Cottage pie

Name: Cottage pie
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 4 serving(s)
Ingredients: 1 tbsp. olive oil; 2 onions, chopped; 1 garlic clove, crushed; 500 g extra-lean minced beef; 2 tbsp. tomato purée; 2 tbsp. plain flour; 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce; 450 mL hot beef stock; 2 bay leaves; 900 g potatoes, cut into large chunks; 75 mL skimmed milk

A quintessential British comfort food, this cottage pie recipe is perfect for chilly spells.

By The GH Kitchen TeamUpdated: 03 November 2023

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Good Housekeeping UK

Classic and oh-so comforting, this traditional cottage pie recipe is perfect for winter weather. Rich beef mince is topped with a velvety blanket of mashed potatoes, then baked until golden and bubbling. Serve with simple steamed vegetables for a crowd-pleasing family dinner to repeat time and time again.

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Yields:

4 serving(s)

Prep Time:

15 mins

Cook Time:

1 hr

Total Time:

1 hr 15 mins

Cal/Serv:

420

Ingredients

For the filling

1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
500 g extra-lean minced beef
2 Tbsp. tomato purée
2 Tbsp. plain flour
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
450 ml hot beef stock
2 bay leaves

For the Mash

900 g potatoes, cut into large chunks
75 ml skimmed milk

Directions

1. Step 1
  Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions and garlic softly for 10min. Add the mince to the pan and cook on a higher heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mince is broken up and well browned.
2. Step 2
  Stir in the tomato purée and flour and cook for 1min. Add the Worcestershire sauce, stock and bay leaves. Cover, bring to the boil and season generously. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30-40min until the meat is tender. Remove the bay leaves and discard, then spoon the mixture into a 1.8 litre ovenproof dish.
3. Step 3
  Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in a large pan of boiling, salted water. Drain well, tip the potatoes back into the pan and heat for 1min to dry off. Add the skimmed milk, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and mash well. Preheat the oven to 200ºC (180ºC fan oven) mark 6.
4. Step 4
  Spoon the mash on top of the mince, spread over evenly and rough up the surface with a fork. Put the dish on a baking sheet to catch any spillages and cook for 20-25min until golden and bubbling.

Per Serving:

Calories: 420
Total carbs: 53 g
Total fat: 10 g

The GH Kitchen Team

The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor ⁠Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce ⁠Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time