Easy Homemade Cottage Pie | How to make a simple Cottage Pie

Easy Homemade Cottage Pie - How to make a simple Cottage Pie We can’t think of anything better than a hearty and flavourful meat pie when we crave a comforting meal. That’s why this classic cottage pie is a favourite in our home. The flavourful ground beef mince base topped with velvety mashed potatoes, and a sprinkling of cheese is what cottage pie recipe dreams are made of. What's in our best easy cottage pie recipe? Thanks to only 20 minutes of prep, this easy cottage pie recipe continues to make an appearance on our dinner tables, particularly on those busy weekdays! But this cottage pie isn’t just super-easy, it’s the ultimate comfort food (probably why it’s consistently one of the most popular family dinners when winter hits). This easy cottage pie recipe already has an 8.2 health star rating but to make it better for you, you can grate in your favourite vegetables like zucchini or carrot. Your family is bound to love it. It's absolutely delicious. For variations on the classic cottage pie recipe with its mashed potato, golden brown top, try our mac n cheese cottage pie, this curried sausage cottage pie, our carrot-topped edition and this pom pom cottage pie. We also have an entire collection of cottage pie recipes that put a twist on the original! (Hash brown topping anyone?) Bon appetit.Super easy cottage pie recipe Ingredients (11) 1 tbsp olive oil 900g Coles 5 Star Extra Lean Beef Mince 1 large brown onion, chopped 3 garlic cloves, crushed 1/4 cup instant gravy powder 1 cup Massel beef stock Mutti Polpa Finely Chopped Tomatoes 400g 1.2kg sebago potatoes, peeled, chopped 50g butter, chopped 1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup grated tasty cheese block (500g) Allergens Recipe may contain gluten, wheat, yeast, milk and lactose. Nutrition info Method Show ingredient quantity Step 1 Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan-forced. Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook mince in 2 batches, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up mince, for 8 to 10 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a bowl. Add onion and garlic to pan. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until softened. Step 2 Return mince to pan. Add gravy powder. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in stock and tomato. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25 to 30 minutes or until thickened. Step 3 Meanwhile, cook potato in a saucepan of boiling, salted water for 10 to 12 minutes or until tender. Drain. Return to pan over low heat. Mash until smooth. Add butter and milk. Stir until butter has melted and mixture is combined. Step 4 Spoon mince mixture into a 1.4 litre casserole dish. Top with potato mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Serve. What’s your favourite comfort food dish? I have a few (spaghetti bolognese, fish pie, macaroni cheese, chilli con carne, sausage casserole, Stew and Dumplings, Traditional Suet Crust Steak Pie…) but Cottage Pie is definitely near the top of the list! It’s a comfort food classic for good reason, thanks to its wodges of buttery mashed potato, simple mince base and lashings of beef gravy! An easy peasy cottage pie recipe There are many ways you can dress up a cottage pie and make it ‘fancy’, but I like to keep things simple and old-fashioned in my easy peasy classic version. All you need to do is fry up some onions, carrots and beef mince. Then, make a simple gravy out of beef stock cube, flour and water. Tip the gravy into the beef mix, then transfer into an oven dish, top with buttery mashed potatoes and bake! Cottage Pie or Shepherd’s Pie? Cottage Pie and Shepherd’s Pie are often used interchangeably in the UK, but technically there is a difference! Shepherd’s pie (as the name suggests) contains lamb – either mince or roast lamb leftovers. Cottage Pie, on the other hand, is made with beef (usually mince). If you prefer, you can absolutely turn this Easy Peasy Cottage Pie into an Easy Peasy Shepherd’s Pie – simply by using lamb mince instead of beef mince. Alternatively, you might like to try these variations: Leftover Roast Lamb Shepherd’s Pie Curried Shepherd’s Pie with Sweet Potato Mash Topping Lentil Shepherd’s Pie Make it your own! I’ve kept this Easy Peasy Cottage Pie super simple – just beef mince, onions, carrots and gravy. But there are many things you can add to adapt this classic dish and make it your own. You could try: Adding tomato puree to the beef gravy Adding a dash of Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce to the beef gravy Adding peas and/or sweetcorn to the beef mince Adding a teaspoon of curry powder to the beef mince Swapping some of the potatoes for cauliflower to ‘lighten’ the mash Using sweet potato instead of regular potatoes for the mash