Homemade Instant Pot Shepherd’s Pie

Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot shepherd’s pie is a great option when it’s hot and you don’t want to turn your oven on. We made a shepherd’s pie with ground beef in the oven several times but it was time to make it in our pressure cooker this go around.

Ninja Foodi Shepherd’s Pie

This meal isn’t just if you have an IP, there are many other pressure cooker brands out there. Crockpot Express and Mealthy are great too but if you have a Ninja Foodi you can get this done all in one pot! You just air crisp at the end instead of transferring to the oven on broil to get golden brown on the top.

You see, you can make the filling and pressure cooker mashed potatoes at the same time y’all. Just use a trivet to keep the taters off of the bottom and everything will get nice and tender together. You don’t even have to precook or saute the hamburger at the beginning! That is my kinda’ one pot meal.

Instant Pot Cottage Pie

Ok so these two terms are kinda’ synonymous. If you say either one most people will picture the same dish. The biggest difference is the type of protein that is used.

Back in the day ground lamb was used, only. You can certainly do the same but that is much more expensive than beef for sure so nowadays turkey or ground beef are bought.

As for the best potatoes for Shepherds pie I think russet is the best. They are high in starch which makes them into creamy garlic mashed potatoes or plain if you’d rather. Red are firmer and take a bit longer to get super tender to mash and Yukon just don’t have the flavor I feel good old fashioned Idaho taters do. 😉

Ingredients

1. Ground beef, turkey, chicken, lamb or even venison works great for this
2. Potatoes + whatever you would use to make mashed taters
3. Beef broth is best
4. Frozen vegetables work best so they take a bit longer to cook and don’t soften too much
5. Diced 1/2 cup of onions or so go in everything around here
6. I chop up some air fryer garlic after it’s been roasted and throw that in too
7. Cornstarch + water to create a roux for thickening

Can you use leftover ground beef to make shepherds pie?

Yes for sure, this even makes for a great leftover taco meat recipe. You would just skip the browning step is all so actually makes it quicker to make overall.

Can you use ground turkey instead of ground beef?

Yes you can, we have done this for our Shepherds Pie with Ground Turkey which is lower in fat than the other.

How do you brown the top?

If you want to take it a step further and brown the top you’d want a 9×9 or 8×8 pan to layer it and throw it under the broiler. You could add some shredded cheese to the top too for added YUM.

Instant Pot Shepherds Pie

You can see the ingredients we used to make this batch above. Of course the seasonings would be up to you. If your granny made it back in the day you may have a “secret sauce” you use so go with that of course. Here are a few questions you might have before you get everything out and get going on this;

Like I said, you don’t even have to set it to saute at the beginning and cook the meat. Instead just break it up and leave it on the bottom with the trivet and russets set on the top. You could leave some of the skins on for texture and fiber but if you want the top real smooth it is better to just remove the skins at the beginning.

Now remember that it does take about 15 minutes to come to pressure. If you are timing out everything you’d add that to your pressure cook time.

How to Make Shepherd’s Pie in Pressure Cooker

• Place the ground meat of your choice, about 1 lb, in the Instant Pot.
  • Break it up into small pieces. Add onion, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, thyme and broth.
  • Stir meat mixture together. Place trivet on top of the beef mixture.
• Add peeled and chunked potatoes on to the trivet.
  • Close lid, cook on High pressure for 12 minutes. 
  • Once cooking time is complete, quick release the pressure.
• Remove the potatoes and mash with preferred ingredients in a separate bowl; butter, milk, sour cream etc. Add the cornstarch slurry, salt, pepper, and frozen vegetables to the Instant Pot.
• Stir until the mixture has thickened.   Scoop the beef/vegetable mixture into a baking dish (I used a 9×9 dish).
  • Top with mashed potatoes. 
  • Broil on high for a few minutes or until the top is golden brown. 
  • Or for a Shepherds pie Ninja Foodi style you could spoon the taters on to the top and air crisp at 400 for 4 minutes to brown.

Cooking in the Instant Pot has never been easier y’all. This proves that you can cook anything and everything all at the same time.

Substitutions you could make: Choose any type of mixed vegetables in Instant Pot you like but I highly suggest using frozen, and do not choose broccoli as it cooks too fast. You could use any sort of variety of potatoes I just prefer russet for taste and texture. The protein is up to you but should be ground.

If you had the Instant Pot air fryer lid you could do the same technique as the Foodi where you don’t have to transfer out of the pot to brown the top.

What goes good with Shepherds pie?

I mean if you ask me this whole thing is a complete meal. You have protein, vegetables and your starch on the top. If you felt like you needed something cool on the side I would probably serve up a side salad since everyone here loves that. More veggies is always a win of course, or homemade rolls.

How to save leftovers: If you don’t eat this in one sitting it saves quite well actually. I would transfer it out of this dish since you likely won’t have a lot left and into a sealed container. Then store in the fridge and when you’re ready to reheat move it to a microwave safe dish.

Heat in 30 second increments until warmed to the center. If you wanted to add some cheddar cheese to the top, add that after 1.5 minutes and heat for about 20 to melt. That is my favorite way to eat this the next day for lunch, if my husband doesn’t get to it first.