1-Hour Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

I was struggling to find a vegan dish I actually love and thankfully I found it! This is a straight forward, delicious recipe. The only thing I did differently was I pulsated the lentils with a hand mixer when they were soft to give it more of a ground beef texture. And I added a package of onion soup mix to the broth for extra flavour, delicious!

This recipe is fantastic. I don’t often leave comments but this is so delicious. I highly recommend it. I love the idea of adding mashed potatoes to thicken up the filling. It really works well. Thank you very much.

Just made this and YUM!

It’s just as good as it says! I made it exactly as the recipe states and turned out fantastic! Great meatless comfort food.

Amazing! My meat eating husband loved it. Great recipe and will definitely make it again.

Made this for me and husband and we both thought it was delicious! He told me to make it again, and he’s a big army dude so you know it’s gotta be good if it fills up a soldier!

This was great! I will say it took more like an hour and a half once you factor in peeling potatoes. I would recommend adding a good amount of salt to the lentils. I used Miyoko’s vegan butter in the mashed potatoes (so! good!) and added sauteed mushrooms to the lentils before baking. I also mixed vegan gravy into the lentils before baking, which I think helped with thickening and definitely added flavor. Will definitely be making this again — vegan comfort food at its finest.

We are not vegan, but I found this recipe and decided to make it as a healthier option. It was truly AMAZING! I followed the recipe with 2 changes, I used 2 cups of lentils and increased the vegetable broth by an additional cup. My family went crazy it was so good. Truly you have to try it, you will not miss the beef.

My husband and I have been Whole Food Plant Based since the beginning of the year. We mostly eat raw vegetables, hummus and vegetable soups, stews and chili. We needed something with the same basic ingredients and this met the criteria. Just finished eating it and we were both delighted and satisfied! I used a little truffle salt in the potatoes and Milkadamia milk. Outside of that followed the recipe to a T! Delicious! Thank you!

Only 3tbsp of vegan butter for 3 pounds of potato??? I thought that would be a bit dry. I heated up unsweetened non dairy milk with with vegan butter and added it in until creamy.

this is so so delicious! i used a can of lentils and simmered them for 30 minutes in / to soak up the veggie stock flavour (2 cups) and added mushrooms in and green beans and the consistency was perfect! i’ll definitely be making this in winter too, thank youuu dana

I’m making this again tomorrow. I topped the last one with a combination of mashed potato and cauliflower. So good. Tomorrow I’m going to ad some mushrooms to the lentils. I also froze individual servings and it was successful. This is such a versatile recipe. Delicious enough for company and a family of cooks. ?.

Hi Dana!
I made this for the first time as part of my meal prep for the week and it turned out AMAZING! I’m not vegan or vegetarian and I honestly prefer this recipe over the tradition one!
My only modifications were I used a combo of vegetable and mushroom broth (because that’s what I had) and chopped fresh veggies instead of frozen . This recipe is a keeper for sure, thank you!!

Delicious! Simple to make and incredibly satisfying. Thank you

Dana, this recipe was priceless. I mixed white potatoes and sweet potatoes…really good.
I couldn’t find green or brown lentils did red. I also added liquid smoke, Worcester sauce and balsamic vinegar sauce. I’m limited on sodium so no salt. But this was really tasty and filling. Going for 2nd serving. My husband is working on his 3rd!!!
Thank you. Following you on Instagram.
Happy New Year❤

Thank you! Absolutely delicious. I made the recipe exact. I am freezing half of the lentils and will repurpose in the future but will top with mashed sweet potatoes. Much appreciation.

I mad this casserole last night for dinner. I am always a little hesitant when making a vegan main dish since I am usually a meat eater, however, my son arrived from far away and he is a vegan. It took me a little longer than the times posted because I cook on an electric range but this was very easy to make and OMG the flavor was delicious! My husband, our son, and I each had seconds! Best of all, we have leftovers for tomorrow night too!
Thank you for a delicious and easy main dish for the reluctant vegan!

Added mushrooms. Delicious as all your recipes are. Thank you!

