It doesn’t get much better than a veggie-filled meat sauce covered with cheesy mashed potatoes
Growing up, we weren’t really a family of casserole eaters. Not until I got to college did I really start eating casseroles (namely, poppy-seed chicken casserole and cheesy chicken broccoli & rice casserole).
The second I had shepherd’s pie, I knew we would become good friends. You don’t get much better than a veggie-filled meat sauce covered with mashed potatoes.
Well, that is until you realize that it’s not a complicated dish to make. I also love making this because you can control the ingredients to nourish your body full of goodness. Think lots and lots of veggies for lots & lots of nutrients, antioxidants and fiber, plus lean ground beef for protein, vitamin B12 and iron, as well as potatoes for potassium, more fiber and to up the delicious factor.
I also add cheese to the potatoes because why wouldn’t I?! Cheese + potatoes is always a good idea.
To make this shepherd’s pie, you’ll need to boil potatoes while you sauté the veggies & cook the ground beef. Because I wrongly assumed that I had extra potatoes in my apartment, I used half parsnips and half potatoes for the topping in this casserole. So. Delish. I’m so glad I had them leftover from the Guinness Stew I made last week. They gave a new element of flavor that went really well in this dish. You could also use half cauliflower if you wanted to do that. Either way, you’ll need 1 pound of potatoes or combination of parsnips & potatoes or combination of cauliflower & potatoes.
My favorite tip for making this dish a breeze is to use an oven safe skillet or dutch/french oven (something that can hold at least 8 cups) for cooking your meat and veggies. Then you’ll just cover everything with the mashed potatoes and bake. No need to dirty a casserole dish.
Yay for less dirty dishes and effort. Even more yay when you get to dig into this tasty dish!
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Meme
