Lentil Cottage Pie Without Mushrooms
A decidedly comfort-food dinner, lentil cottage pie is one of the best things to make for a chilly evening. With a rich lentil base flavoured with herbs and red wine, topped with creamy mashed potatoes, there’s nothing better. This version doesn’t include mushrooms and is made with simple, staple ingredients.
I often make this in the winter months, because though it’s a little more time intensive than a quick soup or pasta, it makes plenty. Since it reheats so spectacularly, it’s an excellent dish to make with leftovers in mind. This is one of those vegetarian meals that’s so satisfying and I often make it when I don’t have a lot of fresh produce in the house.
A little red wine goes a long way here – I don’t drink, but I always keep a little inexpensive dry wine in the refrigerator for cooking. It adds a lot of richness and depth to the lentil base. Note that less starchy lentils are preferable here or you’ll end up with a real starch bomb!
Ingredients You’ll Need and Why
I’ve listed exact measurements with the full instructions in the recipe card below, but these are the notes I took while testing this recipe.
- Potatoes: this is essentially my dairy-free mashed potatoes recipe. You’ll need starchy potatoes, salt, and water (no milk). If you’re not sure whether the potatoes in the shop are starchy or waxy, ask someone working there – they’ll be able to help. Russet is a safe bet for cottage pie.
- Vegetable broth: this is a recipe where a good broth is a staple ingredient. Water just doesn’t cut it. You can use homemade or store-bought. I often use high-quality stock cubes.
- Lentils: use brown, green, or black lentils, but not red. I prefer a slightly less starchy lentil like puy instead of plain brown – black and green lentils are both less starchy as well. If you use large brown lentils you will have a meal that feels a bit starchy and heavy.
- Red wine: if you don’t use wine, substitute one tablespoon balsamic vinegar for the wine and add extra broth to make up for it.
- Herbs and Spices: a little smoked paprika adds a meaty, deeper flavour to the dish that shouldn’t be skipped. Fresh herbs are best but if you don’t have any, substitute 1 teaspoon dried rosemary and 1 teaspoon dried thyme for fresh.
How to Make Lentil Cottage Pie
This is a little bit time consuming – about an hour – but it’s well worth it, and makes a big portion. It doesn’t need much hands-on time and vegetarian cottage pie is excellent the next day (see below for storage instructions).
Step 1: fry the onions for a few minutes, then add the carrots and garlic and cook a couple minutes longer. Stir in the spices and rosemary cook for another minute, then add the wine. Cooking the vegetables for several minutes brings out their sweetness.
Step 2: stir in the broth and bring to a boil before adding the lentils. Cover to simmer. Use a heavy lidded pot for this if you have one to avoid too much evaporation.
Step 3: boil the potatoes in salted water until soft. Use a fork to do a test. If the tines of the fork easily pass through the potato, it’s fully cooked and ready to mash.
Step 4: mash the potatoes with some reserved cooking water, oil, and spices. My method doesn’t use non-dairy milk or butter, but you can add either or both if you can eat dairy. I think cheese can be a nice addition too.
Step 5: simmer the lentil base for about 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. There shouldn’t be much liquid left at this point, but enough to make a gravy.
Step 6: thicken with the water and cornstarch mixture. You whisk the starch into water first to prevent it clumping up when it hits the hot liquid. This is an important step, and should never be skipped when thickening with starch. Stir in the thyme.
Step 7: optionally transfer the lentil base to a baking dish (see below) and top with the potatoes. I usually transfer to a baking dish because I use a non-enameled cast iron pot and prefer not to store leftovers in it.
Step 8: bake for another ten minutes, and serve. A good visual cue to look for is whether the filling has bubbled up around the edges of the pie. If it has, it’s heated through and ready to serve.
Expert Tips for the Best Vegetarian Cottage Pie
- Season to taste: be sure to taste both the base and the topping before assembling the pie, as it’s harder to add extra salt after baking (you’d have to mix everything together).
- Use the potato water: you can use milk if preferred, but the starchy cooking water is an excellent way to make a creamy vegan potato mash, granny style.
