These mini Shepherd’s pot pies are a cute and insanely delicious spin on the classic Shepherd’s pie with all the goodness of a flaky, crumbly pie crust.
Lately, I’ve been playing with pre-made pie crusts. If you know me well enough, you know I can’t bake AT ALL. In fact, this whole blog name centers around this sad lack of talent of mine. But lately, I’ve been brave and tried out the wonder that is a pre-made pie crust. It’s cheap, it’s easy, it’s a cheat but it tastes so gooood.
And since I don’t bake, I have never had a reason to use baking-related stuff. The first time I used a muffin pan in my life was a month ago when I made hash brown egg nests. Yeah, it was a little bit of an unconventional way to use muffin pans but hey, it worked and it was yummy. And today I found a second reason to use them.
Behold the humble mini Shepherd’s pot pie. A couple of weeks ago I posted skillet shepherd’s pie, a no-fuss version to enjoying comfort food. As I said there, if there’s anything I know how to do, it’s how to make a good shepherd’s pie. So when I saw a recipe for mini shepherd’s pot pies from Pillsbury, armed with my recent lessons of playing with pie crusts, I went with it with a few alterations.
Do you know how shepherd’s pie tastes great by itself? Well, add a flaky crumbly pie crust to the tried and true classic and it’s just mmmmmm delicious. It’s something I can truthfully say is great and it’s so good, I have no problem singing from the mountain tops about how great it is. So let’s start making some mini pies!
MINI SHEPHERD’S POT PIES RECIPE TIPS
The beefy filling is heavily seasoned with beef bouillon cubes and Worcestershire sauce (does anyone else have extreme difficulty spelling that?) to add some heartiness to the flavor. I also doubled the beef quantity because…beef. We need more beef.
And I added a third layer of shredded cheddar cheese and did my usual fork sculpting with the mashed potatoes to make it look pretty. And finally, I broiled it a little to brown the potatoes some more.
Being the stranger to baking that I am, I didn’t have a 4″ dough cutter thingy though so I had to use a cup that measured about 3 1/2″. So my cups look a little on the tiny side. Which meant I had to pack less filling. The measurements for the beef mixture should work though for proper-sized cups. Let me know if they don’t. And if not, you’ll have some extra beef filling to munch on while waiting for the pie crusts and potatoes to brown. Not a bad deal.
For the potatoes, I felt it was a waste of time to make them from scratch for so little an amount, so I used a 4.8 oz. packet of Betty Crocker’s sour cream and chives instant mash. There were some leftover mashed potatoes but again, not a big deal. More leftovers to munch on. What I did with the leftover beef and potatoes was layer them Shepherd’s pie style into ramekins with cheese in between layers. Cute way of enjoying Shepherd’s pie, ramekin style!
If we want to be precise, I would say half a packet of that would be enough but it feels weird only cooking half. Besides, I like mashed potatoes, so the more the merrier. If you want to take the purist approach and make your mashed potatoes from scratch, it should take two russet potatoes to fill them up nicely. I also sprinkled some dried Parmesan on the mashed potatoes before baking and garnished them with chopped parsley. This step is purely optional though. If you notice little round specks of texture on the pie crusts, yeah, that’s the Parmesan.
And what do we do with the leftover pie crust? A reader, Kelly came up with the brilliant idea of brushing it with butter and sprinkling a little cinnamon sugar on it. Bake it at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes for tasty treats!
Do you see that crust just breaking apart and crumbling into flaky pie crusty goodness? It’s the perfect treat, appetizer, breakfast, or brunch. And just in time for the cold months!
Enjoy!
MORE BITE-SIZED APPETIZERS TO TRY
- Hash Brown Egg Nests
- Mashed Potato Puffs
- Loaded Mashed Potato Balls
- Cheddar Bay Biscuits
- Parmesan Garlic Knots
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Mini Shepherd’s Pot Pies
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 mins
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
These mini Shepherd’s pot pies are a cute and insanely delicious spin on the classic Shepherd’s pie with all the goodness of a flaky, crumbly pie crust.
Ingredients
- 2 9″ refrigerated pie crusts
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1/4 yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 beef bouillon cube
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste (optional)
- Pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 2 cups mashed potatoes (homemade or instant)
Instructions
- Prepare the mashed potatoes and set aside.
- Over medium-high heat, brown beef until fully cooked. Drain off any excess fat. Remove and set aside.
- Saute onions and garlic until translucent. Add mixed vegetables, crumble the beef bouillon cube and simmer until vegetables are soft.
- Add beef, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and season with pepper to taste. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, unroll the pie crusts and roll each crust to 12″ in diameter. Cut six 4″rounds from each crust.
- Press each round on the bottom and sides of a muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 7-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Divide beef mixture among all 12 cups.
- Top with some cheddar cheese and finish with mashed potatoes.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until crusts are golden brown and mashed potatoes have browned.
