Kitchen Sanctuary Slow Cooker Shepherds Pie

Name: Guaranteed Clean Plates! My Family Favourite Shepherds Pie
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 6 h
Total time: 6 h 30 min
Yield: 9 servings
Ingredients: 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 2 large onions onions, peeled and finely chopped; 2 sticks celery sticks, finely chopped; 2 carrots carrots, peeled and finely chopped; 900 g minced lamb; 1 tsp fine salt, half in the filling, half in the mash; 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, half in the filling, half in the mash; 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1000 ml beef or lamb stock; 2 heaped tbsp cornflour (cornstarch), mixed with 4 tbsp cold water into a slurry; 1.8 kg floury potatoes (Maris Piper), peeled and chopped into large chunks; 120 ml double (heavy) cream; 120 g unsalted butter

Source video by Kitchen Sanctuary on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules.

Kitchen Sanctuary doubles the gravy on purpose: a litre of beef or lamb stock with 900 g of lamb mince, 2 onions, 2 celery sticks, 2 carrots, salt and pepper, and two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. After the slow cook the mix is split, most thickens with a cornflour slurry under a riced-potato top (1.8 kg of floury potatoes pressed through a ricer with 120 ml double cream and 120 g butter), the rest stays loose as the pour-over gravy. The mash is forked into rough peaks for crispy bits, baked 20 minutes at 200 C until golden. Feeds 8 to 10 and freezes well.

Slow cooker notes: Nicky's original is a 5-minute hob simmer of the meat filling and then straight under the mash. The slow cooker version keeps the sweat-and-brown stage on the hob (this is where the colour and depth come from) and the cornflour-slurry thickening step, but replaces the short hob simmer with hours on low so the lamb gives up more flavour to the gravy. The split-the-gravy idea, the riced mash, and the 200 C oven finish for the top stay as Nicky writes them, slow cookers can't crisp the mash.

Ingredients

Filling

2 tbspvegetable oil
2 large onionsonions, peeled and finely chopped
2 stickscelery sticks, finely chopped
2 carrotscarrots, peeled and finely chopped
900 gminced lamb
1 tspfine salt, half in the filling, half in the mash
1 tspfreshly ground black pepper, half in the filling, half in the mash
2 tbspWorcestershire sauce
1000 mlbeef or lamb stock
2 heaped tbspcornflour (cornstarch), mixed with 4 tbsp cold water into a slurry (add late)

Mash

1.8 kgfloury potatoes (Maris Piper), peeled and chopped into large chunks (add late)
120 mldouble (heavy) cream (add late)
120 gunsalted butter (add late)

Method

Heat the 2 tbsp oil in a large pan over medium. Add the chopped onions, celery and carrots and cook 5 minutes until softening.
~5 min
Add the 900 g lamb mince. Brown it off, breaking it up as it cooks.
~8 min
Stir in half the salt and pepper (0.5 tsp each), the 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce and the 1 litre of stock.
~2 min
Transfer everything to the slow cooker. Cover.
~2 min
Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours.
~360 min
About 40 minutes before serving, put the 1.8 kg peeled potato chunks in cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer 15 minutes until a knife slides easily through.
~20 min
Heat the oven to 200 C (180 fan). Mix the cornflour with 4 tbsp cold water into a slurry. Stir into the slow cooker and let it thicken for 10 minutes on high.
~10 min
Drain the potatoes and rice them into a bowl (a potato ricer is Nicky's secret for lump-free mash). Beat in the 120 ml cream, the 120 g butter and the remaining 0.5 tsp salt and 0.5 tsp pepper.
~5 min
Using a slotted spoon, scoop the lamb mixture into a large baking dish, leaving most of the gravy behind in the slow cooker. That gravy is the pour-over for the table.
~3 min
Pile the mash on top of the lamb and flatten with the back of a spoon. Fork the surface roughly so it has lots of peaks for crispy bits.
~5 min
Bake for 20 minutes at 200 C until the mash is deep golden.
~20 min
Warm the reserved gravy in a small pan or in the slow cooker while the pie is in the oven. Serve the pie with the gravy and some green veg.
~5 min

Frequently asked

Cottage pie or shepherd's pie?

Nicky is clear: shepherd's pie uses lamb mince, cottage pie uses beef. The technique is identical.

Why so much stock?

Nicky purposely makes more gravy than the pie needs, about half goes under the mash with the meat (thickened with cornflour), the other half stays loose in a jug to pour over at the table. It's what stops shepherd's pie eating dry.

Can I make it gluten free?

Yes, Nicky's note: use gluten-free stock and a gluten-free Worcestershire sauce. Cornflour is already gluten free.

Extraction notes (transparency): Quantities all stated in the YouTube description: 1.8 kg floury potatoes, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 2 onions, 2 celery sticks, 2 carrots, 900 g minced lamb, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 2 tbsp Worcestershire, 1 L stock, 120 ml double cream, 120 g butter, 2 heaped tbsp cornflour. Cook is split into a slow base and an oven finish.