Disclosure: This recipe post is sponsored by Hatfield Quality Meats.
This ham shepherd’s pie recipe is a riff on the classic dish. My version includes diced ham and veggies in a chicken gravy covered with a Cheddar mashed potato topping.
It’s warm, comforting, and not too complicated to prepare. Serving this to your friends and family is a sure way to put a smile on everyone’s face. It’s perfect for Easter dinner, a great way to use up those leftovers, or any time of the year when you have a craving for ham and cheesy mashed potatoes.
What Is Shepherd’s Pie?
Shepherd’s pie originated from Europe and is traditionally a dish composed of ground meat, gravy with onions, and a mashed potato topping. Shepherd’s pie got its name because the usual meat is ground lamb and who takes care of lambs? Shepherds! The dish is usually called cottage pie when it’s made with ground beef. This recipe obviously doesn’t include any ground meat, but the name still applies in modern times.
Ham Shepherd’s Pie Ingredients
This recipe includes ham (obviously), onions, garlic, fresh thyme, chicken stock, frozen peas and diced carrots (to make the prep a little bit easier), potatoes, Cheddar cheese, and a handful of pantry ingredients you already have in your kitchen.
What Kind of Ham to Use for Shepherd’s Pie?
Practically any kind of cooked ham will do. I picked up some Hatfield ham steaks from my local Stop & Shop. If you can’t find ham steaks, then diced leftover ham would work great in this recipe too. Hatfield is a great family-owned, American-made brand of simply delicious pork products, and you can find it in your local grocery store through their locator.
Potato Topping for Shepherd’s Pie
Mmmmm . . . potatoes. I essentially make a small batch of mashed potatoes from scratch to cover this shepherd’s pie. I throw in some grated sharp Cheddar cheese as a nod to the classic ham and cheese pairing. An egg yolk mixed in with the potatoes helps with the browning to give it some nice color. If you happen to have leftover mashed potatoes, they would also work to top your shepherd’s pie—just be sure to add some cheese and an egg yolk per the recipe instructions.
What to Serve with Shepherd’s Pie?
The great thing about shepherd’s pie is that it’s a complete meal on its own. It has meat, potatoes, vegetables, gravy, and cheese—all of your basic food groups. But should you want to stretch it out to feed a few more people, then a salad or some bread would be a nice addition.
Disclosure: This recipe post is sponsored by Hatfield Quality Meats.
Ham Shepherd's Pie Recipe
This ham shepherd's pie recipe is a riff on the classic dish. It includes diced ham and veggies in a chicken gravy covered with a Cheddar mashed potato topping.
Ingredients
Ham Filling:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- One 14-ounce package Hatfield Ham Steak, diced (about 2 ½ cups)
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups unsalted or low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 pound frozen peas and diced carrots
Potato Topping:
- 1 ½ pounds (2 large) russet potatoes, peeled and diced
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 ounces (¾ cup) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 egg yolk
Instructions
For the Ham Filling:
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ham, onion, salt, and pepper; cook until the onion has softened some, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute; add the flour and cook for 1 minute more.
- Add the stock, increase the heat to bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cook until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the peas and carrots, remove from heat, taste, and season with more salt and pepper, if needed.
For the Potato Topping:
- Meanwhile, cover the potatoes in a pot with cold water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cook until tender (a fork goes in with ease), 15 to 20 minutes; drain and transfer to a bowl.
- To the bowl, add milk and butter and mash until smooth and the butter has melted. Stir in the cheese, salt, and pepper until the cheese has melted; taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed. Lastly, stir in the egg yolk.
Assemble the Shepherd's Pie:
- Heat the oven to 400˚F.
- You can either keep the ham filling in an oven-safe skillet or transfer to a baking dish. Spread the potato topping evenly over the top. (Optional: Create a design with a fork or other utensil.)
- Place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any potential spillover and bake until bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Broil until nicely browned on top, 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.
Swiss cheese would be excellent as well. Just put ham steak on my grocery list.
I am trying a spicy version of this for a popular local gathering this weekend. I’ll crosscut and slow smoke a (pre-smoked)half ham drizzled in raspberry jalapeno jelly, then chop. I’m using loaded mashed potatoes and just dribbles of other spices to amp it up a bit.
Also mixing the jelly in cream cheese and doing pickle-ham roll-ups, cut small, toothpicked with Spanish olives as appetizers.
My buddy is doing a grotesque parody of deviled eggs with kiwi, blending in pineapple and wheat muffin crumbles and other spices in a deconstructed kiwi crumble/cobbler. He was going to full-on do kiwi/pineapple ice cream for filling, but decided against it.
Made this tonight from Thanksgiving leftovers. We loved it. It was very flavorful. The only problem is that the frozen peas and carrots were not quote done and the sauce thinned out during baking. Was I supposed to thaw the veggies ??? Will definitely make this again. It was beautiful and fun to make !!! Love it when I can put leftovers to good use.
Hmmm…I’ve never had that problem with frozen peas and carrots before, so I’m not entirely sure what happened. (Most frozen vegetables are par cooked.) And yes, I believe the sauce thinned out some (if I remember correctly), but not too much for my liking. If there was a lot of excess ice on the frozen vegetables, then that could have been the cause of it. If that wasn’t the case, then you could add an extra tablespoon of flour next time to get a thicker gravy.
Made this tonight. Smells pretty darn good! I added the corn and peas prior to the stock and added the flour afterwards to get a thicker sauce. Also added corn… because that’s my business lol yummy
I love the addition of corn. Enjoy!
Made this tonight and it was delicious! My husband and I both enjoyed the flavor. Since he has Celiac disease, I used all purpose 1:1 gluten-free flour and it worked great. I also used dairy-free butter and milk to make it dairy-free also. All-around great meal!
Hi, I tried your dish and found it absolutely gorgeous, well done for giving me a new favourite meal to cook, 10/10 from Wales. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!!!
Substituted canned mixed veggies and added sliced mushrooms to left over spiral cut ham. Turned out fantastic
Can I use almond flour in place of all purpose flour? Thank you!
I don’t believe almond flour has any thickening power. So no, you can’t use it in place of all-purpose flour.
You can substitute corn starch for the flour to make this gluten free. Substitute 1 Tbsp. corn starch for 2 Tbsp flour. Mix corn starch with cold water to make a slurry before adding to hot ingredients.