Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

4.88 from 8 votes

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie is a show-stopping dish loaded with veggies, savory gravy, and topped with the best mashed potatoes!

Prep Time1

Cook Time30

Total Time1 30

Course: Dinner, Vegetarian

Cuisine: American, Vegetarian

Keyword: vegetarian shepherd's pie

Servings: servings

Author: Chelsea Lords

Cost: $16.39

Equipment

Large pot
Oven-safe pan or large frying pan and (1.5 to 2-quart) oven-safe dish
Potato ricer

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil divided
1 cup finely diced yellow onion 1/2 of 1 large onion
1 cup diced carrot 3 carrots
1 cup celery 4 stalks
8 ounces mushrooms thinly sliced, (baby bella, brown, crimini)
1 tablespoon minced garlic 3 cloves
1 (15-ounce) can lentils drained and rinsed
2 bay leaves divided
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup corn
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced or crushed tomatoes undrained; I love fire-roasted
1-1/2 cups vegetable stock divided, see note 1
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar optional

Topping

2-1/2 pounds baby gold potatoes peeled and cubed
1/2 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
1/2 cup sour cream can use light or fat free
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Fresh parsley or fresh thyme, optional, for topping

US - Metric

Instructions

Peel and cube potatoes into golf-ball-sized pieces. Place in a strainer and rinse under cold water. Place in a large pot and cover with 1 inch cold water. Add 1 tablespoon salt and 1 bay leaf, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are fork-tender, about 15–20 minutes, then drain potatoes in a strainer and let stand (to dry) 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf.
While potatoes cook, add 1-1/2 tablespoons oil to a large, (3.5-quart) oven-safe pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and carrot. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until veggies are soft, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, thinly slice mushrooms, then add and cook another 3–5 minutes, stirring occasionally until mushrooms are tender. Add garlic and lentils. Stir through for 30 seconds. Add flour and stir 1 minute to cook off the rawness of the flour. Add tomato paste, thyme, Italian seasoning, paprika, and salt and pepper to taste. (I add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper). Stir another 1–2 minutes. Add in 1/2 cup vegetable stock (see note 2) and stir 1–2 more minutes or until thick.
Reduce heat to medium and add diced tomatoes, frozen peas, frozen corn, and remaining bay leaf. Add remaining 1 cup vegetable stock and stir until combined. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium and cook 25–35 minutes, stirring about every 5 minutes, until you have a thickened gravy. Stir in red wine vinegar. Preheat oven to 350℉.
Remove veggies from heat, cover, and place in fridge until ready to bake (you want the mixture to chill for as long as possible so layers stay separate when baking, 15–20 minutes at a minimum). If not using an oven-safe skillet, transfer to a 1.5 to 2-quart oven-safe dish. Remove bay leaf and discard.
While potatoes are drying in the strainer, add heavy cream, sour cream, and butter to the pot the potatoes cooked in. Melt on low heat and stir to combine. While potatoes are still hot, put them through a ricer and add into the butter/sour cream mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I use 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper). Cover and place in fridge until ready to assemble.
Gently spread potatoes in an even layer on top of the veggies. Use a large spoon or silicone spatula to cover all the veggies and to “seal” the edges with potatoes. Use a fork to add marks onto the surface of the potatoes. Drizzle with remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil.
Bake 25–30 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown and edges are bubbling. Broil 1–2 minutes on high to get the very tops of the potatoes crispy! (See note 2.) Remove from heat and garnish with fresh thyme or fresh parsley as desired. Serve hot.

Notes

Note 1: Traditional Shepherd’s Pie uses red wine in the gravy. If you’d like to do the same, you can substitute 1/2 cup of medium-bodied red wine, such as pinot noir, for the same amount of vegetable stock.

Note 2: Glass baking pans, including Pyrex®, cannot withstand the high heat of a broiler. Additionally, if your baking pan has plastic or wooden handles, they won’t work either. Most other pans are safe for oven and broiler use.

Storage: To freeze Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie, cool it to room temperature, cover tightly with foil, and freeze for up to 2 months.

Nutrition