you spell it!!!!!!!! 💕💕 😄👍
Laura Pl says
This sounds delicious! I am wondering though, could we get a similar result without the au jus? Thanks so much!
Karli Bitner says
Hi Laura- The Au jus does season and add a lot of flavor to the dish, so I would definitely up the salt, pepper, maybe add some garlic powder and other favorite seasonings to the dish. 🙂