Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients

• 2 lbs hamburger
• 1 c chopped onion (I have frozen onions and use them for this recipe)
• 3 carrots, halved and sliced (1 to 2 cups, depending on how much you love carrots)
• 1 stalk of celery, halved and sliced (if you don’t have celery, don’t worry – you can still make this recipe)!
• 3 T ketchup
• 2 to 3 T of flour (add the third tablespoon if you want it a little thicker)
• 1 1/2 c beef broth or stock
• 1 beef bouillon cube, or 1 t. Granules ( this is needed if you want a more robust taste.  Dissolve in the beef broth in microwave)
• 1 ½ C. Frozen mixed frozen or fresh veggies ( use the veggies you like)
• 5 med. Potatoes, boiled and mashed with a ¼ C. Milk (about 15min. of boiling)
• 1 T. butter

Instructions

Brown beef in a large skillet, drain.  Return to skillet and stir in onions, carrots and celery, cook about 5 min.  Add ketchup and flour, mix well. Dissolve the bouillon cube or granules in broth and gradually add to skillet ingredients.  Cook to thicken. Add vegetables, mix well and transfer to a 10in. deep pie plate. Top with mashed potatoes and dot with butter.  Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 30min. Or until the top browns a tish. I suggest putting your dish on a cookie sheet to help keep your oven clean.

Why I Like This Recipe

If you need a one dish meal this one fits the bill!  A few things I like about this dish is you can make it your own by using the veggies you like, potatoes you like and really just using what you have on hand.

I have also made this hearty concoction with ready-made mashed potatoes because that’s just what I had in the fridge, I’ve even made it with Idaho baking potatoes and left the skins on.  I’ve had fresh veggies in my fridge that needed to be used and this is a great recipe to use them up. Any of these variations work and taste great!

You could also use a smaller baker for this recipe if you don’t have a deep pie plate.  A pie plate just looks pretty😍  A few things I’ve learned over the years in the kitchen is to keep frozen onions, peppers and at least a couple packages of veggies in the freezer, along with both beef and chicken broth in the pantry.  I also take a little time now and then and prepare 1,2 and 3# packages of browned hamburger for the freezer so I can throw something like Shepherd’s pie together in a pinch.