- Broil at 450 degrees F for 5 minutes if needed to brown the potatoes some more.
- Let it stand for 10 minutes and remove by running a knife outside each pie.
- Dish and serve warm.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Inspired by Pillsbury
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 55 mins
Comments & Reviews
This is actually Cottage Pie!!!! Shepherd’s Pie is made with lamb.
Can these be frozen at any stage of preparation?
That’s a good question and I honestly don’t know the answer to it. I’ve never tried it before so I can’t comment on if it would work but the way I see it being done is to stop at step 8 and freeze them first in the muffin pan so they retain form, then transfer the pies to a freezer bag or container.
Excellent idea for party appetisers, kids or seniors, & portioning to reduce food waste.
Make a batch and ‘gift’ some to a neighbour or friend who could use a smile!
We are gravy lovers, so I make up some gravy, can use a package/can of beef or brown gravy to drizzle over top.
(* I freeze leftover homemade gravy from a roast or turkey meal, up to 3 months, so can use later)
*Also try this using leftover turkey/chicken instead of the beef! i.e.leftover turkey cottage pie.YUM.
A tossed green or mixed salad (try coleslaw!), some crusty bread or rolls make a complete meal.
Thank you for sharing all your tips! I LOVE the gravy idea – just thinking of it is making me drool. Brown gravy for me please 🙂
Great recipe! I made a slight change to suit my cooking semi-homemade style – I omitted the bullion cube & Worcestershire sauce and replaced it with a jar of Heinz’s Savory Beef Gravy – keeps the filling moist (ugh, hate that word!) and amps up the beefy flavor.
I just have to say what an amazing idea that is, putting in some beef gravy with the beef mixture. I kind of salivated a little reading your comment, that’s how good an idea it is!
Never thought of this but sounds brilliant,I have a very fussy granddaughter so will definitely pass this on to my daughter,I also think shepherds pie is interchangeable.
I hope she takes to it! I loooooove a good shepherds pie and this one gives you pastry as well.
This is excellent!-my spouse has invasive cancer and his eating portions has drastically declined-so making six in muffin tins a very good idea-pots. already done-will use corn on top of meat as its his favorite veg.-this way he can have a mini pie and another veg on side-also others can be frozen and taken out as needed.
I’m really glad to hear this helps, Mary! I hope this will make him feel better about eating. Corn will work wonderfully with this.
This isn’t shepherd’s pie, it’s cottage pie.
They’ve always been interchangeable to me! But if you prefer lamb, go ahead and substitute ground beef with lamb 🙂
Yum! I ended up with 14 little pies and they turned out great! Added a little extra seasoning & tomato paste and mistakenly used a nacho blend shredded cheese, but no harm no foul. A little extra heat is always welcome. Went with the a double pack of instant mashed potatoes & had enough left over for another day so I did not eat them. The left over pastry ends were another story though; brushed them with butter & sprinkled a little cinnamon sugar on them & baked them at 350 for 10 minutes……nice little treat! This recipe is going into my favorites! Thank you. kel
That’s fantastic! I was at a loss on what to do with the leftover pastry so this is a really good idea. I’ll add a note on what you did for those that don’t want to waste any. And thanks for coming back to leave a review 🙂
These look great, I’m a senior and eat smaller meals, so these will be perfect.
Thank you
That’s great to hear Carolyn! I never thought of smaller portions for seniors before but now it’s something to keep in mind 🙂
These are the cutest little shepherds pies ever.. definitely could devour a couple right now. They look so yummy and delicious!
They were! And they heated up pretty nicely the next day too. Because of the pie crust there was no sogginess from microwave heating! Thanks, Thalia!
Yessss, that word!! Both saying and spelling it are a nightmare for me. These look awesome 🙂
Thanks, Tekesha! Thank god for auto-correct, right? If I were to pronounce it how it’s spelled, I’d be like ‘Wor-chest-ter-shire’ Pretty sure I made a fool of myself once saying it out loud that way. I know better now!
It’s a good thing these are so small. Because that way I can pop them in my mouth one after the other super fast! These are adorable, so creative and SO delicious looking that the very late lunch sitting here right beside me as I type this comment is looking very inadequate all of a sudden. Do you think they’ll freeze ok after blind baking the pastry and putting the filling in, before baking the second time? I am thinking it will – what do you think?
I think they will too. I’ve been wondering if they were freezer friendly but I’m still a newbie at freezer meals. If you say they will, then I trust your opinion, with your expertise in it!
Absolutely love these, what a fun idea!
Thanks, Matt! They were also fun to eat! 🙂
Looks so yummy and mini is even better!
Thanks!
Thanks, Dorcas! They even taste good heated up the next day! Still munching on some 🙂
I really like this idea, Farah! I have two giant muffin tins that will make the pies about 5 inches in diameter. They won’t be as cute, but one should be a good size single serving. Thanks!
That’s an incredibly good idea! I should get some jumbo muffin pans now 🙂