Shepherds Pie Nachos
The flavors of shepherd’s pie on top of nachos!!! Sounds like a dream mash-up of flavors to me! Savory delicious shepherd’s pie filling on top of crunchy cheesy chips! This would be a dream appetizer at an Irish pub, but I would probably just order it for dinner!
The inspiration for this recipe
I have had nachos on my mind a lot lately because I have been working on my Nacho Cookbook! It’s to the point where everything I look at I turn into nachos in my head. I was craving shepherds pie recently, as one does this time of the year, and realized it would be awesome as nachos. The bottom part is almost like a chili! Combine that with potatoes that have extra sour cream and you have everything you need for a great pile of nachos. Oh and before you yell at me, yes I know “shepherd’s” pie is traditionally with lamb but I wanted it with beef today. You can make it with Lamb if you want!
I streamed this recipe on Twitch and YouTube and you can watch it here.
Make the sour cream potatoes
One of the secrets to making these nachos taste like nachos and not just shepherd’s pie on a chip, is using a ton of sour cream in the potatoes! Sour cream and nachos are a natural pair, and using the sour cream as the main flavoring for the potatoes really brings the whole dish together. Roast the potatoes, then use a ricer or mill to break them down. Mix in the butter and sour cream and that’s it!
Make the shepherd’s pie nacho topping
I grew up with a more Irish-American version of shepherd’s pie with a layer of beef, corn, and potatoes, but when I lived in Bermuda I fell in love with the British version that has more of a stewy beef situation on the bottom. I sort of did a cross between the two for this filling because it had to be a little dryer to not make the nachos soggy.
Beef, onion, and carrot first, then garlic and chicken stock. Next add in the corn, thyme, and some cornstarch slurry to thicken it up.
A perfect nacho topping that tastes like shepherds pie!
Build the shepherd’s pie nachos
Start with some cheese on the chips. This will help them from getting soggy. If you want to take it even further, you can broil the chips on their own first for a few minutes and that helps with the sogginess too! Next add the meat mixture, then more cheese, and then the potatoes!
It looks so good! Pop this into the oven for 10 minutes or so and you are good to dig in!
Serving the shepherd’s pie nachos
My favorite way to serve this is just put it in between some friends and hand out forks. You could also top this with some chopped parsley or scallions.
You could also do salsa and guac if you want but I don’t think it needs anything else.
So good!
Twists on this recipe
If you have a favorite shepherd’s pie recipe, you could use that for the filling and topping instead of how I did it, just make sure you use less moisture!
Check this recipe if you are looking for a traditional shepherd’s pie.
For more fun twists on shepherd’s pie, check out my shepherd’s pie deep dish pizza, breakfast shepherd’s pie, or this chicken tikka shepherds pie! I also love my shepherds pie cheeseburger!
Shepherds Pie Nachos
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 carrot diced
- 1/2 small onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons red wine or cognac
- 1 cup stock
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 russet potatoes
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 clove garlic grated
- 1/2 stick butter melted
- 90 tortilla chips
- 3 cups cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Add the beef in a large frying pan over high heat and season with salt and pepper. Cook to brown in some areas, about 5 minutes. Remove excess fat from the pan if needed.
- Add the onion and carrot to the pan and continue to cook and stir often to soften the veggies and continue to get some color on the meat. about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add the wine and mix. Add the stock, thyme, and corn. Cook 5 minutes.
- Mix the cornstarch and water in a bowl until combined. Add about half this mixture to the meat and watch it thicken. Add more if needed to form a thick texture.
- When the potatoes are done baking, peel the skin and run them through a potato ricer or mill. Stir in the butter and sour cream to combine. Put into a piping bag.
- Preheat broiler to high
- Lay out the chips on the pan. Top with half the cheese, then the meat, then more cheese. Pipe on the potatoes evenly.
- Broil the chips for 5-8 minutes to brown the potatoes and melt the cheese.