This plant-based shepherd’s pie recipe is a comfort food staple around here. It works equally well as a weeknight dinner or to take along to a potluck!
Well, Easter’s a little over a month away so that means that I’m going resume my efforts to share a few great, tasty recipes that will solve the problem of “What in the world do I feed these plant-based friends and family members who are coming for dinner?” There are so many ways that you can feed a crowd of people, both plant-based and not, in a way that uses simple ingredients, tastes like traditional food that you would serve at a holiday dinner and works for everyone. No need to get too crazy with obscure, unfamiliar cooking techniques to make a delicious meal that’s healthy and full of plants. 🙂 This plant-based shepherd’s pie is definitely perfect for a holiday dinner. I actually like it better with the lentils in place of the usual ground beef.
Ingredients Needed for the Plant-Based Shepherd’s Pie
- Green lentils
- Potatoes
- Mixed frozen veggies
- Plant-based butter
- Almond milk
- Veggie stock
- Apple juice
- Herbs and spices: Garlic powder, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, sage, paprika, salt, pepper
This meal come together in much the same way as you would make any other traditional holiday type meal, with a dash of this, and a sprinkle of that. The herbs and spices listed in the recipe are my favourites, but this recipe is very open to experimentation, so use what you love.
Assembling the Plant-Based Shepherd’s Pie
Before baking the pie in a casserole dish, you’ll first need to make the lentils and the mashed potato topping separately. One fun variation is to make both in Crock Pots, that way all you need to do is dump everything in a casserole dish and bake it about 45 minutes before you’re ready to eat.
To make the lentils in a slow cooker, follow the recipe below exactly, but instead of making them on a stove top, just make them in a slow cooker set to low and start them about seven hours before you need them.
You can read about how to make Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes in this post here.
I’ve been making this recipe for years and it’s always good, but recently I made a lucky little mistake that has made the recipe even better. 🙂
I was preparing my lentils in my Crock Pot, when I thought they looked like they needed a bit more liquid. I went in the fridge to grab the Tetra Pak of veggie stock that I had in there, but I accidentally grabbed the apple juice instead. I added about half a cup of apple juice to the Crock Pot before realizing that I was holding the wrong Tetra Pak! Whoops!
Well, that extra little bit of sweetness turned out to be just what the recipe needed and now this how I’ll be making it every time. 🙂
Here’s the full printable recipe!
This plant-based shepherd's pie recipe is a comfort food staple around here. It works equally well as a weeknight dinner or to take along to a potluck!
- 1.5 cups Dried green lentils
- 2.5 cups Veggie stock
- 1/2 cup Apple Juice
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp Thyme
- 1/4 tsp Rosemary
- 1/4 tsp Sage
- 7 Potatoes
- 1 splash Almond milk
- 2 tbsp Plant-based butter
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 1 cup Frozen mixed veggies
- 1 tsp Paprika
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First, prepare the lentils. Rinse the dried lentils and dump them in a medium sauce pan. Add the veggie stock, apple juice, bay leaves, garlic powder, thyme, rosemary, and sage. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 30-45 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside to allow the lentils to absorb more of the liquid, if any is left.
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While the lentils cook, peel and quarter the potatoes, then boil them for about 15-20 minutes until they're done. Drain them, mash them, add the butter and the milk, as well as the salt and pepper and mix until smooth. Or prepare the mashed potatoes however you like to make them. 🙂
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a 9x13 glass casserole dish, create the layers of your shepherd's pie. First add the lentils, then add a layer of frozen veggies. Finally, top the whole thing with the mashed potatoes, smoothing them over the entire top of the casserole. Top with a sprinkling of paprika and bake for about 45 minutes.
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This shepherd's pie can be frozen before or after baking and reheats very well.
MORE IDEAS LIKE THIS
- Plant-Based Veggie Pot Pie Recipe
- Plant-Based Cowboy Casserole Recipe
- Vegan Slow Cooker “Meatballs”
- The Perfect Plant-Based Shortbread Cookie Recipe
- The Creek Line House Recipe Archives
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.