Filling and comforting vegan shepherd’s pie made with a veggie-packed veggie mince and creamy mashed potatoes and baked to perfection.
This vegan shepherd’s pie is what dinner dreams are made of!
Jaye was the one who created this recipe – he’s great with the savory stuff – and he wanted to experiment with chopping up mushrooms super fine and putting them in with the veggie mince to create a really hearty texture. And oh wow it worked fabulously.
This veggie mince was amazing. And topped with some creamy vegan mashed potatoes this is a super satisfying vegan dinner meal.
Cottage pie and shepherd’s pie are basically the same thing when it comes to vegan fare, but traditionally a cottage pie is based on beef and shepherd’s pie is based on lamb. But since we’re making vegan versions we can really call it whatever.
It’s comfort food to the max, that is for certain! And if you love vegan comfort food as much as we do then you’ll also love our vegan baked ziti and vegan goulash.
How To Make Vegan Shepherd’s Pie
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
Mashed Potatoes:
Peel and chop potatoes and add them to a pot. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Let them cook for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are soft and cooked.
When they’re nicely soft and cooked you mash them up with some vegan butter, non-dairy milk and salt and pepper.
Veggie Mince:
Add mushrooms to the food processor and process them until finely chopped. They will barely even resemble mushrooms anymore, this is ideal!
Add chopped onion and garlic to a pot with olive oil and sauté until softened.
Add in the soy mince or (already hydrated) textured vegetable protein (TVP).
Sauté the mince or TVP with the onions and garlic until it’s nice and soft and browned.
Add the finely chopped mushrooms, soy sauce, maple syrup, dried basil and oregano and tomato paste and mix it in.
Add frozen peas and carrots and sauté everything until the peas and carrots are softened and you have a deliciously thick veggie mince.
Transfer all the veggie mince to a pie dish (a rectangular or square dish is also fine).
Top it with all the mashed potato.
Create some nice ridges in the top with your fork (looks pretty and helps with browning).
Top it with some knobs of vegan butter and a sprinkle of ground black pepper.
Bake in the oven at 390°F (200°C) for 30 minutes. In the last 5 minutes switch it over to grill to really brown the top super nicely.
This meal does take a while, you’re looking at 75 minutes at least if you’re fast, but more likely 90 minutes from starting this meal to having it on the table.
But it feeds a fair few people, at least 6 and leftovers store really well. So if you’re only cooking for two, you can have this for dinner 3 nights in a row (and you won’t mind a bit!).
Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) or Soya Mince
The first time we made this shepherd’s pie we made it using a frozen soy mince. This worked great, but a couple of readers wrote in to us saying that this wasn’t something they could get hold of.
So we tried it with textured vegetable protein and it worked wonderfully. Textured vegetable protein is a dehydrated soy mince product. You rehydrate it by mixing it with hot water. And then you add it to recipes with flavorings and spices and it turns out delicious!
It works REALLY well in this recipe and if you don’t find it locally, you can definitely get it on Amazon. We used Bob’s Red Mill TVP.
Storing and Freezing
It keeps super well in the fridge for 3-4 days so leftovers are not going to be an issue at all. You can reheat it in the microwave or in the oven at 350°F until heated through.
It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight and then reheat in the microwave or in the oven at 350°F until heated through.
More Vegan Dinner Bake Recipes
- Vegan Pasta Bake
- Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese
- The Best Vegan Lasagna
- Vegan Enchiladas
- Vegan Moussaka
- The Easiest Vegan Lasagna
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
For the Veggie Mince:
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
- 1 Tbsp Crushed Garlic
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 cups Frozen Soya Mince (300g) or 1 cup Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) reconstituted with 1 cup Hot Water (see notes*)
- 5 cups Cremini Mushrooms (480g) finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp Dried Basil
- 1 tsp Dried Oregano
- ½ cup Tomato Paste (130g)
- 2 cups Frozen Peas and Carrots (280g)
For the Mashed Potatoes:
- 4 Large Potatoes (2 ½ pounds / 1100g)
- 4 Tbsp Vegan Butter (60g) plus more for the top
- ⅓ – ½ cup Soy Milk (80ml – 120ml) or other non-dairy milk
- Sea Salt To Taste
- Ground Black Pepper To Taste
Instructions
- Peel and chop the potatoes and add them to a pot. Cover with water and bring them to the boil. Cook for around 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are soft and cooked.
