Vegan Shepard’s Pie

Vegan Shepard’s Pie is a remake from the traditional Shepard’s Pie that is made with meat, vegetables, and topped with mashed potatoes. I swapped out the meat and made the whole dish oil free including the mashed potatoes. The result… the dish turned out savory and delicious.

If you’re looking for meal prep recipes for the week, this definitely is a winner. You can easily reheat during the week and it is made with vegetables, lentils, and potatoes. This recipe is made in two parts and is assembled together before baking in the oven. You need two pots to make the mashed potatoes and the lentil mixture, as well as a casserole dish.

How do you substitute meat in this dish?

LENTILS! Lentils serve as a great substitute for meat or ground beef. I like using lentils because you don’t have to soak them in advance and they are ready in about 30 minutes.

When veganizing or recreating a dish, I like to create the essence of the dish, not exactly the same thing. You are going for texture and a similar taste. With lentils you can create a dense crumble like texture. Lentils mixed with garlic and onions create a savory flavor.

Ingredients for the Vegan Shepard’s Pie:

• Green Lentils
• Onion
• Garlic
• Potatoes
• Corn
• Peas
• Carrots
• Tamari
• Bay Leaves
• Vegetable Broth
• Tamari

How to make Vegan Shepard’s Pie?

Vegan Shepard’s pie is made in 3 parts.

1. Make the lentil and veggies
2. Mashed potatoes
3. Assemble everything together.

Start with Green Lentils and Veggies.

Lentils take the longest to make. Let’s start there.

Rinse the lentils in a fine mesh sieve under the faucet. Inspect the lentils and remove any bad lentils or small stones.

In a large sauce pan add in diced onions and a little water (1-2 tbsps) and saute the onions for about 3-5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add in green lentils, bay leaves and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer, cover the pot with a lid for about 20 to 30 minutes. The lentils should be tender but not mushy.

Around 20 minutes into cooking the lentils, add in the carrots and cover the pot for about 10 minutes. The carrots take longer to cook than peas and corn. Add in the peas, corn and tamari. Stir together and allow to cook for about 5 minutes uncovered while stirring often. Remove the bay leaves.

Making the Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Mashed potatoes are typically made with butter and milk. For these potatoes, I have decided to skip the butter and milk to make it vegan. You can use a vegan version of milk and butter but I wanted to try without it. I used garlic and a little tamari and used a potato masher (or a fork) and mashed the potatoes. It turned out delicious without using any vegan butter.

While the lentils are cooking, peel and chop the potatoes into 1-1 1/2 wide pieces and add to a medium sized pot. Cover with at least an inch of cold water. Add a teaspoon of salt (optional). Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until tender (about 20 minutes or fork tender).

When the potatoes are done cooking (a fork can easily pierce), remove them from the pot and place them in a bowl and minced garlic. Mash with a fork or potato masher, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble the Shepard’s Pie:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spread the vegetable lentil mixture in an even layer across a large baking dish (9×13 casserole).

Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the lentils and vegetables. Rough up the surface of the mashed potatoes with a fork so there are peaks that will get well browned. You can even use a fork to make creative designs in the mashed potatoes.

Place in a 400°F oven and cook until browned and bubbling, about 30 minutes. If necessary, broil for the last few minutes to help the surface of the mashed potatoes brown.

Ready to be served!

P.S. This makes for awesome leftovers. You can refrigerate for about 5 days.