I’ve made this several times, it’s so good! I either halve the filling, or freeze half, because it does make alot. I also add at least a pound of sliced & sauted mushrooms, and man does it add alot of flavor and texture. Make it.

A good comfort meal after a cold day outside. Only adjustments I made was adding a splash of coconut aminos and a bay leaf while the lentils were cooking.

A friend asked me to make something for her Christmas party that the vegetarians and vegans could eat. I found this recipe and felt it would be perfect. I water sautéed the onions and garlic. I also used the precooked lentils from Trader Joes. Not knowing how much the package was in comparison to using dried lentils I added a bit of cooked brown rice to the mixture. I only used about 2 cups of the vegetable broth, enough to loosen up the mix. Everyone raved about how awesome it was! I steered a couple people to your website so they could get the recipe for themselves! I will definitely be making this again. The flavors were perfect!
Thanks for a great recipe and website!

I added sautéed mushrooms and mix of a few tablespoons each of tomato paste / balsamic vinegar/ broth to the lentil veggie mix. Without it Tasted to me like it was missing “something,” it helped tremendously. Thank you for the easy weeknight recipe

I made it and it came out quite delicious. My boyfriend who isn’t vegan, loved it! I highly recommend making this for your non-vegan friends & family!

Delicious! I followed the recipe as written except I added an extra 1/2 cup frozen veggies. Used about a teaspoon of corn starch and 2 tablespoons of the mashed potatoes to thicken. Perfection! Served to two non-vegan guests and they (and my mostly plant based husband) all loved it! Five stars!!!

SIMPLY DELICIOUS. Not my first time doing this recipe, and I twist it a bit by adding nibblets between the mashed potatoes and the lentils mixture by make it even Moreno like a shepherds pie. Plus, I’ve frozen this recipe before with great success…! Just saying :). Thank you for such a perfect warm and cozy fall/winter recipe my dear.

Catherine

We had leftover mashed potatoes from the night before and this was a great way to use them up! I absolutely loved this meal, it will definitely be in the rotation going forward and I think it would be a great dish to serve your meat eating friends and family to show how familiar, satisfying, and nutritious vegan cooking can be.

Hi Dana,

Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes. I love making everything!

Jeanie

I made this last night and it was deelish. I modified it slightly. I added 8oz of sliced portobello to the saute mix of onions and garlic. The mushrooms gave a real nice meaty taste and texture. I also substituted pureed cauliflower (about 1 1/2 heads) for the mashed potatoes. I simply steamed the cauliflower, then into the food processor with the vegan butter. After spreading the mix on top I sprinkled some paprika over it and baked.

Really good and thanks for the recipe!

Loved this recipe! I made it last night but added Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, and extra herbs spices like smoked paprika and dried sage. I also used purple yams instead of golden yams and it looks so colourful and amazing! I’m stoked.

Can’t wait to make this for all the hard-core meat eaters in my family :)

Delicious and so filling! We made this two weeks in a row because we loved it so much the first time we tried it!

Made this last night, I used fresh carrots and celery, staggered putting them in the filler to avoid over-cooking them. Also in the filler I used about 1/2tbps paprika, shredded the garlic (4 cloves) instead of diced, and added 2tbps corn starch about 30 minutes into simmering. Added garlic to the mashed potatoes and used cashew/almond milk blend in addition to the vegan butter, then a light brush of olive oil before baking. Thank you so much for this recipe, it was delicious, rich and filling, and my family thoroughly enjoyed it. Will definitely be trying more from this page.

YUM. Made this tonight and it tasted just like my mom’s beef shepherd’s pie growing up. Thought I’d left that cozy flavor behind forever when I stopped eating meat but this was instant nostalgia! I assembled this 1 day in advance and stored in the fridge, baked just before dinner. We’re not big potato fans, so I used mashed cauliflower. One head of cauliflower was enough for half this recipe. Will be making this over and over!

So good I’ve made it twice already!! I enjoy dipping it with bbq sauce. Highly recommend!

