Shepherd’s Pie with Instant Potatoes

Shepherds pie with instant potatoes is super easy to make with ground beef and vegetables. Top with a bit of cheese for added deliciousness. A complete meal cooked in a cast iron skillet in no time.

I did make our Shepherd’s pie with ground beef from scratch once, from then on it was with leftovers after the holidays. Semi homemade was much more my style. I didn’t want to wait until after Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas though so what would work between those holidays? Bagged taters of course.

Easy Shepherd’s Pie with Instant Potatoes

There are several brands out there you can buy at the grocery store. I buy mine in bulk online so I always have a few on hand, you can see what they look like here. There is plain, a butter variety and I like the garlic style a lot too. You can leave as is or fold in some shredded cheddar cheese for OH MY…..

Idahoan Instant Potatoes Shepherd’s Pie

Can you make this with a batch of freshly made Ninja Foodi baked potatoes? Of course. If you were going to go thru all that though, just follow our Instant Pot Shepherd’s pie instructions start to finish. This is when you don’t want to mash at all. Using packaged taters means you just need milk or water to make.

• Your protein could be ground beef, lamb, sausage, or make Shepherds Pie with Ground Turkey
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Carrots that have been peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery diced
• Onion diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Minced garlic
• Tomato paste
  • Shepherd’s Pie with Instant Potatoes and tomato soup works too
• Frozen peas are great
• Tbsp worcestershire sauce
• Beef broth
• 1/2 c cheese optional, for the top of your potatoes
• 1 pkg instant mashed potatoes is what we used because we think this brand tastes the best

If you wanted to thicken the meat mixture you could whisk 2 tbs cornstarch and your broth together and add that. I use a lot of the same ingredients to make shepherds pie Crockpot style too. Love low and slow? Try that one too!

Skillet Shepherd’s Pie

There really isn’t a lot to this. I mean the base you brown of course in the pan, add your other ingredients in that to make a sort of ground beef casserole. Prepare your tater or cauliflower mash for lower carbs and top.

• Heat a skillet over medium heat and once hot, add the ground beef. Cook until browned and no pink remains, about 5-6 minutes. Drain and remove beef to a clean plate, then add the diced carrots, celery and onion to the skillet.
• Cook vegetables until softened, then stir in salt, pepper and garlic. Cook 1 minute. Return the beef to the skillet, then add the tomato paste, green peas, Worcestershire sauce and beef broth.
• Bring to a simmer over medium high heat, then reduce heat to medium until liquid is reduced by half. Remove from heat.
• Mash until smooth your instant potatoes according to the directions on the package.
  • You can fold in shredded cheddar cheese for added yum.
• Preheat oven to broil. Scoop mashed potatoes over the top of the beef mixture and smooth down to create an even layer to cover the skillet or baking dish.

Set in on the middle rack to brown the top. You could add shredded cheese to the top as well if desired.

Shepherd’s Pie with Instant Potatoes No Gravy

Yes you could pour bottled or homemade onion gravy over the top but it really isn’t necessary. Cottage pie like this already has so much flavor. Some like a dollop of sour cream on top or in with the meat to add a creaminess.

To save any of your leftover shepherd’s pie recipe just transfer into a sealable container. It doesn’t really matter if the top and bottom get a bit mixed up. Then seal the lid and store in the fridge for up to 3 days, the next day is best to reheat and enjoy.

Transfer it into a microwave safe dish and heat 30 seconds at a time. Stirring occasionally throughout the time so it gets hot all the way thru to the center it makes a great lunch for you the next day too. Add some shredded cheese on the last stint so it melts and that is incredible.

Cast Iron Shepherds Pie

Alternates and substitutions would be that you could add any sort of vegetables you want. Only one I would suggest that you didn’t use would be broccoli as it cooks much faster than others and will get too soft. I like using diced frozen mixed vegetables because they’re the same size and already prepped.

A mix of small pieces of carrots, peas and green beans works really well because they cook all at the same rate. If you do use fresh produce just note that it may get softer than the other, not counting carrots which remain decently firm no matter what form they start in.

From start to finish this will take about 30 minutes until ready to eat and golden brown on top. Fork tender feel good meal that will bring back all the memories and feel goods for sure, get started with the instructions below.

Can you save Shepherds Pie

Of course, it actually reheats quite nicely if you store it properly. First wait until it is cool and then transfer it into a sealed container. It can save in the fridge for 3-4 days but ideally I would enjoy it again within 24 hours.

How do you reheat leftover Shepherd’s Pie

I just use the microwave really. You don’t need anything to be crisped, just heated all the way thru to the middle of it. Move it to a plate, cut in half and separate so it can heat thru easily. Heat for about 2 minutes and enjoy again. You could add a little shredded cheese to the top near the end to melt too!

You can jump to recipe below and get started. There is nutritional information listed but refer to the packaged potatoes you bought for a more accurate number for calories and/or saturated fat content. If you tweak it a bit and it turns out great let us know below so we can try that change too.