Rich and filling Instant Pot shepherd’s pie! No heating up your kitchen or cleaning up multiple pots and pans!
The links below may be affiliate links, meaning I earn a small compensation at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure policy here.
This post is a long time coming, but I’m so happy to be republishing this recipe. Too many people were struggling with the former recipe, and so it needed a little revamping. This shepherd’s pie is now a POT-IN-POT recipe!
I am SO glad to be sharing a fool-proof recipe with you now, especially since even though it is pot-in-pot, the number of serving are not reduced at all! Same DELICIOUS shepherd’s pie, all cooked in the Instant Pot, in just about thirty minutes of cook time.
The shepherd’s pie is cooked in stages. First, the potatoes are cooked so you can use them to make the mashed potato topping. The time is takes the potatoes to cook is the perfect amount for prepping the rest of your ingredients.
After the potatoes cook, you will use the sauté function on the Instant Pot to brown the beef, and then finish the shepherd’s pie filling. This step just takes about 10 minutes.
The final step is to transfer the filling into a dish in which to cook the shepherd’s pie. Smooth the mashed potatoes across the filling and cook on high pressure with the dish set on the trivet.
I use a 1.5 quart CorningWare dish for this shepherd’s pie. This dish is big enough to fit shepherd’s pie for 6, but not too big to fit in the pot. It’s really a great option for pot-in-pot Instant Pot cooking. Buy two and you can double this recipe and freeze one for later!
Want more great Instant Pot meals? Check out my cookbook, Family Meals from Scratch in Your Instant Pot!
If you are not already following This Pilgrim Life on Facebook, take a moment and click to follow now so you do not miss any Instant Pot cooking videos!
And if you haven’t already downloaded a free printable of the ten must-have recipes for your Instant Pot, you can get that here.
Print
Instant Pot Shepherd’s Pie
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: main dish
- Method: pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 3 medium russet baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 C diced onion
- 1 C chopped carrots, about 3 carrots,
- 1 C chopped mushrooms
- 1 C frozen peas
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 C beef broth
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1 C cheddar cheese
Instructions
1. Combine potatoes and 1 cup water in the Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. Drain the potatoes and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add 1 egg, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and 2 tablespoons butter to the potatoes. Mash the potato mixture with a masher, or whip with a hand mixer. Add extra salt to taste.
2. In the now-empty Instant Pot, sauté the ground beef for 5 minutes until it begins to brown. Drain the grease. Add the worcestershire sauce, carrots, onions, peas, mushrooms, and 1 tsp each salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Mix together beef broth and flour in a small measuring cup, then pour the broth mixture into the Instant Pot and stir to combine again. Sauté the mixture for three minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken. Transfer to a cooking dish that will fit inside your Instant Pot. (My cooking dish is 24-ounces).
3. Top the beef mixture with the mashed potatoes and smooth the top of the potatoes with a spatula. Cover the dish with a piece of foil. Rinse out the IP pot, then pour in 1 1/2 C water. Place in the trivet and then set the dish with the shepherd’s pie on the trivet. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
4. Quick release the pressure. Carefully remove the dish from the Instant Pot, discard the foil, and top with shredded cheese. Let the shepherd’s pie rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
I use a 1.5 quart corningware dish to make this Shepherd’s Pie.
Sharing is caring! Don’t forget to pin and share. Thank you!
Want more Instant Pot recipes and tips???
Click here for more Instant Pot recipes.
Find the Video Recipe Index here.
Sign up for the weekly newsletter to get new recipes, DIY projects, and encouragement right in your inbox!
Follow This Pilgrim Life on Facebook to catch all the live Instant Pot cooking videos!
Thank you for the inspiration! In the summer I rarely turn on the oven, and you gave me the confidence to try Shepherd’s pie in the Instant Pot. I used TWO 2.5qt Pyrex glass dishes and 2 Instant Pots. I used 3 bags of mixed veggies, 3+ lbs of potatoes, 1 qt of ground beef and about 2 cups of leftover beef roast. The two dishes and one side dish were just enough to feed my family of 8. I added a generous amount of paprika to the broth and I subbed potato starch for the flour to make it gluten free. To one dish, I added the cheese under the potatoes and covered with a glass lid. The other dish I didn’t cover at all and I added cheese after taking it out of the IP. Then I broiled the cheese for a bit. Both worked well but I liked the 1st way best.
★★★★
Looks Delicious will definitely try this Thank you for sharing.
★★★★★
Lisa, you always share awesome ideas, especially for kids. Keep sharing these creative things.
