I made my first Shepherd’s pie ever and it was completely vegan! I made it with delicious and nutritious green lentils and cover Shepherd’s pie with mashed sweet potato. It was so good!
The Christmas Eve is coming very soon and I am quickly brainstorming what it can be done for my vegan Christmas dinner. This is the first year I am going to celebrate as a vegan and actually eat vegan Christmas dinner. So the question is: WHAT DO VEGANS EAT FOR CHRISTMAS DINNER?
Jump to RecipePrint RecipeThis question gets even more complicated as this is the first year when I am going to celebrate a proper Christmas with Christmas dinner in Australia. I know from my boyfriend that the traditional Christmas dinner in Australia is roasted turkey, ham with some gravy, roasted vegetables – especially pumpkin, butternut squash,
So you can clearly tell, not many things on Australian Christmas table are vegan. I have to make own ‘special’ Christmas dinner. Will vegan Shepherd’s pie work? I think so! It has all the yummies the Australians eat for Christmas dinner plus it really reflects what the vegans are all about – not to harm any animals!
What is Shepherd’s pie? If you have never heard about Shepherd’s pie, it’s easy to explain. It’s a dish which comes from England and Ireland. It’s a pie also called ‘cottage pie’, filled with lamb or beef, gravy, and vegetables, such as onion, peas, carrot, celery, and all topped with mashed potato. As you see, as vegans we have to
The sweet potato used in this recipe is also a fantastic option as it offers you a new way how to prepare a traditional Shepherd’s pie (which usually uses a normal potato). Don’t forget to add a lot of different herbs (fresh or dried) as they give Shepherd’s pie very interesting taste!
I used green FRENCH STYLE lentils which are a fabulous source of protein. You can use traditional green lentils and oven some mixed soup lentils!
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If you decide to make this vegan shepherd’s pie later, it’s a great dish to be eaten especially in winter season. Shepherd’s pie is generally a very full filling dish and it will surely warm you from inside out!
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup green or French style lentils
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion peeled and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- 1 1/3 cup frozen peas
- 1 1/2 cup mushrooms sliced
- 3 medium carrots chopped
- 1 cup frozen green beans
- 1 small leek chopped
- 1 tsp dried or fresh oregano
- 1 tsp dried or fresh thyme
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp Italian herbs mix
- 1 tsp dried or fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp salt (and more for tasting)
- pepper
- fresh parsley chopped, to serve
- 1 tbsp vegan butter
- 1/2 cup plant-based milk
- 2 medium sweet purple potatoes peeled and cut in chunks
Instructions
- In a saucepan bring to boil water and add lentils. Cover and cook the lentils for 10 minutes or until tender over the medium heat. Drain and set aside.
- In a large pan, heat the oil and add onion, garlic, leek, carrots, peas, green beans, mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Then add all the spices and cooked lentils and cook for another 3 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper.
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celcius.
- Transfer the cooked lentils and vegetables into your casserole dish. You don’t have to put baking paper or grease the casserole dish.
- In a saucepan, bring water to boil and add your purple sweet potatoes. Boil them for 10 minutes or until they are very tender so you can mash them with a fork. Drain them and place them back in a hot saucepan.
- In the same saucepan with your sweet potatoes, add the butter. Don’t cook it, the butter will melt without cooking. Add your plant-based milk and mash the potatoes with a fork until they are absolutely smooth without any lumps.
- Place the mashed potatoes on the top of lentil and vegetable mix in the casserole dish. Bake the pie in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Divide in between plated and garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Klara Walterova
Klara is a professional freelance writer for hire. She offers web content, blog posting, ghostwriting and copywriting. She writes for a healthy lifestyle, wellness and travel websites. She focuses on veganism and the vegan diet. When she's not writing, she develops new tasty vegan recipes, travels the world or plays with her cats. Please contact her for her online writing services on her website writtenbyvegan.com or visit her Instagram profile @writtenbyvegan.