This super hearty vegan lentil shepherd’s pie is packed with hearty lentils, a meatless ground and veggies. It’s baked up bubbling hot in a cast-iron skillet for one comforting and delicious meal!
A little while back I shared a traditional shepherd’s pie with lamb and a lovely horseradish mash.
Today I’m mixing things up a bit with this vegan lentil shepherd’s pie. If you’re a “meat-n-potatoes” kinda person, honestly, you’re not gonna miss the meat at all!
This meatless shepherd’s pie is super hearty and always hits the spot on a cold day. I don’t know about you, but I crave food like this, especially this time of year.
Ingredients Needed
For the “meaty” component of this vegan shepherd’s pie I used a combination of lentils and meatless crumbles (soy based crumble). You can typically purchase in your grocery store where you would find other veggie products, like meatless burgers or tofu.
Lentils are super convenient to have in your pantry, are quite versatile, filling and pretty inexpensive.
The lentils and ground round really add a substantial base to this veggie shepherd’s pie.
Other ingredients are:
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Carrot
- Peas
- Corn
- Sweet Potato
- Seasonings
- Mushroom or vegetable broth
- Tomato Paste
- Flour (to thicken)
- Almond milk and nutritional yeast (for the sweet potatoes)
How To Make Vegan Shepherd’s Pie
You make a vegan shepherd’s pie much in the same way you would a classic shepherd’s pie, just instead of using an animal protein, you use a vegan alternative. Full details are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics:
- In a pan, cook onion in some olive oil. Then, add garlic and cook for a minute.
- Add soy-based crumble, carrots, thyme, broth, chili, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until carrots start to get a little tender.
- Add lentils, peas and corn.
- Stir in flour.
- Pour over remaining broth.
- Cook everything for a little bit.
- Add sweet potato mash over top.
- Spread the mash out so that it’s not perfectly smooth.
- Bake.
Tip: I love to have some textural interest to the sweet potato mash, so I don’t smooth them out. Run a spoon over top so there’s peaks and valleys in the mash.
Tips for Making This Recipe
- Don’t chop the carrots too thick because you want them to cook tender. You want them about ¼ of an inch thick.
- For the mash, salt, pepper, nutmeg and almond milk was used. If you want your potatoes a little richer, feel free to add a dab or two of vegan butter.
- Mushroom broth was used. This really adds a rich punch of savoury flavour. All you do is soak about a cup of mushrooms in some water for about 15 minutes or so. Strain the mushrooms and use. Alternatively, you could use store-bought broth.
- Place a sheet pan under the cast-iron pot when you bake this vegan shepherd’s pie. It will catch any mess that may bubble over. Ain’t nobody got time for cleaning a messy stove, am I right?
Recipe Variations
- Other veggies could be substituted or added to the mix, like celery or mushrooms.
- Don’t have sweet potato or prefer not to use? Try regular potato.
More Easy Comfort Food Recipes
If you try this veggie shepherd’s pie recipe, be sure to leave a comment below!
Vegan Lentil Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Mashed Sweet Potato Topping
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- ¼ cup almond milk
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Shepherd's Pie Filling
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 12 ounces soy-based crumble (vegan and gluten free), about ¾ of a pound or 340 grams
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme (leaves only), or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups low sodium mushroom or vegetable broth, divided
- 1 (19-ounce) can lentils, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels, or drained canned corn kernels
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
Mashed Sweet Potato Topping
- Cook sweet potato in a pot of boiling salted water on the stovetop for about 10 to 12 minutes or until tender (there should be an inch or two of water above the sweet potato, basically ensuring that it is fully submerged and covered by the water). Drain.
- In a bowl, mash sweet potatoes with almond milk, nutritional yeast, salt, black pepper and nutmeg. Set aside.
Shepherd's Pie Filling
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit for use shortly.
- Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat.
- Add onion and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until softened.
- Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add soy-based crumble, carrots, thyme, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper, tomato paste and 1 cup of mushroom broth (or vegetable broth). Stir, bring to simmer and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until most of the broth is absorbed.
- Stir in lentils, peas and corn. Gently sprinkle flour over top and stir in. Pour over remaining 1 cup of mushroom broth (or vegetable broth) and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes.
Assemble and Bake the Shepherd's Pie
- Spread mashed sweet potatoes over lentil mixture. I like to not have perfectly smooth so there is a little texture in the potatoes.
- Carefully place skillet onto a sheet pan (just in case there is bubbling over) and bake for 45 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
Edie Gardner
IF NO CAST IRON SKILLET CAN YOU USE REGULAR BAKING DISH
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Hi there – I usually bake this one in a skillet, but you can certainly use a greased baking dish when you place the shepherd’s pie in the oven. Enjoy 🙂
David @ Spiced
I am most definitely a meat and potatoes kinda guy…but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a good vegetarian (or in this case, vegan) dish. I love veggies! I also love that you topped this shepherd’s pie with mashed sweet potatoes. This sounds delicious! We’re in the process of moving this week. All the boxes are packed, and now we’re just making trip after trip (after trip)…let’s just say a nice dish of this shepherd’s pie would be quite welcome tonight! 🙂 Looks delicious, Dawn!