Cottage Pie – comfort food central! This English classic has a deeply savoury beef mince filling smothered in gravy topped with creamy mashed potato, baked until golden. One of the best cosy foods to make with ground beef!
Wondering what’s the difference between Cottage Pie and Shepherd’s Pie? Same recipe except Cottage Pie is made with beef and Shepherd’s Pie is made with lamb! (Because Shepherd’s herd sheep….)
Cottage Pie
Cottage Pie is a fabulous English classic, one that us Aussies have adopted as one of our beloved winter favorites! Or in my case, all-year-round-favourite.
Easy to make, economical, every day ingredients and 100% freezer friendly, it’s the sort of food that has universal appeal (well, putting aside vegetarians 😂)
There’s two components to Cottage Pie – the beef filling and the creamy mashed potato topping. The filling is beefy and deeply savoury and it WILL take willpower not to shovel it in your mouth as you’re cooking it…..
….then you get on with that creamy mashed potato filling and it WILL take serious willpower not to shovel THAT into your mouth too…
But you’ll hold out because you know that it’s worth the patience because when you pull the bubbling beauty of of the oven and see that crusty golden top, your chest will puff up with pride, everybody at the table will clap their hands with glee, and no matter how dismal the day, it’s just been made a whole lot better with your Cottage Pie.
What’s the difference between Cottage Pie and Shepherd’s Pie?
There is quite often confusion over the difference between Shepherd’s Pie and Cottage Pie. Both are made the same way – a beef mince filling in a gravy sauce that is topped with mashed potato, sprinkled with parmesan then baked. (That crusty top is everything!!)
The only difference is that Shepherd’s Pie is made with lamb instead of beef. So if you want, just swap the beef in this recipe with lamb and you’ll have a Shepherd’s Pie!
What goes in Cottage Pie
Here’s what you need for Cottage Pie.
Feel free to switch the beef with any protein – this is delicious made with lamb (which makes it Shepherd’s Pie), chicken, turkey, pork. Also don’t fret if you don’t have carrot and celery – skip it or add other diced vegetables, like peas.
And here’s what you need for the mashed potato topping.
I like to put parmesan cheese on my Cottage Pie because it makes the top extra crispy and golden. But any melting cheese will work great.
Cottage Pie from scratch
This Cottage Pie is made from scratch, and it’s very straightforward. If you can make Bolognese and mashed potato, you can make Cottage Pie because it essentially follows the same steps!
Cottage Pie – 2 little tips
I just have 2 little tips to make your Cottage Pie a resounding success:
To stop the potato from sinking into the filling, cool the filling first. But this isn’t a deal breaker, it’s just a visual thing ie if you don’t cool the filling, the potato “bleeds” into the beef mixture; and
Ensure the filling reduces down enough (see video) to ensure you don’t end up with a watery filling after baking. It’s so disappointing when you break through the potato to be greeted with a beef sitting in a watery sauce!
How to freeze Cottage Pie
Cottage Pie is one of those rare foods that is truly perfect to make in advance. It will keep in the fridge for 4 days – assembled and ready to heat, or once cooked.
You can also freeze Cottage Pie 100% perfectly. You can bake from frozen – though it does take around 1 hour (it’s a formidable block of ice!!) or thaw then bake. Cooked leftovers also freeze well.
What goes with Cottage Pie
This is a meat and carb heavy dish, so it goes really well with fresh side salads like a Rocket Salad with Balsamic Dressing, or a Garden Salad with French or Italian Dressing. I recently served it with this Carrot Salad with a Honey Dijon Dressing which was a hit!
For a cosy meal on a cold winter night, try it with a side of Glazed Roasted Carrots and Sautéed Garlic Spinach. The only other thing you need is a glass of red and a crackling fire…
Or in my case, squatting by an ancient electric heater! 😂 – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Cottage Pie
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 1 carrot , finely chopped*
- 1 celery , finely chopped*
- 750g / 1.5 lb beef mince (ground beef)
- 1/4 cup (40g) flour (plain / all purpose)
- 1/4 cup (55g) tomato paste
- 2 cups (500 ml) beef stock / broth , low sodium
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) red wine (or water)
- 1 beef bouillon cube , crumbled (stock cube, or 1 tsp stock powder)
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp dried thyme (or 3 sprigs fresh thyme)
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Topping
- 1.2 kg / 2.5 lb potatoes , peeled and cut into 2.5cm / 1″ cubes
- 2/3 cup (165 ml) milk , warmed
- 2 tbsp (30g) butter
Parmesan Crust (optional)
- 2 tbsp (30g) butter
- 2 tbsp (20g) parmesan, grated
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 1 minute. Then add carrots and celery. Cook for 3 minutes or until softened and sweet.
- Turn heat up to high. Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until browned.
- Add flour and mix in. Add tomato paste, broth, red wine, bouillon cube, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
- Bring to simmer, then turn down heat so it is simmering rapidly – I have it on medium high. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it reduces down to a gravy consistency (Note 1) (see video). Taste then add more salt if desired.
