Cottage Pie Baked Potatoes

Baked potatoes loaded with a cottage pie filling and topped with cheesy mashed potato!

 As one of my most loved and most popular recipes, I had to include this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’!

Cottage Pie Filling

These baked potatoes are a funky twist on the Classic Cottage Pie that are super easy to make and even more delicious to eat! The filling is a key component of this recipe. There’s no good having a beautifully baked potato with a bland filling! The base of the filling is ground beef, although you could use lamb if you’d prefer these to be Shepherd’s Pies.

Red Wine

I highly recommend adding a glug of red wine to the filling. It pairs so beautifully with the beef and offers a real depth of flavour to the gravy. No need to splash out on anything fancy – just use what you’ve got on hand! Anything dry will do the trick. You can sub more beef stock if you’d prefer.

Gravy Granules

These are a game changer when making a cottage pie filling. Not only do they add flavour, but they also help thicken the gravy. I highly recommend using a trusted brand such as Bisto. If you’re struggling to find gravy granules you can sub flour (see recipe notes below).

Low Simmering

Once you’ve added in all the ingredients you’ll want to reduce the heat and gently simmer everything until the gravy thickens. This will also give chance for the flavours to marry together and will also help tenderize the beef slightly too.

Process shots: add onion, carrot, mushroom & garlic to pan (photo 1), fry (photo 2), fry beef (photo 3), fry tomato puree and simmer red wine (photo 4), add stock, Worcestershire sauce, gravy granules, herbs & seasoning (photo 5), simmer (photo 6).

Baked Potatoes

Okay, filling done, now we need to get it inside the potatoes. As such, you’ll want to bake some large potatoes until knife tender, then gut them out to make room for the filling.

Cottage Pie Topping

To put the potato to good use, we’re going to mash it up with a concoction of goodies, then plonk it on top of the potatoes once they’re stuffed.

Process shots: coat potatoes in olive oil & salt (photo 1), bake (photo 2), slice off top (photo 3), gut out centre (photo 4), add to bowl with butter, milk, cheese & seasoning (photo 5), mash (photo 6).

Cottage Pie Loaded Potatoes

To construct the potatoes, whack the filling in the centre, top with potato and more cheese, then bung them in the oven. One word of advice, make sure you clean up any cheese from the tray before going in the oven, otherwise it’ll burn (yes I made that mistake below 🤣).

The potatoes are done when the skin is crispy and the topping is golden and bubbly.

Process shots: add skins to tray (photo 1), add filling (photo 2), top with potato and cheese (photo 3), bake (photo 4).

Serving Cottage Pie Baked Potatoes

To serve, here I added some roasted broccoli and cauliflower, but do check out my Sides for more inspo! (Green Beans also work nicely).

Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these cottage pie potatoes shall we?!

How to make Cottage Pie Baked Potatoes (Full Recipe & Video)

Cottage Pie Baked Potatoes

Baked potatoes loaded with a cottage pie filling and topped with cheesy mashed potato!

5 from 26 votes

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Servings (click & slide): 6

Course: Dinner / Main Course

Cuisine: British

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Calories per serving: 686kcal

Author: Chris Collins

Cost per serving: £2

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Equipment:

• Large Baking Tray (for baking potatoes)
• Large Pan & Wooden Spoon (for filling)
• Large Mixing Bowl & Potato Mash (for topping)
• Jug (for stock)
• Sharp Knife & Chopping Board

Ingredients (check list):

Potatoes/Topping

• ▢ 6 large Baking Potatoes (approx 350g/12oz EACH)
• ▢ 4oz / 120g freshly grated Cheddar
• ▢ 1/4 cup / 60ml Milk or Cream
• ▢ 2 heaped tbsp Butter
• ▢ 1/8 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• ▢ Salt & Pepper, as needed
• ▢ Olive Oil, as needed

