Rich, flavourful, saucy lentils topped with fluffy, creamy mashed potatoes & baked until deliciously golden brown & crispy. The ultimate vegan lentil shepherds pie!
Cozy, soup, stew and pie season is nearly over. As the sunshine appears more and more regularly, and summer approaches, I will be mostly changing comforting meals like this Lentil Shepherds Pie up for lighter, fresher offerings like my Tomato Chickpea Salad with Cilantro & Lime and my Loaded Taco Fries.
I have been taking advantage of the slight nip in the air and eating my fill of hearty, comfort food before it’s too late. Once summer arrives it becomes unbearable to have the oven on for too long, so dishes like this will take a backseat here on the blog. I won’t promise they will disappear totally though as I am one of those people who can quite happily eat meals like this all year round!
THIS LENTIL SHEPHERDS PIE IS ABSOLUTELY PROTEIN PACKED!
I like to serve this Lentil Shepherds Pie with lots of steamed vegetables. I love cruciferous type vegetables with it the best. We usually end up with a selection of kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. The combination of these veggies and the Shepherd’s Pie is just delicious and so nutritious. It is a meal that is absolutely brimming with vitamins, minerals and protein.
COMFORTING, DELICIOUS & FULL OF FLAVOUR
This Lentil Shepherds Pie is something that I cook very regularly. It is easy, comforting, delicious and full of flavour.
I am the only vegan in the house but when I serve this to my family it always goes down incredibly well. What is there not to love about tender, saucy, flavourful lentils topped with light and fluffy mashed potato?
FLUFFY MASH ♡
Oh how I adore mashed potato. I could eat it by the bowlful and it is especially good with a glug of non-dairy milk and a large knob of my Easy Vegan Butter stirred through it.
BE SURE TO TRY MY EASY VEGAN BUTTER
My Easy Vegan Butter recipe has taken on a life of it’s own over the past week or so. It has been so incredibly popular. Your feedback has been amazing and I have been inundated with pictures of hot buttery toast! If you haven’t tried it yet you can see how easy it is to make in this video:
Now I want to see your pictures of creamy mashed potatoes atop saucy lentils! You can share them via Instagram. Use the #avirtualvegan so I don’t miss them.
Oh and if you somehow end up with leftovers (we haven’t as yet!), you can keep them in the fridge for a few days. They reheat very well.
Enjoy your Shepherds Pie!
Lentil Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion , chopped finely
- 3 cloves garlic , chopped finely
- 1 large carrot , diced
- 2½ teaspoons dried herbs (thyme, rosemary or marjoram all work well, or a combination of them. Mixed Herbs or Italian Mixed Herbs are also fine)
- 190g | 2½ cups cooked lentils , (green or brown)
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot , or cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons tamari (you can sub this for soy sauce, coconut aminos or liquid aminos )
- 240mls | 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes or passata (if you only have whole or diced tomatoes just blend them up until smooth first)
- 240mls | 1 cup mushroom broth , or vegetable broth
- Salt & pepper to taste ( I used 1 teaspoon of pepper and 1.5 teaspoons of salt)
- 1000g | 6 cups diced raw potato , I love Yukon Gold potatoes
- 80mls | 1/3 cup non-dairy milk , unsweetened
- 1 knob vegan butter ,(optional) add as much or little as you like. I usually add a couple of tablespoons.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° fahrenheit
- Put the diced potatoes in a large pan and cover with hot water from the kettle.
- Add a generous pinch of salt, cover and bring to the boil.
- Simmer for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are very tender (check with a fork or knife).
- Drain then return to the pan, add the milk and butter (optional) and mash very well. Set aside.
- While the potatoes are cooking warm another pan over a medium heat.
- Saute the onions, garlic and carrot until the onions are starting to go golden brown. You can use oil if you like but I just used a drop of water instead.
- Add the dried herbs, lentils and arrowroot or cornstarch.
- Stir well to distribute the arrowroot through the lentil mixture.
- Add the Tamari and tomatoes and stir very well.
- Add the stock and stir well again.
- As soon as hot and starting to bubble remove from the heat.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour the lentil mixture into an ovenproof dish that isn't too deep.
- Top with the mashed potato.
- Spread it around evenly then rough up the top with a fork.
- Place on a baking sheet in case of any leaks and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
- If you want an extra crispy topping you can then put it under the broiler for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
Estimated nutrition per serving:
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Long time vegan, creator of A Virtual Vegan & author of the book 
jen says
Do you think chickpea flour would work in place of the arrowroot or cornstarch?
A Virtual Vegan says
I’ve never used chickpea flour as a thickener. I’m not sure it would work as well. It’s also got a pretty distinctive flavour. If you don’t have either of those, regular all purpose flour will do the trick.
Alexandra says
I made this last night and it was really tasty – added a leek and peas which worked well. Will be making again :)
Emily says
This recipe looks super tasty! I was just wondering if you can freeze it and if so how would you? My two are both under 4 and meal prep is essential in our house!
A Virtual Vegan says
I have never tried freezing it but I’m sure it would be fine. I have frozen non-vegan shepherd’s pie in my pre-vegan days. I would make it as instructed but not bake it. Wait for everything to be completely cool, then wrap really well in foil unless you have a fancy freezable baking dish with a lid. You could then defrost it the night before you want it and bake as per my instructions. I would think you could even bake it from frozen. It would just take longer. Probably about double the time. Hope that helps!
Jen says
I love your shepherds pie so much that I am making it tomorrow (Thursday) in LA and then driving it to Vegas for a big family dinner Friday night. What do you think the best way to do that would be? Do everything except for the oven part and then put it in the fridge / cooler until ready to heat before Friday’s dinner or do I need to freeze it? Please let me know as soon as you can. Thank you!!
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Jen. Wow, what a compliment! Thank you. It will be fine if you make it all as directed, then refrigerate it BEFORE baking it. Transport in a cooler then bake in their oven when you get there. As it will be going in the oven cold it will take probably 10 minutes more to cook through. Have fun!
Julie Rose says
Yummy recipe! So nice to have a vegan shepherd’s pie :) Question about cooking the lentils, though – My lentils ended up quite crunchy! They were crunchy when I put them in the dish – should I have waited for them to soften in the pan or are they supposed to soften while baking?
A Virtual Vegan says
As per the ingredients lists you should have started with already cooked lentils. Did you accidentally use dried ones? So glad you enjoyed it despite the slightly crunchy lentils though!