Mini Shepherd's Pie-So Good!

Submitted by Sharon123

"A great recipe from Aaron McCargo on Big Daddys' House. On Food Network, this recipe has 52 outstanding reviews! You can sub turkey or even veggie crumbles for the ground beef! Kids can help make this dish and have fun doing it! This can also be made in a 9x13" pan. This is good frozen and microwaved. Great to take in your lunch bag, to a picnic, or to a tailgate party! Enjoy! A little history: The key to dating Shepherd's pie is the introduction (and acceptance) of potatoes in England. Potatoes are a new world food. They were first introduced to Europe in 1520 by the Spanish. Potatoes did not appeal to the British palate until the 18th Century. (Foods America Gave the World, A. Hyatt Verrill, page 28). Shepherd's Pie, a dish of minced meat (usually lamb, when made with beef it is called "Cottage Pie") topped with mashed potatoes was probably invented sometime in the 18th Century by frugal peasant housewives looking for creative ways to serve leftover meat to their families. It is generally agreed that it originated in the north of England and Scotland where there are large numbers of sheep--hence the name. The actual phrase "Shepherd's Pie" dates back to the 1870s, when mincing machines made the shredding of meat easy and popular.""

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Yields: 12 mini pies

ingredients

• cooking spray
• 1 (12 ounce) can refrigerated biscuits (The flakey are good or Grands)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lb ground beef (chuck or ground turkey or chicken or veggie crumbles)
• 1⁄2 onion, minced
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1⁄2 - 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup beef stock (or chicken or turkey or vegetable)
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaf
• 1 1⁄2 cups leftover mashed potatoes (or use instant or storebought in a pinch)
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons granulated onion powder
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Spray a 12-count muffin pan with cooking spray. Mold biscuits to the shape of each muffin cup. Par-bake biscuits for 6 to 8 minutes until light golden. Remove from oven and set aside. You will probably need to smash them down with the back of a spoon.
3. Heat the 2 tbls. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground beef and brown. Stir in the onions, salt, pepper and garlic and allow to cook together for a couple of minutes.
4. Mix flour into the meat mixture and stir until a paste consistency is reached. Add beef stock to pan and stir in vegetables and herbs, the last few minutes, until combined.
5. Reheat mashed potatoes in a microwave for 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in granulated garlic and onion powder.
6. Spoon equal amounts (approximately 2 tablespoons) of warm potatoes on the bottoms of each par-baked biscuit. Then top with equal amounts of beef mixture (approximately 2 tablespoons). Finally top with equal amounts of Cheddar cheese.
7. Return to oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is melted and browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before popping individual pies out with a knife. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Donna L.]

I don't know why everyone continues to call shepherd's pie that when it is made with anything but lamb shepherd's pie is made with ground lamb hence the word Shepherd if it doesn't have ground lamb then it's cottage pie

 

[wekebu]

Hubby loved them. I used 8 ramekins and bought the Grand biscuits. Moulded the dough up the sides making sure there were no holes in the bottom dough.

 

[StacyMD187373]

These made a pretty good little dinner. I had filling leftover, but my muffin tins are ancient, so the size may be a little different. (Also, probably overdid it with the veggies--just pulled some from each of the bags of veggies in the freezer.) I used leftover mashed potatoes which were already pretty seasoned with garlic and a little oversalted to begin with, so didn't add the garlic or onion powder to the potatoes. Have half in the freezer to take for lunches. The other leftovers reheated pretty well. Thanks for posting! Made for Zaar Cookbook tag. FYI: These do freeze pretty well; easy to take out for lunches to be reheated.

 

[WiGal]

Very good, beautiful colors, and it freezes well-wow! Am taking it in our RV this weekend so it will be easy peasy at Union Bay. I think there is too much garlic powder in the potato aspect. I used only 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1 teaspoon of onion powder, next time I would probably eliminate it and use 1 teaspoon of the onion powder still. But garlic is a matter of personal preference as we all know. Fairly easy to do, too. I bought the Pillsbury Grands which only had 8 biscuits in the container so I snipped some off those 8 to get the other 4 biscuits and squished it together. When I put them in the tin I spread them out and when they came out after the prebaking aspect I smashed them down again. For the second baking, 5 minutes was enough. I also used much less cheese as I was worried about it melting off. Thank you Sharon123 for a keeper. Made for Theirs, Yours, & Mine tag game.

 

[SarasotaCook]

Now I HATE for the most part shepherds pie, however this looked very interesting and I love a unique approach. These were really really good and I will definitely make them again. A nice twist on a classic, but so much better.