This comforting mushroom and lentil shepherds pie with sweet potato mash is perfect for a wholesome, healthy meal!
It’s not just any sweet potato mash, it’s cheesy sweet potato mash which is the perfect topping for the flavourful lentil and mushroom filling.
This isn’t your traditional shepherd’s pie, I’ve swapped lentils for meat, sweet potato mash for regular mash and a tomato based sauce instead of gravy sauce.
I grew up eating vegetarian shepherds pie, my mum would switch the meat for lentils, beans or soya mince.
It’s a meal I’ll always associate with cosy, comforting family times. So I guess this is my adaption on my mums more traditional veggie shepherds pie!
The filling is made up of red lentils and mushrooms, they are a great texture combination. If you don’t like mushrooms you can swap this for any veggie you like such as courgette, pepper, aubergine!
The flavour in the filling comes from a combination of spices and ingredients. We’ve got cumin, smoked paprika, vegetable stock, chopped tomatoes, soy sauce, marmite and herbs.
This recipe serves six, you can either serve it in a large dish or individual ramekins (like the photo below), which would work nicely for a dinner party!
The cooking time remains the same. If you want to crisp up the mash, turn to grill for a few minutes at the end!
For the mash, I used a vegan cheddar style cheese, a mozzarella style would work nicely too. A vegan cream cheese would also be delicious but you’ll want to use less milk if you do this.
This sweet potato mash is melt in your mouth delicious. It’s buttery, cheesy, smooth highly addictive.
I had to stop myself eating spoonfuls of it before putting it in the oven!
One of my favourite things about meals like this is when the sauce bubbles up on the sides and goes crispy. So make sure you scrape those bits and eat them, or save them for me!
Because this shepherds pie is quite juicy I don’t serve it with a gravy, personally I don’t think it needs it. But if you want gravy go ahead and make a quick instant one on the side!
I like to serve this with a side of sautéed green veg or leafy salad but it’s also great on its own!
If you make the full quantity you’ll have lunch or dinner ready for the next couple of days!
For more lentil recipes you may enjoy these:
Butternut and Red Lentil Curry
As always if you make this lentil shepherds pie with sweet potato mash be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
Don’t forget to follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram – I’d love to see you all there!
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Lentil Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato Mash
Vegan lentil and mushroom shepherd's pie with a buttery, cheesy sweet potato mash. The perfect comforting, cosy and healthy meal!
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Mash
- 1.25kg (about 5) sweet potatoes
- 120ml unsweetned almond milk
- 1 heaped tbsp vegan butter
- 150g vegan cheddar style cheese
- Salt and pepper
Filling
- 1 red onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 stick of celery
- 200g chestnut mushrooms
- 250g (1.5 cups) dried red lentils
- 2 tins (800g) chopped tomatoes
- 500ml vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp marmite
- 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 2 inch chunks. Place in a large saucepan of boiling water and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Finely dice the onions and celery, crush the garlic and roughly chop the mushrooms. Heat some oil on medium heat in a large frying pan or saucepan and put the onion in.
- Next add the garlic, celery and then the mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes until the liquid from the mushrooms is absorbed.
- Rinse the lentils and add along with all the remaining ingredients. Bring to a gentle simmer and let cook and thicken for about 25 minutes.
- Check the sweet potatoes. Pierce with a knife and if soft, turn off the heat, drain and return to the pan.
- Add the milk and whisk using a hand mixer until soft. Add the butter and cheese and mix again. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Leave to one side.
- Stir the lentil mixture to make sure none is stuck to the bottom. The sauce should have thickened and darkened in colour and the lentils will be soft. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Place the lentil filling into a large dish or individual ramekins. Place dollops of the sweet potato mash on top and spoon to the edges. With the back of a fork gently make lines/peaks in the mash (this will help it to crisp).
- Pop in the oven for 25 minutes, you may want to place the dish on a baking tray in case of any spillages.
- If you want the mash a little crispier, turn on the grill and cook for a further few minutes.
- Serve and top with some fresh herbs! I like to serve with some sauteed green veg or a leafy salad.
- Will keep in the fridge in an air tight container for 3-5 days.
Notes
I used Violife cheddar style cheese. You can use any time of plant milk, such as soya or oat.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 366Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 1005mgCarbohydrates: 53gFiber: 10gSugar: 16gProtein: 15g
Annaliese
Friday 12th of April 2024
I’ve cooked this several times and it’s always delicious even the non vegans that I cook for really enjoyed it. I don’t use the vegan cheese…it’s not necessary or nice…in my opinion. I’ve also frozen the lentil mix and added the sweet potatoes after it’s been defrosted and reheated it works really well.
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Colleen
Wednesday 13th of July 2022
Hi, I made this last night it was delicious, as we are neither vegetarian or vegan I used normal dairy cheese. I also did not add Marmite as had none..
Tamsin
Thursday 14th of July 2022
Hi Colleen, thanks for your comment, so glad you enjoyed it :) Tamsin xo
Stephannie
Friday 29th of April 2022
Can you use canned lentils or do they have to be dried?
Tamsin
Tuesday 3rd of May 2022
Hi Stephannie, yes you can. I can't give exact measurements but you will need to reduce the liquid amount or let it cook and reduce/thicken before adding them :) Tamsin xo
Michelle
Thursday 26th of August 2021
Made this last night with normal potatoes and brown lentils! Didn't have celery, so used a few nappa cabbage leaves. Was so good and filling. My normally meat-eating bf even loved it. He said he couldn't even tell there were mushrooms in it, but I could and they were delicious.
Tamsin
Wednesday 1st of September 2021
Hi Michelle, so glad you both enjoyed it! You've reminded me I need to make this recipe again asap! :) Tamsin xo