- Transfer to 6 cup pie dish (1.5 litre / quart). Cover, cool if you have time (even overnight). Cool filling = easier to top with mash (Note 2)
Assemble Pie
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Cook potatoes in boiling water for 15 minutes or until soft. Drain then return to pot on turned off stove. Shake briefly and allow to steam dry for 30 seconds or so (Note 3).
- Add butter and mash until melted, then add milk and salt. Mash until smooth.
- Spread onto pie, use a fork to rough up the surface (rougher surface = more golden bits). Sprinkle with paremsan, drizzle with butter (or skip this and just drizzle with olive oil)
- Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden on top and bubbling on the edges. Stick a knife into the middle to ensure it is piping hot.
- Stand for 5 minutes before serving, garnished with fresh thyme leaves if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published October 2016. Updated 2020 with fresh new photos and video. No change to recipe – I wouldn’t dare!
More pie recipes
Shepherd’s Pie (lamb – because Shepherd’s herd sheep!)
Spanakopita (Greek spinach and feta pie)
Browse all cosy Winter Warmers
Life of Dozer
That’s what Dozer looks like when he’s peeved. He’s cranky because he squeezed himself under this tiny table, waited so patiently for me to finish taking photos and he didn’t get a taste test!
Delicious and satisfying. My teenage grandsons devoured this. A winner! Nagi, you never fail to deliver, thank you!
I forgot the stars!
Really delicious! We had it with leftovers from two other meals of yours: the garlic butter kale rice, and the yoghurt slaw (from the prawn tacos recipe). All went so well together!
Thrown all my other cottage pie recipes out and written THIS IS THE ONE END OF! on this one. Made this a few times now it is just perfect. Thank you so much.
A hit! Anyone have suggestions for alternative herbs to thyme though? Nagi likes it way more than I do lol.
just try parsley or chives or no herbs at all – won’t make any difference (unless you adore herbs!)
A perfect recipe. Almost identical to how my mother taught me to make it.
OMG Nagi! this is the best most comforting meal on a cold night and my family loved it. thank you, thank you, thank you 🙂
So tasty. I literally licked the serving spoon! I did half mashed potato and the other half sweet potato mash.
This. Was. Delicious. We loved it so much, it only served my husband and i for dinner 🤪
Yum Yum Yum. Perfect dinner for a cold winter night. Went down a treat! One question I do have – What is it called if you substitute the lamb/beef for kangaroo? I do prefer kangaroo mince for its higher iron and low fat content so only had it on me. I really dont want to call it a Skippy pie 🙁 So love the recipe!!
Yes! I used half beef and half kangaroo as I had some in the freezer. I was worried about how the taste would be affected but actually I think the flavour was better because of it. Maybe you could call it Bush Pie or Outback Pie? 🙂
Far exceeded my expecations. Simple to make and ever so tasty. Cheesy mash is amazing! My fussy eater loved this and will now be making this a regular.
Terrific recipe and so tasty! Didn’t have any celery so used extra carrot. Didn’t have any wine, so I used water. Didn’t have enough tomato paste so I used a little tomato ketchup. Thanks Nagi for all that you do.
Made this last night for my family… My daughter is normally a Very picky eater but I made this and she said it was delicious and ate it all without one complaint. A miracle! Thanks for all the helpful tips at the end of the recipe as well, it makes it so easy to follow and not muck it up 🙂
Yum, tonight’s dinner. Another family fave, looks and smells delicious.
I’ve just purchased another copy of your fabulous book ‘Dinner’. It’s for my granddaughter Eliza who will be 12years old on Sunday and she asked for a copy as her birthday present. Sensible girl, now maybe she’ll leave my copy alone 🤩
This was absolutely delicious I followed the recipe to the letter and added a big handful of freshly grated cheese to the potato mash. It tasted even better the second day. My partner is very fussy and he devoured this and bragged to all his friends at the construction site that he couldn’t wait to get home and eat more of it. We toasted up some pana di casa slices and scooped the pie onto the crusty bread. This will be on repeat at our place this winter. 6/5 stars!
BEYOND delicious! Easy, full of flavour, the buttery drizzle at the end which creates a rich & golden potato top – just mega-yum & perfect for winter. Thanks Queen Nagi!
Exceptional! I made this with ground venison and we loved it. Froze a few pieces for quick dinner in the future. I’ve used other recipes from your site and I’m always pleased with the results.
This is such a yummy version. I actually have been loving all of your recipes 🙂
Thanks!
Super tasty. Made Shepherds and Cottage pie, prefer the beef to lamb
Absolutely delicious. Thanks for this recipe.
This is a very very yummy meat sauce. We were in a rush today so just ate the sauce with mashed potato and it was still excellent!! I made double recipe and it took almost an hour of cooking on medium high with no lid for the sauce to thicken up.
Thanks so much for all of your recipes, they always work and everything we try is always the new favourite. I rarely find a need to go anywhere else these days.
Thanks!!!