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Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

Here’s the very best vegan shepherd’s pie! The hearty veggie and lentil filling contrasts fluffy potatoes in this stunning plant based dinner recipe.

Wow is all we can say about this one. This vegan shepherd’s pie is the dinner recipe version of wearing a fuzzy sweater and drinking hot mulled cider. It’s cozy comfort food to the max! Imagine: a creamy gravy filled with tender vegetables, lentils and scented with fennel and sage. Then a fluffy layer of Yukon gold potatoes, topped with fresh rosemary. It’s layered together in a baking dish and then baked until golden. This one’s a whole food plant based (WFPB) stunner: perfect for impressing guests…or just yourself.

Why it’s the best vegan shepherd’s pie

Know one thing: vegan shepherd’s pie is not quick and easy! Though we do have hundreds of fast and easy dinner recipes. But this one is cozy, slow-cooked comfort food. You’ll need 1 hour to make this recipe. And we think you’ll agree with us: this is 1 hour very well spent. Pull this one out when you’re looking to impress…it’s perfect for a Sunday dinner. But if you’re well organized, you can serve it on a weeknight, too! Here’s why we think this recipe stands out:

The filling is thick, meaty and savory. It’s hard to make vegan recipes taste as satisfying as meaty dishes. Here, fennel seed tricks your brain into thinking there’s meat (it’s used in sausage). The gravy is ultra thick, and the tender French cut-onions are vaguely reminiscent of a meaty texture.
It’s full of plant-based protein. This shepherd’s pie is filled with plant-based protein: lentils and peas help it to have sticking power.
It can be made in about 1 hour. Most recipes don’t brag about this. But with a shepherd’s pie, it can take multiple hours to make. But we’ve tweaked this one to be as easy as possible within the genre (even faster than our vegetarian shepherd’s pie).

Make sure to use Yukon gold potatoes!

Don’t even think about using Russet potatoes here! Some people claim the best shepherd’s pie is made with Russet potatoes. But we beg to differ! Maybe you can pull it off if you load them with dairy. But for a vegan shepherd’s pie: use Yukon gold potatoes. They have a naturally buttery flavor and creamy texture that can withstand the lack of dairy. Also, isn’t that bright yellow color beautiful?

Time saver: canned lentils vs cooked

Here’s a little time saver: you can use canned lentils instead of cooked for this vegan shepherd’s pie recipe! This speeds up the recipe so you don’t have to get out yet another pot. Here are a few notes:

Look for canned lentils near the canned beans in the grocery store. Use any type of canned lentils you can find. Make sure to drain before adding them to the filling.
Or, cook your own lentils! If you can’t find canned lentils, cook your own lentils and add 1 1/2 cups of the cooked lentils to the filling. Use our Brown/Green Lentils or Black Lentils recipes. You can cook them in water and omit the seasoning listed in the recipe. Do cook with the kosher salt, but don’t add extra salt after cooking since the filling will be seasoned. If you can, do this step in advance and refrigerate until making the filling.

Vegan mashed potatoes — Make the mashed potatoes in advance as a time saver.

Some meal prep tips: make it even faster!

The canned lentils are a little trick to make this vegan shepherd’s pie quicker to prepare. Here are a few more things you can do to make your life easier the day of baking:

Make the mashed potatoes in advance. This will actually work to your advantage since it also helps the texture set. Refrigerate the Vegan Mashed Potatoes until serving, then reheat them to make it easier to spread onto the filling.
Make the filling in advance (if you’re really motivated!). If you’re really into meal prep, you can make the filling in advance too! Then refrigerate until serving. You can reheat it before baking to keep the same bake time in the recipe (20 minutes). You could also bake it from cold, and you’d need a few more minutes of baking time. Let us know if you try that out!

Step up vegan shepherd’s pie: add truffle oil!

Serving this vegan shepherd’s pie at a dinner party? If you’d like to impress, here’s a trick: stir a little truffle oil into the potatoes layer! Truffles are a luxury flavor of mushroom that’s used in Italian cooking. The exotic flavor is often paired with potatoes, like in these Truffle Fries! Stirring in a little truffle oil to taste would add a layer of magic to this dish. Here’s more about truffle oil: how to use & where to buy it.

More vegan comfort food recipes

Want to continue to impress with plant based dinners? These vegan comfort food recipes are fan favorites and will knock your socks off (promise):

Best Vegan Pot Pie This vegan pot pie is next level: hearty vegetables, a gooey sauce, and a flaky, sage crust. Better yet, it’s easy enough to make on a weeknight!
Favorite Vegan Lasagna This vegan lasagna will become your new favorite: guaranteed. Full of flavor, it’s whole food plant based (dairy free) and a winner with everyone!
Best Vegan Pizza This best vegan pizza recipe is a total crowd pleaser! The veggie pizza toppings are so full of flavor no one notices it’s cheeseless.

