Vegan Shepherd's Pie with Seitan

This vegan shepherd's pie recipe is made with seitan, diced veggies, and a savory vegan gravy, all topped with mashed potatoes. Prepare it in a cast iron pan to take it from stovetop to oven.

Shepherd's pie is the ultimate comfort food. With tender seitan, thick gravy, golden mashed potatoes, and a delicious herb and spice blend, it's like Thanksgiving dinner all in one bite, but it's a normal meal for any day of the week. it's not the prettiest dish, but it's stick to your ribs vegan comfort food.

Speaking of, it's pretty easy for a weeknight meal, especially if you make it in a cast iron pan so it can go from stovetop to oven. Everything tastes better in cast iron too (have you tried making pizza in a cast iron pan? OMG!). You'll sauté the veggies in the pan, make the gravy, then top the pie with mashed potatoes on its way to the oven.

I made this shepherd's pie with a vegan "beef" flavored bouillon, but you could use "chicken", mushroom, or vegetable broth if you prefer. This dish is very customizable in general, and you can swap out the veggies for any kind you like.

🥘 Ingredients

Veggies

The veggie mix is onions, garlic, carrots, celery, peas, and corn. While I recommend fresh onions and celery, you can use frozen or canned for the rest of the veggies. Feel free to mix up the veggies you add or buy frozen mixed vegetables to save time.

Gravy

Nutritional yeast

Nutritional yeast or "nooch" is an inactive yeast with an umami flavor sometimes used in vegan "cheese" sauces. Nowadays we have more sophisticated vegan cheese options available, so I prefer to use it as a seasoning to add a savory, nutty flavor to dishes and sauces, or as a popcorn topping.

Herbs and Spices

The ingredient list for this recipe may look long, but most of the ingredients are the herbs and spices that season the gravy! The seasoning blend is sage, thyme, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and fennel seeds.

Vegan "Beef" Broth

The gravy in this vegan shepherd's pie recipe is "beef" flavored and calls for vegan "beef" broth or bouillon. I like to keep bouillon in my kitchen for this purpose. It takes up less space than storing cans or cartons of broth, and you can adjust the amount of flavor in the broth.

Some great vegan "beef" flavorings and bouillon are Better Than Bouillon, Orrington Farms, and BulkFoods Vegan Beef Base.

Mashed Potatoes

Use any mashed potato recipe you like for this recipe. If you need one, my Vegan Mashed Potatoes with Garlic make the perfect amount of mashed potatoes for topping the shepherd's pie. Double the mashed potato recipe if you like an extra thick layer of mashed potatoes, or just want extra to eat.

🔪 Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet (if using cast iron, you can transfer directly to the oven) or a large saucepan. Add the onion and sauté for 3-5 minutes, until lightly golden. Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.

Add the chopped seitan and cook for 4-5 minutes until browned, stirring to cook all sides.

Add the carrots and celery and cook until tender. Add the peas and corn and incorporate with the other veggies. Stir until heated.

Add the nutritional yeast, all of the herbs and spices (sage, thyme, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and fennel), and the soy sauce to the veggies. Stir to coat.

Meanwhile, stir the flour into the vegan "beef" broth. Slowly pour the broth and flour mixture into the pan, stirring to coat the veggies.

Continue stirring until the gravy thickens. Add up to ½ cup water or more broth to thin out the gravy if you prefer it thinner. The inside of the pie will continue to thicken as it bakes.

Remove from heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes to set a bit before adding the mashed potatoes. Add a splash of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and taste and adjust seasoning.

Transfer the seitan, veggies, and gravy mixture to an 11x17-inch baking pan. If you're baking the pie in cast iron you can skip this step.

Dollop the mashed potatoes atop the mixture and smooth out with a spoon. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the mashed potatoes are nicely golden.

Top with freshly ground black pepper and fresh herbs, then let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving so the gravy can set.

