This is a delicious shepherd’s pie recipe with a bit of a difference. It uses chicken and is quite spicy. It’s a fairly filling dish and is great as a main dish for dinner, especially during winter. While this recipe uses a few vegetables, feel free to experiment and add other ingredients such as carrots and celery in the tomato chicken sauce.
The pie can be assembled ahead of time and baked around half an hour before it has to be served.
Serves: 4
Spicy Chicken Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
Ingredients for Tomato Chicken Sauce:
- 2 chicken breasts- cut into small pieces
- 28 oz (800 grams) of canned chopped tomatoes
- 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 a green chili- chopped (de-seeded if you want to reduce the heat)
- 2-3 garlic cloves- peeled and grated or crushed
- 1/2 an inch ginger- peeled and grated
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon chili powder (or less if you want to reduce heat)
- 1/2 a lime
- 2 tablespoons oil
- Salt to taste
Ingredients for Potato-Parsnip Topping:
- 2 medium-sized potatoes- boiled, peeled and mashed
- 2 large parsnips- boiled, peeled and mashed (you can cut the parsnips into pieces after peeling and boil them)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 a medium green chili- chopped
- 1-2 teaspoons chili powder (or less if you want to reduce heat)
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 a lime
- Salt to taste
Directions for Tomato Chicken Sauce:
Place the chicken pieces in a saucepan and cover it with water. Bring it to a boil and cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is white and cooked.
Drain the water and using a food processor, mince the chicken. Just pulse it a few times until it’s nicely ground. Avoid pulsing too much because that will reduce the chicken to a puree-like consistency which you do want. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a deep pan and add the onions. Stir until soft and translucent (around 5 minutes).
Add the garlic, ginger, and chilies and cook for a minute.
Add the chili powder, garam masala, and salt and stir until well mixed.
Add the ground chicken and stir for 3-4 minutes.
Pour in the tomatoes from the cans and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes.
Add the peas and continue cooking the sauce for another 5-10 minutes or until there is no more liquid and the sauce is very thick.
Squeeze in the juice of half a lime and mix well.
Check for seasoning, switch off the heat and set aside.
Directions for Potato-Parsnip Topping:
Place the potatoes and parsnips in a large bowl.
Add the butter and mash the parsnips and potatoes well.
Add chili powder, garam masala, chili pieces, and salt and mix well.
Squeeze in the juice of half a lime and mix.
Check for seasoning and set aside.
Spicy Chicken Shepherd’s Pie Recipe Assembly
To Assemble and Bake the Dish:
Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
Butter a roasting pan or a square baking dish.
Tip the entire tomato chicken sauce into the pan and smooth.
Spoon the potato-parsnip mash on top and smooth it all over to cover the tomato chicken sauce.
Run a fork through the top to give it a ridged appearance.
Slide into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
Set aside for 5 minutes before serving.
Spicy Chicken Shepherd’s Pie Recipe Serving Suggestions
As mentioned, this is quite the filling dish so a light salad would really be perfect. It’s best not to have anything too heavy with the shepherd’s pie.
You can also bake the pie in four individual dishes. Just divide everything into four servings. Spoon 1/4 of the tomato chicken sauce into the bottom of the dish and 1/4 of the potato-parsnip topping on top. Repeat for the other three dishes.
