This Red Wine Beef & Bison Cottage Pie recipe is a company-worthy comfort food dish for the holidays in between the big feasts of turkey and ham! Its homey comfort is perfect for a Sunday dinner when the family gathers. Puffy butter and cheese topped whipped potatoes are over a delicious savory minced meat and vegetable filling, making this memorable meal.
Do you love making up large pan meals to feed your family? Try also our Homemade Pierogi Casserole, Buffalo Chicken Mac, and Cheese or Best Spinach Cheese Manicotti.
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What is Cottage Pie?
What Ingredients are in Red Wine Beef & Bison Cottage Pie?
On the ingredient list, you will say, wow! But all of these ingredients play a role in making a deeply savory filling, one that you will be devoured at the dinner table.
This is not a fast weeknight meal but one that you would make on a Sunday or for company.
There are a couple of simple variations you can add to the cottage pie. One is to top with cheddar cheese, but I opted for a lighter touch of Parmesan cheese. I love how it browns and crisps up. You can also lighten the load of chopping and use frozen vegetables like frozen peas and carrots and omit the turnip or parsnips, but I love the old-world flavors of these vegetables in the dish.
Ingredients
Filling
Bacon (about 4 slices) cut into lardons
Olive oil
Lean ground beef
Ground bison
Sweet paprika
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Onion, chopped
Carrots, peeled and chopped
Celery, chopped
Turnip, peeled, and diced
Parsnips, peeled and chopped
Cloves of garlic, minced
Dry red wine
Beef stock
Diced tomatoes
Bay leaves
Thyme
Sage
Butter
All-Purpose Flour
Additional Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
Mashed Potato Topping
Russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
Whole milk
Butter
Large egg
Water
Grated parmesan cheese
How to Make Cottage Pie
Heat a large pot over medium heat and cook the bacon, stirring occasionally until crispy; remove to a paper towel-lined plate.
Add 2 Tbsp of olive oil to the pot, and then add the ground beef and ground bison. Add the paprika, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper to the pot. Cook the meat until it is browned, breaking it up as it cooks.
Remove the meat from the pot and reserve it in a separate bowl.
Add the onions, carrots, celery, turnip, parsnip, and garlic to the pot; cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened, about 7-10 minutes.
Add in the red wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
Add the beef broth/stock, tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, sage, reserved bacon, and cooked beef/bison.
Stir to combine, reduce the heat to low cover and simmer for ½ hour or more, stirring occasionally.
While the filling is simmering, cook the potatoes in a large pot of salted boiling water until they are tender and drain.
Add the whole milk and butter to the potatoes and mash until smooth. (Note: you can put the potatoes through a ricer if you like.)
Preparing to go in the Oven
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Mix the flour and butter together to form a paste.
Taste the filling and adjust the seasoning accordingly.
Add the butter-flour mixture starting with half to the meat mixture and stir to combine; this will thicken the filling. You may need to add it all but start with half adding more until you get the consistency you like. It should have a gravy-like consistency.
Spoon the filling into a 3 quart (9×13) casserole dish and top with the mashed potatoes smoothing it over to cover all the filling.
Beat the egg and water together and generously brush the entire top of the mashed potatoes.
Sprinkle with the grated parmesan cheese all over the top of the baking dish.
Bake for 20 – 30 minutes or until the top is starting to brown and the filling is heated through.
Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. If cold, you will have to bake the shepherd’s pie for 40-50 minutes.
What is the Difference Between Cottage Pie and Shepherd’s Pie?
Mainly the only difference between Cottage Pie and Shepherd’s Pie is the meat used. Shepherd’s Pie should only bear that name if it has lamb, typically ground lamb. Whereas Cottage Pie has beef, and in our case, beef and bison are used.
Shepherd’s Pie has become used much more in terms of this kind of pie in North America regardless of the meat, but a cottage pie is the correct name for the one we have today.
What Can You Eat with Cottage Pie?
Our Red Wine Beef & Bison Cottage Pie is pretty much a meal onto itself as it is not only loaded with meat but also with vegetables.
You can add other vegetables to the plate by making these delectable sides.
Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts – upped with a little bit of bacon, and maple syrup, and/or balsamic vinegar for a vegetable dish everyone will want to bite into.
Slow Cooker Creamed Corn – this delicious side dish that includes cream cheese and butter is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
Roasted Cabbage with Blue Cheese – turn this ordinary side dish into extraordinary with a velvety rich drizzle of blue cheese sauce.
Can you Cook Cottage Pie from Frozen?
Think of a cottage pie like a lasagna. You can pull the cottage pie from the freezer and defrost it in the fridge overnight.
Alternatively, you can bake also from frozen. Bake in a cooler oven at the beginning and cover with foil for 1 1/2 hours. In the last 20 minutes to half-hour, remove the foil to brown. You will notice the edges may start to bubble but make sure the center is also heated through.
Pin it HERE!!
Pin it HERE!!
Red Wine Beef & Bison Cottage Pie
Ingredients
Filling
- 1/3 lb bacon about 4 slices cut into lardons
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 lb ground bison
- 1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp kosher salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1/2 cup carrots peeled and chopped
- 1/2 cup celery chopped
- 1 medium turnip peeled and diced
- 1 cup parsnips peeled and chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 cup beef broth
- 2 cups diced tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp sage
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp flour
- Additional Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
Mashed Potato Topping
- 3 lbs Russet potatoes peeled and quartered
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tbsp water
- 3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat and cook the bacon, stirring occasionally until crispy; remove to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Add 2 Tbsp of olive oil to the pot, and then add the ground beef and ground bison. Add the paprika, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper to the pot. Cook the meat until it is browned, breaking it up as it cooks.
- Remove the meat from the pot and reserve it in a separate bowl.
- Add the onions, carrots, celery, turnip, parsnip, and garlic to the pot; cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened, about 7-10 minutes.
- Add in the red wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add the beef broth/stock, tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, sage, reserved bacon, and cooked beef/bison.
- Stir to combine, reduce the heat to low cover and simmer for ½ hour or more, stirring occasionally.
- While the filling is simmering, cook the potatoes in a large pot of salted boiling water until they are tender and drain.
- Add the whole milk and butter to the potatoes and mash until smooth. (Note: you can put the potatoes through a ricer if you like).
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Mix the flour and butter together to form a paste
- Taste the filling and adjust the seasoning accordingly.
- Add the butter-flour mixture starting with half to the meat mixture and stir to combine; this will thicken the filling. You may need to add it all but start with half adding more until you get the consistency you like. It should have a gravy-like consistency.
- Spoon the filling into a 3 quart (9×13) casserole dish and top with the mashed potatoes smoothing it over to cover all the filling.
- Beat the egg and water together and generously brush the entire top of the mashed potatoes.
- Sprinkle with the grated parmesan cheese all over the top of the baking dish.
- Bake for 20 – 30 minutes or until the top is starting to brown and the filling is heated through.
- Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Let us know what you think!
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