💭 Tips

• You can use store bought or homemade seitan. Most store bought packs contain about 1 ½ cups seitan. I recommend Upton's Naturals Traditional or Ground Seitan, which is made here in Chicago. 
• If you'd prefer to make the seitan yourself, I recommend my recipe for Chicken Style Seitan (you could replace the vegan "chicken" broth with "beef" broth if you like), or Chickwheat Shreds from Avocados and Ales.
• You can find pre-made vegan "beef" broth from Better Than Bouillon, Orrington Farms, or BulkFoods. I've also seen recipes for homemade vegan broths online if you'd like to do that.
• If you need a mashed potatoes recipe, try my Vegan Mashed Potatoes with Garlic! It makes 5-6 cups of mashed potatoes. You can prepare the mashed potatoes the day before or earlier in the day to save time.
• You can mix up the veggies you add in or buy a frozen chopped veggie mix with carrots, peas, etc, to save time.

📖 Recipe

Vegan Shepherd's Pie with Seitan

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Additional Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

This vegan shepherd's pie recipe is made with seitan, diced veggies, and a savory vegan gravy, all topped with mashed potatoes. Prepare it in a cast iron pan to take it from stovetop to oven.

Print

Ingredients

Veggies

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ½ cups chopped seitan (see note)
• ¾ cup chopped carrots
• ½ cup chopped celery
• ¾ cup frozen peas
• ⅓ cup corn kernels

Gravy

• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoons dried sage
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¾ teaspoon onion powder
• ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon fennel, ground
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 cups vegan “beef” broth
• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup water or more broth (if needed)
• Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

Topping

• 6 cups mashed potatoes (see note)
• Pepper or chopped fresh herbs for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet (if using cast iron, you can transfer directly to the oven) or a large saucepan.
3. Add the onion and sauté for 3-5 minutes, until lightly golden. Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.
4. Add the chopped seitan and cook for 4-5 minutes until browned, stirring to cook all sides.
5. Add the carrots and celery and cook until tender.
6. Add the peas and corn and incorporate with the other veggies. Stir until heated.
7. Add the nutritional yeast, all of the herbs and spices (sage, thyme, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and fennel), and the soy sauce to the veggies. Stir to coat.
8. Meanwhile, stir the flour into the vegan "beef" broth.
9. Slowly pour the broth and flour mixture into the pan, stirring to coat the veggies.
10. Continue stirring until the gravy thickens. Add up to ½ cup water or more broth to thin out the gravy if you prefer it thinner. The inside of the pie will continue to thicken as it bakes.
11. Remove from heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes to set a bit before adding the mashed potatoes. Add a splash of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and taste and adjust seasoning.
12. Transfer the seitan, veggies, and gravy mixture to an 11x17-inch baking pan. If you're baking the pie in cast iron you can skip this step.
13. Dollop the mashed potatoes atop the mixture and smooth out with a spoon.
14. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the mashed potatoes are nicely golden.
15. Top with freshly ground black pepper and fresh herbs, then let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving so the gravy can set.

Notes

• You can use store bought or homemade seitan. Most store bought packs contain about 1 ½ cups seitan.
• If you'd prefer to make the seitan yourself, I recommend my recipe for Chicken Style Seitan (you could replace the vegan "chicken" broth with "beef" broth if you like), or Chickwheat Shreds from Avocados and Ales.
• You can find pre-made vegan "beef" broth from Better Than Bouillon, Orrington Farms, or BulkFoods. I've also seen recipes for homemade vegan broths online if you'd like to do that.
• If you need a mashed potatoes recipe, try my Vegan Mashed Potatoes with Garlic! It makes 5-6 cups of mashed potatoes. You can prepare the mashed potatoes the day before or earlier in the day to save time.
• You can mix up the veggies you add in or buy a frozen chopped veggie mix with carrots, peas, etc, to save time.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  KitchenAid Gourmet Stainless Steel Wire Masher, 10.24-Inch, Black
• 
  Orrington Farms - Vegan Beef Flavored Broth Base, 6 oz. (Pack of 3)
• 
  Better Than Bouillon Vegetarian, No Beef Base, 8 Ounce

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 422Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1144mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 7gSugar: 6gProtein: 25g

All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on seitanbeatsyourmeat.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimates.

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