- Use an oven-safe pot: if you want less dishes, you can use an oven-safe pot to make the lentil base in. Simply top with the mash and pop it right in the oven rather than transferring to a separate dish.
- No need to peel: don’t worry about peeling the carrots or potatoes, it just creates unnecessary food waste and peeling doesn’t improve the dish. Keeping the peel on reduces landfill and emissions as they are often improperly disposed of (not composted) and they’re tasty in any case. A good scrub does the trick.
- Brown the top: I like to broil the pie for just a couple of minutes to give the top a nice golden sheen and slight crispy texture. This is completely optional.
More Vegetarian Pie Recipes
I don’t know about you, but I always want a big cosy main dish when the weather gets colder. Cottage pie and other vegetable pies fit the bill when you’re looking for a vegetarian main.
- For a lighter version, try my sweet potato cottage pie, topped with a sweet potato mash instead of potatoes and with added green peas. You could use pumpkin in the topping too.
- A reader favourite, my mushroom and pumpkin shepherd’s pie is a little different but very warming. Also with a base of lentils, lots of mushrooms are added for extra meatiness and the topping is a mix of potato and pumpkin.
- If you prefer a different kind of topping, try this biscuit topped vegetarian pot pie. It’s made with a mix of different vegetables and topped with tender spelt biscuits.
If you make this Vegan Cottage Pie or any other vegetarian mains on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.
Lentil Cottage Pie
Description
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 2 medium carrots diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 sprig rosemary leaves only, minced
- 1 teaspoon sea salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper to taste
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 50 ml (¼ cup) dry red wine
- 600 ml (2 ⅓ cups) vegetable broth
- 200 grams (1 cup) French lentils or green or black
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
Topping
- 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) starchy potatoes
- 200 ml (¾ cup) cooking water reserve before draining
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Sea salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium. Once hot, add the olive oil. Add the onions and stir, then cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and fragrant. This should be 7-8 minutes.2 teaspoons olive oil, 1 medium onion
- Stir in the carrots and garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the rosemary and spices and cook for another 30 seconds.2 medium carrots, 2 cloves garlic, 1 sprig rosemary, 1 teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Add the red wine and let it cook down until reduced by half. This should take just a minute or two.50 ml (¼ cup) dry red wine
- Add the vegetable broth. Cover and increase the heat to bring the filling to a boil, then add the lentils. Reduce the heat to simmer for about 20 minutes, covered, or until the lentils are tender.600 ml (2 ⅓ cups) vegetable broth, 200 grams (1 cup) French lentils
- While the lentils are cooking, prepare the topping. Scrub the potatoes well and cut them into rough chunks, then add to a pot and cover with plenty of water. Season well. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer until the potatoes are fork-soft, about ten minutes.1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) starchy potatoes
- Reserve 200 ml (scant 1 cup) of the cooking water before draining. Add the oil and spices, then add the cooking water as needed while mashing to get the consistency you like. Season to taste.200 ml (¾ cup) cooking water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, Sea salt to taste, Black pepper to taste
- Once the lentils are cooked, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Use a fork to mix the two tablespoons of water and cornstarch in a cup. Add to the lentil mixture and stir well, letting it simmer for another minute to thicken. Stir in the thyme. Taste and season as needed.2 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons corn starch, 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
- Transfer the lentil mixture to a baking dish (or use the pot, if oven-safe). Top with the mashed potatoes in an even layer.
- Bake for about ten minutes, or until the base is bubbling up around the edges of the dish. Serve hot. Leftovers will keep well, refrigerated, for up to three days.
Notes
- Oven, full pie: uncover and heat at 180°C (350°F) until warmed through, about 20 minutes. If the edges are bubbling again, it’s ready to serve. Only reheat once.
- Oven, single servings: place servings in an oven-safe baking dish and heat at 180°C (350°F) until heated through, about ten minutes for single servings.
- Microwave, single servings: make sure to use a microwave-safe container and heat for about two minutes, until heated through.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
Wonderful…I have missed “cottage pie” since I stopped eating meat…I don’t like mushrooms…I look forward to having it again tomorrow.