vegan/plant based mexican shepards pie!

this recipe was so fun to make and one (as you'll find with most of these recipes!) created in my head, on the spot with whatever food items I have on hand!

fun fact: everything I make normally has more than one idea/use for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

I took some leftover chopped onions 🧅, added some chopped garlic 🧄 and chopped cremini mushrooms 🍄 and set them aside.

I peeled my potatoes 🥔, washing them throughly, cut them into small pieces and then set them to boil and preheated my oven to around 400 degrees.

take a small frying pan (remember I'm only cooking for ONE so adjust your portions etc, as needed!) and add some avocado oil 🥑 to the pan and let it heat gently.

when the oil is just hot, add your onions, garlic and mushrooms along with some organic sea salt, herbs and a little paprika to the pan while gently stirring to prevent burning. 

take a pack of vegan/plant based mexican 'unbeef' ground and crumble it into the pan, stirring and gently mixing it into the ingredients.

add some tomato paste 🍅 for your base (or as I did, pasta sauce, as it was all I had on hand at the time, lol!) add one pack of taco mix (for me it was half a pack, smaller pan!) and one half to a full cup of warm water, stirring as you go until it starts to thicken. once it's finished, gently set aside to cool while you turn your attention to your potatoes. 

once boiled, mashed your potatoes well until smooth - if you have it on hand, add your plant based butter 🧈, organic seasoned salt🧂 and some belsoy bio organic cuisine 'cream' 🥛(or any other plant-based milk) for that extra richness and taste!

using a pie dish 🥧, add your ground into the pie dish, evening out the mixture so it's level, then spoon your creamy mashed potatoes on top covering the ground completely. level out the potatoes and then 'fluff' the potatoes gently with a fork.

take a handful of plant based mexican shredded cheese 🧀 and cover the top of your mexican shepard's pie with it and place in the oven for around 20 mins or until the top is a beautiful golden brown (like the one in the picture!).

remove from oven and let sit for ten minutes, cut, serve and ENJOY!! 🤠

vegan/plant based mexican shepard's pie! 🐑🌵