Easy Make-Ahead Cottage Pie

Cottage Pie is a one-dish wonder and the ultimate comfort food. This traditional British dish can easily be made ahead of time and reheated. In fact, I generally have several Cottage Pies in my freezer for those evenings when I want something easy and absolutely delicious.

Quick Look at the Recipe

• Difficulty: Easy
• Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 1 hour | Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Servings: 8 | Calories: 447 per serving
• Cuisine: British | Course: Main Course
• Make-ahead: Refrigerate up to 2 days, or freeze up to 3 months
• Key ingredients: ground beef, beef broth, Russet potatoes, cheddar cheese

Jump to:

• Quick Look at the Recipe
• Quick Look at the Recipe
• Cottage Pie versus Shepherd's Pie
• Ingredients That I Used For The Meat Mixture
• How I Made the Meat Mixture
• How I Made the Mashed Potatoes
• Finishing the Cottage Pie
• PudgeFactor's Test Kitchen
• What to Serve with Cottage Pie
• In Case You Were Wondering
• Other British Recipes
• Recipe

Quick Look at the Recipe

• Difficulty: Easy
• Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 1 hour | Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Servings: 8 | Calories: 447 per serving
• Cuisine: British | Course: Main Course
• Make-ahead: Refrigerate up to 2 days, or freeze up to 3 months
• Key ingredients: ground beef, beef broth, Russet potatoes, cheddar cheese

Cottage Pie versus Shepherd's Pie

It's not unusual for people to use the terms Cottage Pie and Shepherd's Pie interchangeably. Technically, however, they are different.

Both Cottage Pie and Shepherd's Pie are British dishes in which meat and vegetables are cooked in a savory gravy and topped with mashed potatoes. However, the main difference between them is the meat: traditional cottage pie uses ground beef, and shepherd's pie uses ground lamb.

The name "Cottage Pie" was originally used for a pie made with any type of meat and mashed potatoes by peasants who lived in cottages. Over time, peasants replaced "any type of meat" with beef.

Shepherd's Pie gets its name because shepherds take care of sheep!

I often use ground turkey and mistakenly call the pie either Cottage Pie or Shepherd's Pie. Shame on me, but I couldn't think of another name!

Ingredients That I Used For The Meat Mixture

Because it's a Cottage Pie, the main ingredient is ground beef. 

• Ground Beef: I like to use lean ground beef. For this particular dish, I used 90% ground beef. You could also use 85% ground beef.

• Gravy: I use low-sodium beef or chicken broth. Both work well - it depends on what I have on hand. To enhance the savory flavor, I add Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, and Dijon mustard.

• Olive Oil: Regardless of the type of beef that I use, I always drain it well after browning. Therefore, I add a bit of olive oil to sauté the onions and carrots.

• Vegetables: I use chopped onions, carrots, and frozen peas.

• Seasonings: The seasonings are minimal - just salt and pepper.

• Thickener: I prefer Bisto Original Gravy Powder to thicken gravy. However, while Bisto is readily available in the UK, it's sometimes hard to find in the US. Therefore, all-purpose flour works just as well.

How I Made the Meat Mixture

Making the meat mixture for the Cottage Pie is relatively straightforward.

1. Whisk the liquid: First, whisk together the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, and Dijon mustard. Then set it aside for later. If I were using Bisto as the thickener instead of flour, I would add it to the other liquid ingredients.

2. Brown the beef: Next, brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks.

3. Drain and crumble: Even with a relatively lean ground beef (90%), I drained the cooked ground beef in a colander and rinsed it under hot water until the water ran clear. Once the cooked beef cools a bit, use your hands to break it up into even smaller pieces. I prefer not having big chunks of ground beef - a personal preference of mine.

4. Sauté onions and carrots: While the meat is draining, wipe the skillet with a paper towel to remove any remaining fat in the pan. Then, cook the onions and carrots in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. After that, return the ground beef to the skillet.

5. Salt, pepper, flour, and liquid: Next, add the salt, pepper, and flour, then stir to combine. Then add the broth mixture and stir until it bubbles and thickens. Cover the pan, lower the heat, and simmer for about 45 minutes until the meat and the carrots are tender.

