This easy shepherd’s pie recipe makes a comforting winter casserole dinner with a flavorful moist ground beef filling and a satisfying mashed potato topping. It bakes in the oven until golden, juicy, and bubbling.

Easy Ground Beef and Potato Shepherd’s pie with carrots and Peas

This cozy and juicy bubbling sheperd’s pie is basically a simple ground beef casserole baked until hot and bubbly with a smashed potato topping that holds it all together.

The ground beef filling is cooked and flavored with rosemary and thyme herbs, splashes of red wine, butter, garlic, onion, and seasonings. In just a few minutes, you have a delicious meat filling for your comforting and wintry shepherd’s pie.

A Creamy Mashed Potato topping ties it all together

Once the stovetop ground beef filling is finished, you’ll scoop and transfer it to your casserole dish and top with a simple mashed potato topping to bake until bubbling, hot, and golden in the oven.

You’ll have the best homemade comfort food, a wintry satisfying shepherd’s pie casserole! It’s a cozy and comforting winter dinner recipe that will warm the bones through and through on cold winter nights!

What you’ll Need To Make a Simple, Flavorful Shepherd’s Pie with Ground Beef

• 1 lb Ground Beef
• 1 large Yellow Onion – small diced
• 2 ribs Celery – small diced
• 3 cloves garlic – minced
• 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 
• 1/4 cup Red Wine
• 2 tbsp Butter – plus 3 to 4 more tbsp for mashed potato topping
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• Coarse Sea Salt + Pepper To Taste
• 3/4 cup Beef Stock or Vegetable Stock – 3/4 cup to 1 cup as needed for juiciness 
• 1 Bag Frozen Carrots and Peas
• 2 sprigs Fresh Rosemary
• 2 sprigs Fresh Thyme

For The Smashed Potato Topping

• 3 whole Russet Potatoes – peeled, cut into 1 inch cubes, and cooked until fork tender
• 3 tbsp Butter – cubed with a sharp knife into small pieces
• 1/4 cup Half & Half Cream – or more as needed to make smooth + creamy
• pinches Coarse Salt + Pepper – seasoning smashed potatoes to taste

Start The Potatoes For the Shepherd’s Pie Topping

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F and start the potatoes.

• Wash and peel 3 whole russet potatoes and cube into 1 inch cubes. Drop these into a pot and cover with cold water. Season with pinches of salt and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and cook in lightly boiling water until fork tender.
• When fork tender, remove from heat and strain potato cubes with a spider or slotted spoon, removing them from the water. Transfer to a large bowl.
• While potatoes are warm, toss in the small cubed butter and stir until butter melts.
• Splash in the half and half cream and sprinkle in pinches of salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.
• Adjust wish splashes cream or butter as desired for a creamy but spreadable texture (that can be scooped up and set down with a spoon). Set aside.

Make The Ground Beef Filling for the shepherd’s Pie

• In a large wide skillet, melt the 2 tbsp of butter, drizzle in a bit of olive oil over medium heat, and toss in fresh rosemary and thyme sprigs.
• Now toss in the diced diced celery, garlic, and onion. Stir these vegetables to combine until onions turn transluscent, herbs are fragrant, and celery is tender, about 8 to 10 minutes as needed.
• Lightly season this step with pinches of coarse salt and pepper.
• When diced vegetables are tender, remove the herb stems. Do this before adding tomato paste in next step.
• Now with herb stems removed, splash in the red wine and add the 2 tbsp of tomato paste. Stir to combine, caramelizing the tomato paste, reducing wine, and developing flavors, another 5 minutes or so. Adjust heat as needed.
• Add the ground beef to the skillet breaking up and browning the meat evenly with a wooden spoon or wood spatula.
• Sprinkle in the onion powder, garlic powder, and drizzle in the worcestershire sauce. Stir gently to combine.
• Lastly, add the splash of beef stock along with the bag of frozen carrots and peas. Season with pinches of salt and pepper to taste as desired and stir to combine. There should be enough stock to make the ground beef filling juicy and moist, it shouldn’t be covered with stock, just juicy (about 3/4 cup to 1 cup stock as needed).
• Bring to a light simmer and cook for another 10 minutes or so on medium-low heat to develop flavors.

Transfer ground beef filling to the casserole dish

• Transfer the ground beef filling from the skillet to the casserole dish and top with the mashed potato filling. I used a standard 9 x 13 inch oval casserole dish.
• Scoop up the mashed potato filling with a spoon and gently smear over the top of the ground beef filling one scoop at a time, being gentle and careful not to push down too hard as the juices from the filling will stain the potato topping.
• To keep the top nice and neat, scoop one bit at a time, and use back of spoon to flatten potato mixture gently over the shepherd’s pie meat filling. Repeat in little sections until all of the surface is coated (all the way up to the edges) and the mashed potato topping is completely finished.

Bake This easy Shepherd’s Pie recipe Until Hot and Bubbling

• Once finished assembling, bake the ground beef and potato casserole in a 375 degrees F oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until hot, bubbling up the sides, and some peaks of the potato topping are turning golden brown.
• Serve nice and hot, garnish with minced parsley and fresh herbs as desired or serve with crusty artisan bread for dipping.

Enjoy this delicious, satisfying, and cozy shepherd’s pie beef casserole all winter long when you crave a hot dinner that sticks to the bones on cold winter nights! For an easy weeknight dinner, try this leftover spaghetti casserole or this easy taco beef casserole! This healthy ground turkey and veggie dinner with mashed potatoes is another winter dinner winner!

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