Can You Use Boxed Mashed Potatoes For Shepherd's Pie?

According to the history of shepherd's pie, this classic comfort food dish was born of necessity during times of economic struggle in Ireland. Originally, it utilized leftover meat scraps and whatever veggies happened to be on hand, then was topped with mashed potatoes because they were so readily available. Modern money-saving tactics may be slightly different, such as using poor man's stew (which is tasty on any budget) as the filling and topping it with instant mashed potatoes. However, these innovations still honor the origins of shepherd's pie by stretching those pennies to make a hearty, filling, delicious dish.

Using instant mashed potatoes as your topping is especially advantageous because they're both inexpensive and shelf stable, meaning you can stock up on them without fear of spoiling. You also don't have to do anything special to them to make them suitable as a shepherd's pie crust. Simply prepare them according to package instructions while the meaty base of your dish warms, and spread them on top before baking the whole thing in the oven as you normally would.

Though instant mashed potatoes can be a little grainier or looser than the real thing, they should still crisp and brown nicely in the oven, turning into that classic rich crust. One way to help create more of that crispy texture with instant mash is to pipe or dollop them onto the dish rather than spreading them smooth. Raised areas of potatoes will become deeply golden, roasty, and delightfully crunchy, adding that much more flavor and texture to the dish.

While plain instant mash makes a decent crust for shepherd's pie, there are lots of ways to make instant mashed potatoes taste more expensive, improve the texture, and make them more flavorful overall. The first and possibly easiest way to do this is to add grated cheese either to the instant mash itself, sprinkle it on top before baking, or both. Adding a hefty handful or so of grated cheddar to the flakes while you're warming and rehydrating them naturally gives them a denser texture and a mouthfeel closer to homemade mashed potatoes. Sprinkling some on top drapes the instant mash in a layer of salty, luscious fat that makes them more flavorful, though this may prevent the potatoes from crisping up.

Two more ingredients that take this mash from instant to rich, no matter how you eat it, are butter and cream cheese. Both of these creamy ingredients have a lot of fat (just like the shredded cheese) that thicken up the mash's texture and make it smoother and denser. Cream cheese will create a thicker mash with a tangy bite to it, while butter will create a smooth texture that's spreadable and savory. Both also taste delicious with savory stewed meat and vegetables draped in gravy, so that's also a plus. It's also fairly easy to enhance the flavor of these instant potatoes with a sprinkle of garlic and onion powder, some smoky paprika, or even a dash of cayenne if you like things somewhat zesty.