6. The frozen green peas: Finally, add the green peas. I like to wait until the end to add the green peas because I don't want them to overcook.

How I Made the Mashed Potatoes

Because this is a Cottage Pie, I needed mashed potatoes to put on top of the meat mixture. Sometimes, I'll substitute tater tots for mashed potatoes to make a Tater Tot Cottage Pie!

So, while the meat mixture is cooking, make the mashed potatoes.

1. Ingredients: I used russet potatoes, unsalted butter, milk, shredded cheddar cheese, Kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

2. Cook the potatoes: Cook the potatoes in salted water in a large saucepan for about 20 minutes, until tender. To prevent boiling over, place a wooden fork in the pan. I'm not sure why this works, but it just does!

3. Rest of ingredients: After the potatoes are nice and soft, drain them well in a colander. Then, return the drained potatoes to the pan, and add the butter, milk, pepper, and shredded cheese.

4. "Mash": Beat the potato mixture with an electric mixer until everything is well incorporated and the mashed potatoes are smooth. Because I pipe the mashed potatoes on top of the meat mixture, I wanted to ensure that there were no lumps to clog the piping tip. That's why I don't use a potato masher.

Finishing the Cottage Pie

Because it's just the two of us, I consistently divide the mixture among three oven-safe dishes. That way, we have one Cottage Pie for dinner, and we put the other two in the freezer. You could certainly make one big Cottage Pie!

Next, I transferred the mashed potatoes to a piping bag fitted with a 1M star tip. I like to pipe the mashed potatoes onto the meat mixture. However, you could bypass this and just spread the mashed potatoes on top of the meat.

Then, I piped swirls of the mashed potatoes onto the meat mixture.

I ended up with three amazing Cottage Pies.

I baked one cottage pie in a 375°F oven for 30 minutes and froze the other two. After 30 minutes, the potatoes' tops were golden brown, and the meat mixture was bubbly.

I served this wholesome dish with steamed collard greens and steamed Brussels sprouts. What a tasty dinner we had. Yum!

PudgeFactor's Test Kitchen

• Divide the meat mixture and piped potatoes among your oven-safe dishes, then bake the one you're eating and freeze the rest, well covered.
• Refrigerate an assembled, unbaked Cottage Pie for up to two days before baking it.
• Freeze an assembled, unbaked Cottage Pie for up to three months.
• To bake from frozen, thaw the Cottage Pie in the microwave first, then bake it as you would a fresh one.
• Leftovers, once baked, reheat well in the microwave too.

What to Serve with Cottage Pie

In a way, Cottage Pie is a meal in and of itself. After all, it has meat, vegetables, and potatoes all in one dish! Therefore, the sides are really incidental to the meal.

Because the Master Taste Tester likes Brussels sprouts, I often serve them with the dish. In the wintertime, I like to serve collard greens on the side. At other times, a light salad or steamed broccoli goes well with the Cottage Pie.

Finally, I sometimes serve crusty French bread with it.

In Case You Were Wondering

Other British Recipes

In some quarters, the British have a reputation for less than inspiring cuisine. I think that's totally wrong, as evidenced by the following:

• Beer Battered Fish & Chips and Mushy Peas: A pub classic that never goes out of style.
• Cheese and Onion Pie: The English are famous for their savory pies, and Cheese and Onion Pie is no exception.
• Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy: Another pub classic featuring British sausage and mashed potatoes.
• Toad in the Hole: An English classic with sausage cooked in a Yorkshire pudding batter.
• Easy Peasy British Sausage Rolls: One of my most popular recipes.
• Savory British Beef Olives: "Olive" is a British term for wrapping meat around savory stuffing.
• Classic English Lemon Curd: Classic English Lemon Curd is smooth and silky with a tangy and tart flavor that overwhelms your senses.
• Chocolate Blancmange: An old English dessert that's light and velvety smooth.
• Classic English Lemon Posset: A classic English dessert with a velvety smooth texture that magically congeals with only three ingredients.
• English Digestive Biscuits: To the English, a biscuit is what Americans refer to as a cookie.

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