Vegan Shepard's Pie
With St. Patrick’s Day this weekend, I wanted to share this recipe for vegan Shepherd’s Pie from Krista at Inspirations & Explorations. It’s a little bit of work, but it looks delicious and would be great for new vegans or to share with non-veg guests. Plus, you can make big batches and freeze it for a few weeks. Because my parents are both full Brits, we had Shepherd’s Pie all the time…and still do! My mom makes it with lentils these days. This one looks good…
Vegan Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients:
Filling:
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth warmed
1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms
2 medium carrots diced
2 medium potatoes diced
2 small stalks celery chopped
1/4 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
1 large p0rtobello mushroom or 2.5 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
1/2 cup peas
1 medium onion chopped
5 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 TB canola or olive oil
1 TB dried rosemary
1 tsp sea salt (can use less if using salted broth)
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 TB flour (I use oats ground finely in the coffee grinder or organic white flour)
Potato topping:
2 large potatoes whole, boiled until soft
1 clove garlic finely chopped
2 TB non-hydrogenated margarine
1/2 cup almond milk
pinch of salt
Crust:
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour (if you don’t have just use more regular flour)
1/2 tsp sea salt (I use grey sea salt for extra minerals)
1/3 cup canola oil left in freezer for at least an hour
3 TB cold water
2 sheets of wax paper
a rolling pin
Instructions:
For the filling:
Pour the hot vegetable broth over the dried porcini mushrooms in your main large pot. Let steep for five minutes. Add the carrots, celery, and potatoes and bring to a boil with medium heat. Add a few tablespoons of temperate water to the flour, and stir to make a paste. Then add to the pot, stirring until dissolved. Turn down and simmer on low boil stirring occasionally.
Sauté the onions and garlic cloves in oil in a medium pan on medium heat for approximately ten minutes. Add the Portobello and black pepper. Add the rosemary: I like to crush it with my fingers as I drop it into the pan. Stir frequently and continue sautéing until the onions are soft and transparent. Add the onion/mushroom mix to the vegetable stock pot. Add peas, corn and salt. Simmer for fifteen minutes or until the broth is thick. Now, I tend to just leave my original dried mushrooms in this mix because I find the texture interesting but if this bothers you, you can take them out and cut them up into small pieces before putting them back in, or just take them out and discard them.
If you haven’t already boiled your potatoes for the topping, you might want to start the process now. Just cover them with water in a pot & let boil for fifteen minutes (I find it best to set a timer when I’m working on two parts of a recipe!) Then drain & set aside till needed.
For the crust:
Measure out the water and add a few ice cubes to keep it really cold. Mix flour & salt in a medium sized bowl. Pour the oil (fresh from the freezer) in and use a fork to roughly blend. Do not blend too much; you want more of a crumbly mixture. Add a tablespoon of ice water and blend with fork. Continue adding the rest of the water by tablespoons and blending. Form a ball with the dough. If it doesn’t hold together add a bit more ice water. Knead the dough a few times. Place your ball on one of the pieces of wax paper. Put the other piece of wax paper on top and then use the rolling pin to roll it between the sheets of paper. Work quickly and don’t overdo it. You want the fats to stay solid and not melt until they make it into the oven. This is what produces a flaky pie crust! Make a 9″ circle, approximately 1″ bigger circumference than your pie pan. Carefully peel off the top piece of wax, flip the crust onto the pie pan and press inside. Now carefully peel off the remaining piece of wax.
Good job. Now fill your pie crust with the filling. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for approximately 40 minutes. I put another cookie sheet underneath in case there is overflow.
For the topping:
Take your large potatoes and mash them in a bowl with a fork. Add margarine, almond milk, garlic, and a pinch of salt and mix to a creamy consistency.
After thirty minutes take the pie out of the oven. Remove the foil and carefully cover the top of your pie with the mashed potatoes. Distribute it evenly over the pie. Place the pie in the broiler part of the oven for ten minutes, or until the top is nicely browned. Let cool for ten minutes and serve!
If you try it, let me know how it goes!
What’s your favorite Irish-inspired or British-inspired recipe?
Share it in the comments so I can give it a try!
