Vegan Lentil Shepherd’s Pie – Mushroom and Lentil Shepherdless Pie with Gravy and Garlic mashed potatoes. Gluten-free Nut-free Recipe. Can be soy-free oil-free. Vegetarian Shepherds Pie.
In my series of traditional and simple holiday favorites, the next dish is this Delicious Lentil Mushroom Shepherdless Pie. Garlic mashed Potatoes over mushrooms, onion, lentils, veggies mixed with a bit of gravy, baked, then served with more of my 1 Pot gravy!
The pie comes together quickly once you have your potatoes done and the veggies assembled. You can cook the lentils and potatoes in the Instant Pot with PIP(pot in pot method), see recipe notes, or in separate pots and make ahead. I like my pie on the wet side, use less or more of the gravy with the lentils to preference. Add seasonal veggies or other root vegetables. I love the garlic breadcrumb and herb topping from my chickpea sweet potato shepherd’s pie on this. It elevates the flavor to a whole new level. Lets get cooking for Thanksgiving.
Combine the cooked lentils, sauteed mushrooms + veggies , gravy, herbs and spices. The picture below is prebaking (ready for the potato layer) and the sauce dries up significantly.
More Mains for the Holidays
- Lentil Quinoa Loaf. a fave
- Cauliflower Steaks with mushroom gravy GF
- Chickpea Veggie “meatloaf”
- Cauliflower Alfredo, Spinach, Artichoke Lasagna. can be GF
- Easy Vegan Veggie Lasagna. Can be GF
- Whole Roasted Cauliflower with creamy makhani sauce . GF , perfect for non traditional gatherings
This shepherd’s pie does take some time, but divide up make ahead, then layer and store until ready on bake on the day.
Vegan Lentil Shepherd's Pie - Mushroom Lentil Shepherdless Pie
Ingredients
Lentil Mushroom:
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 (0.5 ) medium onion
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 8 oz mushrooms cremini, white or a mix with portobello
- 3/4 cup (96 g) chopped carrots
- 1/2 cup (50.5 g) chopped celery
- 1 tsp fresh or 1/2 dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) dried sage
- 1.5 cups (297 g) cooked brown lentils 1.25 to 1.5 cups, drained well, see note to cook in Instant pot
- 1/3 cup (72.5 g) peas
- 1/3 cup (78.67 g) Vegan Gravy and more for serving, or mix 1 tbsp veggie broth, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1 tsp vegan worchestershire sauce, a good dash of onion and garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- 1 tbsp bbq sauce or 2 tsp tomato paste (optional)
- black pepper to taste
- extra virgin olive oil and thyme for topping
Instructions
- Prepare your mashed potatoes and vegan gravy and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Pulse the onion, garlic, mushrooms in a processor, or chop all by hand.
- Add onion mushroom mixture to a skillet with a good pinch of salt and 1 tsp oil over medium heat and cook for 8 minutes or until the moisture from the mushrooms is starting to dry. Add the carrots, celery, other chopped vegetables (upto 1 cup), herbs, 1/4 tsp salt and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes.
- Alternatively, brush oil on the baking dish. Add the chopped onion mushroom mixture and bake for 12 to 14 minutes, then add the carrots, celery, other chopped root vegetables, mix in and continue to bake for another 8 minutes.
- Fold in the lentils, peas, bbq sauce, gravy, black pepper and mix in (in the baking dish or mix in the the skillet and transfer to the baking dish). Taste and adjust salt and flavor. Add less or more gravy to preference.
- Layer the mashed potatoes on top. Use a spatula to even ithem out.
- Add a drizzle of olive oil and a dash of thyme and pepper, or top with these garlic breadcrumbs.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Broil for a minute to brown. Cool for a few minutes before serving. The pie keeps thickening on cooling. Serve with gravy or other toppings of choice. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for 4 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Very good flavor! I started the night before by making the lentils in the instant pot. Even though the recipe took awhile to prepare, I will make it again.
instant pot is such a time saveer. i’m glad that you took the time to prepare and enjoy this. – and also to leave a nice review
Awesome, my grandson had 3 helpings, ate it 3 days in a row! I never told him it was vegetarian.
That.. is awesome. What they don’t know….hee hee. quite a yummy trick indeed. Thanks for the 5Stars!!
That doesn’t quite help me. But thanks for trying.
Maybe I missed this in your post but you say 185 calories per serving but how big is a serving. So many grams or a cup? Thanks. (I’m on a diet).😄
It makes six servings in 9 by 9 inch pan
Fascinating recipe.
