Slow Cooker Shepherd's Pie
A real family favourite made with minced lamb or leftover roast lamb, ideal for midweek meals and also high in protein with plenty of vegetables.
Servings 4 servings
Calories 578kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 500 g fresh lamb mince or leftover roast lamb
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 large carrots diced
- 100 ml chicken stock or beef/lamb stock
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 400 g peas fresh, frozen or tinned
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp gravy granules lamb or beef
- potatoes I use 3 large baking potatoes
- splash of milk
- knob of butter
Instructions
- Brown the onion and the lamb mince at the same time, in a little olive oil.1 onion, 500 g fresh lamb mince
- Put the onion and browned mince in the slow cooker with the carrots and peas.2 large carrots, 400 g peas
- Add the stock, Worcestershire sauce and tomato puree, and season.100 ml chicken stock, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp tomato puree, salt and pepper
- Mix well and cook on low for 5 hrs or on high for 3 hours. Add 1 tablespoon of gravy granules and stir in, before adding the mash.1 tbsp gravy granules
- Half an hour before the end of the cooking time, peel and chop the potatoes and simmer them for 15-20 mins approx until tender. Drain.potatoes
- Mash the potatoes in the saucepan with the milk and butter.splash of milk, knob of butter
- Spoon the mash on top of the shepherd's pie filling in the slow cooker. Use the back of a fork to smooth it down and add a pattern.
- Cook for 1-2 hours more on low or 1 hour more on high.
- Brown the top of the shepherd's pie by placing the slow cooker pot under a preheat grill/broiler for approx 15-20 minutes.
- Serve the shepherd's pie straight from the slow cooker pot. Garnish if desired with a little chopped fresh parsley.
Notes
Slow cooker size
3.5 litre oval slow cooker is used for this recipe.
Servings
This serves 4-6 people depending on the portion size you want to have!
Storage
Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freeze double-wrapped for 3 months for best quality. But it will last very well frozen so can be kept for longer.
How do you prevent the mashed potato from sinking?
The key is to add the mash only 1-2 hours from the end of cooking, not at the start.
This means there is less time for the mashed potato to sink!
How do you brown the top?
Oddly, while I always find that slow cooker lasagne gets a brown and crispy top on its own, mashed potato doesn't seem to take on colour in the slow cooker alone.
So at the end of the cooking time you simply brown the top of the shepherd's pie under the grill (broiler) for a short time.
Make sure your slow cooker pot is safe to do this with first, the sear and stew slow cookers have metal pots and can be used this way.
Many ceramic slow cookers can be used in the oven without their lid - check your instructions if unsure.
How to thicken the gravy?
A lot of people have asked me this in the comments.
So I have added my top tip to thicken up the gravy of the lamb filling now - the key is to stir in a tablespoon of gravy granules (lamb gravy is delicious!) as this will thicken the filling nicely.
I do this step before adding the mash on top.
Nutrition
Calories: 578kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 326mg | Potassium: 1248mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 14835IU | Vitamin C: 30.9mg | Calcium: 121mg | Iron: 7.7mg