I will definitely be making this recipe again (enthusiastically approved by boyfriend!). I love the homeyness and simplicity. I lightened it up by making a batch of your potato and cauliflower mash for the topping. I also found the lentil mix wanting additional flavor and seasoning so I added 1 TB of vegan Worcestershire sauce, around 2 TB of tamari, and about a tsp. of Beyond Bullion vegetable stock seasoning.

Both my husband and I loved it! Easy to make and simply delicious! Note: If you use canned lentils, like I did, you will have to reduce the amount of vegetable broth to just enough to cook the mixed vegetables. (I found it to be very liquidy otherwise, but I drained the excess liquid and used it when I made a batch of veggie soup. It didn’t go to waste!)

Wonderful recipe.. made a few adjustments
-seasoned the lentils with salt,pepper,paprika,tomato paste and cumin and let it steam a bit BEFORE adding broth..
-added chunks of squash to other veggies/lentils.. let it cook until soft then mash some with spoon to ticken added a dash of A1 and some sazon seasoning!
-added cauliflower to potatoes and mashed it together..DELISH!! Thank you!

This is my go-to recipe for Vegan Shepherd’s Pie! My family loves it! Very easy and versatile for every taste. I like to use a little mint with thyme and rosemary. I also like fresh chives and some sour cream in the whipped potatoes. Yum-Yum!

Thank you so much for this recipe. This Shepard’s Pie just won my work’s holiday pie contest. It’s a specialty food and beverage shop so there were a lot of discerning palettes to please. I added about 1tbsp of tamari to the lentils as a substitute for Worcester sauce (saw in another recipe) to make it extra savory.

Making it again! So good

I made this for my family and my carnivore kids ate it up!!!! They could not get enough and didn’t miss the meat!!! Total game changer!!! Need more Casserole recipes like this!

Starting making this and then realized that I didn’t have enough lentils (only had 3/4 cup)! So I added 1/2 cup quinoa and 1/2 can garbanzo beans to make up for it. Still turned out delicious!! Can’t wait to make this as a plant based option at my family’s Thanksgiving!

This was soooooo delicious. I made it exactly the way the recipe said to and it had so much flavor for so few ingredients. Definitely will be making again.

Recently went vegan and am so thankful to find a yummy version of my favorite dish!!! Thank you so so so much for sharing! Definitely adding to my recipe box!

I made this last year because I was the only vegetarian at my husband’s holiday gathering and wanted something to share with them. It was great but I tweaked it by added rosemary, cooking wine, diced mushrooms, tomato paste, vegan worcestershire sauce, and topped it with a mushroom gravy made from mushrooms, “butter”, coconut milk, salt, and poultry seasoning. The lentils I got sucked up a LOT of seasoning so I’d constantly have to add more salt, thyme, and rosemary as I was cooking so I have no idea how much I used. This clearly is not a healthy meal with all the salt and butter but I don’t eat this way usually. My husband’s family LOVED it they were going in for seconds and thirds. I’m making it again this year at their request.

Like some others here, I also added red wine! I decided to add nutritional yeast to the potatoes, too… I regret nothing.

I love your recipes!

Thank you :)

This was incredible! Loved that it had simple ingredients, but tasted delicious.

Made this last night, it was AMAZING!!
My husband is a meat eater and absolutely loved it. I added chopped celery and mushrooms to the lentil mix. Can’t wait for leftovers (although there’s not much left!). Thanks for the great recipe!

I make this for Thanksgiving every year (and multiple times throughout the cold months) and it is such a delicious, hearty, ultimate comfort meal. I make a mushroom gravy on the side just to really make it thanksgiving-y and it hits all those spots for me. Definitely one to come back to over and over!

I made this last night for dinner. I agree with another commenter that there was way to much lentils. I would probably do half the amount if I make this again. To cut down on the cooking time, I used my Instant pots to cook the potatoes and the lentils.

