Red Wine Shepherd’s Pie

A shepherd's pie in a bowl on a lace table cloth.

4.77 from 21 votes

This easy shepherd's pie with red wine is such a cozy, heart warming dinner that serves at least 6-8 and even makes a fantastic freezer meal! With lamb, carrots, onions, mushrooms, peas, a decadent red wine sauce and topped with crispy, baked Yukon gold mashed potatoes, it's a perfectly filling, perfectly delicious, perfectly easy recipe for a crowd!

Prep Time20

Cook Time50

Total Time1 10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Irish

Servings: Servings

Calories: 470kcal

Author: Genevieve Morrison

Equipment

pot that holds 3-4 quarts of water
cutting board and sharp knife
cheese grater
large sauté pan
strainer
spatula
potato masher
8 oven-safe bowls or 1 8"x8" pyrex

Ingredients

1 pound ground lamb - or ½ pound lamb and ½ pound beef
4-6
Yukon Gold potatoes 
- chopped
8 oz. baby bella mushrooms - sliced
1 large carrot - diced 
1 large red onion - diced 
4 sprigs
fresh thyme 
- leaves removed
1 cup frozen peas 
1 tbsp. tomato paste 
1 cup
red wine 
- Cabernet, Syrah, Pino Noir, Tempranillo, or Zinfandel
1 cup beef stock 
3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 cup Dubliner cheese - grated, plus a little more for sprinkling
½ cup heavy cream 
2 tbsp. flour
4 tbsp.
olive oil 
2 tbsp.
salted butter 
1 egg - beaten 
1 tsp. garlic powder - and a little for potatoes
½ tsp.
salt 
1 tsp. black pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Bring 3-4 quarts of water to a boil. Slice 4-6 Yukon Gold potatoes into 4ths and add to water when boiling. Allow them to boil for 15-20 minutes, checking for doneness with a fork after 15 minutes.
Grate 1 cup Dubliner cheese, slice 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, dice 1 large carrot, and dice 1 large red onion. You can combine carrots and onions, but keep mushrooms separate.
Add carrots and onions to a large sauté pan with 2 tbsp. olive oil. Sauté for 7-10 minutes until onions are tender and lightly brown. Remove from pan. Add 2 tbsp. olive oil to the sauté pan and sliced mushrooms. Sauté until brown, about 5 minutes.
Once mushrooms are brown, add 1 pound ground lamb. Sauté until brown, then add 1 tsp. black pepper, ½ tsp. salt, 1 tsp. garlic powder and leaves from 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme. Add back carrots and onions with 2 tbsp. butter, 1 cup frozen peas and 2 tbsp. flour. Stir until butter is melted.
Preheat oven to 400 F. (204 C.)
By this time, potatoes should be ready. Strain and allow them to steam off while you continue with the filling.
To the pan, add 1 cup red wine, 1 cup beef stock, 1 tbsp. tomato paste and 3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce. Stir and allow liquids to reduce into a sauce. About 8-10 minutes.
While sauce thickens, mash potatoes with a potato masher. Add a sprinkle of garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste, grated Dubliner cheese and ½ cup heavy cream. Depending on the size of your potatoes, you may need to add more cream to get them to a nice, smooth texture.
Once sauce has thickened, remove from heat and spoon into an 8"x8" pyrex dish or oven-safe bowls. Pipe or spoon mashed potatoes onto the meat filling and brush with 1 beaten egg. Sprinkle with a little more Dubliner cheese and bake for 20 minutes, then broil for 5 minutes – or turn heat to 550 F. (287 C.) if you don’t have a broil function. Carefully remove and serve.

Notes

It will last nicely for 3-4 days when covered and refrigerated but can be frozen for 6 months, thawed, and reheated.

To reheat, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes at 400 F. (204 C.), then remove foil and bake for 5-10 more minutes.

Be sure to use your biggest pan. I used a 15-inch pan and the ingredients really fill it up, so make sure to use your biggest, deepest pan.

If you don’t have a pastry-piping bag, you can either spoon the potatoes on with as many hills and valleys as you can make (the more texture, the more crispy tastiness), or you can use a fork to make a pretty criss-cross pattern.

See post for detailed instructions with photos of the process.

Nutrition information is an estimate.

Nutrition