Curried Shepherd’s Pie
For this Curried Shepherd’s Pie, the ground beef (or ground turkey) is mixed with spices, peas, carrots, and celery, then topped with a pile of fluffy, mashed potatoes!
Serve this Curried Shepherd’s Pie when you’re craving a hearty meal that’s bursting with savory flavors. This Shepherd’s Pie is full of unique flavor and perfect for celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day!
Curried Shepherd’s Pie
This spin on the traditional shepherd’s pie, with Indian spices, is topped with creamy potatoes, and is so easy to make! Mix the meat and spices and veggies. Whip the potatoes, or use leftover potatoes. It’s delicious, just like this Best Cassic Shepherd’s Pie.
Why I love this recipe
- It’s the perfect comfort dish for a weeknight meal. for anyone who loves spices and South Asian food.
- Easy to make, with results that are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day.
- On the table in an hour.
Gather these ingredients:
The ingredient list is mostly spices that will make this dish taste better than the classic Shepherd’s Pie.
- Russet potatoes
- Milk
- Butter
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Mirepoix: mixture of onions, carrots, celery, finely chopped – about 2 cups
- Ground turkey: you can use ground beef or ground lamb
- Ginger
- Curry powder
- Gram masala
- Cinnamon
- Tumeric
- Frozen peas
How do you make Shepherd’s Pie?
- Place peeled and chopped potatoes in a large pot of boiling water. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until soft. Drain and return to pot.
- Mash potatoes with butter, milk, and 1 tsp. salt.
Heat oil in a large baking dish over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking apart with a wooden spoon. Stir in the mirepoix (carrots, celery, onions) along with the ginger, salt, curry, gram masala, turmeric, and some water. - Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring once or twice; add more water if necessary. Uncover and stir in the peas. Cook and then remove from heat.
- Spread creamy potatoes over turkey mixture in dish and sprinkle with a small amount of gram masala, if desired. Bake, uncovered.
How do you eat Shepherd’s Pie?
My favorite way to eat this Curried Shepherd’s Pie is heating up leftovers the next day. You can also eat the next day mixed with scrambled eggs. It makes a hearty, delicious breakfast and the eggs pair perfectly with the curry flavors.
How do you serve Curried Shepherd’s Pie?
We love this main dish served with an Irish Pub Salad, and Irish Bread Pudding for dessert.
Tips and substitutions:
- Replace the ground turkey for ground beef or ground lamb, or a mix (half and half).
- Make your own mirepoix (mixture of onions, carrots, celery, finely chopped – about 2 cups), or buy it pre-chopped at Trader Joe’s.
- Use a good curry powder (such as my Sri Lankan curry powder or madras curry powder).
- Potatoes – We used Russet potatoes, but you can also use Yukon Gold. Do not use waxy potatoes.
- Feel free to add in a little cayenne if you want a kick, and get ready to dig into your new favorite comfort meal.
- This is also a great meal to make ahead to freeze.
How to serve this dish.
- Make it with leftover turkey later this month, and invite others in!
- Bake it for a family in need, and take it to their house!
- Take this dish to any potluck.
- Invite a family over for dinner!
Looking for a meal to make that will be devoured quickly? Just make sure to get yourself a bowl before it’s all gone!
More comfort casserole dishes to try:
Ingredients
- 2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- ½ cup milk
- 3 Tbsp. butter
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 14 oz. mirepoix, mixture of onions, carrots, celery, finely chopped – about 2 cups
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 1 ½ cups carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 tsp ginger
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp curry
- 1 tsp gram masala
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp tumeric
- 2 cups peas, thawed, you can use frozen
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place peeled and chopped potatoes in a large pot of boiling water. Bring to a boil over high heat for 10 minutes. Drain and return to pot.
- Mash the potatoes with butter, milk, and 1 tsp. salt.
- Heat oil in a large baking dish over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking apart with a wooden spoon, for 4-5 minutes. Stir in the mirepoix (carrots, celery, onions) along with the ginger, 1 tsp. of the salt, curry, gram masala, turmeric, and 3/4 cup water.
- Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring once or twice, for about 6-7 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Uncover and stir in the peas. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Spread mashed potatoes over turkey mixture in a baking dish, and sprinkle with gram masala on top, if desired. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Notes
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
What an inspirational post, I’m still learning, so thanks for the reminder :) I’m so excited about this recipe, as my favorite thing in life is mashed potatoes!
Perfection is over rated – it’s a hard lesson to learn. I’ve only recently come around to embracing this.
The sheperds pie- such a great way to use up left overs from Thanksgiving.
I struggle with it so much – and it can be paralyzing. I start a lot of projects then end them somewhere between 80-95 percent. This way it is incomplete and can not be judged.
I know I can drive people crazy with my “It needs to be this way” or “It needs to be just right” tendencies. From the way towels are folded to the way laundry is washed/dried to the way things are put away and how we do our cleaning, etc…
This looks so delicious Sandy!! I always forget about making shepherds pie.
I have always struggled with perfectionism, though I tend to deny it :) Larry will bring it to my attention and keep me in check. It’s hard! Usually it is about how the house should look, my weight or my appearance, or how a day or holiday “should” be. I do have to remind myself just to “do my best” and not worry about it being perfect. :)