Serious Shepherd's Pie — a plant-based British recipe by BOSH!
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Serious Shepherd's Pie

This is one of those recipes we come back to every single winter without fail. There's something about a proper shepherd's pie that just feels like a hug on a plate, and this plant-based version is genuinely every bit as satisfying as the one you grew up with. You've got a rich, deeply savoury filling topped with the creamiest, fluffiest mash, and the sweet potato in there adds this subtle sweetness that makes the whole thing sing. It takes about an hour but most of that is hands-off time, so it's perfect for a Sunday when you want something special without too much stress. Make this tonight, we promise you won't regret it.

Cook: 60 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 180°C
  • Large baking dish
  • Large pan
  • Colander
  • Frying pan
  • Potato masher

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp sun-dried tomato oil
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 4 tbsp red wine
  • 5 tbsp fresh parsley
  • 4 garlic cloves minced
  • 500g potatoes - peeled and cut into 1" chunks
  • 500g sweet potatoes - peeled and cut into 1" chunks
  • 50g plant-based butter
  • 1 white onion finely chopped
  • 2 carrots finely sliced
  • 2 celery stick finely sliced
  • ½ bunch of fresh thyme leaves chopped
  • 150g garden peas
  • 350g mushrooms
  • 10 sun-dried tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 100ml vegetable stock
  • 400g lentils - cooked
  • 1 x 400g can of chickpeas - drained
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary - finely chopped
  • 30g panko breadcrumbs
  • Juice and zest of 1 lemon

Method

1

Make the mash

  • Put the potatoes into a large pan, cover the chunks with cold water, put the pan on the stove, bring it to the boil and cook them for 15 minutes (add the sweet potatoes to the pan after 5 minutes
  • Take the potatoes off the hob and drain the water with colander
  • Pour the potatoes back into the pan, add the dairy free butter, season with salt and pepper and mash the potatoes up into a nice smooth, thick mash
2

Make the Shepherd's Pie filling

  • Pour the sun dried tomato oil into a frying pan and fry the onions until they start to turn translucent
  • Add the garlic and thyme leaves and cook them until you've released the aromas
  • Add the carrots and the celery to the pan and stir everything round constantly until they're sweating and getting soft
  • Add the sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms to the pan and stir them round until the mushrooms are beginning to sweat
  • Pour the balsamic vinegar, tomato puree, red wine and vegetable stock into the pan and simmer for 10 minutes
  • Pour the chickpeas and lentils into the pan and stir them round so they're well covered by the juices of the rest of the mixture and simmer on a low heat for 10-15 minutes until it's well thickened
  • Fold the parsley, lemon juice and the peas into the mixture. Season with salt and pepper
3

Assemble the pie

  • Pour the mixture into a baking dish and smooth it out across the bottom
  • Spread the mashed potato over the top of the filling mixture and score the whole top with a fork
  • Sprinkle the panko breadcrumbs, rosemary and lemon zest over the top of the mashed potato top
  • Bake the the pie in the oven for 15 minutes
4

Time to serve

  • Remove from the oven, serve up with griddled greens

Tips & Variations

  • Get the mash thick: We find it works really well to let the potatoes steam dry for a minute or two in the pan before mashing. Too much water in the mash and it'll sink into the filling rather than sitting on top.
  • Make it your own: Henry always adds a good pinch of smoked paprika to the filling for a bit of extra warmth and smokiness. Totally optional but trust us on this one.
  • Crisp up the top: If you want that golden, slightly crispy mash topping, run a fork across the surface before it goes in the oven. More surface area means more crunch. It makes a real difference.

Why This Works

The trick here is building real depth in the filling before anything else happens. You want to give the base ingredients time to properly cook down and get a bit of colour, because that's where all the flavour lives. And the mash combo of regular potato with sweet potato is something we landed on after making this dozens of times. It gives you that classic fluffy topping but with a little extra something that makes people ask what's in it.