Extra Veg Vegan Shepherd's Pie

This vegan shepherds pie is a comforting winter pie made with extra veg. An easy recipe the whole family will love made with simple ingredients. Scroll down for a free printable recipe.

Shepherd's Pie

My family love shepherd's pie, well veggie shepherds pie of course. It's the ultimate winter comfort dish.

Savoury mince full of soft onion, carrot and mushrooms in a rich gravy topped with creamy mash that's baked until the mash is golden with crispy bits. We all love the crispy bits don't we?

I recently shared my original recipe for veggie shepherd's pie from 11 years ago on the Tinned Tomatoes Facebook page and everyone was talking about how good shepherd's pie is. 

It got me right in the mood for some, so I headed to the kitchen and made a pie much to my husband's delight.

I decided to use up some of the veg in my salad drawer to make it even more delicious and healthy. Shepherd's pie or cottage pie as it is sometimes known usually contains onions, carrots and mushrooms, but I included celery and red pepper, which worked really well and was very tasty.

Family recipes

As you can see from this old photo, my photography has improved since I started my blog.

I took this photo in bad artificial light which is a big no-no in food photography unless you have a proper studio set up with reflectors, light diffusers and all the rest of the gubbins you need.

Of course I don't have all that. Best to stick to daylight!

The recipe has been tweaked over the years too.

It's still delicious and still a family favourite. In fact it's my husband's favourite meal. He grins like a loon if I say I'm going to make it.

For more Scottish recipes have a look at my recipe index of Scottish Recipes for Vegans and Vegetarians

Vegan versions of meat recipes

When I shared my original recipe on my Facebook page, a reader (well I say a reader but I'm inclined to believe he just stumbled upon the post) messaged me to say that this was not shepherd's pie as shepherd's pie is made with lamb and he didn't understand why vegetarians and vegans name their dishes the name of a meat dish, as they aren't the same dish at all.

 He was quite indignant about it.

It was a fair question and I think I can answer it by saying that many vegetarians and vegans were meat-eaters as children but went on to change their lifestyle and diet as they got older and became vegetarian or vegan.

They may have changed their lifestyle and diet choices, but it's understandable they still have good memories of comforting childhood dishes and an urge to replicate them for a vegetarian or vegan diet.

I see no problem remaking a dish with substitute ingredients and adding the term vegetarian or vegan in front of the original recipe name.

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A talking point

Let me know what you think? It's an interesting discussion to have. 

Remember you can always leave me a comment in the comment box below by signing in (if you have a google account or blog) or using the anonymous option if you don't like to sign in to leave comments. 

Adding your name is always nice so I know who I'm talking to, even if it's just a first name. 

I always replay to comments. I hope some of you who read this blog and never comment might add their thoughts or stories this time.

Readers recipes

Funnily enough a lot of my readers never chat here on my blog but they do on Facebook. 

One of the readers I've gotten friendly with on Facebook is called Julia. She was so tempted by my shepherd's pie she made made it after reading my post. 

Well actually she discovered she was making my cottage pie which is similar with a sliced potato topping and doesn't it look fabulous? Oh and she did give me permission to share her photos. GDPR and all that! 

Another of the readers/Facebook friend Donna said "I made a version of this years ago, and hubby didn’t know the difference. 

To this day, he’s in the dark. He’s completely ok with eating vegetarian dishes, as long as they are tasty. I’ve yet to find a cheese recipe he likes, and I have to agree... I really don’t like vegan cheeses. I’d rather do without."

Vegan savoury mince

The base of the shepherd's pie is basically a savoury mince in gravy. I like to use frozen meat-free mince, but you can also use dried soya mince, which is available from most health food shops. 

TVP

If you use the dried soya mince, which is made from TVP (textured soya protein) and often used to bulk out meat dishes cheaply (fun fact), then make sure you have some extra stock, as it will probably need it. It definitely soaks up more liquid as it cooks than the frozen mince.

This savoury mince would be good served plain with steamed potatoes, vegetables and some buttered crusty bread to soak up the gravy. 

Or just serve it with the crusty bread for a simple meal.  

You could also use it use it as the filling for a veggie lasagne.

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dinner

British, vegan

Yield: 4-6Author: Jacqueline Meldrum

Extra Veg Vegan Shepherd's Pie

A comforting vegan version of shepherd's pie with extra vegetables. This is a traditional British dish of savoury mince and vegetables in rich gravy, topped with creamy mashed potatoes, then baked until crisp and golden.

prep time: 15 minscook time: 45 minstotal time: 60 mins

ingredients

• I tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 3 large carrots, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 250g mushrooms, peeled or cleaned and chopped
• 454g frozen meat-free mince
• 800ml/3 cups vegetable stock (3 stock cubes)
•  5 tbsp red wine (optional)
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 3-4 tbsp HP Brown Sauce (or BBQ sauce)
• 850g potatoes, steamed or boiled until soft
• 2 tbsp dairy-free spread
• A good grinding of salt and pepper

instructions

1. In a large pot saute the onion, garlic and celery in olive oil until soft.
2. Add the carrots and pepper and cook gently for a few minutes, then add the mushrooms and cook for another couple of minutes.
3. Add the meat-free mince, then pour in the wine and stock, black pepper and stir well.
4. Add the tomato puree and brown sauce to add flavour and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, adding a little more stock if you think it needs it.
5. While the savoury mince is cooking you can boil or steam and then mash the potatoes with some dairy-free spread, salt and pepper. Towards the end of cooking pre-heat the oven to 220c/200c fan/425f/gas mark 7.
6. Pour the savoury mince into a large ovenproof dish and bake for 20 minutes until the potato topping is golden and crispy at the edges.
7. Serve with steamed vegetables.
8. Enjoy!

NOTES:

Calories and nutrition is for 4 portions, which are BIG portions. If you divide it into 6 portions there are 320 calories.

This dish can be frozen once it is cool.

calories
480

fat (grams)
11

sat. fat (grams)
1.3

carbs (grams)
56

protein (grams)
35.2

sugar (grams)
10.6

Created using The Recipes Generator

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