This turned out great. A quick view of the comments show that no one else had this issue, so maybe it was just me: 1.5 cups of uncooked lentils was WAY TOO MUCH. I used the suggested sized baking dish, and had a lot of leftover filling. I saved it for a while and tried to creatively use it in other dishes, but eventually threw the rest out.

I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a hit among the vegetarians and meat-eaters! It is a very user friendly recipe and makes for a satisfying comfort food. The only thing I added to this recipe was two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar when adding the vegetable stock. Definitely will be making again!

Delicious! Used to be one of my favorite meals before I changed my diet and stopped eating meat and dairy. Thrilled to have found this gem! My husband wanted to eat the whole tray the first time I made it ?

What a yummy dinner. I added about 1/4 c red wine, 2-3 tablespoons of miyokos butter, baby Bella mushrooms and about 1/2 tablespoon of fresh rosemary from my garden. Oh and pushed the garlic up to 8 cloves. So good! Thank you for all your recipes!

Yum!

This has been a staple recipe of mine for years now. It’s always a hit at potlucks! The only thing I change is to add chopped crimini mushrooms to the lentil mixture. A wonderful recipe, thank you!

So yummy. I swapped corn for peas and used canned lentils. I should have let that all simmer for 5 mins before assembling as carrots a bit hard. But i ate too much anyway as it was so good.

Came out great!

Two things:

1. I used “whole green moong beans” that we had from the Indian store. They are whole and high in fiber. Very chewy and nutty. They worked great in this recipe. I mention this in case you want a specific type of lentil to buy.

2. I wouldn’t preheat the oven until the lentils are nearly done. Otherwise, the hot oven will be sitting empty for nearly 40 minutes. (I would actually recommend pressure cooking them if possible as it will only take 15 minutes that way.)

My partner and I subbed the frozen veggies out for fresh carrot, green beans and corn. We added the carrot and beans with the stock and lentils towards the start, and just added the corn in the last 10 minutes of cooking the lentils. We loved this recipe and will definitely be cooking it again! It’s very easy and extremely comforting…

A housemate glibly commented that a shepherd’s pie is made from lamb and a cottage pie is made from from beef, so what should we call this variation? I said I suppose we’ll just call this one a gardener’s pie.

Yum! Used red lentils, ginger and sweet potatoes instead and was delish. Thanks for great recipe.

I’ve made this several times. Never ever disappoints. Meat eaters are always shocked at just how delicious (though mine is typically vegetarian). I use 1.5 tsp ish thyme & occasionally add cheese on top of the potatoes when I bake it. Oh…I use butter when making the potatoes. Family favorite!

Absolutely delicious!! We followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfectly. Really really tasty and was so easy to make.

THIS WAS INCREDIBLE! My husband is a meat lover considering going vegan, for health reasons, so I’ve been trying to find go-to recipes. This is now one of them! Thank you so much. We mixed in a few splashes of soy sauce with the lentils before adding the mash and it was so delicious!
If you’re craving vegan comfort food, this won’t disappoint!

I made this with the gardein “ground beef” instead of lentils because I don’t like lentils ?. It came out perfect! Actually, it doesn’t taste vegan. Very easy recipe thank you!

Was good, got the Omni seal of approval from my dad! I subbed some diced tomato for the vege stock.

Made this with sweet potato mash, and added in frozen spinach and canned tomatoes. I left out the thyme too and used way more garlic. Doubled the recipie and it tooker than described, but cheap, yummy, filling and easy! Highly recommend.

Loved this recipe. I used blue potatoes as that’s all I had – using almond milk and nutalex to make creamy.
I used Lentils, Chickpeas, Cauliflower, Peas, Carrots and Onions for the base adding vegetable stock, red wine, vegemite, chilli, garlic and pepper. Absolutely amazing! Loved it! Reheated in oven!

This was so good! I added some chili and garlic powder. I’ll definitely be making this again!

I’ve made this recipe on several occassions, always a family favorite. I add soy milk to my mashed potatoes so they are a little creamier. Going to try and make a large tray of this deliciousness for a party this wknd so our non-vegan friends can give it a try. I’m sure it will turn out perfect.