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Vegan Shepherd's Pie in a baking dish

Simple Smoky Shepherd's Pie


  • Author: Liz Madsen
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 10 cups 1x
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

This hearty pie with its lentils and veggies gives you the full feeling while being plant-based. It's perfect for meal prep and the holidays. Vegan, Oil-free, Nut-free, Soy-free, Gluten-free


Ingredients

Scale

Filling

  • 1.5 cups cooked lentils (see note 1)
  • 10 oz mushrooms, sliced or diced
  • 2 tbsp reduced sodium gluten-free tamari or soy sauce (see note 2)
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1.5 tsp smoked paprika, divided
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 16 oz of frozen vegetables
  • ½ batch quick vegan gravy or store-bought (see note 3)

Topping

  • 4 medium potatoes, diced (peel if desired)
  • Reserved potato boiling water
  • Pinch of salt
  • Garlic powder to taste, optional
  • Parsely, garnish
  • Fresh cracked black pepper, garnish

 


Instructions

  1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (218 degrees Celsius).
  2. Cook potatoes: Start by boiling your potatoes. I like to dice my potatoes beforehand, using a half inch dice. This helps them cook faster. Add the potatoes to the pot and add water until they’re just covered. Throw on a lid and bring them to a boil. You’ll want to cook them till they’re soft which will depend on how big you’ve cut them. If you diced them in a half-inch dice like I did, they should actually be soft enough to match pretty much as soon as they’ve come to a boil. Test with a fork: if your fork easily goes through them, they’re ready.
  3. Drain: Drain the potatoes over a bowl to catch some or most of the water. It’s hard to say how much I use since I add little splashes of the cooking water while I mash, but reserve at least ½ to ¾ cup.
  4. Multi-task: While the potatoes are cooking you could be making the quick vegan gravy or whatever other sauce you’re making. Cook that and set it aside. Mash your potatoes, adding little bits of the cooking water at a time while you mash. Add salt and anything else you’d like in there, like garlic powder. Mix it in and set the bowl aside.
  5. Cook the mushrooms: Cook your mushrooms by sauteing them in a large nonstick skillet (I love my B1 All Clad Skillet for sauteing veggies) over medium high heat. I don’t add any liquid at first while they’re sauteing because they release a bit of their own liquid. Let them cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the tamari or soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and smoked paprika a little bit at a time, letting it cook off each time until the mushrooms are half their size and nicely browned, about 5 more minutes (10 min total).
  6. Add veggies and lentils: Now add the frozen veggies and lentils to the pot along with your spices and let everything heat up. The veggies should thaw but don’t need to be totally cooked yet as they’ll cook more in the oven.
  7. Add the gravy: Mix in the gravy and stir everything together really well.
  8. Assemble: Add the filling to a deep baking dish (a square or rectangular baking dish will work, as will a glass pie dish) and flatten everything with the back of your spoon, pressing down lightly to compact everything. Top with the mashed potatoes, and press a fork in a pattern across the top if you desire.
  9. Bake: Bake for 10-15 minutes. You can throw it under the broiler for the last few minutes if you’d like the top slightly crispy (SO GOOD).
  10. Serve: Serve with fresh cracked black pepper and a good sprinkle of chopped parsley. Enjoy!
  11. Store: Store the leftovers up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Alternatively, freeze leftovers in a freezer-safe airtight container for up to 3 months.

Notes

Note 1: While green or brown lentils are super cheap and widely available, some people don’t like lentils (BLASPHEMY! Just kidding.). You could use any cooked bean instead, like chickpeas or black beans. You could also substitute it for TVP (textured vegetable protein) which is a dehydrated vegan ground beef substitute that you can rehydrate to use as you would ground beef. I actually have a vegan ground beef alternative recipe for meatless crumbles on my site that uses TVP if you’d like to try it. It’s very good and it only takes 10 minutes to make.

Note 2: I use reduced sodium gluten-free tamari (you can use soy sauce if not gluten-free, and you can use no-soy if you can’t eat soy).

Note 3: If you don’t want to make my delicious quick vegan gravy I’ll be very offended. Just kidding. You can use a store bought vegan gravy mix or experiment with other sauces. Tomato sauce would probably be delicious in this.

  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Category: Entree
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: Vegan, Oil-free, Nut-free, Soy-free, Gluten-free, Shepard's Pie