Beef and Lentil Cottage Pie
A common conundrum our users express is wanting to eat more plant-based meals but living with family members who don’t. Recipes like this please every... Read more A common conundrum our users express is wanting to eat more plant-based meals but living with family members who don’t. Recipes like this please everyone - we use a small amount of minced beef mixed with red lentils, so you get the satisfaction of eating meat with a lot more fibre. If you want to keep it completely vegetarian you can use tempeh instead of beef - give it a few pulses in the food processor until it's crumbly. A common conundrum our users express is wanting to eat more plant-based meals but living with family members who don’t. Recipes like this please everyone - we use a small amount of minced beef mixed with red lentils, so you get the satisfaction of eating meat with a lot more fibre. If you want to keep it completely vegetarian you can use tempeh instead of beef - give it a few pulses in the food processor until it's crumbly.
Plantpoints
protein
fibre
vegetables
Plantpoints
protein
fibre
vegetables
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NUTRITION PER SERVING (Read more)
Notes
Freezing Instructions: Assemble the pie up until stage 10. Allow to cool completely. Wrap well and place in the freezer. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and let sit out for 30 minutes to lose fridge chill before baking as usual. (It might need an extra 10-15 minutes). Keeps well frozen for up to 3 months.
Plantpoints
protein
fibre
vegetables
Ingredients
Method
Gather and prepare your ingredients. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan.
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Add the onions, carrots and celery with a light sprinkle of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, for 5-6 minutes, until softened.
Add the garlic, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce and thyme. Cook for 1-2 minutes until darkened and fragrant.
Add the red lentils and beef and stir to coat. Chop up the beef with the back of your spatula. The beef doesn't need to fully cook at this stage.
Add the stock, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10-12 minutes, until tender. Add more stock if needed, you want the mixture to be a little saucy but not excessively so. If using beef, cook uncovered. If using tempeh, cover the pan during cooking.
Add the peas at the end and cook for about 1 minute, just until defrosted.
Meanwhile, place the potatoes into a saucepan and cover with cold water. Add a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook for 17-20 minutes until tender. Drain well. Allow the potatoes to sit in the colander for several minutes to steam. The drier your potatoes are at this stage, the creamier your mash will be.
While the potatoes are draining place the milk and olive oil into the pan over a low heat. Heat for 2-3 minutes, just until shivering but do not let it bubble.
Turn off the heat and add the cooked potatoes to the pan with the milk. Mash until smooth and creamy. Adjust seasoning to taste. Don’t worry if it appears wet at first. Potatoes absorb a lot of liquid and they will dry out further in the oven. As there is a fairly minimal amount of added fat in this mash you need a lot of liquid to avoid a grainy texture.
Spoon the mashed potatoes over the base. If desired, use a fork to create grooves in the mashed potatoes.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling at the edges. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Freezing Instructions: Assemble the pie up until stage 10. Allow to cool completely. Wrap well and place in the freezer. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and let sit out for 30 minutes to lose fridge chill before baking as usual. (It might need an extra 10-15 minutes). Keeps well frozen for up to 3 months.
User comments (50)
Very very tasty! Definitely need to make it again. You can TASTE that’s it’s doing good.
Very nutritious. I should have used a bit more liquid with the mash. But I’m a little slap dash measuring the ingredients:)
Delicious! Can’t fault it.
Just out of the oven had a little taste.. yummy!! Another keeper
Very delicious.
Flavoursome- no one would know that it has red lentils
20 minutes prep time is unrealistic from scratch. With chopping up it took over an hour. All that being said this recipe is delicious and packed full of flavour. I had a second plate of it. I would never go back to ‘ordinary’ cottage pie after this.
I’ve made this twice now. Very tasty and easy to cook. We make this for the week so our dinners are ready after work. Kids enjoyed it too.
Very delicious ! I used minced chicken and doubled the amount. Also added some smoked paprika powder for extra flavor. I'ts so good.
This was really nice, flavourful meal, it was a nice change from the greasy mince. I'm new to lentils and this recipe was a great way to start off. It made quite a few meals as I doubled up the recipe, I did have help from my partner and twin sister too as usual. 🦋
This is the second time I’ve made this, and it turned out beautifully. So delicious and healthy, I love it!
Great combination of the lentils and beef, tastes very wholesome. Used more potatoes and will try cheese on top next time, as someone has suggested. I added more Worcestershire sauce and some extra herbs. The carrots stay al dente unless you precook them!
I have this one one high rotation, very tasty! A little extra work and a little extra washing up but if you have 1L glass food containers, you can split it into four bowls before you bake it, great for meal prep!
