Cottage Pie
Spiced ground beef under a buttery mash of potatoes — comfort baked to bubbling.
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Join HomecookedIngredients
- 500 g Ground beef
- 800 g Potatoes
- 1 Onion
- 2 Carrot
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 200 g Canned tomatoes
- 200 ml Chicken stock
- 60 g Butter
- 100 ml Milk
- 1 tbsp All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Dried oregano
- 1½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black pepper
- 1 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil (optional)
- 1 Bay leaves (optional)
Method
- Peel and cube the potatoes; cover with cold salted water in a pot, bring to a boil.
- Simmer potatoes until fork-tender, about 18 minutes.
- Meanwhile dice onion, carrots, garlic.
- Soften onion and carrot in oil for 6 minutes. Add garlic for 1 minute.
- Add beef; brown for 6 minutes with salt and pepper. Sprinkle flour and stir 1 minute.
- Stir in tomatoes, stock, oregano, bay. Simmer 5 minutes to thicken.
- Heat oven to 200°C (400°F). Drain potatoes; mash with butter, milk, salt, and pepper.
- Scrape the filling into a baking dish, top with mash, rough up with a fork. Bake 20 minutes until golden.
- Rest 5 minutes, then serve.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from ingredients; varies with exact portions and brands.
About Cottage Pie
Cottage pie is a British classic and the beef-based sibling of shepherd's pie, which by tradition uses lamb — the distinction that separates the two dishes despite their near-identical construction. It layers a savory, slow-simmered ground beef filling under a blanket of buttery mashed potato, then bakes the whole thing until the top browns and the edges bubble. Onion, carrot, and garlic build the base, with tomatoes, stock, and a spoonful of flour thickening the filling into a rich gravy. It's cold-weather comfort food, born of the frugal instinct to stretch meat with vegetables and potato.
The appeal is textural and deeply savory: a thick, herby beef gravy underneath meeting a golden, forked-up mash on top that crisps in the oven. Browning the beef properly and letting the filling simmer down concentrates its flavor, while stirring flour through the meat gives the sauce enough body to hold beneath the potato without going soupy. Roughing up the mash with a fork before baking creates ridges that turn crisp and golden — the best bite in the dish. Baked to bubbling and scooped straight from the dish, it's a hearty one-pan family dinner that reheats beautifully and needs nothing more than a spoon.
Cottage Pie: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Cottage Pie?
One serving of Cottage Pie has about 729 calories, with 23g of protein, 47g of carbs, 51g of fat and 8g of fiber. These are estimates based on the ingredient amounts in this recipe and will vary with your exact portions and brands.
Is Cottage Pie gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains All-purpose flour. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
Is Cottage Pie dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Butter, Milk. Swapping those for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Cottage Pie take to make?
About 75 minutes start to finish, but only around 40 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Cottage Pie?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out extra-virgin olive oil, bay leaves — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Cottage Pie make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.