This recipe is one of over 25 recipes in my Vegan Kosher for Passover Guide! While designed to meet the requirements of keeping Kosher for Passover as a vegan, the recipes in the guide are delicious year-round and offer options for folks who are vegan and gluten-free. Interested in the guide? Click here.
Growing up, I made a lot of different kinds of recipes with my dad. In fact, my childhood memories are peppered with images of my dad in the kitchen, either the two of us cooking or just him alone. Cooking and food has always felt tied to family and people for me because of this. We weren’t just making food to eat – we were doing something together and tying memories to smells and tastes.
So, when I went vegan at 13-years-old, that connection still felt natural and strong to me innately. The first recipe I remember making with my dad after going vegan was a shepherd’s pie. I had never actually had shepherd’s pie before becoming vegan (I’m not sure if my dad had either!), but I was excited none-the-less to try something new. Plus, I love mashed potatoes almost as much as I love mac’n’cheese, so the topping really spoke to me.
I remember following the recipe exactly as stated, and then my dad and I gave our filling mixture a taste and adjusted some of the spices to what we thought was best. We popped the pie in the oven. About an hour later, we enjoyed our first shepherd’s pie.
The shepherd’s pie I made that day stuck with me for 12 years. Even though my Shepherd’s Pie recipe today is pretty different from what I remember making that day (the one I made back then used a meat substitute and different vegetables, and I can only guess at what spices we used), I still have with me the reminder that even when I’m making someone else’s recipe that dish is for me and the people for whom I’m making the dish. No one’s stopping me from making the changes I think will work best!
That’s what I hope to share with you here! Take a bite of your filling before it goes in the pie pan and make some choices about how you think it should taste. More spice? Add some extra cayenne! Not salty enough? Add more salt! Do you like a lot of garlic flavor? Add garlic powder! Maybe you like a rosemary flavor – go wild with it! This food is for you and yours.
Now let’s get started!
Vegan Shepherd's Pie
Equipment
- 2 pie or baking dishes
Ingredients
Mashed Potato Topping
- 4 large red potatoes
- 6 tbsp non-dairy milk
- 2.5 tsp salt
- .5 tsp pepper
Filling
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1 yellow pepper, chopped
- 1 orange pepper, chopped
- 1 cup carrots, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups baby bella mushrooms, chopped
- 1 cup raw walnuts, unsalted, chopped
- .5 cup parsley, chopped
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 3 tbsp almond flour
- .5 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp thyme
- .5 tsp cayenne (optional)
- .5 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp salt
- .5 tsp pepper
- .5 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
To make the mashed potato topping:
- Cube the mashed potatoes and boil for 20 minutes. Mash with a potato masher until you get to your desired consistency.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with a spoon. Set aside.
To make the filling:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onions, garlic, and carrots for 7 to 10 minutes or until the onions begin to turn translucent.
- Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix well.
- Divide the mixture into two pie or baking dishes and spoon the mashed potatoes evenly over each. Spread the mashed potatoes so it covers the entire top of the mixture and reaches the edges.
- Bake in the oven on the middle rack for 55 minutes. The edges should be bubbling over and the potatoes on top should have some crispy spots.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes. Serve warm!