Ground Beef Shepherd's Pie

"I think Ginger P. has given us a terrific basic recipe that you can change to suit your own tastes! My husband and I really like bold flavors, so here are my modifications. I seasoned the meat heav..." See moreily by adding garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, basil, and a small pinch of red pepper. I too, added 1 bag of frozen mixed veggies, thawed in the microwave. Once I had my meat mixture, onion, spices, and veggies combined, I added 1 can of cream of mushroom soup. Also, I doubled the potatoes. I mashed them with 1 small can of evaporated milk, and 1/2 stick of butter, 1 egg, salt, pepper, and some garlic powder. Oh and every chance I get now, I substitute ground CHICKEN for ground beef! I saw it earlier this year at the grocery and decided to try it. It is SO good, and not at all like the flavor of ground turkey which can be very stong. This dish turned out SO good and was very flavorful! Play around with it and have fun :-)"

"Considering I enjoy bolder flavors & shepherd's pie can be somewhat bland, I made this for a church potluck & doubled the ingredients - using 1 lb of spicy breakfast sausage & 1 lb of lean ground beef..." See more (like my family does meatloaf), browned the meats with the minced garlic & diced onion (instead of sauteed in oil) & drained the fat. Added a packet of dry beef & onion soup mix with 2 cups of water & brought that to a simmering boil. Disolved a few tablespoons of corn starch in another cup of cold water adding slowly to mix. Voila! Instant beefy/onion gravy! Spread that out in my baking dish & layered the drained diced tomatoes, green beans, with an added a can of drained corn. Lightly salted the layerd veggies. Always running late, I chose to use boxed dehydrated real potatoes (4 cups of water, 1 cup milk, 1/2 stick butter, 1/2 tsp salt, boiled then added 4 cups of dry potatoes. Instead of the additional cup of water, I used a cup of sour cream & then mixed in the beaten egg)! Using a disposable force-bag & a wide tip, topped everything with the high peaked potato stars. (Appearance and presentation is everything at church potlucks!) Nicely filled a 9X13 deep baking dish. Baked 25 minutes until potato peaks started to become light golden brown, topped with the cheese & baked another 10 minutes until the cheese melted. Voila! The ladies were impressed & asked me how I did it ... ... That's always a wonderful compliment for a guy who enjoys cooking & good eats!"

"I made this with a few modifications, after reading other reviews, and evaluating my pantry. Firstly, I ommitted the oil, because I didn't think it was necessary, and added more fat. I browned the gro..." See moreund beef with the chopped onion, and about 2-3 teaspoons garlic powder, as I didn't have any garlic on hand. After draining the fat from the beef, I added 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, and half a packet of dry onion soup mix. I then added the green beans and tomatoes, and also a can of corn. It was plenty to fill a 9x13 dish, so I doubled the potatoes. I actually used 6, because they were smaller. I didn't add any water to the potatoes, just a tiny bit of milk for creaminess, and stuck with one egg, even though I had tripled the potatoes. I made a mistake and topped it with cheese before baking, instead of later on, but it turned out just fine. This is a wonderful dish that has been added to my list of staple meals for our family. My husband just loved it, and we didn't even put ketchup on it! (That's saying a lot; I eat ketchup on everything.) So thanks for a great recipe!"