This Chorizo Shepherd’s Pie turns a comfort food classic into something a little zestier! It’s veggie-packed, made with spicy ground pork chorizo, and topped off with creamy, buttery mashed sweet potatoes!
Let’s take that classic comfort food of meat, potatoes, and veggies and turn it into a meal the whole family will love with bold new flavors.
While I love the idea of shepherd’s pie, classic shepherd’s pie has just never really been my thing. You’d think meat, potatoes, and veggie dish would excite me, but all of the shepherd’s pie recipes I’ve tried just haven’t quite satisfied the craving I want them to.
So, I wanted to figure out a way to take what we all know as shepherd’s pie up a notch.
Well, I’ve done it. This Chorizo Shepherd’s Pie is exactly what I had in mind. It’s loaded with onions, peppers, and corn, spiced up with pork chorizo instead of ground beef, and a perfect blend of seasonings. Then we omit traditional mashed potatoes and top this one with mashed sweet potatoes.
Serve with a drizzle of hot sauce, a few fresh slices of avocado, and dinner is served!
What is Shepherd’s Pie?
Shepherd’s Pie is a savory pie that’s made up of ground meat, usually beef or lamb, simmered in a flavorful gravy, then topped with mashed potatoes. It’s pure comfort food.
This version of shepherd’s pie is just that, but with a twist! This spicy chorizo version makes shepherd’s pie into something a little spicier with pork chorizo, a few additional rich spices, and sweet potatoes!
Ingredients Needed
- Sweet Potatoes – leave the skin on until after boiling.
- Butter – because can you really have mashed potatoes without butter?
- Seasonings – we already have so much flavor from the chorizo, but a simple blend of salt, pepper, smoked paprika, ground cumin, and cayenne takes this pie to the next level.
- Pork Chorizo – a spicy ground pork sausage, gives the shepherd’s pie a kick of spice and so much more flavor than the standard ground beef.
- White Wine – if you’d rather not use wine in this recipe, you can easily swap it out for broth.
- Veggies – we’re using a blend of onion, sweet peppers, and frozen corn kernels.
- Tabasco – for serving!
How to Make Shepherd’s Pie
This easy shepherd’s pie recipe comes together with just 10 minutes of prep!
First, add the sweet potatoes to a large pot of cold, salted water. Bring it to a boil and cook for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside, then discard the skins.
Return the potatoes to the pot, add the butter, and mash. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
In a large skillet, toast the seasonings for one minute, then add the chorizo and brown for 7-10 minutes. Add the white wine, onion, and pepper, simmer for another 5 minutes, then stir in the corn.
Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the skillet, place the skillet into the oven, and bake at 350ºF for 10-15 minutes. Switch to broil and cook for another 3-5 minutes, then serve.
Variations
- Add more veggies. This great thing about this Southwest shepherd’s pie, or shepherd’s pie in general, is you can add in really any veggies you like and it will still be delicious. Try carrots, celery, frozen peas, zucchini, mushrooms, or even frozen mixed veggies. If you want an entirely different flavor, check out my Moroccan shepherd’s pie recipe!
- Use regular potatoes. I love the flavor of sweet potatoes in this recipe, but if you’d prefer to use regular potatoes, that works great too.
- Use another meat. If preferred, you can swap the pork chorizo out for another type of ground meat. Keep in mind that chorizo is heavily seasoned, so if you use another meat, you will likely need to add more seasonings yourself. This recipe is a perfect ground pork recipe and you can adjust the spice to your family’s tastes easily.
- No baking dish? No problem. We use cast iron instead of a casserole dish for this recipe for ease of clean up and well, we didn’t have to dig it out of storage. A cast iron skillet works great for this recipe but a square 9×9 casserole dish works great too.
Serving Suggestions
I love to serve this chorizo shepherd’s pie with a drizzle of hot sauce for some extra heat and a few slices of avocado.
While shepherd’s pie is a complete meal all on its own, you can totally bulk your meal up with a side of dinner rolls, roasted brussels sprouts, or a simple side salad.
How to Store
Leftover shepherd’s pie will last in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge if frozen, then reheat at 350ºF in the oven or in smaller portions in the microwave until warmed through.
More Dinner Recipe Inspiration
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Chorizo Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes cut into thirds – leave skins on
- 2 tablespoon butter
- Salt and pepper
- 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- 1 lbs ground pork chorizo
- ¼ cup white wine
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 small sweet peppers minced
- 2 cups frozen corn kernels thawed
- Additional Tabasco as needed
Instructions
- Add the sweet potatoes to a large pot of cold salted water and bring it to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes, until fork tender.
- Drain and set aside to cool until safe to handle. When ready, discard skins.
- Return to the pot, add the butter, and mash with a potato masher or hand mixer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large, oven safe skillet, toast the paprika, cumin, and cayenne for one minute.
- Add the chorizo and brown, breaking into small bits, about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Add the white wine, onion, and pepper. Simmer another 5 minutes until liquid is reduced and almost gone.
- Stir in the corn and cook until heated through.
- Spread the mashed sweet potatoes over the top of the skillet and place in the oven to bake for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Switch the oven to broil and toast the top of the sweet potatoes, 3 to 5 minutes longer.
- Serve with additional Tabasco sauce if desired.
Silvia says
Thank you so much for this recipe! Even while I had a teeny little “ingredient malfunction”, I loved the result!
https://efreetintheoven.blogspot.it/2014/03/the-internet-is-for-corn.html
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
Hands down the best shepherds pie I have ever seen. Loving that you used sweet potato instead of normally potato especially.. great recipe, definitely need to try it.