Instant Pot Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

Our Instant Pot Shepherd’s Pie recipe, ready in less than 30 minutes, is the best way to make this classic beef dinner! Made using mashed potatoes, ground beef, and mixed vegetables, this easy cottage pie recipe is perfect for a busy weeknight meal.

Jump to:

• What is Shepherd’s Pie?
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🥩 Ingredients
• 🔪 How to Make a Shepherd’s Pie
• 🔥 How to Reheat Shepherd’s Pie
• ❄ Can you freeze Shepherd’s Pie?
• 📖 Instant Pot Beef Recipes
• 📋 Recipe

What is Shepherd’s Pie?

Shepherd’s Pie is a ground meat pie recipe using mashed potatoes as the crust. Traditionally, it’s filled with onions and other vegetables, like peas, carrots, and corn.

This classic beef pie recipe is also known as cottage pie, or hachis Parmentier if made the French way.

🍽 Equipment

To make Instant Pot Shepherd’s Pie from scratch, you will need:

• Pressure cooker
• Bowl
• Casserole dish
• Potato peeler and/or knife
• Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
• Oven broiler

Everything from the ground beef filling to the mashed potatoes cooks quickly in the Instant Pot.

Then, you transfer the ingredients to a casserole dish and place them under the broiler in your oven to brown the top and cheese.

Shepherd’s Pie is easier to make than ever using this Instant Pot method! It’s even more simple to put together if you happen to have leftover mashed potatoes you want to use up.

🥩 Ingredients

When it comes to making shepherd’s pie from scratch, you can vary the ingredients depending on what you like. We use 80/20 ground beef for the meat pie filling and medium-size russet potatoes for the mashed potatoes.

For the vegetables, aside from onion (which is a must for shepherd’s pie!), we use a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. Pick a bag with your favorite vegetables to use!

We provide the full recipe and instructions for making mashed potatoes to use with cottage pie in this post, but you can also use this Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes recipe or any leftover mashed potatoes you may have.

🔪 How to Make a Shepherd’s Pie

Instant Pot Ground Beef

1. Heat your Instant Pot on saute mode. Once hot, add vegetable oil, followed by onion and garlic. Saute for a minute or two, then add ground beef. Cook until the beef is browned, and the onions are translucent.
   
2. Remove and drain the beef, then return it back to the Instant Pot. Add in frozen mixed vegetables, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Mix well and saute until the vegetables thaw and cook through.
   
3. While the vegetables are cooking, add melted butter, flour, and beef broth to a bowl. Mix well.
   
4. Pour the mixture over the beef and veggies and stir to mix through. When it begins to thicken, transfer the contents of your pressure cooker to a casserole dish.
   

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

1. Clean the inside of your Instant Pot and add water to it, along with peeled and cut russet potatoes. Salt the water and potatoes and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. Carefully quick release the pressure when 8 minutes is up.
   
2. Drain the water from the pot, then place the potatoes back inside. Using a hand mixer, mash the potatoes until smooth, then add butter and milk. Beat through before adding salt and pepper.
   

Finishing the Shepherd’s Pie

1. Transfer your mashed potatoes to the casserole dish, spreading over top of the beef and vegetable mixture.
   
2. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese, then place under your oven broiler for 5 minutes, or until golden brown.

From the ground beef filling to the Instant Pot mashed potatoes, this shepherd’s pie takes less than 30 minutes to make and tastes incredible. It’s perfect for a busy weeknight or even special occasions!

For full ingredient measurements plus tips, keep scrolling to the recipe card below!

🔥 How to Reheat Shepherd’s Pie

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
2. Cover the leftovers in an oven-safe dish with aluminum foil.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until heated through.

Alternatively, you can heat up portions in the microwave, stirring as needed. We like to add a little bit of butter when reheating in the microwave.

❄ Can you freeze Shepherd’s Pie?

You can easily freeze Instant Pot shepherd’s pie! Follow these steps to freeze and store it after cooking:

1. Cool for about 30 minutes at room temperature, then transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely.
2. Wrap the dish tightly with foil or plastic wrap (or both!). Label with the freezing date, then store in the freezer for up to 2-3 months.

When ready to reheat, bake it out of the freezer under foil at 350ºF for about 1 hour, or until cooked through completely.

You can also thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before baking, then heat for 30-45 minutes.

📖 Instant Pot Beef Recipes

Cottage pie makes an amazing Instant Pot recipe! We love Instant Pot beef recipes, and have a whole collection to choose from. Try some of our favorites: