This vegan shepherd’s pie is delicious and filling – it’s loaded with lentils, mushrooms, and other veggies. A thick layer of creamy, dairy free mashed potatoes tops the vegetable layer, making this meal super cocomforting and delicious!
What kind of comfort food do you love? Is it a cozy casserole? A creamy pasta dish? Something that’s rich and delicious?
When you eliminate dairy from your diet, you might think that comfort food has to fall by the wayside. But that’s not true! There are so many dairy substitutes out there – and you can use them to make creamy, buttery recipes.
This vegan shepherd’s pie is comforting and flavorful, but it doesn’t leave you feeling like you overdid it. It’s loaded with lentils, carrots, mushrooms, and more vegetables, and then topped with creamy, buttery, dairy free mashed potatoes. (It’s hard to decide what the best part is – all the veggies, or the fluffy potato topping).
This is a wonderful main dish that works well for a Sunday dinner or a holiday meal! I think you’ll love this cozy family recipe.
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Ingredient Notes
- Lentils – Green lentils are a great choice for this dish as they hold their shape well and don’t turn to mush. You could also use garbanzo beans, white beans, pinto beans, or really any type of bean that you enjoy. If you aren’t into lentils, or vegan shepherd’s pie, then maybe this turkey shepherd’s pie would be a good choice for you.
- Potatoes – I love Yukon Gold Potatoes, because they have a wonderful flavor that is naturally buttery. You can use any type of potato that you like, and you can even make the mashed potatoes the night before to save on prep time before dinner.
- Carrots – Carrots add sweetness and color to this dish.
- Peas – I love the pop of green peas in the lentil filling. They add a little bit of freshness to this recipe.
- Vegan Buttery Spread – Earth Balance Soy Free Vegan Buttery Spread works well in the mashed potato topping. You can use any variety of non-dairy milk that works for your dietary needs. If you aren’t dairy free, you can go ahead and use regular butter and dairy milk.
Step by Step Instructions
- Rinse and pick over the lentils, then place in a large pot and cover with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20-25 minutes. While they cook, move on to the next steps.
- Cook the sliced carrots, onions, mushrooms, and garlic in a frying pan with vegan buttery spread.
- Cook the potatoes, then drain, and add the vegan buttery spread, non-dairy milk, salt and pepper. Mash with a potato masher or mixer.
- Once the lentils are cooked, add the ketchup, spices, and peas. Cook for a few more minutes until the peas are cooked through.
- Spread the vegetable mixture into a 9×13 casserole dish.
- Spread the potatoes over the lentil mixture. Dot the top with more vegan buttery spread if desired. bake at 425 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes.
- Top with fresh parsley, then slice and serve. Enjoy!
Storage/Freezing
Store leftovers in the refrigerator. They should stay fresh for about four days.
You can try freezing this pie if you like, but the texture may change a bit. This is best made fresh and eaten within four days. If you do freeze it, it may be best to freeze individual portions wrapped well and stored in a freezer safe container.
Serving Suggestions
Try serving this shepherd’s pie with:
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Recipe
Comforting Vegan Shepherd’s Pie.
Ingredients
For the vegetable base:
- 1 medium onion chopped, about â…” cup
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons vegan buttery spread
- 1 ¼ cups green lentils picked over and rinsed
- 4 cups water
- 2 Tablespoons ketchup
- 10 white button mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup sliced carrots
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
For the mashed potatoes:
- 8 Yukon Gold potatoes for about 5 cups chopped potatoes
- â…“ cup non-dairy milk
- 4 Tablespoons vegan buttery spread
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Put the lentils and water in a large pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the lentils are tender, about 20-25 minutes.
- While the lentils cook, you can cook the other veggies. In a large skillet, cook the onions, garlic, sliced carrots, and mushrooms in the vegan buttery spread. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until they are tender. This should take about 15-20 minutes.
- If you have not prepared the mashed potatoes ahead of time, you can do that while everything is cooking. Peel and slice the potatoes, and put them in a pot with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, and boil until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and add 4 Tablespoons vegan buttery spread, non-dairy milk, salt, and pepper to the pot. Use a potato masher or mixer to mash the potatoes. Set aside.
