What to serve with Cottage Pie
Do you ever wonder what to serve with Cottage Pie for a St. Patrick’s Day dinner? This Irish Cottage Pie recipe–with ground beef, mixed veggies, and fluffy, cheesy potatoes–is delicious served with an Irish Pub Salad and Brown Soda Bread. It’s the ultimate Irish meal.
Oh, what to serve with Cottage Pie dinner? First of all, we love our easy “Irish pie” recipe that is made in a pie plate with ground beef, mixed vegetables, and a topping of fluffy, cheesy mashed potatoes. We love this dish served with a salad and traditional Irish breads. Guinness cake is the ideal chocolate dessert.
This dish is comfort food all the way, and perfect for St. Patrick’s Day or any Irish meal. I mean who doesn’t love mashed potatoes?
Irish Shepherd’s Pie
A traditional Irish Shepherd’s Pie would actually call for ground lamb, but we give the option for ground beef or ground turkey. You can even use ground chicken. What makes an Irish Pie and Cottage Pie different is the meat. Cottage Pie uses ground beef, while Shepherd’s Pie uses ground lamb.
Both pies are cooked with vegetables, homemade gravy, and a thick layer of cheesy mashed potatoes on top–nice and crispy.
Why I love Cottage Pie:
- Ultimate comfort dish – There is just something about mashed potatoes served with or on a main dish. You might like our Mashed Potatoes Meatloaf, or our Cottage Baked Potatoes.
- Festive– This is such a fun meal to whip up for the Irish holiday!
- Meal prep– I love that I can make mashed potatoes ahead, and even cook the meal. This dish comes together in no time. It also is an excellent freezer meal, and a good meal to take to someone in need (sick or just had a baby).
- Easy to double the recipe!
What are the ingredients for Cottage Pie
- Olive oil
- Veggies: Leeks and carrots
- Meat: Ground beef (you can use ground lamb, turkey, or chicken)
- Pantry items: Tomato paste, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Beef stock, Cornstarch
- Seasoning: Salt and fresh cracked black pepper
- Fresh chopped parsley
- Mashed Potatoes (below) or you can make our Irish Bacon Colcannon Potatoes
Ingredients for mashed potatoes:
- Russet potatoes
- Buttermilk
- Unsalted butter
- Dubliner cheese (we buy a big block at Costco)
- Salt and pepper
How do you make cottage pie?
- Boil the potatoes. Add buttermilk and mash. Fold in the cheese for the BEST cheesy mashed potatoes!
- Sauté the leeks and carrots.
- Brown the ground beef in the same pot, breaking it apart until crumbly.
- Add in the tomato paste, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and broth and stir until combined, and simmer. Add the carrot mixture back into the pan and stir together.
- Dump the mixture into a large pie plate or casserole dish. Spread out evenly.
- Spoon the mashed potatoes over the top of the pie making a fork design (more details below and in the recipe).
- Bake the pie for about 45 minutes, or until browned and bubbling.
How do you make mash crispy on cottage pie?
There are 2 ways to add the mash to the pie:
- Spoon the mashed potatoes over the top of the pie, using the back of a large spoon to make pretty swoops (design).
- Or, the traditional way is to use the back of a fork to create a crosshatch pattern.
How do you make the mash crispy? Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and gently brush over the mashed potatoes. This will crisp up the potatoes when they are baking!
Tips and substitutions:
- Optional to add ground sausage, lamb, turkey or chicken. We think ground beef is the best!
- Add more veggies: If you need to leave out the leeks, add onions and celery.
- If you don’t have buttermilk you can use milk (or cream).
- Cheese: Dubliner is the best Irish cheese! But you can use a Sharp Cheddar cheese, too.
- If the sauce is thin, it’s optional to add 1-2 Tbsp of flour or cornstarch to a tiny bit of water (whisk together), and add back into the sauce to thicken it up. It’s all personal preference. It doesn’t take much to thicken.
Cottage Pie dinner menu:
Everyone asks what to serve with cottage pie, so here are a few suggestions:
Get the Recipe:
Cottage Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 leeks, trimmed, thinly sliced
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 ½ lbs ground beef
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup beef stock or bone broth
- 1-2 Tbsp Cornstarch or flour optional
- salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
- Fresh chopped parsley, garnish
MASHED POTATOES
- 1 ½ lb russet potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 1 cup Dubliner cheese, shredded
- salt and pepper to taste
Equipment
Instructions
- Prepare a large pie plate or 8×8 casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Get the potatoes boiling. In a large pot of boiling water, add the potatoes and cook until very tender. Drain the water and add the buttermilk and 3 tablespoons of the butter. Mash with a masher or you can use a hand mixer if you want the potatoes to be very creamy. Add more buttermilk if the potato mixture seems dry. Fold in the cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat the oil in a skillet or Dutch oven and sauté the leeks and carrots for about 5 minutes, until tender. Remove from the pot and set aside.
- Brown the ground beef in the same pot, breaking it apart until crumbly. Drain off any grease if necessary. You can keep a tiny bit in the pan.
- Add in the tomato paste, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and broth and stir until combined. Simmer for 15 minutes to allow the broth to reduce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- If the sauce is thin, it’s optional to add 1-2 Tbsp of flour or cornstarch to a tiny bit of water (whisk together), and add back into the sauce to thicken it up. It’s all personal preference. It doesn’t take much to thicken.
- Add the carrot mixture back into the pan and stir together.
- Dump the mixture into a large pie plate or casserole dish. Spread out evenly.
- Spoon the mashed potatoes over the top of the pie, using the back of a large spoon to make pretty swoops (design). Or, the traditional way is to use the back of a fork to create a crosshatch pattern.
- Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and gently brush over the mashed potatoes.
- Bake the pie for about 45 minutes, or until browned and bubbling.
- Sprinkle lightly with fresh chopped parsley and serve with peas and Soda bread.
Tip: Put a baking sheet under the pie to catch any drippings.
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...
