Vegan Shepherdless Pie (Air Fryer & Oven Baked)

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Vegan Shepherdless Pie or Vegetable Shepherd’s pie is a medley of flavors, with vegetables, and lentils cooked in tomato sauce and topped and baked with creamy potato. It is a hearty, comforting vegan and gluten-free meal for those cold nights. 

This Air Fryer Vegan Shepherdless pie can be served as one of the main meals for your thanksgiving vegetarian meal or perfect for your parties and get-together.

One of the best meat-free dinners, this Vegetarian Shepherd’s pie comes together in less than 1 hour and can also be assembled, and pre-cooked before. One can create and bake it when required. Or make the complete dish and warm it before serving.

And if you are baking in an air fryer, the baking time is reduced to less than half. Secondly, it would be convenient to bake and serve individual portions in just 8-10 minutes.

What is Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherd’s Pie is a Savory casserole dish that traditionally has lamb or mutton as the filling and is topped with mashed potato and then baked.

Difference between cottage pie and shepherd’s pie

At times Cottage pie is used interchangeably with Shepherd’s Pie, but the main difference is in the meat. While Shepherd’s pie as the name suggests would have meat which is from lamb or mutton, Cottage pie would have meat from beef. 

There are many variations to this recipe and the main ingredients are meat cooked in gravy or sauce with onions, sometimes vegetables and topped with a mashed potato before it is baked. One can add a layer of cheese too, to give that extra cheesy taste. 

Shepherd’s Pie is a very common dish here in Ireland. As said it is made using lamb and being a vegetarian I do not eat it. But the baked crust on the top always intimated me to try it.

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie or Vegan Shepherdess Pie

So I thought to give a vegetarian version of this shepherd’s pie or a shepherdless pie a try. In Shepherdless pie, the meat is generally replaced with lentils for the protein portion. Green or brown lentils can be used and these lentils can be cooked from scratch or one can buy a tin.

Many skip the lentils and only add vegetables, But I love to add the lentils as it gives the dish a meaty texture as well as increase the nutrition content. 

I have not added any butter or flour to my dish and hence it is vegan and gluten-free. However, non-vegans can add butter and cheese to the potato if required. Vegans can add vegan butter too 🙂

How much time does it take?

The whole dish can be assembled in 45 minutes or less if you are using canned lentils. If lentils are cooked from scratch it would take a little longer, as we need to soak and cook the lentils. 

Baking Vegan Shepherdless Pie in an air fryer

The baking time reduces to half or less when you are baking in an air-fryer. It hardly takes 8-10 minutes in total when you are baking in an air fryer. It is economical as the preheating takes less time. An air fryer is best when you are baking in a medium size casserole or you are baking individual portions in ramekin molds.

Baking Vegan Shepherdless Pie in an Oven

If you have to make a big casserole or you are baking multiples, your air fryer would not be able to fit the dish, in that case, it is best to bake it in an oven.

What goes in this dish?

So coming to the recipe, for Shepherdless Pie or Vegetable Shepherd’s Pie one can add any combination of vegetables. Carrots, green peas, Broccoli, cauliflower, beans, etc go well. Mushrooms give a nice umami flavor to the dish. I would say this recipe is a delicious way to use the leftover vegetables from your fridge.

Recipe process of Air Fryer Vegan Shepherdless Pie

There are 3 steps to this recipe. First is the cooking of vegetables and gravy. The second is cooking of the mashed potatoes and the third is baking in the air fryer or the oven. All can be done ahead of time, or one can do the first 2 steps and assemble the dish and bake when required.

Cooking of Vegetables and Lentil Gravy for Vegetarian Shepherds Pie

The first step is cooking the lentils if using dry lentils. For this, I generally soak and pressure cook in an instant pot for 15 minutes or stove top pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles. If using tinned lentils, this step is skipped.

Next in a pot, we saute the onion, garlic, and bay leaf in a bit of oil. Then vegetables, along with tomato puree, lentils, and spices are added and allowed to cook. This helps the vegetables to absorb the flavors and cook evenly. The gravy is cooked until the vegetables are cooked and desired consistency is achieved. The gravy generally thickens if kept for some time or when cooled.

Cooking Mashed Potatoes for Vegan Shepherdless Pie

We cook the potatoes simultaneously in another pot. For this, we need to have boiled and mashed potatoes. Potatoes can be cooked along the brown lentils in the Instant pot or pressure cooker to save time.

Once the potatoes are cooked and cooled a bit we make the mash. In a heavy bottom pot, we warm the milk. To this, we add mashed potatoes, salt, and pepper. One can add some butter and cheese to make it more creamy. (Vegans can use vegan cheese and butter, if using normal it won’t be vegan). Mix everything until all the milk is absorbed and the mash archives the desired consistency. For details on how to create a potato mash from scratch refer to this post of mine.

Assembling Vegan Shepherdess Pie

The next step is to assemble everything. In a baking dish of your choice or ramekin mold, add the lentils and vegetable mix. Try to fill the dish all the way to half. Evenly spread out the mix. Top this with mashed potatoes and spread it evenly with the help of a fork or a back of a spoon.

Garnish with chopped chives or parsley on top. One can add cheese too on top. Once you add cheese it would not be vegan.

Baking in an Air fryer

Preheat the air fryer to 180 Deg C / 356 F. Keep the baking dish in the air fryer basket. Bake in a preheated air fryer for 8-10 minutes.

Baking in the oven

Preheat the oven to 180 Deg C / 356 F. Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Broil for the last 5 minutes to get a nice golden brown color on top.

Can this be Freezed and made ahead of time?

Vegetable Shepherd’s Pie freezes well. You can make individual portions and freeze them. Just defrost and use as needed.

Shelf life of Vegan Shepherdless Pie

If stored in the fridge it will stay good for 3-4 days. Just reheat when required or pop it in the oven for that crunch on the potatoes. 

How to reheat

• If using a microwave, simply pop it and warm it on high for 1-2 minutes.
• If using an air fryer, just bake it for 4-5 minutes at180 Deg C / 356 F (If the air fryer is not preheated)
• If using an air fryer, just bake it for 1-2 minutes at 180 Deg C / 356 F(If the air fryer is preheated)
• If using an oven, bake in a preheated oven at 180 Deg C / 356 F for 4-5 minutes.

Few more Thanksgiving or Vegetarian Party Ideas

I tried these Dairy Free Green Bean Casserole a few days before for my family and they loved it. So it is going in our thanksgiving party this year for my vegan friends.

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Updates

This was first posted on 18th December 2018. Today I am updating this recipe with respect to baking in an air-fryer. Added more detail in the recipe instructions and step-by-step pics.

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