Thank you, Lisa, This is amazing. I did do it in the instant pot, but it was not enough to feed our family of 4. Two Hungry teen boys! Tonight I will double the recipe and maybe there will be some for our lunch tomorrow. 🙂
★★★★★
This recipe came out beautiful! even the kids liked it! Turns out I had the same corningware dish so I used that. I’m relatively new to IP so this is good to know I can use that dish! I halved the salt for the ground beef, but I think it needed a bit more to bring the flavor. If you follow to a T, it will not be too salty .
★★★★★
I had boneless spare ribs that need to be cooked do cut into cubes. Floured and browned cooking about 1/2way through. . Because of hand issues I ran carrots through slicer and put them in with beef for a bit. Leftover mashed potatoes topped it all oh no beef broth so consume very lightly diluted. Used it to get yum yums out of skillet. Yes I used skillet. Found pot too hot if I have to remove after sauteing. Looks great now for the cooking . Part. Looking forward to dinner. I will put left over in freezer dinner trays for quick meals. In the future.
★★★★★
Hello! I’m going to make this soon and I’m wondering how long to cook a frozen one in the IP if I make two? Can’t wait to try it!
This was wonderful! I’m glad I decided to double it and put one in the freezer. It’s a keeper. I’m excited for your cookbook to come out. All the recipes I’ve made from your blog have turned out good!
★★★★★
Hi this is a great recipe I have been trying to find a recipe to make this without an oven. I am wondering if I can still make this without the dish in the instapot?
Thanks!
This was great for St Patrick’s Day! I browned the onions with the meat; subbed rehydrated dried Maitake mushrooms and then used that broth in place of the beef; only used 1/2 tsp salt in the meat filling; and added 2 tsp of dried rosemary. I agree that the carrots were still a little crunchy…since I divided the recipe into two containers, I’ll try a longer time with the second one and see if that helps. I also put the pot under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp up that delicious cheese!
★★★★
2nd time trying to make this recipe and before it even reaches full cooking Mubarak 8 qt up says “burn”. Turned down to bean/chili but doesn’t help. Any suggestions would help. Not issuing the pot on
Jean, are you cooking this pot-in-pot or trying to cook it just in the bottom of the Instant Pot? It works best to cook it in the Instant Pot in a separate dish like the one I use in the recipe.
This turned out great! Even my 18 month old ate it! I did change a few things…
1. I sautéed the onions with the beef
2. I broiled the dish after placing the cheese for 2 min to brown the cheese a bit.
3. Next time I will boil the carrots a little as they were a little too crunchy.
Overall it was really good!
★★★★★
In Step #2, the incorrect size is still listed for the baking dish. It says 24 ounces.The link at the bottom of the recipe is correct, but you may want to change the suggested size in #2 to eliminate any confusion. Many thanks for all your great recipes!
Please tell me where I can find the original instant pot shepherd’s pie recipe. I need the one without the pot in pot. I made that recipe and it turned out great but now I can’t find it anywhere. Thank you.
Joni, the recipe is the same. The difference is simply the pot-in-pot instructions.
I tried the new recipe using the CorningWare 24 oz bowl you suggested (which I had to order specifically from Amazon). It only took 1/2 the recipe, so we had to eat in shifts so I could wash the bowl, refill it and run it through the instant pot again. So inconvenient! I really would like the original recipe as my family liked it so much better & we could all eat together.
Joni, I apologise for my error in listing the wrong size dish. I have since corrected it and put the right size (1.5 quart). The quantity of the recipe hasn’t changed, so you can either use a 1.5 qt dish, or cook the shepherd’s pie directly in the Instant Pot as you did before. I’m sorry for the confusion!
Do you realize that 24 ounce dish is only three cups? I made it and had to cook it in two 1.6 liter Corning Ware dishes. Maybe I don’t have a tall enough Corning Ware, but this makes more than three cups (if it is six servings that would only be 4 ounces or half a cup apiece). The recipe is delicious, just wish it fit in one dish.
Christine, I fixed the link in the post. I am able to fit this dish into my 1.5 quart corningware dish.
I haven’t tried this recipe (it sounds like it would be delicious) but I’m curious why you would advocate using 1.5 tsp of salt? Many folks have high blood pressure and are supposed to be limiting their salt intake. If one were to use 1/2 tsp of salt (or a alternative flavour enhancer like Mrs. Dash) would that have a negative effect on the outcome of the Shepherd’s pie?
You can use an alternative or reduce the salt if you prefer.
I always use Mrs. Dash for this recipe. Turns out great!
Made this tonight for dinner. Added some steak/hamburger seasoning and it was delicious!!!
★★★★★
Hello from easily confused? so if I don’t make the pot on pot recipe do I just leave the ground beef mixture in th ip and layer veg/potatoes and no water as instructed with the trivet recipe?j