Irish Shepherds Pie Recipe: Flavors Take Us Back to Traditional Ireland!

If you want to serve an authentic Irish meal, an Irish shepherds pie recipe is a great place to start.  We have sampled this dish all over the world, and while it definitely tastes best in Ireland, you can make a pretty mean version of it wherever you are.

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Irish Shepherds Pie Recipe

And it doesn’t take long to make. Preparation time is usually 20 minutes or less, with about the same amount of time to cook. This particular recipe feeds 4-6. For another twist on this classic Irish meal, you might also enjoy our steak and guinness pie recipe here.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds lamb (small chunks)
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 3-4 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 cup peas (ideally frozen, not canned)
  • 3 carrots, diced (or one package frozen). Although carrots are the more authentic ingredient we will sometimes substitute a bag of frozen corn because - well - we like it better!
  • 6 ounces red wine
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup or tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 6 cups mashed potatoes (we recommend making them from scratch, but if peeling, chopping and squishing boiled spuds is not your thing, a quality packaged substitute will work just fine.)
  • 1 egg whipped with 2 teaspoons of milk
  • 2 – 3 cups of grated Irish cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional, probably not all that authentic, but we love ‘em)

Directions for Making this Irish Shepherds Pie Recipe

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees Farenheit
  2. Saute the carrots in olive oil until tender
  3. Add the onions and mushrooms to the sauté mix and cook for a minute or two
  4. Stir in the minced garlic
  5. Add the lamb chunks
  6. Add the pepper, thyme, garlic and rosemary
  7. Cook until the meat is browned, then drain the fat
  8. Add the butter and the peas
  9. Stir the flour into the mix
  10. Add the tomato and wine. Allow to simmer until reduction begins, then add the stock.
  11. Reduce into gravy. Add a pinch of this and that until delicious, then remove from heat.
  12. Grease an appropriate oven dish with the butter (between 9” and 13” in diameter works best), and add the cooked ingredients.
  13. Spread mashed potatoes over the mixed ingredients. Brush the potatoes with egg
  14. Bake until the potato is golden brown on top, approximately 20 minutes.
  15. Sprinkle grated Irish cheese over all (parmesan cheese works fine as well) and bake for another 3-5 minutes
  16. Serve in a bowl or large plate, with a pint o’ Guinness (or your favorite alternative beverage).

Craving an Irish Meal?

Sharing Irish food is one of our favorite ways to enjoy an Irish experience, wherever in the world we happen to be!  The flavors of an Irish meal, and the stories that come along with many Irish recipes, gives us a sense of connection with the Emerald Isle.

To help feed your Irish side, we have over the years created many downloadable, share-able Irish games, puzzles, recipes, songbooks, quizzes, and much, much more.

Want them right now?  Keep reading to learn about "Your Irish Expressions Playbook."

More Fun With Irish Expressions

Congratulations on learning more about the Emerald Isle and discovering what we like to call your "Irish Side."  You may be thinking "I'd love to actually VISIT Ireland but that's really not in the cards right now.  What am I supposed to do with the stuff I just learned?"

Well never fear!  Since 2007 we have collected all of the best printable, shareable resources we could find, to help you put your new knowledge of Ireland to good use.  We've put them all together in a single download we call "Your Irish Expressions Playbook," which contains over 100 pages of games, puzzles, recipes, songbooks, quizzes, travel guides and much, much more.

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Purchase them ALL for one small price, print as many copies as you like and share them with your friends - with no limitations!   But order soon - we are already adding to the Playbook for future editions and this price will not last long. 

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