Irish Cottage Pie

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This is a proper traditional Irish cottage pie recipe the whole family will enjoy. Not many meals get the thumbs up from everyone like this simple classic.

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Cottage Pie or Shepherd’s Pie?

A British or Irish Cottage pie recipe uses ground beef as the primary ingredient, whilst a Shepherd’s Pie uses ground lamb.

So to make a Shepherd’s Pie you just have to substitute the ground beef in this recipe for ground lamb. This recipe therefore also doubles up as an easy traditional Shepherd’s pie recipe!

A little more on the origins of the two types of pie here: British pie origins.

Cottage pie ingredients

We love using this ingredient to add some extra taste to the gravy in our pie:

Marmite 250g Single Pack

Amazon

You are better off making a bit too much mashed potato.

Then, if you do have some leftovers you can make some fish cakes, bubble and squeak cakes or potato patties later.

In my mashed potato recipe you can see my own ‘secret ingredient’ for the mashed potato – a bit of Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise!

It just adds a bit of creaminess that is SOOOO good!

It is also nice if you can leave some peaks on the potato. This will give you some nice crispy bits on the top when it is finished.

This is a very tasty and easy-to-make dish that anyone can try, and it is difficult to get wrong.

The quantities given below are enough to fill a 3-liter oven dish like the one shown in the pictures. This will give you 6-8 portions.

And again, if there is anything left over, it will keep well in the fridge or freezer for later.

If you try this recipe, please let me know in the comments section below how you get on!

How to make an Easy Cottage Pie

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Yield: 8

Traditional Cottage Pie

This delicious cottage pie is typical British fare that will keep you warm in the winter. Replace the minced beef with minced lamb for a super shepherd's pie recipe.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 kg Ground beef
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large Onion, finely chopped
1 sprig Rosemary, leaves removed and chopped finely
2 cups of frozen peas (petit pois)
4 Carrots chopped into rounds, then quartered into roughly 1cm pieces
100g sweetcorn, drained
600ml Beef stock
2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp Marmite
1 tbsp Tomato puree
Salt and pepper
1 tsp mixed herbs
Parmesan Cheese, finely grated
For the mash:
1kg Potatoes, peeled and halved (the best tasting ones you can find)
20 g Knob of Butter
1/2 tsp Nutmeg powder
50 ml Splash of Milk
2 tbsp Hellmann’s Mayonnaise
50g Cheddar Cheese, grated
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Boil a pan of water with a pinch of salt, and use it to boil the potatoes.
In the meantime, use some olive oil to fry the garlic and onions (I use my wok). When soft, place into oven dish.
Then fry the mince in the same pan until all browned. When ready, pour away any excess fat from the meat.
Then add the onion, garlic, carrots, sweetcorn, Worcestershire sauce, Marmite, beef stock and tomato puree, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir intermittently.
Remove the potatoes from the heat after about 15 minutes, when the potatoes are tender but before they start falling to pieces. Drain the potatoes, add the butter, milk and mayonnaise then mash them using a masher until they are smooth.
Then add the cheddar cheese to the potatoes, the nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix all together. Do this when the potatoes are still hot. Try and get as smooth as possible, removing all the lumps if you can.
Finally, add the peas, the mixed herbs and rosemary to the meat sauce before seasoning to suit, and pouring into the oven dish.
Then cover the meat sauce with the mash, smoothing it over the entire surface. Then use a fork to run lines through the mash, and raise a few peaks. Finally, sprinkle with some Parmesan to finish off.
Cover and keep the oven dish in the fridge until you plan to cook this meal (same day).
To cook, place in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 40-50 minutes or until the sauce is nicely bubbling and the mash has browned nicely.

Notes

If you get the meat sauce right, this meal needs no condiments. The vegetables complement each other perfectly and give a great tasting filling.

However, I must admit that it does go down well with some Heinz tomato ketchup 😃.

Irish Cottage Pie