Vegan Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

This vegan shepherd’s pie is full of flavor and surprisingly healthy. We topped protein-rich quinoa, lentils, and plenty of vegetables with creamy roasted garlic mashed potatoes. It’s warming, satisfying and pack with nutrients.

Shepherd’s pie is one of those vegan dishes we always forget about. Yet every time we make it, we wonder why we don’t make it more often. It’s really quite simple to throw together, and satisfies the whole family. Shepherds pie, filled with lentils and quinoa, is super filling. Even our meat-loving family members are fully satisfied by one of these cute individual pies.

Individual Shepherd’s Pie FTW

We love these single serving pies made in mini cast iron cocottes, which you can find easily online. They’re obviously super cute for one thing. But also, the small size helps control portion size (otherwise I could easily eat half of the recipe myself!). Of course, you can also use a large skillet or baking dish for this vegan shepherds pie. For another individual serving option, ramekins would also work.

How to make a flavor-packed vegan shepherd’s pie

This vegan shepherd’s pie filling is super flavorful. We simmered tons of veggies in rich vegetable broth and fragrant herbs. And by tons, I do mean tons. This shepherds pie packs onions, leeks, mushrooms, carrots, peas and spinach. And that’s not to mention all the fresh aromatics like tarragon, roasted garlic, and parsley. It smells so good that even my husband – an extremely picky eater + carnivore – happily ate a full serving. TBH, my mouth is kinda watering right now as I write this post, and it’s 6:20 AM. If that doesn’t convince you how good this is, not sure what will.

Add body to your veggie-packed pie filling

After building a serious flavor base for this vegan shepherd’s pie with aromatics and tender fall veggies, it’s time to add some protein and heartiness to the filling. Enter lentils and quinoa.

We all know the mashed potatoes are the best part. Instead of heavy cream or milk, we use vegetable broth for this Shepherd’s pie. Extra flavor comes from vegan butter and roasted garlic. The result is a lighter mashed potato that’s the perfect fluffy topping to our vegan shepherd’s pie. You can even sub vegan butter with olive oil – totally up to you.

Even though it’s only March, this would be the perfect dish for Thanksgiving mashed potato + vegetable leftovers! I’m making a mental note to remember that next year. Much better than eating cold mashed potatoes.

Now that I’m daydreaming about Thanksgiving – how good would this gluten-free stuffing be right about now? Why don’t we eat stuffing more often?

We still have a few weeks of chilly weather left, so before we move on to spring and summer produce (I can’t wait to make this yellow tomato soup again), enjoy a little more comfort food and majorly improve your weeknight dinner with this vegan shepherd’s pie.

Vegan Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

• Author: Lexi
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Stovetop, Oven

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Description

This vegan shepherd’s pie is full of flavor and surprisingly healthy (but delicious!) ingredients like quinoa, lentils, plenty of vegetables and roasted garlic mashed potatoes for topping. 

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

Filling:  

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• ¾ cup diced leeks
• 2 cloves garlic garlic, minced
• 1 cup button mushrooms, sliced thinly
• 1 cup diced carrots
• ¾ cup peas (frozen or fresh)
• 1 cup cooked lentils (cooked according to package directions)
• 1 cup cooked quinoa (cooked according to package directions)
• 1 ½ cups spinach
• ¼ cup vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp tarragon, chopped
• ¼ cup parsley, chopped
• 1 ¼ tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• ½ tsp paprika
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp gluten free flour
• 1 1/4 cup vegetable broth

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes: 

• 4–5 cups peeled potatoes, cubed 
• 1/4 cup vegan butter
• 1/3 cup vegetable broth (or milk)
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 cloves roasted garlic (instructions below)

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. 
2. To roast garlic, cut the top off an entire head of garlic so cloves are exposed. Drizzle with olive oil and salt, wrap in aluminum foil and roast 35-40 minutes, until fork tender and golden brown. 
3. Meanwhile, peel potatoes, dice and boil in a large pot until fork tender – about 20 minutes. When done, drain and set aside.
4. In two separate pots, cook lentils and quinoa according to package directions. 
5. In a large saucepan, sauté onions and leeks in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  
6. Add mushrooms, carrots and peas and sauté about 5 minutes, until tender. Add cooked lentils, quinoa, spinach, vegetable broth, tarragon, parsley, salt, pepper and paprika.
7. In a separate small pan, whisk together oil, gluten free flour and vegetable broth until no clumps of flour remain. Let simmer for a minute or two, then pour into vegetable/lentil/quinoa mixture. Let simmer to absorb most of the broth, but if it starts to dry out completely, add more broth. 
8. When garlic is ready, add to potatoes and mash. Add vegan butter, broth and salt and stir well to combine. Taste and adjust if needed. 
9. Assemble pot pie in a large baking dish, or 6 mini dishes (like the ones pictured here). Add an even layer of vegetable/lentil mix, then a layer of mashed potatoes. Spread evenly. Dust with paprika and bake at 400 F for 25 minutes, or until mashed potatoes are golden brown on top. 

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