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31 comments
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I made this two times so far. 1st time with the mashed potato on top and the 2nd time instead of the mashed potato on top, I used more pastry to turn it into a pot pie. I liked it better as the pot pie. -
Made it for Easter Sunday,but prepared it on Good Friday. Took me a while,but it was worth it! The only thing I could not get for the life of me was the crust,haha. So I didn't have a crust--but it surprisingly didn't turn out soupy! Make sure not to broil it for too long,otherwise it will burn on top(luckily I was able to do that part well!) Hearty dish that even my non-veg relatives enjoyed. -
This was a tasty one, really hearty vegan meal! Will make again. Baked it as 350 and it came out great <3 -
Made this on St Paddy's day. I ran into a shortage of potato's - so used sweet potato in the pie and mashed on top. This was delicious! and since I cheated a little putting it together (more of a one pot cooker when possible ), easy! This is going to become a regular for my household. My son is allergic to mushrooms, so going to try it out with some Gardien and see how that works (the tips) as well. -
This looks amazing!I have some other shepards pie recipes but this looks like it might become a fav.Can't wait to give it a try. -
Made it yesterday (how can I post a photo?) and it came out great! I baked it at 350, because it didn't say. Absolutely delicious. Took a while in the kitchen so it won't be an every day recipe for sure, but well worth the effort for a holiday or special occasion. YUM. -
This recipe is very tasty, but the instructions definitely need some tweaking.
The amount of filling far surpasses the volume of even my deepest pie dish. If I make it again, I will also lower the amount of black pepper, and will omit the crust. My British husband says that a crust in a Shepherd's pie is not needed and is not traditional. Also, spreading the potato mixture on top of the hot, bubbling-over filling proved a bit dangerous and impossible, so I sort of dolloped it on and am hoping for best.
Where does it say what temperature to bake this at?
I think I'll make the filling and use it as a topping over mashed potatoes and/or brown rice in the future!-
Jessica - I had to click on the recipe link to find the temp to bake it at (400 degrees). It was omitted when it was posted. I ended up making two pies - enough filling but not enough mash topping for both. Definitely needs a bit of tweaking.
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Made this today (with some slight variations - no corn & more mushrooms). It is delicious! More like a pot pie than a shepherd's pie but still yummy. :)
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You will need to add more flour or something as it does not thicken enough with what is in the recipe. Even after being in the oven. I had to pour the whole filling out and then added quite a bit of arrow root just to get it to the point where it wasn't soup and would keep the mashed potatoes from sinking.
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I'm making this right now. Waiting for the veg to simmer a bit longer and then it's going in the oven. Cross your fingers...it better be good! I've been chopping and boiling and sauteing for an hour now.
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I started making this at 4 pm, and it's just now coming out of the oven at 6 pm. Not a quick recipe, by any means!
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Hi Alicia, this looks delicious... I do gluten free and nut free- is there a substitute that can be used for the all purpose flour?
Blessings:) -
This looks great! I made a Vegan Shepherd's Pie 2 weeks ago for my British husband and he was impressed! Going Vegan clearly does not mean sacrificing taste!!! Thanks for sharing. I will be making this recipe soon! -
I often make a version of colcannon that I like. I might use cabbage, or I might throw in kale, collards, or whatever dark leafy greens I have on hand (it needs to be something a bit more robust than spinach, though.) I include some apple cider vinegar and sea salt to give it a unique flavor--sort of like colcannon, sort of like salt-and-vinegar chips. I'm not picky about my potatoes for this, either--any old spud will do. It packs a pretty good nutritional punch, but still satisfies my carb cravings!
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My favorite Irish-inspired/British-inspired recipe is something called Bubble and Squeak. This was originally a dish that used Sunday Dinner leftovers including meat and vegetables. Before turning vegan, I made this with butter and milk, etc, and served it along sausages. But adapting it to be vegan is so easy. Saute chopped onions in vegan marg (like Earth Balance) or olive oil, add chopped cabbage to soften a bit, season (to taste with salt and pepper or any other spices you prefer) and mix in already made (however you like to make them) mashed potatoes. Let it cook a little to brown up and serve alongside whatever you choose. Very delicious!
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This sounds amazing! I am definitely making this. Comfort food in vegan fashion. What could be better?
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