Go to the Recipe: Easy, Amazing Pressure Cooker Shepherd’s Pie
I only have an electric pressure cooker. Can you post conversions?
Pressure cooking will be the same, but you want high pressure for the same time
Somebody needs a waaaa-mbulance
Well, they say "You can use any cut of meat you want here" in the recipe, so use lamb if you want... And cheese is optional in the recipe. FWIW, Wikipedia claims "The term shepherd's pie did not appear until 1854, and was used synonymously with cottage pie, regardless of whether the meat was beef or mutton."
Well, they say "you can use any cut of meat you want here" in the recipe, so use lamb if you want... And cheese is optional in the recipe. There are no breadcrumbs, as in a Cumberland pie. FWIW, Wikipedia claims "The term shepherd's pie did not appear until 1854, and was used synonymously with cottage pie, regardless of whether the meat was beef or mutton." The preponderance of evidence suggests it origin is Scottish actually, not English. Anyway, I'm 100% Irish, and I'm perfectly happy calling this a shepherd's pie and eating it on St. Patrick's Day just like my Irish mother used to do. Good job Grant!
I have a 6 litre stovetop Kuhn Rikon. Low or high. What’s ¾ pressure?
Whatever the taxonomy of pies, it does look delicious, no? And I think that's the main thing. (Not that I'm averse to some nerdy quibbling when the mood takes me. That's just a sign of enthusiastic engagement!)
Have to agree with Elyss - looks delish but you've let yourselves down big time calling this Shepherd's pie. I've never seen a shepherd tending cows and the same goes for beef in a Shedherd's pie.
Haters... haters everywhere
What is happening here? People having fits. You mean you gpeople have never ordered a club sandwich and it comes out with only two pieces of bread and no frilly toothpicks? For christ's sake, Sushiritto is a restaurant! It's hardly sushi or a burrito, but sorta both too. Chicken pot pie covered in toasted mashed potatoes instead of pie dough should be acceptably referenced as a chicken shepherds pie, no? Let it go, shhhh, let it go.
I made this tonight, came out totally awesome. Definitely me new shepherds pie recipe. Next time Ill do 50/50 lamb shoulder.
Some Notes:
-Cooked on high pressure for 45 minutes.
-Used Kenji's technique of searing off the beef as steaks. You'd be there forever getting a good sear on individual cubes.
-Let it set up for a solid 10 minutes, after the oven or the meat/gravy will run all over the place.
Love it. Welcome back Chef Steps.
Welcome Back!!! Now get to work...
How'd you make that cool pattern with the mash?
Unfortunately, this was a complete failure for me. The pressure cooker developed a caked on burnt layer at the bottom and the entire dish wasn't edible. My wife loves Shepard's Pie so I tried this a second time and both times the bottom of the pressure cooker burned the thickened sauce on bottom to the point where the entire pot (meat, potatoes and everything else in the pot) just had a tremendous burnt taste.
My guess is that the gravy packet thickened the liquids and after applying heat to the bottom for a while, the sauce stuck to the bottom and then started burning.
I love ChefSteps and so far, each and every recipe I've done excluding this one has turned out amazing. However, after trying this one twice and failing twice, I think this recipe is a flop.
In Ireland Shepard's Pie is definitely made with beef rather than lamb. In the UK this dish would be called cottage pie versus Shepard's pie if made with lamb.
The clue’s literally in the name... shepherds raise sheep and cowherds raise cows... to call a beef pie a shepherd’s pie is beyond stupid!
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shepherds don't eat lamb you blunt instrument. they raise them and harvest wool. there's nothing stopping a shepherd buying a bit of beef down the market is there. or buying some lamb and eating it in a cottage. you numpty.
I'm confused. I thought this site was exclusively for shilling joule. This looks like.... a recipe?
He's right though. That's why I put cottages in my cottage pie. In a pinch though I'll use a Russian dacha.
I made a half-recipe (with minimal ingredient modification) and it worked like a charm. I still used 1/2 c water, Not sure why there's so much variation between water content amongst the users. Horseradish and green onions (instead of peas) gave this dish the kick it deserves!
Low pressure. Stovetop cookers reach higher pressure than electrics.
In French we call it "Pâté Chinois" (No, not chinese meat!) My friend Shangwang tells me he never heard of anyone making this in China but that if they did they would probably use rice, fish and lots of vegetables.
Dare I ask for an InstantPot conversion...???
Well now, you all left out goat meat. What is wrong wth goat herder pie I ask you. I mean we have coffe because of a goat herder. How doh you set the power on an electric pressure cooker to 3/4 when the options are high or low. Do you use natural release or rapid release at the end of the cook time.
I have read that comment 6 times - it cracks me up each time
Pate Chinois comes from Quebec Canada. In France they have no idea what this is-
Everyone knows reduce the voltage to the appliance by 25% to obtain 75% or 3/4 pressure.
Looks good. If I had a pressure cooker I'd give it a try. But, tell me, what on earth is a "gravy packet?"
It’s essentially powdered gravy. Add a packet to a cup or 2 (depends on the packet, directions on the back) of water, and bring to a boil to thicken.if you look at the chef steps pot roast recipe, they use a powdered ranch dressing mix. It’s the same concept, of adding a highly concentrated flavor without the liquid.
Not sure you need a "conversion".....45 minutes at 3/4 power.
