Curry Lentil Shepherd's Pie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep shepherd's pie from falling apart? ›

How do you keep shepherds pie from falling apart? The eggs in the mashed potatoes help keep the pie together. You should also make sure to spread the potatoes and press down a bit.

This Easy Shepherd's Pie recipe is made with ground beef, brown gravy, and frozen vegetables in less than 30 minutes on the stove top. Broil in the oven for just 5 minutes and dinner is served!

Thicken the filling

Step 3: Two ingredients help create a gravy-like consistency in the shepherd's pie recipe: tomato paste and flour. The concentrated tomatoes disperse and lightly thicken the beef stock. The flour is stirred with the meat and then swells and reduces as the liquid simmers.

Classic shepherd's pie is made with ground lamb, gravy, mashed potatoes, and veggies like peas, corn, celery, and carrots. Why is my shepherd's pie soggy? Avoid a soggy pie by simmering the meat mixture for at least 8 minutes. Be sure to cook down the mixture to remove excess moisture.

How can I thicken my shepherd's pie? This shepherd's pie recipe uses 2 tablespoons of flour to thicken the gravy but if you feel like the meat mixture is too watery, add in another tablespoon and stir to combine. You may also try simmering the mince mixture for longer so that the stock reduces down and thickens.

Blind-bake your base before adding a filling to help to firm the base and avoid liquid being absorbed into it. Prick the base with a fork to help steam escape, cover with foil or parchment, and weigh it down with ceramic baking beans, uncooked rice or white sugar.

Tomato paste: Can also use ketchup instead if you don't have tomato paste. Gluten free: For a gluten-free friendly version, use cornstarch in place of the flour. Be sure to check all of your ingredients to make sure they're gluten free (especially the beef broth!

And, by doing so, the humble shepherd's pie was born. Originally, the dish contained a pastry shell at the bottom, top, or both. Over time, this morphed into potato slices at the bottom and top of savory minced lamb meat, until it eventually became a topping of mashed potatoes.

Residual moisture from the potatoes will drip into the beef below as it cooks, and too much of it will cause the potatoes to eventually sink. Aside from ridding your potatoes of excess moisture before you mash them, it also helps to cool the beef down, BBC Good Food shares.

Arrowroot Powder – If you're following the Paleo Diet then Arrowroot Powder is a great alternative to using cornstarch to thicken gravies and sauces.

How long does homemade shepherd's pie last? ›

Freshly baked shepherd's pie will keep for about 3 to 5 days in the fridge refrigerate covered with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.

If you follow our recipe, your shepherd's pie should be not too thin or too thick. If you end up with a shepherd's pie that is runny, you will need to cook the ground meat mixture a little more to reduce the amount of liquid. It's important to think about the consistency of the meat filling before you assemble the pie.

After cooking the beef, onion, and herbs, be sure to drain the grease out of the pan. Otherwise, you will find yourself with a greasy shepherd's pie. Stir well. Especially when adding the flour and tomato paste.

Stir often to crumble, until cooked through and temperature reaches 160°F on a food thermometer.

The outlet suggests letting a home-baked pie cool completely before cutting into it, which will help the hot filling set up instead of remaining runny.

The pie dough is too dry!

The butter should stay firm so it doesn't soften and combine with the flour. Wondering why can't you use a spoon? The trick here is to hydrate the flour with just enough water to get the dough to stick together.

Too much flour = dry pie dough. Once mixed, your dough should stick together when you pinch it between your fingers. If it doesn't, you need to add more moisture. Even if you think your pie dough resembles the Sahara desert, show some restraint when adding more water.

You overbaked the pie

Eggs, when cooked, thicken and set the custard, but when overcooked the egg proteins will tighten up quickly and create cracks.