If you love traditional shepherd’s pie, you’ll love homemade Shepherd’s Pie Soup! It’s filled with ground beef, potatoes, veggies, and more. This creamy soup is made for chilly nights because each bowl is hearty, cozy, and comforting.
What’s in Shepherd’s Pie Soup
This soup tastes just as delicious and comforting as a traditional Shepherd’s Pie. And soups are always easy to throw together!
- Meat: I used 80/20 ground beef, but any kind works. Try ground chicken, turkey, or lamb if you like.
- Carrots: Instead of fresh carrots, substitute a frozen carrot, corn, and pea mix. If using the frozen vegetable mix, add 1 ½ cups of it in step 7 when you would add the other frozen vegetables.
- Broth: Chicken broth is the base of the soup. Vegetable broth would also be delicious.
- Potatoes: Instead of baby red potatoes, use your favorite or whatever you have on hand – Yukon gold, russet, and fingerling potatoes are all wonderful options.
- Sage: Ground sage is an easy way to add herby flavor to the soup. Instead of ground sage, use ½ teaspoon of freshly minced sage.
- Cheese: Be sure to use freshly shredded cheddar cheese. It melts more smoothly into the soup than pre-shredded cheese.
- Cornstarch: Thickens the broth to create a rich and creamy soup.
- Half and Half: This adds a creamy texture to the soup.
Can I make this soup vegetarian?
Yes, you can definitely make a meatless version of this shepherd’s pie soup if you prefer. Simply omit the ground beef, or use plant-based meat crumbles. You can also replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth.
Classic Shepherd’s Pie is a hearty and comforting casserole-style dish made with meat, potatoes, gravy, and vegetables.
If you’re serving a crowd, I highly recommend making a double batch of this soup recipe – just make sure your pot is big enough! You can also combine 2 individual batches and keep the soup warm in a crockpot.
Yes! As you’ll see in the recipe card, you should brown the ground beef (about 5-7 minutes) before adding it into the soup. This ensures that it is fully cooked.
How to Store and Reheat
Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I don’t recommend freezing, because this soup contains potatoes and cream, which will get grainy when frozen.
Reheat gently on the stove, stirring in more half and half if you like.
What to Serve with Shepherd’s Pie Soup
I always add some hearty, crusty slices of bread to go with this soup! You could also serve it with cheddar bay biscuits, skillet bread, or rosemary focaccia.
If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy!
Shepherd’s Pie Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion diced
- 2 carrots diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 ½ cups diced potato
- ½ teaspoon ground sage
- ½ cup frozen corn
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook until the beef is browned, about 5-7 minutes. Make sure to break up the meat and stir it occasionally.1 pound ground beef
- Line a plate with paper towel and set aside. Once the beef is browned, remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon and place it on the paper towel-lined plate. Remove all but one tablespoon of grease from the pan.
- Add the onion and carrot. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.1 onion, 2 carrots
- Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.2 cloves garlic
- Add the chicken broth to deglaze the pan and scrape any browned bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon.3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- Add the ground beef back to the pot along with the half-and-half, potatoes, and ground sage.1 cup half-and-half, ½ teaspoon ground sage, 1 ½ cups diced potato
- Bring the soup to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add the corn and peas and cook for an additional 5 minutes.½ cup frozen corn, ½ cup frozen peas
- In a small bowl, mix the cheese and cornstarch together. Slowly add the cheese to the soup, stirring constantly.1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese, 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- Continue stirring until the cheese has fully melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Enjoy the soup warm.
Becky’s Tips
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this? Leave a comment!
Hi Becky,
Could you alternately thicken this soup with flour instead of corn starch? I personally feel like corn starch never really seems to do much of anything for me as a thickening agent. If so, how much flour would you recommend? And should it be added to the vegetables once they’ve been sautéed/softened? Let me know.
Thanks!!
Hi Kristin, if using flour to thicken, we recommend doubling the amount and adding to the veggies!
Just made this soup today. We loved it! I left the sage out as we are not fond of it. Soup was really good. Husband had 2 bowls full.
My family absolutely loves this soup!
I added extra cup of chicken broth and just used a bag of mixed vegetables absolutely scrumptious!!
Looks great!
Sure it tastes great, but “if you love traditional shepherd’s pie”, it would be made with lamb. This is a cottage pie soup. Shepherd’s heard sheep, not cows. Not sure why North America call a Cottage pie, a Shepherd’s pie.
Everyone is different!
It’s not about everyone being different, it’s about calling a dish the name of another dish. It’s just incorrect.
Here New England we call it shepherd’s pie and it’s made with ground beef. Never heard of cottage pie in my life. So it is about being different in regards to what a dish is called where you come from🤗
It is a great soup! Family loved it. It really doesn’t matter what it’s called. Our country calls it one thing as does yours. Germany may call it something else. Are your knickers in a twist? (As your country might say) We could say “look outside the box”. Germany another. Comments are about the taste of the soup or if you changed anything in the recipe.
Get another agenda item to argue about that might change the world