Shepherd’s Pie Baked Potatoes Are an Easy Mashup of Two of Our Favorite Comfort Foods

The classic baked potato is a well-loved dish, but it usually functions as a supporting character to the main event—a charbroiled steak, a juicy pork chop, or a roasted chicken. Another world is possible, however, one in which the baked potato is the meal, replete with protein, vegetables, and overflowing with buttery potato mash.

This recipe is a perfect example. It takes the comforting flavors of shepherd’s pie and stuffs them into a cozy potato jacket. It’s as much a hearty twist on the classic baked potato as it is a repackaging of shepherd’s pie, moving it from the typical large casserole dish to single-serving, fully-loaded, potentially make-ahead potato skins.

To enhance these potatoes even more, instead of topping them with simple mashed potatoes, I fold egg yolks into the mashed potato, turning them into pipe-able duchess potatoes that make a beautiful star pattern on top. Showered with Parmesan and baked until golden, it’s a fun and satisfying dish that turns the humble potato into a true star of the plate.

This Recipe’s Techniques for Success

Add Some Umami to the Filling

The shepherd’s pie filling here is basically just a half-sized batch of Daniel’s shepherd’s pie recipe, with one tweak: Instead of the Marmite in his recipe, I call for optional fish sauce in addition to the Worcestershire sauce already in the recipe; all of these ingredients play a similar role of umami-booster, so use whichever you have in your pantry (even Worcestershire alone will do the trick).

Enhance the Mashed Potato Topping

In a classic twice-baked potato, the potato flesh is scooped out, seasoned, and enriched with ingredients like butter, and then packed back into the skins for a second baking. Here, though, we’re packing the meat stew into the potato skins and then topping that with piped mashed potatoes. In a case like this, it helps to harness the power of duchess potatoes, which are whipped with egg, cream, and butter for a smooth and pipable result that holds its shape beautifully when baked.

All you need is a pastry bag and a star tip to give these potatoes a touch of flair that’ll make you proud to serve them to guests—or just to yourself. You’ll have some extra mashed potatoes since the quantity of scooped-out potatoes exceeds what’s needed to top the dish, so check out the linked duchess potatoes recipe for instructions on making individual portions to serve alongside.