Shepherds pie

educationblog

This week was a strange week for me with cooking. I am trying to use all the ingredients in my fridge so they don’t go bad while I am away for reading break. I needed to use the rest of my potatoes and my carrots so I decided to make a shepherd’s pie. Unfortunately I did not have all the ingredients, so this is my make shift shepherds pie recipe. Because this is an anything in my fridge recipe, and I have made it before, I have no idea what measurements are. I have tried to include photos of how much I put into this but cooking isn’t exact and feel free to add or remove anything you like or dislike. I will include how I made it along with modifications. Enjoy!

Cook time: 45 minutes

Meals: 5-8 portions

Rating: ★★★★★

My ingredients: 

  • Ground beef
  • Potatoes
  • Carrots
  • Italian seasoning
  • Lowry’s seasoning salt
  • Garlic seasoning
  • Salt pepper
  • Paprika
  • Ketchup 
  • Bbq sauce
  • Water

To start this recipe I peeled and cut my potatoes. The smaller you cut your potatoes the faster they will be done. Once I was done with my 5 large potatoes, I added them to a boiling pot of water and let them sit on medium heat, occasionally stirring them. It is easier to eat mashed potatoes later than make more if you don’t have enough. 

Now I peeled and cut 3 large carrots into small pieces. I personally like when they are still slightly crunchy. To do this I fry my carrots in a pan with oil on medium heat. When my parents have made this they prefer the carrots to be fully cooked so they boil their carrots. I like having lots of carrots but feel free to take some away.

Once your carrots are starting to get fork tender, start your ground beef. I am unsure of how much ground beef I made but the portion I used would typically make me around 4 meals. Use the amount you see fit for the amount of potatoes you are making.

A typical shepherd’s pie includes corn and peas as well. If I had them I would have included them but I did not have any.  

I let my ground beef cook until there was no more pink then added paprika, taco seasoning and salt and pepper. I then added BBQ sauce, ketchup and some water. I would usually add a tomato paste or something along those lines instead of water to keep the ground beef moist because when you bake it from frozen the potatoes tend to get dry. I let the ground beef finish cooking and took it off the heat. 

Once your potatoes are fork tender, drain the water and mash them. Normally I add milk to make them creamy and keep it moist for when I cook it later but because this is a fridge clean out meal I didn’t have any. I used a decent amount of butter and then added seasoning. To season you can add any of your choice I used, paprika, Italian seasoning, garlic seasoning, lowrys seasoning salt and salt and pepper. 

Once my potatoes, carrots and ground beef are done cooking I started to assemble. I made enough for 2 meals and one meal prep that I can freeze. I went to the dollar store and bought some tinfoil containers. Start by putting your ground beef in the bottom. Then put the carrots and the mash potatoes on top.  If you have peas and corn and them in the layer with the carrots. Now repeat the steps into your meal prep containers. You can either bake it before putting it into containers or assemble and eat. Personally I don’t see much benefit baking it and I am often hungry by the time it is done and don’t feel like waiting for it to bake. To cook your frozen meal prep remove from the freezer and let it thaw before cooking. Put it in the oven around 350-375 and cook until warm.  Do not worry about it cooking fully because it was cooked before it was frozen. The more thawed it is the less time it takes to cook.

Overall this meal is one of my favourites to make when I’m unsure of what to eat. It takes some time when you are first making it but it takes more time than effort. I can often walk away and get some work done while it is cooking. This meal reheats great, can be very easily modified based on what you have access to and is delicious. Normally I try to make sure I have some more vegetables in it but because I had none I made a side caesar salad to go with it. The one tip I have is to make sure there is enough liquid. This is because when you bake it, it tends to get dry. Because I am cooking for just me, when I find myself getting sick of it I like to add bbq sauce and cheese to a tortilla and put some of my leftover shepherds pie in it and bake it. It turns out delicious and adds some variety in meals with just one meal prep. Make sure to try things out and make it your own. Enjoy!