Our shepherds pie in a Crockpot with ground beef, carrots, peas and instant mashed potatoes layered together cooked all day is one of our family’s favorite meals. Similar to our Shepherd’s Pie with ground beef in the oven, but with less prep.
Want the ultimate comfort food?? If it is cold outside this (otherwise known as cottage pie) will satisfy you for dinner. Full of carrots, green beans, corn with mashed potatoes on top, this easy Crockpot recipe will remind you of a meal at your Grandmother’s house.
If you have been a fan of my blog for any length of time you know we buy meat in bulk each year. A lot of it comes ground so I do create a lot of ground beef recipes to share. I’m all about a good casserole. On busy days I can throw in a bag of this, a can of that, and let ‘er go for the day. Know what I mean??
Ingredient Notes
For this we used lean ground beef but Ground Venison or ground turkey would work just as great. If you wanted to make this vegetarian there is a meatless variety you could brown instead too.
An onion diced is optional but sure is nice for added flavor and more texture. You can include in the skillet when browning your meat so they soften a bit before adding.
Minced garlic goes in literally everything we make so that is a given but optional as always.
Frozen peas and carrots are sliced or small bite size pieces, mixed veggies that include bits of green beans work too.
And to make it a creamy bottom layer you want to add canned cream of mushroom soup.
Just like our Shepherd’s pie with instant mashed potatoes we are going to use 2 packets of instant mashed potatoes. That makes this easy. You you just add water to the taters and spoon on the top or use a piping back to top so it is pretty.
Variations
You can make a batch of mashed potatoes in slow cooker first, use instant potatoes, boiled on stovetop, or prepared as desired with about 6 russet potatoes.
Can you make this with homemade condensed soup?
If you would rather go all out by first making homemade cream of mushroom soup, go for it. Most of the time I just use canned but I get it. Vegetables get poured right out of the bag out of the freezer. Personally I don’t and wouldn’t use canned veggies because they will break down too much.
Tips
Now let’s talk about the meat you’re using. You do in fact want some fat in it. Fat = flavor y’all. I wouldn’t buy anything lower than 80/20. You’re going to want to heat in a skillet to soften the onions and brown the meat just on the outside. You don’t need to completely cook it but the outside shouldn’t be pink.
You can add lots of seasonings to the protein to add flavor. That is up to you but there are suggestions below. To go the super easy route you can use a ready made beef seasoning out of a bottle, or your own. Just onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper works, but note that the condensed soup will add a bit of sodium already.
FAQ
For the most part, yes. Unless you are just cooking the ground beef in by itself to cook all day you will want to brown your meat before adding it in with other ingredients in your Crockpot.
Yes, that is a great option to make your prep easier and make year round too. As long as they are all the same size you will be good to go as they simmer low and slow cooking inside the gravy and meat mixture.
To start with this is just kinda’ like a Crockpot casserole basically. It’s just meat, vegetables with a creamy sauce of sorts warmed together. There are two ways to serve this once that is done and ready to serve. You can make pretty by piping the taters on to the top like you see here.
Not necessary at all but kinda’ a fun way to serve it to your guests or kids. Another easier way is to put a dollop of potatoes on the plate and put a spoonful of the mixture in the pot over the top. This version is nice to pour a bit of Instant Pot gravy poured over the top.
Spoon potatoes into a frosting decorating tool if you like with a large decorative tip and cover. Or spread the mashed potatoes on top with a spoon.
If you wanted a bit of crisp on top you could add into an oven safe dish and into your air fryer. A few minutes at 400 degrees F should do the trick and add a bit of texture to the very top for you. Some crispy fried onions on the top brings it back to life too.
You can print recipe below. There is nutritional information listed with calories and saturated fat too, that will vary depending on the fat content of your meat and what you add to the potatoes. Turn the pot off when it is done so it can start to cool off if you have any leftovers at the end.
Crockpot Shepherds Pie Recipe
Equipment
- 1 slow cooker
- 1 pan
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- 12 oz carrots, frozen
- 12 oz peas, frozen
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 3 tsp ground beef seasoning
- 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 2 packets instant mashed potatoes, prepared as directed on back of bag
Instructions
- Cook ground beef and onion in a skillet. Drain fat if needed and add worcestershire and seasoning. Scoop cooked beef mixture into crockpot and mix in cream of mushroom soup.
- Stir in frozen carrots and frozen peas. Cover crockpot and cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hours.
- Prepare instant mashed potatoes. Spoon mashed potatoes into frosting decorating tool with a large decorative tip. *or spread mashed potatoes with a spatula.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How to store leftovers
Of course, like any other casserole it saves and reheats quite well. Just store in a container with a lid that will close tightly. In the next day or two transfer into a microwave safe dish. Pour some gravy on top if you have it and heat for 1-2 minutes until warmed.