I’m sure this is already been suggested from other Brits but traditionally shepherds pie has lamb in it if we were to make a pie such as this with beef it would be cottage pie.
Agreed - maybe the shepherds like to protect their flocks and changed the recipe to contain beef. It should work with both meats though.
I am going to try it in the IP by hitting the meat/stew button.
Any suggestion for making your own "gravy Packet" or maybe a scoop of "Better than Bouillon" if we can't find these packets?
This turned out very well, I'm sure we'll be making this again this winter. I loved the addition of green onion and parsley, which made this stick-to-your-ribs meal still seem reasonably fresh and healthy. I made a 1/2 recipe almost exactly as specified, in an instant pot (this made 5 generous servings). Deviations from recipe as written -- cooked beef then onions in a large skillet to take advantage of stovetop ventilation, then transferred into IP inner pot. Used 2 medium sized russet potatoes, and 2 medium sized turnips rather than 1 1/2 of each. Used a little less than 1/2 packet of McCormick's beef gravy packet, and added additional salt/pepper at end of cook after tasting, along with seasoning the potatoes and turnip mixture. Still added 1/2 cup of water, as this is the minimum amount of liquid that IP recommends for pressure cooking. Cooked for 45 minutes at high, quick release. If broiling with cheese, a 1/2 recipe fits well in an 8x8 baking dish (I used a glass Pyrex dish), leaving out a little of the liquid. We prepared this to have leftovers for the week, so kept the parsley and green onion on the side to keep it crisp and fresh when reheating. Zero issues with the mixture sticking to the pot. The filling beneath the mashed "crust" was very liquidy but still delicious the first evening despite waiting 10 minutes post-broil, but thickened up completely overnight in the fridge.
I used the meat/stew setting on low pressure for 45 minutes and it came out great!!
I absolutely love this recipe! I followed it step by step and made it in my instant pot! I used the Meat/Stew setting at low pressure for 45 minutes and everything came out beautifully. Like others I found that their was a bit to much liquid after cooking. Next time I’m going to reduce the 1/2 cup of water to a 1/4 cup. If I find that it’s to thin still I may add a cornstarch slurry to thick it a tad. Can’t wait til I get to make this again! It’s truly the perfect recipe for a cold winter’s night 😁
Great recipe. Family loved it. Made as described with no substitutions. Extra brothy out of pressure cooker. For final broil, I strained out extra gravy and served on side. Very tasty.
Made this with short ribs and red potatoes instead. Very good and easy to make. Will certainly be using this again and again.
First of all how dare you, chefsteps? How DARE you call this a shepherd's pie? Absolute crime against humanity. I'm aghast, beyond shocked and completely mortified.
Other than that the recipe is killer and i really enjoyed it! The liquid amount seemed about right and I loved the potato/parsnip mash
it turned out great with lamb shoulder meat on instant pot.
but next time, i will put 1/4 of water instead of 1/2. It came out a little too watery
Tasted Amazing!
Delicious pie... but I used lamb shoulder. Beef in this recipe makes it a Cottage Pie or... Cow Pie :-)
AGREED! This is a Cottage Pie.
Would love to try this but I don't have a pressure cooker or IP. Do you have advice for a Dutch oven or crock pot?
Thanks, Ilene
You're right. But I definitely don't want to eat a cow pie - hehe! 💩
My Irish-born mother agrees: Shepard's Pie, no matter the meat.
Max Miller attests that the claim they are two different dishes and the meat choice matters is only a modern invention and lacks historical basis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1O1hcixZDU
Why are Americans arguing about unimportant semantics all the time? Have a Guinness instead.
ChefSteps:
https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/beef-bouillon-cubes (also recipes for other meats too)
Added 1/2 bottle of Guinness for the liquid instead of water, bit of tomato paste, garlic, fish sauce, peas, Gruyère on top.
I was carefully reading the recipe looking for hints about seasoning the meat before pressure cooking (or say, early in the day as a pre-salting step). Looking at my McCormick Brown Gravy packet (which seems to exactly match the one in the photo), it has a total of about 1.36g of sodium (343mg per serving * 4 servings). Since salt is 40% sodium by weight, this is equivalent to about 3.4g of salt. Normally for 2000g of beef, I would be seasoning close to 1%, so about 20g of salt. Or if I'm adding more later in the form of soy sauce, fish sauce, or whatever, then less, obviously. I feel like I'd at least want 10g of salt just to season the beef during the hours before cooking? And what about salt for all of that veg?
Home cook, so I don't have the pro chef intuition for all of the steps assumed, but maybe left out. Any thoughts?
Back to answer my own question: I pre-salted conservatively: 6 hours in advance at 0.5% by weight. Next time I think 0.75% or higher would be better. As another commenter mentioned, I followed Kenji's trick of searing slabs of meat, and then cubing. The beef came our tender and moist, very impressive texture. Took a cue from other commenters and subbed homemade chicken stock for the water, for more body in the sauce. Threw in the beef bones from the chuck roast for same. The sauce was a little thin, so I thickened it just a bit with some sprinkles of masa harina, which did the trick without noticeably changing the flavor. Crammed in one extra spud for insurance.
I used some sharp Irish cheddar to lightly top the casserole, and its punchy flavor worked well without being overly cheesy; about 3oz was enough for me.
Hey Daniel,
Thank you for sharing your results and thoughts on what you would try next. I'll give this recipe a try with the 0.75% this fall and maybe we can do an update!