Do you think this will work with canned pumpkin?
yes, you will need to add some flour to the pumpkin so that it sets on baking as some canned pumpkin can be much more like a puree compared to potatoes
Would you do only pumpkin or a mix of potato and pumpkin? I have a ton of fresh pumpkin ready to use
yes that should work. You can add more garlic and herbs to the mix to keepit more savory
I made this and used the Instant Pot for the filling and just boiled the potatoes, came out great as all of Richa’s recipes do 🙂
This shepherds pie is delicious. I made the gravy too! A little time consuming but definitely worth it! Loved it!
Awesome! Yes it is a bit time intensive. I usually divide it up ad make parts of it earlier
Hi this recipe looks amazing! Can it be reheated ok in the microwave?
yes
could I make this ahead, freeze it and then thaw and bake the day of?
yes, assemble and freeze. Bake covered with foil , remove foil for the last 10 mins to brown
So do I bake it from frozen or do I thaw it first? Do I need to adjust baking time or temperature? I am bringing this to my family Thanksgiving and I’m hoping to convert some meat eaters with this delicious sounding recipe!
Just let it sit at room temp for 15 mins and bake. Check at 40 mins if the center is heated through and the top is golden enough, else continue to bake.
This took me some time to make because of all the steps but it was absolutely worth it! Just delicious. My husband loved it. So tasty.
Awesome!! I usually make the lentils ahead and chop up the veggies ahead to reduce the work on the day.
Yes I was thinking I would do that next time. It is definitely worth the time 😊
Can i cook it without he mushrooms?
Thanks, Rina
Yes, just add more veggies and lentils to bulk it up in volume for the missing mushrooms.
Made this after Thanksgiving and LOVED it! I will be doubling the veggies next time.
Any ideas to make this meal into a complete protein?
Add less of the potato layer and add some cooked chickpeas or quinoa in the lentil mixture.
Excellent! Everyone loved it. I didn’t have any bbq sauce on hand so I used a little bit of ketchup. My daughter requested I make it again for Christmas dinner ☺
yay!!
Richa, This is going to be on my Thanksgiving Table,I love lentils and all the rest that is in the recipe. Thank You for the terrific recipes and a very happy Holiday season to you and yours. Matilda
This looks Delicious, I might use this recipe in one of my other vegan concoctions on my instagram (https://www.instagram.com/munchwithmae/)
Do you think this would work with sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes?
Yes, see my chickpea sweet potato shepherd’s pie for reference. http://www.veganricha.com/2016/10/vegan-shepherds-pie-chickpeas-sweet-potato.html
Hi Richa, thanks for the recipe it looks fabulous. I am going to make it this weekend. The photograph without the Potato (just showing the vegetable base) is this the skillet version or the bake it in the oven version? I am assuming if you bake it 12-14 minutes you bake it at 400F. Is the dish an 8” x 8” ?
Do use make your own BBQ sauce? is the sage in the recipe dried or fresh?
If you used canned puy lentils would it be 1.5 cups drained?
Thanks
Thats the baked version where i baked the mushroom onion mixture them mixed in the lentils, gravy and spices etc and it is ready for the potato layer. Its a 9 by 9 inch pan. sage is dried. I use annie’s maple bbq sauce. Most canned lentils yield 1.25 to 1.5 cups drained, so yes.
Hi Richa, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Very much appreciated.
I live in the UK so have not heard of Annie’s maple bbq sauce,. I may make my own perhaps.
I would love to watch a video of this recipe. I can imagine that there must be a lot of work involved.
Thanks again for the recipe. It is my birthday this week and your new cookbook is being gifted to me. Can’t wait….
Yes, you can use any other bbq sauce. its a small quantity to add a balance of flavor. Yes i will eventually make a video. Its not a dish that can be messed up too much. Taste the lentils and potatoes individually before baking and if they all taste good, then together they are definitely going to taste good 🙂
Hi
THe links to the mashed pots, and gravy return a NOT FOUND, ERROR 404 message. Can you fix pls???
THanks
fixed
Your recipe looks so decadent, but it’s amazing how secretly healthy (and diet-friendly) it is! 😀 I’ll be sure to try something like it soon!
When I think of what I am thankful for, its YOU..your blog, your recipes and your cookbooks. I don’t know what our family would do without your terrific recipes.
I second this comment! Absolutely love your recipes and this ones looks PERFECT for winter. Can’t wait to give it a whirl 🙂
Just might have to make this tonight!