- Check the liquid level on the lentil mixture – the liquid should be mostly absorbed, but there should still be some in the pot – the lentils should not be dried out.
- Once the lentils are tender, add the ketchup, frozen peas, salt, pepper, paprika, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, adding a bit more water if needed.
- Once everything is heated through, spread the lentil mixture into a 9×13 casserole dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, and use a spatula to spread them out evenly.
- Dot the top of the casserole with a little more vegan buttery spread if desired.
- Bake at 425 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes, just to let the potatoes get a little golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and top with fresh parsley if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
If you’re looking for more vegan dinner options, you may want to try this lentil soup, this vegan creamy mushroom soup, or these vegan sloppy joes.
This post was originally published in March 2017. It has been updated with more information.
D
I don’t always love vegan dishes, but this one was a winner!
Kathy
Going to try this minus a few things I can’t have. Thanks Kelli.
Laura
I am undertaking an Elimination Diet, which seemed to get rid of almost all of my regular recipes along with the red meat, pork, corn, soy, gluten, dairy, wine, coffee, etc. I tried this dish my first week of the diet and it has been requested every week since! This from a former meat and potatoes kind of family (well, fish and rice as well). I swapped sweet potatoes in for the regular ones as my husband LOVES sweet potatoes and I thought the sweet might be a nice contrast to the savory. OMG – delicious! My 4 year old eats it up! Thank for your sharing this recipe and having an entire site dedicated to allergen avoidance. I’m very grateful! And I never leave comments on any site, so you know how much I mean it! :)
Kelly Roenicke
Thta’s wonderful to hear! Thank you so much for letting me know!
Brenda
I know chickpeas would be mushier but lentils upset tummy. would chickpeas work?
Ann Hewitt
Kathy,
I have all of those allergies plus some more. I substitute cilantro for garlic and chives for onions, using a heavy hand for seasoning. The result will not be the same as using garlic and onion, but the taste is a new, acceptable one. Google low FODMAP recipes for ideas.
Kelly Roenicke
Thank you for your reply, Ann! This is helpful!
Kathy
Thank you Ann. I will look up your suggested site and will start adding spices to see which ones work for me. I’ve not been a good cook with seasonings, so need to just experiment more. I appreciate you writing back.
Kathy
PS forgot to click box to notify me by email of any follow up. :)
Kelly Roenicke
Hi Kathy, That is difficult! I like Ann’s reply, I think she has some good ideas. I was wondering about chives, and from what I have read, they are an herb, and not the same as an onion. So if you can have chives, that would be a suggestion. If you could use some other spices that you enjoy, that may also help! More Italian seasoning, or if you like fresh rosemary or basil, those might also be nice in this dish!
Kathy
Thank you Kelly. I was always thinking chives was in the onion family so avoided them. I get really bad migraines from onions so wouldn’t know about chives. As for Italian seasoning, I will have to check but think most have garlic or onion salt or powder in them. Thanks for writing back. I will reply to Ann and thank her too for her suggestions. I don’t like cilantro, so won’t be able to try that.
Kathy
Kelly….Do you have any ideas what seasoning or flavoring that can take the place of onion and garlic. I am allergic to it and so makes it very difficult to make recipes, especially the allergy friendly ones. When my grown kids come home, my daughters are allergic to soy, gluten, dairy and with me onion and garlic, its so hard to cook, especially to be able to make a big dish/casserole to feed everyone without having just a piece of meat, potato, and veggie. I’m getting so bored with food and frustrated. They don’t come home often, but I feel I need to practice recipes for when they do. Plus holiday meals like Thanksgiving, really need practice. My daughter finally found a chicken broth without onion. I was so happy. I was using the Better than Bouillon, but she just told me she googled one of the ingred. in it and it contains wheat. So, no wonder they didn’t feel good after last Thankgiving. I used it in my stuffing. :( I’m trying gluten free also, only been doing it for 1 month now to see if it will help my migraines. I’m really frustrated as its sooooo hard now for me to eat out. The onion and garlic allergy for eating out is almost impossible. :( As you see, I need help. Ha Ha I would love to make the recipe above, but too much of the seasonings I can’t have and without, I think it would be bland right? PS I made your choc./ toffee for Christmas and the girls were happy.