Rich and delicious stewed beef and vegetables under a lovely layer of creamy mash. This classic British cottage pie is a winner all year round! This is a favourite of mine for the colder months, and can be easily pulled together for a weeknight dinner or weekend special. Not only is it delicious, but it’s cheap and nutritious too. Try some of my other British classics like my Steak & Ale Pie!

Cottage Pie vs Shepherds Pie

There is a continuous dispute online about what cottage pie actually is. You are much more likely to come across the term Shepherds Pie than Cottage Pie, but is this actually correct?

As you might expect, Shepherds Pie is made with lamb under a mashed potato top. The clue is really in the name here. The cottage variety contains beef as the predominant meat. This is largely the difference! Some people maintain that certain veg belong in one and not the other, or Cottage Pie has cheese on top. These are all non-essential elements and the meat makes the pie. There is even a third variety called Cumberland Pie, made with sausages!

Recipes for these pies in the UK first appeared around the early 19th century. Originally, these early recipes were called Sanders or Saunders. By the 20th century, the names cottage and shepherds pie had come about. These are now absolute staples all across the UK and Ireland.

My Perfect Recipe

The majority of the flavour in this dish comes from the stewed meat. This needs some love to make it really pop, but doesn’t need a tonne of ingredients and seasonings! My recipe is fairly simple, but the secret lies in quality and time.

Beef mince is the base of course, and I add in onions, carrots and garlic. You can get a lot of flavour out of these by just investing some time. Cook the beef off first on it’s own in batches. This allows it to not just cook but really brown and sear. This is where the flavour is! The onions should then be cooked down for a while too. This allows them to develop some sweetness and deep savouriness.

The sauce is then built from beef stock, tomato puree, fresh herbs and Worcestershire sauce. Worcestershire sauce is a fantastic condiment that adds a load of flavour and savouriness to dishes. It’s like British soy sauce. The sauce needs to be cooked down for a while, a good couple of hours, on low heat to really build the flavours.

The mash in my recipe is mostly standard, but I do make one change. I add a bit of milk to stop the mash from going dry and grainy while baking. To stop this from then going too runny, I add an egg yoke to give it structure!

Ultimate Cottage Pie, A British Classic

Rich and delicious stewed beef and vegetables under a lovely layer of creamy mash. This classic British cottage pie is a winner all year round!

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Total Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: British, European

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

For the Beef Stew

• 750 g Beef Mince
• 1 Yellow Onion Large
• 2 Carrots
• 5 cloves Garlic
• 2 tbsp Tomato Puree
• 500 ml Beef Stock
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 sprigs Fresh Rosemary
• 1 bunch Fresh Thyme
• 2 Bay Leaves

For the Mashed Potatoes

• 800 g Potatoes
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 150 ml Milk
• 1 Egg Yolk

Method

 

For the Beef Stew

1. Heat a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat.
2. Fry off the beef mince in batches until nicely browned, seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove and set aside.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Dice the onion and add to the pot. Cook for 5 or so minutes, until soft and going a nice golden brown.
4. Roughly chop the carrots and add them to the pot. Cook for 2 minutes until starting to soften.
5. Finely mince or grate the garlic. Add in and cook for another minute until fragrant.
6. Add in the tomato puree and mix well, cook for a minute or so then pour in the beef stock and Worcestershire sauce. Mix again.
7. Tie the rosemary and garlic into a bundle and add with the bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low and put the lid on the pot. Simmer for an hour and a half or so, stirring every 15-30 minutes to prevent it from burning.
8. Remove the lid for the final 30 minutes and bring the heat up to medium. Cook while stirring to reduce the sauce to a thick stew. Set aside to cool.

For the Mashed Potatoes

1. Peel the potatoes and chop into 1.5-2cm pieces. Add to a pot with cool water and salt well.
2. Put the pot on high heat and heat until boiling. Boil for 10 minutes then strain.
3. Mash with the butter and season with salt and pepper.
4. Add in the milk in small amounts and mash to combine.
5. Fold in the egg yolk.

To Bake

1. Heat the oven to 200°C.
2. Lay the beef stew out on the bottom of a roasting dish.
3. Spoon the mash on top and spread evenly.
4. Score the mash with a fork to create ridges, which will crisp up and brown nicely.
5. Put the dish into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. The potatoes should have crisped up at the edges but still be soft.
6. Serve and enjoy!