- While the potatoes are cooking, start making your mince.
- Add the mushrooms to a food processor and process until finely chopped.
- Add the onion and garlic to a pot with the olive oil and sauté until the onions are softened.
- Add the soy mince or TVP and sauté with the onion and garlic until soft and browned. If your soy mince is a bit chunky then use your spatula while sautéeing to break it up into small pieces.
- Add in the chopped mushrooms, soy sauce, maple syrup, basil, oregano and tomato paste and mix in.
- Add the frozen peas and carrots and sauté with the veggie mince until the peas and carrots are slightly softened.
- When the potatoes are cooked, add in the vegan butter and soy milk and mash it up. Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
- Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C).
- Add the veggie mince to a pie dish (a square or rectangular dish will also do fine) and smooth down.
- Add the mashed potatoes on top and smooth them down as the top layer. Use a fork to create ridges in the mashed potatoes.
- Dot with some vegan butter on top and sprinkle with black pepper.
- Place into the oven to bake for 30 minutes. In the last 5 minutes switch over to grill for some extra browning on top.
Notes
- Frozen soya mince. If you’re using frozen soya mince then a little more or a little less than 300g is fine. Some packs of frozen soy mince are 320g or 350g and this is fine, just use all of it in this recipe.
- Textured Vegetable Protein. If you’re using textured vegetable protein (TVP) then add 1 cup (92g) of TVP to a bowl. Pour over 1 cup (240ml) of boiling hot water from the kettle. Give it a stir and then leave it to sit for 5 minutes. Stir again and your TVP is ready to use. Use all of it in this recipe.
- Cremini mushrooms are also called portobellini or baby bellas. You could also use white button mushrooms in this recipe.
- Frozen peas and carrots. If you can’t get frozen peas and carrots together then get them separately and use 1 cup of each. Other frozen veggie mixes like peas, carrots, corn and green beans also work great in this recipe.
- Soy milk – I have generally found ⅓ cup soy milk to be enough for the mashed potatoes but you might need a bit more, but start with ⅓ cup and only add more if needed.
- Storing and Freezing: Leftovers keep super well in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can reheat in the microwave or in the oven at 350°F until heated through. It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight and then reheat in the microwave or in the oven at 350°F until heated through.
This recipe is very tasty but the instructions are not the best. At the top it says cook time one hour but at the bottom it says 30+5 minutes. It doesn’t say what size pan to use, mine were too small and I ended up having a lot left over. It doesn’t say what temperature to cook the mince on the stovetop. I know onions and garlic should be cooked on medium, even medium low but a beginner might crank it up to try to save time and burn the garlic. Also, it says to preheat the oven right before putting it in a pan and then in the oven. I don’t know about your oven, but mine takes about 15 minutes at least to heat up to 390°F. If these changes were made I’d definitely give it 5 stars though.
Great recipe for shepherd’s pie! I made this to go with thanksgiving dinner and family members who were not vegan loved it! Great texture, flavour and variety. I really like this since I was able to prep this whole dish ahead and then pop it in the oven to warm up the day of. I accidentally added double tomato paste so mine had strong tomato flavour, but everyone still loved it haha! I’ll try it next time with the proper amount of tomato paste. Definitely recommend.
Thanks for sharing Chris! I think you can’t go too far wrong with extra tomato flavor! Thanks so much for the great review.
My kids beg for this. Thank you!!!
Yay! Thanks so much for the awesome review Minna!
Just made and gobbled up this amazing recipe! So yummy, hearty and healthy!
Awesome! Thanks so much Isabella!
I made this shepherd’s pie for the first time yesterday. First, I was amazed at how quickly and easily it came together. It was very simple, and actually even took a little less time than you suggested it might take. Second, it was delicious!!! My husband and I both loved it, and are looking forward to a couple of additional meals from it. Thanks for the great recipe!! We will be making this regularly!
That’s so awesome Karen, thanks so much for the wonderful review!
What can I substitute instead of soya for protein?
Hi Erin, you could always make this with a lentil bolognese too. 🙂
I have been making this dish for awhile and it is amazing!
Thanks Isabella!
Really tasty!
Thanks so much Jessica!