Filling

• ▢ 1lb / 500g Ground Beef Mince (10-12% works great)
• ▢ 1.25 cups / 300ml Beef Stock
• ▢ 1/4 cup / 60ml Red Wine (sub more stock)
• ▢ 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• ▢ 1 heaped tbsp Beef Gravy Granules (see notes)
• ▢ 1 tbsp Tomato Puree (Tomato Paste in US)
• ▢ 1 medium Onion, finely diced
• ▢ 1 medium Carrot, finely diced
• ▢ 2.5oz / 75g Mushrooms, finely diced
• ▢ 1 clove Garlic, finely diced
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Dried Rosemary
• ▢ Salt & Pepper, as needed
• ▢ Olive Oil, as needed

Instructions:

• Stab the potatoes a few times all over, then coat in a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Pop in the oven at 356F/180C for 80mins, or until deep golden, crispy and knife tender.
• Once cool enough to handle, slice off the top (3/4 of the way up) and scoop out most of the centre into a large bowl, leaving a thin wall to keep the potato sturdy. Mash the potato with butter, milk, nutmeg, half of the cheese and plenty of salt & pepper to taste (I typically use 1/2 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp pepper).
• Meanwhile, in a large pan over medium heat add a drizzle of oil alongside the carrot, onion, garlic and mushrooms. Fry until soft and starting to pick up colour, then add in the beef and fry until brown all the way through, breaking up with your wooden spoon as you go.
• Stir in 1 tbsp tomato puree and fry for a couple of mins, then pour in the wine. Simmer for a few mins to allow the beef to soak it up, then pour in the beef stock. Stir in rosemary, thyme, gravy granules, Worcestershire sauce and salt & pepper (to taste). Reduce heat to low and gently simmer for around 20-25mins to thicken the sauce.
• Spoon the beef into the potatoes, then top with a few heaped tbsp of potato. You should be left with 1 cup of mash, save it in the fridge for a rainy day. Top potatoes with cheese, then place back in the oven at 220C/430F for around 12-15mins, or until golden & bubbly!

Quick 1 min demo!

Notes:

a) Beef - I find 10-12% fat works great. That way you get some nice fatty flavour, but the beef doesn't end up too greasy. If you've only got high-fat beef (i.e. 20%) I recommend draining away most of the fat after it's fried. You can also use lamb for this recipe to make Shepherd's Pie Baked Potatoes!

b) Gravy Granules - These are used to thicken the sauce and add flavour. I highly recommend using a trusted brand such as Bisto. If you're struggling to find gravy granules, I recommend stirring in 1 tbsp flour into the mince after the tomato puree and before the wine. Fry it off for a few mins to get rid of that floury taste, then gradually pour in the liquid to avoid lumps.

c) Red Wine - This adds a gorgeous depth of flavour to the beef. Any dry red wine will do the trick (don't splash out on something expensive). Most, if not all of the alcohol will burn off, but if you don't want to use it just sub with more stock.

d) Calories - Per potato assuming 1.5 tbsp olive oil total.

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Nutrition:

Nutrition Facts

Cottage Pie Baked Potatoes

Amount Per Serving

Calories 686 Calories from Fat 254

% Daily Value*

Fat 28.27g43%

Saturated Fat 12.705g64%

Trans Fat 0.968g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1.42g

Monounsaturated Fat 10.505g

Cholesterol 104mg35%

Sodium 622mg26%

Potassium 2240mg64%

Carbohydrates 72.87g24%

Fiber 7.4g30%

Sugar 7.15g8%

Protein 34.01g68%

Vitamin A 2175IU44%

Vitamin C 41.3mg50%

Calcium 263mg26%

Iron 4.86mg27%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition is based on the absence of salt unless stated as a measurement in the ingredients. Cost is worked out based on ingredients bought from UK supermarkets, then divided by the number of servings. In both instances these values are just for guidance. Please check out my FAQ Page for more info.

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Looking for more?You'll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook 'Comfy'

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