Today I’m taking part in the Virtual Vegan Potluck. I’ve participated before, “bringing” Gluten-Free Apple Muffins and Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins (with or without chocolate chips.) Now I’m branching out a bit with a main dish, trust me you will LOVE it!
You can start at the beginning of the potluck at Vegan Bloggers Unite or simply pick the category that most interests you. There are 169 bloggers participating so it may take a while to make your way through. The potluck was designed so you can seamlessly click from one blog to the next.
This Lentil Shepherd’s Pie has a lot of steps and a lot of ingredients but it is EASY to make. It has gotten rave reviews at several venues, even the Omni’s love it. It is a great holiday meal and perfect for a potluck. My toddler could not get enough.
Lentil Shepherd’s Pie (Vegan & Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
Potato Layer
- 4 large potatoes
- up to 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- up to 1/2 cup plant milk
- salt and pepper to taste
Lentil Layer
- 2 cups cooked Lentils
- 1/2 tsp Liquid Smoke (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste (optional)
Veggie/Sauce Layer
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 1/4 cup onions, diced
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
- 1/4 cup green beans (I used frozen)
- 1/2 cup green peas (I used frozen)
- 2 Tbsp Brown Rice Flour (I use brown rice flour for a GF version, you can use wheat flour)
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 cup Rice Milk
- Optional onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste
Do
Potato Layer
- Scrub, peel, and cut potatoes into large chunks.
- Cover with water and bring to a boil, cook potatoes until they are very soft.
- Drain potatoes and mash with a potato masher.
- Add salt and pepper, nutritional yeast and about half of the milk. Continue to mash or (whip) until everything is mixed, add more plant milk, nutritional yeast and salt as necessary to get the flavor just right. (Depending on the size of your potatoes this might not be enough seasoning)
- Set aside.
Lentil Layer
- Place cooked lentils in a pie pan, stirring in Liquid Smoke if desired.
- Spread lentils and pack them down into a smooth bottom layer.
Veggie/Sauce Layer
- Cook carrots, celery, and onions in a skillet, adding small amounts of water when veggies begin to stick.
- As the veggies begin to soften add mushrooms, green beans and peas.
- Once all veggies are soft, sprinkle in flour and nutritional yeast then give it a quick stir.
- Add 1/2 cup of the plant milk and lightly stir. Keep your eye on this and add more plant milk as it thickens, continuing to stir.
- Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to your preference.
- Once the sauce is like a thick gravy pour the veggie/sauce over the lentils.
Spoon potatoes over Veggie/Sauce Layer and smooth out. Put in the oven and broil for 10 minutes. Check often to make sure the top is browning and not burning.
– – –
This dish is great for a potluck, a family holiday dinner or to take to a family who needs a little bit of blessing. It reheats beautifully and could be frozen for a future meal.
I hope you ENJOY!
If you want to make your way through the potluck you can got back to On the Path to Zen or forward to Veghotpot to check out what they brought.
I hope you take some time to make your way through the potluck.
I do love shepherd’s pie. I like the idea of adding the nutritional yeast to the potatoes in this one. Excellent addition!
Yum!
Shepherds pie is such comfort food for me and I’ve never thought about adding nutritional yeast to mashed potatoes before – great idea! Thank you! 🙂
This looks fantastic! I adore a good shepherd’s pie on a chilly day! Love the way your topping looks–so classic and lovely!
I’ve bookmarked this recipe. I love shepherds pie, but haven’t had any since I went vegan. This is on my must make list 🙂 It looks delicious!
Holly, this is really the ultimate potluck dish! Mmmmm! Thank you, girl, for sticking with us for another Potluck.
Looks so hearty and stick-to-your-ribs. I’ll be making this for when colder weather hits!
This looks yummy! Bookmarked. 🙂
Mmm I really want to eat this right now! Pleasure to share a table with you 🙂
This looks amazing! Adding it to the list of amazing recipes to try from the VVP!
– alexis
http://www.sugarcoatedvegan.com
Yum! I’ve made vegan shepherd’s pie before, but hadn’t thought of using lentils. I’ll have to try it out!
Yum! The top of that looks so perfectly browned and delicious.
A divine & most appetizing vegan shepherd’s pie that I absolutely love a lot! It looks smashing too! A grand & very tasty entry for this VVP!!!!!
This is my kinda pie!! Second to apple of course, but this looks so hearty and filling! YUM!
Um, yeah. You really BROUGHT it! I love this Holly! xx
p.s. would you mind updating your go forward and go back links to the permalinks of the blogs before and after you? (official potluck committee duty) 😉 Here they are:
http://thezenvegan.blogspot.com/2013/05/virtual-vegan-potluck-black-pepper-tofu.html
http://veghotpot.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/spring-veg-hot-pot-virtual-vegan-potluck/
Thank you so much for bringing shepherd’s pie! This one looks delicious. I love the addition of lentils.
Fantastic comforting dish to make on a cold winter’s day. I have never thought of adding nutritional yeast to the potato layer. I am definitely doing that next time! Thank you for the recipe.
Shepherd’s pie is a favorite of mine, and this looks like a great recipe!
Thank you! It is definitely one of my new fav’s! Such an easy dish to re-heat too!
I just made this a few nights ago and… OMG! Delicious! Thanks Holly for the recipe. I fell in love with lentils all over again.
Lentils are often overlooked, but they have an incredible nutrition profile, taste great and are easy to prepare. They are easily one of my favorites! I’m glad you liked it!
Yum, lentil shepherds pie is always a winner! I’ve never put nooch in my potato layer before though, interesting!
A lot of people have told me that. I’m all about the nooch! I love it in mashed potatoes, they become a savory sensation!
Now this was awesome! Great recipe and very hearty and filling!
I’m glad you like it! I love it too! I wish I could cut the prep time down on this one.
Looks delish!
Can you tell me the purpose of the nutritional yeast in this recipe?
The nutritional yeast gives it a deeper flavor. I’ll often add it to recipes when I’m looking for a slightly cheesy or buttery flavor.
I also use it to create a faux chicken broth. In this recipe it does a little of everything to create a close to traditional flavored Shepherds pie that is low in fat and high in fiber and flavor.
Do you think substituting sweet potatoes for white potatoes would still be good?
I haven’t tried that but I know a lot of people prefer t that way. If you try it let me know what you think.
I make this every other week. It is by far the best plant based recipe I have tried. I’m a Brea person. so I toast two pieces of Ezekiel bread, spray with coconut oil and sprinkled with garlic salt. Perfect with this dish. I eat it for lunch every day at work. Thanks for sharing. (Got my meat eating sister addicted to it too).
*bread person
I’m so glad you like it! I love it too but I don’t always want to put the work into it. 🙂
This recipe is great! I used half an onion, 2 cloves of garlic and 1 12 oz bag of frozen veggies (carrots, corn, peas, green beans) for the veg. Instead of making a milk based grave, I made a broth based one. I also added sage, rosemary, and thyme. Sooooo good.
HI Katie,
I’m so glad you liked it! I love tweaking recipes to suit my tastes and whatever I have on hand. Great job!