This recipe was super easy to follow and came out exactly like the photos. The meal is extremely nourishing and flavourful. I’ve never made my own Cottage Pie but the blend of nutrients come together so well to create a perfect dish. It made me feel amazing about what I ate.
Excellent made this twice comforting and healthy
Great recipe. It really hit the spot! I used sweet potatoes for the topping and they were great. I also sprinkled some Maldon salt on top. Perfection! Thanks for so many great reicipe ideas.
It was delicious as every recipe on this app has been. Thank you 🙏
I roughly used the recipe for 4 albeit without measuring anything. I used carrot, courgette, celery fried with onion and garlic. Then 300g beef mince and roughly 100g red lentils. I put some English mustard in along with chives, beef stock and red wine and gran padano in the mashed sweet potato and cheddar on top. I also put the last dregs of a chutney jar in along with the Worcester sauces and tomato paste. Delicious
Very tasty and hearty
Really tasty. Will be making this one again.
Amazing
This was delicious - you would not even know there are lentils in there! I added an orange kumera with the potatoes which gave the mash a lovely orange colour. This was really flavourful and everyone went back for seconds!
Yes...appeses the sceptic lentils eaters.
Really enjoyed this, healthier than I usual cottage pie. Doubled mince recipe to use up pack of mince, so have leftovers for another pie.
This was surprisingly tasty. I used some msg to add more umami and it was delicious. Did potatoes separate under the grill with some cheese and it was perfect. Also cooked the soffrito for about an hour to get them extra delicious.
This is absolutely delicious. My 14 year old daughter went back for seconds and thirds, which means a lot because she’s normally my harshest critic with new recipes. But this one is a winner and will be in the rotation regularly.
I followed the recipe exactly and it was absolutely delicious! Served it with a side of broccoli. Will definitely be making this again!
Lovely recipe. I made it with tempeh but had run out of Worcestershire sauce, tried miso but as I wasn’t using meat this reduced the flavour. So definitely needs Worcestershire sauce and pretty much all the water.
Fiber & Protein packed comfort food
The recipe is very tasty, but the veggies (particularly the carrots) need to be well cooked before they go in the oven. I will definitely make it again - it’s a delicious way to include all those veggies
We absolutely loved this cottage pie. Healthy comfort food at its best. We had it with a side of broccoli and some gravy. This is a favourite in our house now.
Really tasty - definitely serves more than four! But always great to have leftovers
Tried this today and tasted lovely It's the first time I've used red lentils in with beef mince which added to texture Also I added red Leicester to the top of mash which turned out lovely from oven.
Didn't have frozen peas so I used courgette instead. Go give it a go you will be glad you did especially on cold days warms up your tummy 😊
Absolutely delicious change to my usual cottage pie. The combination of the beef and lentils makes for a very nice flavoursome pie. This will now be a regular for us. Another sensation from DR. Rupy.
Loved this recipe! Didn't have carrots so added mushrooms instead. Added grated fresh turmeric and nutritional yeast. Swapped the mash for sliced sweet potato in a layer on top. Went lovely and crispy in the oven. Will definitely make again 😋
As this was a family meal I used all meat and no lentils. It was still delicious and firm family favourite
A new favorite and doable as a weeknight dinner. Prechopping on the weekend recommended to make it even easier. I used ground chicken and a healthy chicken bouillon instead of beef. I also added about a cup of parmesan cheese over the potatoes before baking. Delicious and we have leftovers for lunch!
This works perfectly and is very easy to make. I think you’ll be ok throwing in any kind of frozen vegetables besides peas; it won’t alter the texture or flavor drastically.
Cooked in trepidation and enjoyed immensely!
Needs a lot more seasoning for flavor. And it to hours to make. Much longer than I expected.
It was lovely and tasty, we also had green beans and zucchini on the side. Yum
Sooooo delicious and a real comfort dish. Firm family favourite. Thank you so much for the recipe Dr Rupy and team. It will be a regular this winter.
Divine!
Lovely warming recipe ideal for the colder months. I added tamari and plain flour to thicken the mince sauce. Also, used a mix of white and sweet potatoes for extra fibre.
A winner!!! Everyone loved it. Very nice on a cold evening.
Delicious & with almond milk it’s so light ! I loved it
Another hit with the family.
Used chicken mince instead of beef though.
Another fabulous recipe Rupy thank you 🙏🤩
Just added a few chilli flakes 😋😋
Home comfort with a little extra flavour. Can use the base layer for pasta etc
This was amazing! My family and I really enjoyed this. It kept getting tastier as we ate.