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 a veggie ground round (veggie ‘meat’). 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 and herbs
- 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. So, to make this vegan shepherd’s pie you simply:
- In a pan, cook onion in some olive oil. Then, add garlic and cook for a minute.
- Add soy-based crumble (veggie ‘meat’), 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.
Full details are in the recipe card below.
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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.
More Recipe Tips
Don’t chop the carrots too thick ’cause 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?
Variations For This Recipe
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
Hope you love this veggie shepherd’s pie as much as we do!
If you try this sweet potato shepherd’s pie recipe, be sure to leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed!
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Vegan Lentil Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatos , peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion , peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 340 grams soy-based crumble (vegan and gluten free)
- 2 carrots , peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme (leaves only) (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt , divided
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper , divided
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 19 ounce can of lentils , rinsed and drained (about 2 cups)
- 2 cups low sodium mushroom or vegetable broth , divided
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup almond milk
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Meanwhile, 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 and set aside.
- Then, heat oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat.
- Add onion and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until softened.
- Add garlic, stir, and cook 1 minute.
- Add soy-based crumble (veggie ground round), carrots, thyme, crushed red pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, tomato paste and 1 cup of mushroom broth. Stir, bring to simmer and cook about 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 and stir to combine. Cook 2 minutes.
- In a bowl, mix reserved sweet potatoes with almond milk, remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, remaining ¼ teaspoon of black pepper and nutritional yeast. Spread 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 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Nutrition estimate (if provided) is based on 1 Serving.
Nutrition information (if provided) is provided as a courtesy and should be considered an estimate only. Ingredients can vary and Girl Heart Food makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are guidelines only.
