Like so many casserole recipes from Ireland or the UK these dishes origins came from leftovers. My Gram made Shepard's pie from left over leg of lamb. She did not use ground lamb it was lamb that was chopped up after it was removed from the Roast leg of lamb. She also would make a casserole called Rectors hash. It wasn't a hash it was Chunks of Lamb, potatoes and carrots all mixed together with cheese and tomato sauce. Both casseroles were made of left overs normally served on Monday night!

I read the reviews. And a lot of the time, they are a little bland for my taste. I have made this type of thing many times over the years. Pretty much, never the same twice on seasoning. The thing is, this recipe can be what you want. I went with the original base, half the onion, increased the garlic a bit. I prefer a little gravy, so I added Worcestershire, beef broth, corn starch with a tablespoon or so of A-1. I forgot the ketchup and thyme. After browning meat and onions, I added in all this along with the mixed veggies. I tasted and it still needed something, (probably the ketchup and thyme), so I threw in some dry fajita seawsoning and paprika. Re -tasted and it was perfect. For the potatoes, I used Yukon golds with cheddar cheese mixed in. This was really good, and husband said best yet....so I will make again. One of the commenters said, cooking should be fun. You don't have to have a bland dish if you can taste it before it's finished and this is one of those recipes that allows that. So go with what you like....it's a great recipe.

Since several people mentioned that this recipe was bland, I made adjustments as I was making it. I happened to have some leftover caramelized onions, so I put those in the mashed potatoes. I also used more than three cups of mashed potatoes. I figured...how could it hurt? For the liquid, I used beef broth and some red wine...which I just happened to have in the refrigerator...along with a few tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. I think I had more than a half a cup of liquid, so I added a little extra flour, and I used a 16 ounce bag of mixed vegetables--instead of the listed 10 ounce box. Besides the thyme I added some Italian Seasoning, garlic powder,and smoked paprika. It was delicious. I think it would have been delicious and flavorable even if I would have followed the recipe. I will definitely make this again! :)

I have a recipe For Martha's Shephard's pie from the 90's. It's more chopping but still not difficult. I recently made it for a friend recovering from surgery. She raved about it and asked for the recipe. It's quite tasty.

This is my "go to" Shepherd's Pie recipe. So very easy and every person I have made it for, loves it. It's perfect with a small salad.

Could everyone please get over what it's called and focus on the recipe? The "traditional" Shepherds Pie was made with minced lamb because that was abundantly available, England didn't have lots of cows but there were plenty of sheep. My mom was British, I was born and lived in England, but when we moved to America even my mom made it with beef and still called it Shepherds pie. Lamb was not familiar to most Americans and has only recently grown in popularity. However, lamb is far more expensive than beef which prohibits many families from using lamb. Use what you like and can afford!! Most recipes for any Shepherd's Pie say use beef or lamb. That said, I made this version because it was fast and easy and I didn't have time for a more complicated recipe. It turned out very good, but I added a little Worcestershire sauce, about a 1/2 cup of beef stock, and a can of cream of celery soup to give it a creamy sauce. It's not like my mom's more traditional recipe but both are good. Cooking is about fun, experimenting, and making something tasty. This is a good recipe for a quick meal when you don't have lots of time, and you can tweak it to your own taste.

I also added sliced mushrooms and 1 can of cream of mushroom soup to this recipe. If the top of the potatoes do not brown to your liking, you can also pop the dish under the broiler until the tops are browned to your liking. Great easy, basic recipe. Sarah makes the video and cooking this recipe very enjoyable. I love her personality and look forward to more videos from her :)

This isn't shepherd's pie? This is a cottage pie hun. If it's made with beef it's cottage if it's made with lamb, it's a shepard pie. Alot of people get them confused or don't know the difference!

When I was living with the French Nun's and they made their Shepard's pie for all the children at the orphanage. They used chopped beef and they made a white sauce for the gravy!!! I loved it this way too! I actually found I liked peas because of the white sauce and the Nuns were EXCELLENT cooks who NEVER over cooked the veggies!!!

This recipe was very bland. Warming the veggies through and cooking for 10 minutes in the oven really isn't enough to give them any of the flavors in the rest of the pie. I'd recommend just saving this recipe for a weekend or whenever you have extra time, and cooking fresh veggies separately and adding them to the pie. Will definitely take more time, but my husband had been begging me to make shepherd's pie, yet tried hard to hide his disappointment at this one.