Go Back
slow cooker shepherd's pie

Crock pot Sheperd’s pie

You can enjoy Crock Pot Shepherd's Pie Recipe any day of the week thanks to the slow cooker. This tasty recipe is so easy in the crockpot.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: English
Calories: 764
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 3 lbs ground beef
  • 1/2 onion chopped
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 16 oz bag frozen peas and carrots
  • 10.5 oz cream of mushroom soup
  • 4 Russet Potatoes boiled and mashed

Equipment

  • Slow cooker
  • Skillet
  • Potato masher

Method
 

  1. Brown the beef
    Cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat with the chopped onion, minced garlic, and onion powder. Break the meat into small crumbles as it cooks. Drain the fat thoroughly before it goes into the slow cooker. Fat left behind pools on top of the gravy and makes the dish greasy.
  2. Prep the insert
    Spray the slow cooker insert with cooking spray. Skipping this step means spending tomorrow morning scraping baked-on potato off the ceramic walls with a butter knife.
  3. Mix the base
    Add the cream of mushroom soup to the slow cooker and stir it into the browned beef until the meat coats evenly. Scatter the frozen peas and carrots across the top of the meat mixture in an even layer.
  4. Cook the base
    Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 4 hours. The vegetables soften and the soup thickens into a proper gravy during this time.
  5. Add the potatoes
    Spread the mashed potatoes evenly across the top of the beef mixture. Work from the center outward and push the potatoes to the edges of the insert. Cook on low for 2 more hours. The potatoes warm through and absorb the steam from the gravy below.
  6. Taste and serve
    Before plating, taste a spoonful of beef and potato together. Add a pinch of salt if the potatoes taste flat. A dash of Worcestershire sauce stirred into the beef at the start builds a savory depth that the cream of mushroom soup alone doesn't provide.

Recipe Notes

Brown the beef before it touches the slow cooker.Raw ground beef dumped directly into a slow cooker produces gray, gummy meat with fat pooling on top of the gravy. Ten minutes in a hot skillet builds flavor that six hours of slow cooking cannot replicate on its own. Drain every drop of fat before transferring. 🔥
🥔Add the mashed potatoes during the last two hours only.Potatoes spread on at the beginning dissolve completely into the gravy and disappear. They need two hours of gentle heat to warm through and form a distinct top layer. Season the mash well with butter and salt before it goes on, because the potatoes won't absorb seasoning from the gravy below. ⏰