This post contains affiliate links.
Get ready to enjoy some yummy comfort food with this Crock Pot Shepherds Pie! A classic just got even easier to make in the crock pot.
Why you'll love this recipe
- Flavorful and Hearty: The slow cook time in the crock pot allows the flavors to get stronger while it cooks. And using the crock pot means you can start it in the morning and have it waiting for you when you get home after work!
- Comfort Food: Shepherd's Pie has the comfort food appeal that you're looking for. This is a great recipe for fall and winter. It's a hearty meal that will leave you and your loved ones feeling full!
- Family-Friendly: This dish is great for kids and adults and it's great for playing with your food! It's also a great way to sneak some veggies in.
This has the warm, hearty feels of a Swedish meatball casserole and pork roast with sauerkraut. It's also a great way to use up leftover ground beef.
Tip: If you forgot to thaw your meat you can quickly and easily cook frozen ground beef in the instant pot!
Jump to:
Ingredients
The ingredients for this recipe are the perfect mix of meat, veggies, and seasonings!
- potatoes - Potatoes are what makes this dish a hearty and filling meal! The mashed potatoes soak up the flavor and bring on the comfy element of the dish. If you have some leftover instant pot mashed potatoes, you can use them instead!
- beef - Ground beef is the protein source for this dish. Think of Shepherd's Pie like a creamy chicken pot pie, but with beef and potatoes instead of chicken.
- peas - Peas (and carrots) are the main vegetables in this dish, besides the potatoes needed as a starch. These veggies in the dish are a nice burst of color and nutrition. You won't need to make a side of veggies to go with this meal!
- milk - The milk (and butter) is what thickens the mashed potatoes so they get to the right consistency! You'll put the mashed potatoes on top of the beef filling in the crock pot.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Substitutions
If you are out of potatoes, or want to keep it simple, use pre-made mashed potatoes! Grab a packet from the store and you can cut out a chunk of time on the prep.
Use mashed sweet potatoes or keto mashed cauliflower if you prefer the nutritional benefit or taste better! It doesn't make a difference to the recipe.
Consider using a different blend of veggies, depending on what you have on hand! Fresh or frozen green beans, sliced mushrooms or bell peppers would be good add-ins or substitutions if you are out of corn, peas or carrots.
How to make Crock Pot Shepherd's Pie
The most time consuming part of this recipe is cooking the potatoes and the ground beef! The rest is tossing in the crock pot and letting it cook for a couple of hours.
Step #1: In a pan, heat olive oil and add ground beef. Break into small pieces as it cooks, just until brown, about 7-10 minutes. Drain grease and return to pan.
While the beef is cooking, put cubed potatoes in pot and fill with water. Bring to boil and cook until potatoes are tender, usually 15-20 minutes.
Drain and mash potatoes. Next, add milk, salt, pepper, and butter and keep mashing until smooth.
Set aside.
Step #2: Add carrots, onion, peas, corn, garlic salt and pepper to the cooked ground beef. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step #3: Take a spoon and place the beef and vegetable mixture in the bottom of the crock pot.
Step #4: Spread mashed potatoes on top of the beef and vegetable layer, covering all the way.
Step #5: Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low 6-8 hours, until potatoes are golden on top and the mixture is bubbling.
Hint: Adjust cook time in the crock pot for what works for your schedule. If you are going to start it in the morning, use low setting and cook for longer!
You could even cook the meat, veggies, and potatoes the night before and assemble the next morning if that makes it easier.
Variations
Different Meat: If you prefer a different type of meat, consider using ground turkey, ground pork, or ground chicken. They both pair nicely with the vegetables and mashed potatoes.
Tex-Mex Style: If you're looking for a Southwestern flavor, add taco seasoning and black beans to your beef mixture!
Stuffed Peppers: Instead of putting in Crock Pot, you could stuff bell peppers with the meat and potato mixture after cooked!
Top tip
Leftovers for this recipe are perfect! The longer time that passes, the more flavor that the potatoes soak up. Don't be afraid to cook more for leftovers for later in the week.
Recipe FAQ
This would be from using too much milk or butter so be careful not to make mashed potatoes too runny!
This is a yummy dish for leftovers...I'm getting hungry thinking about this! Leftovers are generally good for about five days in the fridge or consider freezing leftovers and they stay good for about two months.
If you made this crock pot shepherd's pie or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments.
Hungry for more? Be sure to stay in touch on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Related recipes
Looking for other slow cooker recipes? Try these:
Crock Pot Shepherds Pie
Ingredients
For the mashed potatoes
- 5 large potatoes peeled and cut into cubes
- ½ cup 2% milk
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the ground beef filling
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium red onion chopped
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 large carrot finely diced
- ¾ cup frozen peas
- ¾ cup frozen corn
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
To make the potatoes
- Place the cubed potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.5 large potatoes
- Drain the water and mash the potatoes with a potato masher or fork.
- Add the milk, butter, salt, and pepper, and continue mashing until the mixture is smooth and creamy.½ cup 2% milk, 2 Tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
To make the filling
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned, breaking into pieces as it cooks, 7-10 minutes. Drain grease and return the ground beef to the pan.1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 pound ground beef
- Add the diced carrot, onion, frozen peas, frozen corn and minced garlic, salt and black pepper.1 medium red onion, 1 large carrot, ¾ cup frozen peas, ¾ cup frozen corn, 2 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon the beef mixture into the bottom of the crockpot.
- Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the beef mixture, making sure to cover it completely. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours, until the potatoes are golden brown and the filling is hot and bubbly. Top with parsley, if using.2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
Notes
Nutrition
This Farm Girl Cooks is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Shanel
In the recipe. You mention parsley in ingredients and then don’t tell us what to do with it. Does it go in the meet mixture??? Or potato’s??
Deanne Frieders
Hi Shanel, it goes on top as garnish, though you could add it to the mashed potatoes. Thanks for asking - I made an adjustment in the recipe card 🙂