High Protein Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

This high-protein vegan Shepherd’s Pie is perfect for meal prepping or to bring to a potluck or a family gathering! I’ve also heard this called Cottage Pie and a few other things, so I’m not sure what we’re calling it anymore, but you see the picture – you know what it is! 🙂 It’s super easy to make and hard to mess up! Because it’s full of veggies and TVP, it’s super nutritious and very filling! It’s 31% protein and has 12 g of fiber per serving. It’s the perfect meal for a chilly Fall or Winter day!

This is one of my favorite meals for meal prepping because it makes eight servings and get you a ton of your vegetables and protein for the day. I t also heats up really well the next day, and you can even store it in the freezer and reheat it from there. If you are focused on a whole food plant based diet, you could easily make this WFPB by removing the vegan cheddar and vegan Parmesan. You could just sub in some nutritional yeast instead so that your mashed potato topping still has a cheesy taste. If you’re gluten intolerant, this recipe could be made gluten-free pretty easily by substituting out the soy sauce for coconut amino’s.

If you’re newer to plant-based cooking, this is a really easy dish to start incorporating more plant-based food. It would be perfect for a meatless Monday; and if you’re cooking for a family, this is a meal that everyone would love, including children. I should know since my taste buds haven’t changed since I was about five years old. The thing I love most about this dish is how filling and cozy it is!

Ingredients

Mashed Potato Topping

• Potatoes – I used 4-5 medium russet potatoes. Any potatoes will do here, even smaller ones (you’ll just need more). We will just be using the potatoes like we would in any mashed potatoes. Make sure to peel and cube them before you cook them.
• Soy Milk – I use soy milk for this recipe because it’s my favorite non-dairy milk – mostly because it has the highest protein on a calorie basis of the non-dairy milk options. If you have a different preferred non-dairy milk, feel free to use it instead.
• Salt – adjust to taste.
• Vegan Cheeses – I used Violife shredded vegan cheddar and Follow Your Heart shredded vegan Parmesan for the mashed potato topping. I really like the flavor it adds to the potatoes. If you were trying to eat more whole food plant-based, you can omit this from the recipe. Maybe just throw some nutritional yeast in instead. If you have a different vegan cheese that you prefer, you could of course use that instead!

Filling

• Textured Vegetable Protein – TVP – if you’re new to plant-based cooking, you may not have heard of textured vegetable protein. TVP is just de-fatted soy flour; it’s a shelf stable protein source that’s used in a lot of vegan cooking. You can find it in most stores near the gluten-free flour options, but you can also buy it online. It’s super easy to use, and since it’s a soy-based ingredient, it doesn’t have much of its own flavor and will absorb any flavor you give it. Which makes it great for this dish and also other sweet and savory recipes as well. I really like Bob’s Red Mill brand, but there are plenty of other great brands as well!
• Vegetable Broth – I used a generic store-bought vegetable broth. If you have a favorite brand or if you make your own vegetable broth, feel free to use that here instead.
• Mushrooms – I used Baby Bella Mushrooms for no other reason then I really like Baby Bella Mushrooms and the name is cute. If you have a different kind of mushroom you’d rather use, feel free to sub that in.
• Onion – I used a sweet onion for this recipe. Feel free to use whatever kind of onion you prefer.
• Peas and Corn – these are the other vegetables I added – pretty classic veggies for a shepherds pie. If there are other vegetables that you would rather add or if you want to sub something else in, feel free. I used frozen peas and corn, but you could also use fresh.
• Garlic – I used one fresh bulb of garlic, and I minced it finely. If you don’t have fresh garlic, you could use a jar of minced garlic. And if you don’t have that, I guess you could add in some additional garlic powder. I know fresh garlic is more work and takes more time, but I like the flavor so much better.
• Nutritional Yeast – if you’re kind of new to vegan cooking, maybe you haven’t used nutritional yeast before. Nooch is a shelf-stable ingredient that adds a nice savory and cheesy taste to dishes. It also has a surprisingly high protein content on a calorie basis so I like to use it whenever I can. You can find it at most grocery stores and you can also buy online.
• Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Basil, Thyme, Salt – these are the spices that are used to season the TVP and veggeis. TVP, in general, doesn’t have its own flavor so we have to season it well.
• Soy Sauce – if you’re making this recipe gluten-free, you can just substitute coconut aminos for the soy sauce, using a one to one ratio.
• Worcestershire Sauce – for this ingredient you want to check and make sure it’s vegan; oftentimes, they use anchovies in Worcestershire sauce. So just make sure the one you pick is vegan!

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
• Peel and cube the potatoes. The chunks should be somewhere around 1 to 2 inch cubes.

Making the Mashed Potato Topping

• In a pot of boiling water, cook the (peeled and cubed) potatoes for about 20 minutes, until fork-tender. By fork-tender, I mean you should be able to stab you with a fork and pull it out easily. You should even be able to smash it quite easily with a fork. We just want to make sure that these are cooked enough that they will become smooth mashed potatoes.
• With either a stand mixer or with a hand-mixer, mix together the cooked potatoes, salt, and soy milk until very creamy. You could also use a potato masher by hand, but this method will take longer and will result in less creamy potatoes.
• Add in the vegan cheddar and Parmesan shredded cheeses. Mix in well; I usually just use a spatula for this part.

Making the Filling

• Clean the mushrooms and slice them.
• Dice the onion and minced the garlic.
• For this step you will need a pretty large skillet, preferably non-stick. In this skillet, at medium-heat, cook the onion, garlic and mushrooms for about five minutes. If you don’t have a non-stick skillet or if you’re worried about sticking, be sure to spray your pan with oil. And stir it regularly to ensure your vegetables don’t burn or stick to the pan.
• Add in the TVP and the vegetable broth. Stir well.
• Next, add the nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, basil, soy sauce, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme, and mix together well. I like to mix in all of the seasonings before the liquid starts to boil off, so that everything is well mixed, and the seasoning is well distributed across all of the TVP.
• Add in the peas and corn, and continue to cook for another 15 minutes or so, stirring regularly to avoid burning. The TVP should no longer be soggy when it’s ready and the vegetables should be cooked but not mushy.

Assembly and Cooking

• In a large casserole dish, evenly spread the filling out on the bottom. But the filling, I mean the TVP and vegetables.
• Add mashed potato topping on top of the filling, and smooth it out with a spatula or the back of a spoon.
• Bake for about 20 minutes. You will likely need to broil it for a couple of minutes at the end to get that classical browned mashed potato look.
• Cool for at least 10 minutes so that the mashed potatoes set up and you can get a nice scoop without making it look like crap. I did not do this and was called out for this by several people on social media , so don’t be like me. Or do be like me and do whatever you want! Sometimes eating the yummy food is more important than the yummy food looking good. And by sometimes I mean always.

Silly Little Haiku

Which is the right name?

Cottage Pie or Shepherd’s Pie

Eat all the shepherds