This vegan shepherd’s pie recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.

Vegan Shepherd’s Pie (Best Ever!)

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Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 6

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Description

Here’s the very best vegan shepherd’s pie! The hearty veggie and lentil filling contrasts fluffy potatoes in this stunning plant based dinner recipe.

Ingredients

1 recipe Vegan Mashed Potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
8 ounces portabella mushrooms (2 large mushroom caps)
1 medium yellow onion
2 large carrots
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried sage
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup frozen peas
1 15-ounce can lentils, drained*
1 tablespoon soy sauce (or liquid aminos)
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary, for the garnish

Instructions

Start the mashed potatoes: Start the Vegan Mashed Potatoes recipe**. (You can also make these in advance; just reheat before spreading onto the filling to bake.)
Prep the vegetables: Meanwhile, dice mushrooms into bite-sized chunks. Peel and slice the carrots into thin half-circles. Cut the onion into thin slivers length-wise (also called French cut; see the instructions in 1:40 of the linked video).
Make the filling: In large pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil on medium high heat. Cook the mushrooms for 5 minutes until golden and tender. Reduce the heat to medium and add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the sliced onion and carrots. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and cook 5 to 7 minutes until the onions are tender and just browning.
Reduce the heat to medium low. Stir in the flour, fennel seeds, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and dried sage and cook for 1 minute. Add the vegetable broth, peas, lentils (drained if canned), soy sauce and remaining 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook for about 5 minutes until the broth is very thick and the vegetables are heated through.
Finish the mashed potatoes: When the potatoes are done cooking, mash them according to the instructions in that recipe.
Bake: Pour the filling into a 2-quart small baking dish. Spread the mashed potatoes in a layer on top. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are lightly browned. If desired, broil for 1 to 2 minutes to brown the top. Garnish with chopped rosemary and serve warm.

Notes

*If you can’t find canned lentils, cook your own lentils and add 1 1/2 cups of the cooked lentils to the filling. Use our Brown/Green Lentils or Black Lentils recipes: you can cook them in water and omit the seasoning. Do cook with the kosher salt, but don’t add extra after cooking.

**Want to impress? Stir in a little truffle oil to the mashed potatoes to taste. Here’s our favorite All Natural White Truffle Oil.

Category: Main Dish
Method: Baked
Cuisine: Vegan

Keywords: Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

A Couple Cooks - Healthy, Whole Food, & Vegetarian Recipes

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Homemade Fig Syrup

This homemade fig syrup is made from dried mission figs and turbinado sugar, resulting in a uniquely sweet and fruity syrup that’ll have your tastebuds clamoring for more!

Whether drizzled over buttermilk pancakes or served as part of the perfect party cheese platter, fig syrup is a unique and flavorful alternative to honey that has a multitude of delicious uses.

Jar of Homemade Fig Syrup made with dried mission figs

Drizzle it, just a little bit (or a lotta bit – no judgement here!)

I love making homemade fruit syrups, from blueberry to elderberry to peach; they’re a great way to add flavor and sweetness to drinks and cocktails, but they can really be used for so much more. This fig syrup is no exception, in fact I’d argue it’s even more versatile than my previous syrup recipes: the possibilities for it are endless!

I’ve always used fresh fruit when making fruit-flavored sugar syrups. However, in this case I opted to use dried figs: I find the flavors are so much more robust since the sugars in the fruit have already been concentrated during the drying process. Not to mention fresh figs are fickle, only in season for a short time and, when you do manage to get ahold of them, they too easily bruise and ooze and spoil in what seems like mere minutes; dried figs are much more practical to have in your pantry.

Orchard Choice California Dried Mission Figlets give this syrup a complex molasses-like flavor and stunning garnet hue. Using raw turbinado sugar instead of plain white sugar enhances the caramel undertones, resulting in a flavorful, full-bodied syrup that’s incredibly versatile.

Homemade Fig Syrup made with Orchard Choice Mission Figlets.

The beauty of dried figs is their flavor is already so intensely concentrated. By simmering chopped dried figs in a sugar syrup, they infuse the syrup with a much more intense, almost balsamic-like flavor than you’d get doing the same thing with fresh fruit.

I opted to use dried mission figs (or, more specifically, Figlets which are smaller than standard sized figs). Mission figs are a brown fig variety that has a smoother and mellower flavor than their green counterparts. You could certainly use Golden Figs here instead (like Sunmaid Dried California Golden Figs), just know your syrup will be lighter in color with a slightly brighter, fruitier flavor.

