Vegan Shepherd’s Pie (Recipe #88)

I love shepherd’s pie! It is such a comforting dish that is best eaten on a cool/cold day. This was the perfect dinner yesterday because it is starting to feel more and more like fall everyday. I was in pants and a long sleeve shirt all day! I knew I wanted to make something warm and hearty for dinner, so I chose to make the shepherd’s pie.

A shepherd’s pie is typically a two layer dish with a meaty bottom layer topped with mashed potatoes. This dish is then put in the oven to brown the mashed potatoes. I highly recommend this recipe for shepherd’s pie! It was delicious in every aspect! I did make a few changes to the mashed potato part, but I left the other layer alone. I let the potatoes boil in a pot until tender. I drained them. Then, I put them in my kitchen aid mixer with the whisk attachment. I added more milk than the recipe called for (about ½ cup) and I added about 2 tbsp of additional oil. If I had vegan butter, I would have used that instead of the oil. I like when my mashed potatoes are creamy and delicious. This would have also worked the way the recipe was written by using a potato masher, but I feel the kitchen aid is more effective and more efficient.

The “beefy” layer was written very well! It called for mushrooms, onions, tomato paste, garlic, Madeira wine, flour, vegetable broth, carrots, worcestershire sauce, thyme, bay leaf, and vegan protein crumbles. This portion turned out savory and slightly sweet. It was really delicious! I found my protein crumbles at my local Aldi and they were great! They have quite a distinct soy flavor and are slightly chewier than beef, but I felt that they worked really well in this dish. The dish itself had so many delicious flavors that it came together really well!

This recipe suggests using a 10’’ skillet that can be used in the oven under the broiler. Unfortunately, I do not have one of those. Instead, I used an 8x8’’ glass baking dish and I sprayed the dish with cooking spray! I am really happy that I decided to use a baking dish because I noticed that the 10’’ skillet that I was using was full to the brim without the mashed potatoes. Adding the potatoes on top of the “meat” mixture would have caused the liquid to overflow out of the pan. I did not have to worry about putting the skillet on top of a rimmed baking sheet because there was just enough room in the 8x8’’ pan to not worry about it boiling over. I am going to use the same baking dish if I make this again!

Taste: 10/10!

Level of difficulty: 1/5--easy clean up with few dishes!

Notes for next time: Loved it! Make the potatoes with vegan butter!