Recipe · Mince
Vegan Cottage Pie
Savoury mince and lentils under a crisp-topped, mustardy mash. Pure comfort.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Easy
Vegan
Cottage pie is Sunday-evening food: a rich, gravy-thick filling and a fluffy mash top raked with a fork so the ridges go crunchy in the oven. Adding a tin of green lentils to the vegan mince stretches it further and gives a lovely, varied texture.
Ingredients
servings
For 4 servings.
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion (finely chopped)
- 2 carrots (finely diced)
- 1 stick celery (finely diced)
- 400g vegan mince
- 1 × 400g tin green lentils (drained)
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (classic Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies)
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 400ml vegetable stock (check it's vegan)
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
- 100g frozen peas
- 1.2kg floury potatoes (peeled and chunked)
- 60g vegan butter
- 100ml unsweetened plant milk
- 1 tsp English mustard
Scaled amounts are rounded. Cooking times usually stay the same, but a bigger batch may need a bigger pan or an extra few minutes.
Method
- Heat the oil in a large pan and gently cook the onion, carrots and celery for 10 minutes until soft.
- Add the mince and cook over a higher heat for 5 minutes until browned. Stir in the tomato purée and flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the lentils, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, stock and thyme. Simmer for 15–20 minutes until the gravy has thickened. Stir in the peas and season. Tip into an ovenproof dish, about 20 × 30cm.
- Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in salted water for 15–20 minutes until tender. Drain, steam-dry for 2 minutes, then mash with the vegan butter, milk and mustard. Season well.
- Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan), gas 6. Spoon the mash over the filling, starting at the edges to seal it in, then rough up the top with a fork.
- Bake for 25–30 minutes until bubbling at the edges and golden on top. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Good to know
- Let the filling cool slightly before topping — the mash will sit on it rather than sink in.
- Assemble the pie a day ahead, keep it covered in the fridge and add 10–15 minutes to the baking time, making sure it's piping hot in the middle.
Check every label: stocks, sauces, breads and pastries sometimes contain milk, egg or fish. Cook until piping hot all the way through.
