It’s a modification of the classic kung pao chicken recipe. Although not quite as hot, it still has some kick. It’s excellent for people who are fussy eaters or have nut allergies. Combine with egg noodles or steaming white rice.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 55 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 1 9×13-inch casserole |
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 carrots, diced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 ½ cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- ¼ pound shredded Cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir ground beef in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Add onion and carrot; cook and stir until onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Mix in flour, Italian seasoning, and cinnamon. Stir in parsley.
- Combine beef broth and tomato paste together in a jug; add to beef mixture. Season with salt and pepper; lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Meanwhile, place diced potatoes in a medium saucepan; cover with water and place over high heat. Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes; drain. Mash potatoes until smooth, then add milk and butter; whip until fluffy. Season with salt and pepper.
- Spoon ground beef mixture into a 9×13-inch baking dish; spread mashed potatoes on top and sprinkle with grated Cheddar cheese.
- Bake in preheated oven until top is browned and cheese is bubbly, about 25 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 513 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 35 g |
| Cholesterol | 100 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Saturated Fat | 16 g |
| Sodium | 491 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 31 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Hubs loved, loved, loved this!! I made it in two parts. Filling on Saturday, and then the mashed on Sunday and into the oven it went for Sunday supper. Followed recipe as is. It’s a classic and wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you!!!
This recipe was as the name implies-easy to prep, and the directions were easy to follow. I did make some substitutions because I use what I have on hand, in this case…chicken broth (!) One thing I will do differently next time(I will make this again) is to remember to drain the beef somewhat. But a slotted spoon took care of the problem.
I can’t eat onion or garlic so used onion and garlic oil, substituted 50% stock for 50% red wine, and used half sweet potato and half regular potato in the mash. Not traditional but delicious. Unlike others, I liked the cinnamon (and went overboard with it).
Yummy! This is an easy recipe and VERY easy to adapt. I made a lot of substitutions based on what I had on hand — and this is very forgiving and delicious. I substituted ground turkey for the beef, herbes de provence for the Italian seasoning, chicken broth for the beef broth, ketchup for the tomato paste. Added celery with the carrots. I loved the addition of cinnamon — makes it warm and cozy. Used less milk for the potatoes and skipped the cheese. I will definitely make this again — and my husband loved this! Thank you for a great base recipe.
Take the Aussie’s advice. No cinnamon.
***People complaining to omit cinnamon, saying it doesn’t “go”, there is cinnamon and tomato paste in ketchup! You’re basically making a rough ketchup in this. Cinnamon DOES go.** “Best I ever had” said my mother and husband. Cook this simple recipe, people will think you know what you’re doing in the kitchen. TIP: new cooks, when you add the flour, make sure you really get it all throughout the hamburger. Mix it gently but thoroughly. It’ll seem like you’re doing a bunch of nothing but it’ll make the sauce come out well. I used homemade fermented ketchup (easy, YouTube it). I used an amount equal to a little can of paste. If I only had paste, I’d use it – the whole tiny can.
I added sliced baby portabella mushrooms. GREAT!
The recipe didn’t have enough spice to suit our tastes, but it was easy enough to add some more. Specifically, I seasoned the beef and veggies with garlic powder and steak seasoning on top of the other spices listed, and added some garlic powder, sour cream, and slap ya mama to the potatoes. I know that makes it considerably less than authentic, but my house loves its spices so what can you do? I will also note that I didn’t do any pre-prep, and start to finish from scrubbing, peeling, and cutting up potatoes and carrots to sliding it out of the oven took me two and a half hours. I’m not mad, but definitely not twenty minutes lol! I’m sure I’ll speed up as I practice the recipe, but a good note for the… less organized… in the crowd to be aware of.
This is easily a family favourite here! So delicious! I omitted the cinnamon because it doesn’t belong in traditional cottage pie (and I can’t stand the taste of the spice unless it’s on a dessert) and added frozen peas. Loved this.
Definitely omit the cinnamon. Where’s the Worcester Sauce? And all that cheese…. quite de trop. I would suggest adding a little garlic. Serve with an authentic brown sauce.
First of all no cinnamon! Used Bisto for thickening and added some smoked paprika. Used ready made mashed potatoes. Upped the amount of tomato paste to a full small can Love this recipe. It’s a regular.
good!
It wasn’t terrible. My husband is From Wales and had never heard of adding cinnamon. I wanted to follow the recipe, but next time I’ll leave out the cinnamon. I also added cheese into the potato s instead of just on top.
I was disappointed with this and sorry I added the cinnamon. It tasted all wrong.
I WISH my internet had been working better so I could read the reviews. Do NOT use the cinnamon or at least not that much. I ended up adding Worcestershire sauce to try to fix the cinnamon problem. Didn’t work. Luckily my son-in-law will put hot sauce on it and eat it. I suppose we will save the leftovers but I won’t eat them.
Will definitely make this again, but without the cinnamon. I added frozen peas just before baking and made my standard mashed potato recipe. My husband thinks it needed some heat, so next time I plan on adding red pepper flakes, garlic and worcestershire sauce. Otherwise it was the best cottage pie I’ve made so far! Thanks for the recipe.
Yum. Good recipe!I’ll remake it!
Really delicious! I used a small bag of frozen vegetable in it to add more veggies. Exactly that I was looking for.
We loved this!! Made it exactly as recipe said to. Thanks for the amazing recipe!!
Love it! Cinnamon took me off guard, but trusted the recipe and man oh man is this is amazing. I doubled the parsley, and left the skins on the potatoes?. Perfect Dish to warm you up, lift you spirit, and fill your stomach lest there be a dreary, wet, day before you. Thank you Chef John!
It is a great recipe and it came out good. It was very tasty and the ingredients are very simple and easy to access