Cowboy Pie Recipe

Sausages and beans in a rich, tangy BBQ sauce topped with cheesy mash. 

Made mostly from store cupboard ingredients, you can replace the sausages with corned beef. 

This is an easy comfort food recipe that the whole family will enjoy.

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Please note: no cowboys were harmed in the making of this pie!

Cowboy pie is a fairly cheap and cheerful tv dinner, topped with cheesy mashed potatoes - now who doesn't like cheesy mash? 

If you don't like baked beans you can replace them with spaghetti hoops - I'll mention a few more swaps in a bit.

Anyway who knew, certainly not me, but apparently Lisa Faulkner, married to John Torode who hosts MasterChef here in the UK, tops her cowboy pie with waffles - sorry I digress! 

I'm not too sure about that one, would it turn out a tad dry? Let me know in the comments below.

Be sure to read my recipe top tip below before making this.

Ingredients for cowboy pie

Ingredients for the mashed potatoes with cheese.

How to make Cowboy Pie

Start by heating up a little vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Over low-medium heat, sauté the onions for 10 minutes stirring now and then.

Add in the peppers and cook for a further 10 minutes. Now add the minced garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, you can make the mashed potatoes.

Remove the onions and wipe the frying pan.

Heat up a little more oil and add the sausages. Cook the sausages and cut them into halves - I use kitchen scissors for this.

Add the rest of the prepared ingredients to the pan and cook for a few more minutes to heat through - see the recipe card below for full details.

Carefully spoon the filling into an oven-proof dish and top with the mashed potato.

Cover the top of the pie with mash and sprinkle over the cheese.

Then put it into the oven (uncovered) on the middle shelf and cook for around 25 minutes.

Recipe Top Tips!

You will see a lot of recipes on the net that say, sauté onions for 5 minutes - trust me you will have horrid hard onions as they will not cook properly once inside your pie.

Personally, I think they just say this just to make their recipe look quicker than it really is!

Cooking the onions for longer will not only insure they are soft but will also make them sweeter in taste. So, for this reason, it really is worth taking your time.

Be sure to use good quality tinned tomatoes or your sauce will be watery. I always use the brand Cirio although I am aware they aren't the cheapest, I buy them with they are on offer.

You will need a 1.5L dish for this.

Recipe swaps - substitutions

• swap the tinned tomatoes for another tin of baked beans

• tinned tomatoes for tinned sweetcorn

• baked beans for kidney beans or pinto beans

• baked beans for tinned spaghetti hoops

• red bell pepper for sliced mushrooms

• sausages for meat-free sausages

• sausages for corned beef

What to serve with cowboy pie

You can serve it as it is since it's filling anyway, but if you want to stretch it further you can serve it with:

• cooked peas

• sweetcorn

• green beans

• broccoli

• cooked frozen mixed vegetables

Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below!

cowboy pie, cowboy pie recipe, sausages and beans, potatoes, mashed potato,

dinner

Family food

Yield: 4

Author: Jan Bennett

Cowboy Pie

Old school classic - sausages and baked beans topped with cheesy mashed potatoes.

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

Ingredients

• vegetable oil
• 12 pork chipolata sausages - or 6 regular butchers sausages
• 1 large onion - thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper - chopped into very small dice
• 1 fat garlic clove - minced
• 1 x 420g tin (can) baked beans in tomato sauce
• 1 x 400g tinned tomatoes
• 4 tbsp BBQ sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

For the mash

• 1.5gk potatoes - peeled and cut into large chunks
• 40g butter
• 4 tbsp of milk - approx
• 60g grated cheddar cheese - to top the mash

Instructions

1. Start by heating up a little vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Over low-medium heat, sauté the onions for 10 minutes stirring now and then.
2. Add the peppers and cook for a further 10 minutes.
3. Now add the minced garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Meanwhile, you can make the mashed potatoes - see below.
4. Remove the onions, peppers and garlic and set aside. Wipe the frying pan.
5. Heat up a little more oil and cook the sausages, turning to brown them. Once cooked, cut them into halves or thirds - I use kitchen scissors for this.
6. Preheat your oven to 200°C 400°F or Gas 6
7. Add the onion mixture back into the pan along with the beans, tomatoes, bbq sauce and Worcester sauce and cook for 5 minutes or so to heat through.
8. Carefully spoon the filling into an oven-proof dish and top with the mashed potato. Sprinkle over the cheese.
9. Put the dish into the oven (uncovered) on the middle shelf and cook for around 25 minutes until bubbling and golden.

The potatoes

1. Put the potatoes into cold salted water and bring them to a boil. Simmer until cooked.
2. Drain the potatoes and add the butter and milk. Mash until smooth and fluffy.
3. Add more butter or milk if needed and season to taste.

Did you make this recipe?

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