Let me start off by saying that I’m not even usually a fan of Shepherd’s Pie. We had it so often growing up that it usually makes me queasy. This absolutely was not the case with this recipe. I wanted to lick the casserole dish clean, haha!
Traditional Shepherd’s Pie
In a traditional Shepherd’s Pie you use lamb with peas, carrots, celery and other veggies. You typically also simmer the veggies in a beef broth and tomato based sauce topped with mashed potatoes. Even though I’m not a huge fan of traditional Shepherd’s Pie, I’ve found some recipes that I like, like this one from Food Network. However, in this recipe, we replace the traditional veggies with tomatoes, southwest style corn, beans, etc. I also add pepper jack cheese both under and on top of the potatoes. Lastly, I used ground beef instead of lamb. It’s a cheaper alternative and in my opinion, the flavor is better than lamb when it comes to Mexican food.
The Meat Mixture
To start off, you’re going to brown your ground beef with garlic and onion. After the meat is browned, you’ll add taco seasoning, making sure to follow the directions on the taco seasoning packet in terms of how much water to add to the mixture.
Once the meat mixture becomes saucy and the onions are soft, you’ll add two well-drained cans of rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles, one well-drained can of southwest style corn with diced red and poblano peppers, and one rinsed and well-drained can of beans of your choice. For this recipe, I used a can of three bean blend with pinto, black, and kidney beans. I used these ones found here, but really any kind will do.
After that’s all mixed together, add 1/2 cup of chunky salsa and 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Let it simmer until everything is heated through and until the sauce boils down and thickens. Then transfer it to a greased casserole dish and top it with pepper jack cheese.
Mashed Potatoes
I think it’s always best to make fresh mashed potatoes whenever possible, but sometimes life is too busy! For that reason, I used these Idahoan instant potatoes. They come in about a million flavors but for this dish, I just used the golden buttery flavor. Their garlic flavor would be great for this dish though too! To cover the entire casserole, I used two packs of the instant potatoes. Just follow the package directions accordingly.
If you would prefer to make the mashed potatoes yourself, you’ll want to use around 3 lbs of potatoes. You can also used Reser’s mashed potatoes or other pre-made brands.
No matter which potatoes you use, you’re going to spread them over the meat and cheese mixture in a thick, even layer. After that, top them with more cheese and bake for 20 minutes at 350. The cheese will be nice and melted and you’ll be ready to dig in!
Now, if you’d like, you’re more than welcome to add optional toppings such as green onion, jalapeno slices, sour cream, etc. but we were in a rush to eat, haha!
And that’s all there is to it! Mexican shepherd’s pie is definitely a recipe we will be making again in my house. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Mexican Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 lbs 90% lean ground beef
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 1 oz taco seasoning packets, made according to package directions
- 2 10 oz cans of rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles, well-drained
- 1 15 oz can beans, rinsed and well-drained
- 1 10 oz can southwestern style corn with red and poblano peppers, well-drained
- 1/2 cup chunky salsa
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 16 oz package shredded pepper jack cheese, divided
- 2 packages instant mashed potatoes, prepared according to package directions
Optional Toppings
- green onion
- jalapeno slices
- cilantro
- sour cream
- additional salsa
- tortilla strips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 13×9 casserole dish.
- In a large, deep skillet or pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Once heated, add ground beef, onion, and garlic. Brown the ground beef until cooked through, approximately 5-7 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add taco seasoning and the appropriate amount of water based on the package directions. Simmer until the sauce has thickened, approximately 2-3 minutes.
- Add drained rotel, beans, corn, salsa, and chicken broth and mix well. Simmer another 5-7 minutes or until sauce is thick. Transfer to the greased casserole dish. Top with half of the pepper jack.
- Spread an even layer of mashed potatoes across the top of the meat and cheese mixture. Top with remaining cheese and bake uncovered for 20 minutes.
- OPTIONAL: To crisp up the cheese, switch the oven to broil for the last 2-3 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then serve and enjoy with any toppings of your choice.
Notes
Please let me know what you think in the comments below! If you enjoy this recipe and want to see more, feel free to click here to see my other recipes or subscribe to Growing Up Garlicky for updates.
This Shepard’s Pie has got to be one of the best and easiest recipes I have ever tried! It is packed full of flavor and it has just the right amount of everything, including garlic, which there can never be enough of in my recipes. We did top off ours off with green onions and it made it perfect, just as the recipe said it would. Next time I make this, which will be soon, I will top it off with sour cream as well, along with the green onions and a small salad and we will have a nice, flavorful dinner within a 1/2 hours time. My kind of meal! Thank you Bree for a great meal idea that will stay in the “keeper” book!
Yay! I’m so glad you liked it! I definitely will be adding green onion next time too. We actually had it in the fridge and I forgot to put it on because we were starving haha! Thanks for your comment!