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Salmon with Capers

This salmon with capers is oven baked in foil until it’s perfectly tender, then topped with a delicious garlic butter sauce. An easy healthy dinner recipe!

Looking for an easy healthy dinner recipe? Here at A Couple Cooks, we eat mostly plant based foods. But every now and then, we’ll spring for some seafood: and this salmon with capers is where it’s at. The salmon is baked with lemon and herbs until it’s perfectly moist. Then it’s topped with a silky butter sauce made with garlic and capers. Just a small drizzle packs a huge punch — and the modest quantity keeps it healthy. Here’s how to make this tasty salmon recipe, which comes together in 30 minutes.

What’s in this salmon with capers recipe?

This salmon with capers is easy to make and results in one perfectly moist piece of fish. This recipe uses a few tricks that will stick with you, like how to bake salmon to perfection, and the beautiful briny tang that capers bring to a recipe. Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe:

Salmon fillets: you can use any type of salmon here; we like using pre-cut fillets that are about 6 ounces each
Lemon to bring a pop of flavor
Olive oil, salt and pepper for seasoning
Fresh thyme or oregano are optional, but add nice flavor to baked salmon
Butter, garlic & capers to make the butter sauce

Capers bring big flavor!

Capers are the magic behind this salmon with capers recipe. What are they exactly? Capers are a berry of the caper bush that’s native to the Mediterranean. They’re round and dark green gray, about the size of a peppercorn. You’ll find them in Italian and Mediterranean recipes. Here, we added them to a garlic butter to add a big pop of briny, salty flavor to the fish.

Capers taste tangy, briny and salty, and add big flavor to any dish. They’re served pickled, so you’ll find them in jars near the olives at the grocery story. If you buy a jar for this recipe, also try them in our Roasted Eggplant Pasta.

How to bake salmon perfectly? Brine it first.

What’s a great tip for baking salmon? Brine it first. Alex and I had seen this trick for a while, but we weren’t sure it was necessary. However: we found placing the salmon in water and salt for 15 minutes before baking it does make it perfectly moist when baked. Guess what? This doesn’t even add any extra time to the recipe! You can do it while your oven preheats.

Even better, placing the salmon in a brine solution helps to cut down on the white stuff. Wait, what? Keep reading.

What’s that white stuff on salmon when cooked?

Have you ever noticed that when you cook salmon, gooey white stuff appears on the top of the fish? Well don’t worry: it happens to everyone! And it’s perfectly normal. The white stuff is simply coagulated protein that seeps to the surface while baking. It even has a name: albumin. The amount of albumin varies greatly depending on the fish, so it’s not something you can particularly control. (Read more here.)

The “white stuff” is absolutely safe to eat: but it does look a little wacky sitting there atop your beautiful fillet. Here are a few ways to reduce the albumin when you cook salmon, which we implemented into this salmon with capers recipe:

Cook it at a lower temperature to cook it more gently
Brine the salmon in a salt and water solution before baking

Baking salmon in foil: some tips

Here are a couple more tips about baking salmon! In this salmon with capers recipe, we decided to bake the salmon in foil to seal in that moisture. Here are a few notes on getting the perfect salmon:

Brine the salmon while the oven preheats (see above).
Add lemon wheels. Keep the lemon to the side of the salmon, otherwise the top of the fish gets a gooey texture.
Herbs are optional but tasty. If you have access to fresh thyme or oregano, adding a few sprigs looks beautiful and adds a nice flavor.

Buying sustainable seafood

Are you looking at buying sustainable salmon? (If so, kudos!) Here are a few pointers when you’re at the grocery store:

Look for wild-caught fish if possible. If you live in the US, look for US caught. 90% of the seafood we eat in the US is imported. Imported seafood runs the risk of being overfished, caught under unfair labor practices, or farmed in environmentally harmful ways.
How your fish is caught matters. Look for hook and line as one example of a sustainable gear type. Bottom trawling is considered the most destructive and least sustainable method.

Ways to serve salmon with capers

How to make this salmon with capers recipe into a meal? We’re glad you asked. There are so many sides to go with salmon. And this recipe is great because it can make a 30-minute weeknight meal or a fancier meal for Valentine’s Day or date night. Here are a few we recommend:

Best Steamed Broccoli or Simple Sauteed Broccoli An easy, healthy side dish that turns out bright green and crisp tender every time!
Fennel Orange Salad A refreshing and easy side dish, it pairs juicy orange and the subtle licorice essence of fennel with a citrus vinaigrette.
Easy Baked Asparagus A classic pairing with salmon, this beautiful asparagus is spritzed with lemon and baked with Parmesan cheese.
Perfect Wild Rice If you have the time, this wild rice makes for a showy dinner party side dish.

This salmon with capers recipe is…

Gluten-free and pescatarian.