Beef & Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie
topped with White Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
- Milk
- Wheat
It’s hard to beat the homey, comforting goodness of a shepherd’s pie. Our chefs whipped up a vegetarian version that’s just as rich and hearty as the original! Meaty mushrooms (in lieu of traditional ground beef) are simmered with tomato paste, veggie stock, and a bounty of fresh veggies and thyme. On top, swoops of creamy mashed potatoes are sprinkled with white cheddar, then broiled to create an irresistibly cheesy crust.
Ingredients
16 ounce
Potatoes
1.5 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
½ cup
White Cheddar Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
8 ounce
Button Mushrooms
6 ounce
Carrots
1 unit
Onion
¼ ounce
Thyme
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
1 tablespoon
Flour
(Contains: Wheat)
1 unit
Tomato Paste
3 unit
Veggie Stock Concentrate
10 ounce
Ground Beef
Not included in your delivery
2 teaspoon
Olive Oil
3 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • Dice potatoes into ½-inch pieces; place in a large pot with enough salted water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, 15-20 minutes. • Reserve ½ cup potato cooking liquid, then drain and return potatoes to pot. • Keep covered off heat until ready to mash.
• While potatoes cook, trim and quarter mushrooms (skip if your mushrooms are pre-sliced!). Trim, peel, and finely dice carrots. Halve, peel, and dice half the onion (whole onion for 4 servings). Strip half the thyme leaves from stems (all the leaves for 4); mince leaves. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, preferably ovenproof, pan over medium-high heat.
Add beef or turkey; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. Turn off heat; transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Carefully discard any excess grease from pan.
• Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large, preferably ovenproof, pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and a big pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 5 minutes. • Add another drizzle of olive oil to pan, then stir in carrots, diced onion, and salt. Cook, stirring, until veggies are softened, 5-7 minutes more.
Use pan used for beef or turkey here.
• Stir 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings) into same pan, then add thyme, garlic powder, and flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste until incorporated. • Add ¾ cup water (1 cup for 4) and stock concentrates, scraping up browned bits. Bring to a boil; reduce to a low simmer and cook until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. TIP: If pan isn’t ovenproof, transfer mixture to a baking dish now.
After adding stock concentrates, stir in beef or turkey. Cook through the rest of this step, adding splashes of water if filling seems too thick.
• Mash drained potatoes with sour cream, half the cheddar (you’ll use the rest in the next step), and 2 TBSP butter (3 TBSP for 4 servings) until smooth and creamy, adding splashes of reserved potato cooking liquid as needed. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat broiler to high. • Once filling has thickened, spoon mashed potatoes on top; spread in an even layer, leaving a 1-inch border around edge of pan. • Sprinkle mashed potatoes with remaining cheddar.
• Broil shepherd’s pie until cheese is lightly browned, 3-4 minutes. TIP: Watch carefully to avoid burning. • Let rest at least 5 minutes, then divide between plates and serve.
Ground Beef is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 160º.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the rich, savory taste; some found the tomato base too strong or sweet.
- Ease of prep: Several noted it was time-consuming with lots of chopping, but worth the effort for the delicious result.
- Suggestions: Consider adding peas, using beef stock instead of veggie, and including Worcestershire sauce for extra depth 🍲.
- Portions: Generous servings that often provided leftovers; some wanted more potatoes for better meat-to-potato ratio.
- Customization: Adding ground beef was popular; many enjoyed the mushrooms, while others preferred to omit them.
Reviews from our home cooks
The flavor for this was great. Fresh mushrooms and thyme leaves gave a really different twist. This entire pie was eaten quickly. Definitely a winner though it was odd that the recipe did not talk about cooking the ground beef. Good thing we are both avid cooks at home!
This is a hearty, satisfying meal, as is expected for shepherd's pie. I don't like such a tomato-y sauce for shepherd's pie, but that's just a personal preference. The final product is very tasty and a family favorite. Next time I will add some beef base and white pepper to the filling to give it more richness.
I love shepherd's pie and this recipe was delicious! However, this was probably the most time intensive, complicated recipe of the ones that I have made from Hello Fresh. Not a beginner's recipe
I have a family recipe for Shepherd's Pie, so I passed this up a few times, but I still was curious what this version would be. I am very glad that I tried it. It was very different from my version, but it was also excellent. I would definitely make this again.
I love most Shepherd's Pie recipes and this one is good, too. You have to be careful with how much thyme to add as it can take over the other ingredients if you're not careful. The meat sauce is good, too (I added turkey to add a protein) But, overall, good.
A bit time-consuming, but worth it! I made it with ground lamb (which you've never once offered) instead of ground beef, so it was official Shepard's Pie. With ground beef, it would have been Cottage Pie.
Both shepherds pie recipes are phenomenal. My absolute favorite and now a household staple. I think a good substitute option would be instant potatoes and maybe not getting the recipe card? I save mine in a binder and I would like to cut down on waste :) (and well time, I hate hand mashing potatoes)
Add another package of white cheddar cheese for topping. Great taste, button mushrooms were fresh this time and not bruised or turning brown as with past meals. Added more garlic powder than noted in the recipe. Also, two potatoes were spoiled. I added a large potato from my pantry to replace with spoiled potatoes.
We had a different recipe for your Shepherd's pie that was better. We added the beef option, good choice.
It was terrific. Love your shepherd's pie. I did goose it with red wine instead of water. Even so, it would have been a 5
