Chili Cottage Pie – Easy Meal

Chili Cottage Pie is an easy meal in a single dish the whole family will love! .

Chili Cottage Pie

Easy meals are always a great option as we head into the busy holiday season. Christmas shopping,  putting up decorations and attending (or hosting) parties leaves little time for weekday meals. If this sounds like your world, why not give Chili Cottage Pie a try? The only real cooking that’s required is browning ground beef and onions. From there, you simply add canned chili beans, diced tomatoes, a chili seasoning packet and frozen veggies. Then top the casserole with prepared mashed potatoes and cheese and you have a complete meal in a single dish!

What’s Fun & Different

Cottage Pie is similar to Shepherds Pie, except Cottage Pie uses beef vs. the traditional lamb. I previously shared a recipe called Upside Down Shepherds Pie, before I understood this distinction. Hopefully my faithful readers will cut me some slack on that one. In my defense, I used the same title as the source recipe for the Upside Down Shepherds Pie. That proves others are taking artistic license with the term Shepherds Pie as well!

What’s fun and different about this recipe is that it uses chili beans and chili seasoning which provides a flavorful twist. The original recipe called for kidney beans, rinsed and drained and 1 cup of beef broth. I wanted to retain the flavor of the chili beans, so I drained the liquid into a measuring cup and added just enough beef broth to measure 1 cup. This ensured that the same amount of total liquid was added to the recipe. The flavor was great! I hope you enjoy this easy comfort food dish.

Chili Cottage Pie

Chili Cottage Pie is an easy meal and flavorful twist on Shepherds pie. This version adds chili beans, chili seasoning, frozen veggies and cheesy topped potatoes.

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Course: Main Course

Keyword: cheddar cheese, chili, Easy Meal, ground beef, potatoes, Shepherds Pie

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Resting Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 medium red onion diced
• 3 cloves minced garlic or more, to taste
• 1 package 16 oz. frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 can 16 oz. chili beans or kidney beans – see note below regarding whether to drain
• 1 can 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes, drained – I used Hunt’s fire roasted
• 1 c. beef broth – see note below for preparation with chili beans
• 1 envelope chili seasoning mix
• 1 package 24 oz refrigerated mashed potatoes
• 1 c. shredded Monterey jack or Cheddar blend cheese
• 3 green onions thinly sliced
• grated Parmesan cheese to taste (about 1/3 c.)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large skillet, cook and crumble beef, until beef is no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Drain and remove from skillet.
• In same skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion; cook covered, stirring occasionally until tender, 3-5 minutes. Add garlic, cook 1 minute longer.
• If using chili beans, drain liquid into a measuring cup and add enough beef broth to measure 1 cup. Then add beans, liquid, beef, mixed vegetables, tomatoes, and chili seasoning to pan, mixing well.
• If using kidney beans, drain and rinse beans. Then add beans along with the list of ingredients above, including the full cup of beef broth.
• Bring to a boil. Cook and stir until thickened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a greased 13×9-in. baking dish. Heat mashed potatoes according to microwave package directions; spread over top of beef mixture.
• Sprinkle with Monterey Jack or Cheddar blend cheese; bake until bubbly and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes; sprinkle with green onions and Parmesan cheese. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition

Serving: 8g