The Best Shepherd’s Pie with Corn
Homemade Shepherd’s pie might just be the poster child of cozy comfort food. A savory ground beef meat filling soaking in delicious gravy, topped with a layer of sweet crisp corn, then finished off with creamy parmesan potatoes. Look no further, you have found the only Shepherd’s pie with corn recipe that you’ll ever need!
This dish is one that I grew up on, it’s nostalgic and always reminds me of home. It’s that meal that was always sent back with me after I visited home from school, and I savored every last bite in my dorm room, probably topped with a drizzle of ketchup. If I wasn’t bringing this Shepherd’s pie back to school, it was most definitely my dad’s spinach prosciutto mushroom pasta.
Traditional Shepherd’s Pie
I wouldn’t be so bold as to say that this is a “classic” or “traditional” recipe. If anything, my recipe is quite Americanized and adapted to my own liking, compared to a true Irish pie. Which is okay! There are many dishes that I prefer to go the classic route, and others that I find it’s easier to use what I have on hand with accessible ingredients. Traditionally, a true Shepherd’s Pie made the Irish way, uses lamb for the meat filling, often times with Guinness as a base for the gravy. A classic recipe typically calls for more vegetables, like carrots, peas, and parsnips, as well. Worth ordering, if you’re ever out to an Irish restaurant!
Why just corn?
Its honestly just my personal preference! My parents rarely served frozen vegetables growing up, we never had that classic mix of chopped carrots, peas and corn in the freezer. When they did use frozen vegetables, it was sweet corn or sweet peas, and rarely canned, as that requires further processing. Frozen carrots tend to have a particular chewy, pre-frozen texture and taste to them, so I cut them out altogether. And if you ever have the chance to use fresh summer corn cut off the cob, my oh my, what a treat!
Ingredients
My favorite thing about this dish, is it’s something you can make on whim, with pantry staple ingredients!
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:
- Ground beef
- Yellow flesh potatoes
- Onion
- Garlic
- Butter
- Tomato paste
- Worcestershire sauce
- Ketchup
- Beef broth
- All-purpose flour
- Dried thyme, rosemary, paprika, and garlic powder
- Frozen corn
- Parmesan cheese
How to make shepherd’s pie with corn
Make the potatoes in 3 easy steps
- Boil the potatoes
- Melt the butter and mash the potatoes
- Add the parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and salt
Make the meat filling & gravy
- Cook the onions and garlic
- Brown the beef & add seasonings
- Coat the beef with the tomato paste and ketchup
- Add flour & stir in beef broth
Tips
- Measure out and prepare all of your ingredients ahead of time.
- While the potatoes are cooking, begin cooking the meat filling. Once you pour in the beef broth to the meat filling to simmer, the potatoes should be ready to drain and mash right in the pot.
Assemble the layers & bake
- Pour the meat filling on bottom
- Layer with corn
- Top with potatoes & rake with a fork
- Bake!
Raking the potatoes with a fork is often overlooked, but so critical in my opinion! It creates little peaks that brown in the oven creating a crisp topping that adds incredible flavor. Remember: browning = flavor.
Handy tip: Prepare Ahead!
Just before baking, you can cover the casserole and place in the refrigerator to bake later!
What to serve with Shepherd’s Pie
Serve with a prepared salad, or simply toss spring mix with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic glaze, and grated parmesan for an easy side of yummy greens.
If I’m feeling extra indulgent and needy, I’ll throw some crescent rolls in the oven and serve those with soft butter on the side. DROOL. Or I’ll make these biscuits if I have the time!
Recipe FAQ’s & substitutions
Ground Beef
Feel free to use ground lamb, or a combination. I often make this recipe 50/50 ground beef and pork.
vegetables
I prefer frozen sweet corn, you can also use canned corn. If you would like to add peas, I recommend using frozen peas.
parmesan cheese
Fresh grated parmesan works best in this recipe.
ketchup
You can use tomato sauce in place of ketchup, just add a tablespoon of brown sugar to balance the acidity of the tomato sauce.
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The Best Shepherd’s Pie with Corn
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Place cubed potatoes in a large pot with just enough water to cover, plus a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, start the meat filling. Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add the ground beef to the pan with the onion and cook for 8 minutes, browning all over. Break it apart as you cook.
- Stir in the thyme, rosemary, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Add in Worcestershire sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste and ketchup until combined and the beef is coated.
- Sprinkle the flour over the beef filling and stir for 1 minute until its completely incorporated.
- Slowly pour in the beef broth and bring the mixture to simmer. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 3-4 minutes. Pour the beef filling into a medium sized casserole dish.
- Drain the potatoes in a strainer. Cut up the stick of butter and it to the potato pot. Pour the hot potatoes on top of the butter and cover with a lid and let sit of 1 minute to melt the butter.
- Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes and the butter together until smooth, some chunks are fine. Sprinkle in the parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and salt. Mix well.
- Spread the corn over the meat filling in the casserole.
- Spread the mashed potatoes over the corn until flat and even. Using the tip of fork, rake the top of the potatoes to rough up the top layer and create little peaks. This will help the top layer to brown in the oven. Lightly sprinkle with some more paprika (optional).
- Place casserole dish in the over and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn the broiler to high, and bake for an additional 2-3 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- Allow the Shepherd's pie to cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.
Try 30 or more minutes for the prep time. I consider sautéing the onions and garlic, browning the beef, grating the cheese, peeling & dicing the potatoes, mashing the potatoes, and assembling the pie to be prep. Cooking is boiling the potatoes and baking/broiling the pie.
Other than that, it’s a good recipe which the family liked. I’ll make it again.
Very yummy shepherd pie. I definitely will make this again. After cooking I did let the pie rest for 20 minutes and it came out a little runny, but that was okay as it was so tasty.
So glad you enjoyed it!
This was delicious. I left out any tomato-based item, as we never had that in shepherd’s pie growing up and my partner is restricted from eating tomatoes. We also never had garlic, onions, or Worcester sauce in shepherd’s pie, nor beef broth, rosemary, or thyme, but I included all of those things, and it made the meal so much more savory. Thank you!
This is the best recipe for shepherds pie everrr!! I have made this 4-5 times and will forever keep it in my rotation, thanks for the yummy recipe!
This is the best shepherds pie I’ve ever had! I’ve never been a fan of this dish but my family loves it so i decided to take one for the team and make it for them. I searched for the perfect recipe and low and behold, I found it! It’s extremely flavorful (not the bland stuff my mom used to try to feed me) and the crusty potato topping is chef’s kiss. High recommend making this one.