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Meat-free Cottage Pie Recipe

A vegetarian cottage pie made with potatoes, butternut squash, vegetables, and vegetarian mince, topped with mashed potatoes and baked.

From the NHS (UK) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Meat-free Cottage Pie Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Cook the potatoes and butternut squash in a large saucepan of boiling water until tender, about 20 minutes.

  2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan.

  3. Gently fry the onion, garlic and carrots for 2 to 3 minutes, until softened.

  4. Add the vegetarian mince, tomatoes and stock.

  5. Stir in the curry powder, then add the mushrooms and courgette.

  6. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes.

  7. Season with black pepper.

Make the topping and thicken

  1. Drain and mash the potatoes and butternut squash, seasoning with black pepper.

  2. Blend the cornflour with 1 tbsp cold water and add it to the mince mixture, stirring until thickened.

Assemble and bake

  1. Preheat the grill, warming a large baking dish underneath for a few moments.

  2. Transfer it to the warm baking dish and spoon the vegetable mash on top.

  3. Grill for about 8 to 10 minutes, until browned.

  4. Serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

690Calories
41 gProtein
32 gFat
64 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Pumpkinnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the NHS (UK).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Potato + garlictop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,517 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Break down into a starchy mash that becomes the crisp, browned topping.
Butternut squash
Adds sweetness and moisture to the mash, softening its texture.
Vegetarian mince
Provides the meaty bulk and chewy texture of the filling.
Chopped tomatoes
Supply acidity and liquid that build the savoury base of the filling.
Cornflour
Thickens the filling so it holds together rather than running out.
Mushrooms
Add savoury depth and a moist, tender bite to the filling.

The step that matters

Thickening the filling with cornflour. Cornflour must be blended smoothly with cold water first, then stirred into the simmering mixture. Added dry or to a boil-free pan, it clumps, and the starch only thickens fully once the mixture is hot.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butternut squash, onion, garlic, carrot, tomato, chicken):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, butternut squash, onion, garlic, carrot, tomato, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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