Even the best and most experienced cooks can sometimes draw a blank when knowing what to serve with certain dishes. This post takes a look at what to serve with Cottage Pie, a classic British dish made with minced beef and mashed potatoes.

One of the great things about a classic cottage pie is that you don’t always need to serve anything else with it, especially if you add vegetables, such as peas and carrots to the mince and gravy base.

However, there are plenty of reasons you may want to serve a few extras alongside your cottage pie – it could be that you want to make it stretch a bit further to feed a few extra guests, you might want to mix things up or encourage children to eat a few extra veggies.

It’s worth mentioning that while this post is all about what to serve with cottage pie, all of these sides can also be served with Shepheard’s pie (Shepherd’s pie differs in that it is made with minced lamb, rather than minced beef).

What To Serve With Cottage Pie

1. Roasted Carrots And Parsnips

Roasted carrots and parsnips make a great side for cottage pie. I like to do mine in the air fryer for quickness although if your oven is already switched on to cook the cottage pie, you could cook them in there at the same time.

I like to finish roasted carrots and parsnips with a drizzle of honey for extra sweetness.

Roasted Carrots and Parsnips Recipe

2. Peas and Carrots

Quick, simple and easy. Peas and carrots go perfectly with cottage pie. You could use fresh, frozen or tinned or a combination depending on what’s available.

While lots of recipes for cottage pie include peas and carrots as part of the dish, there are many reasons you might want to leave them out and serve them separately, especially if you have children who like their foods to be served apart.

3. What To Serve With Cottage Pie – Chips!

You might be thinking that Cottage Pie doesn’t need more carbs since it’s already topped with mashed potatoes. But when I worked as a chef in a country pub, customers almost asked for chips as a side to go with cottage pie.

And to be honest, chips are delicious and perfect for mopping up any extra gravy. Plus, extra crispy chips add some much-needed texture to this usually very soft dish.

4. Crusty Bread & Butter

I love serving huge slabs of fresh crusty bread and butter with Cottage Pie. It’s perfect for dipping in the gravy and mince part of the dish and doesn’t need cooking, unlike the majority of the suggestions on this list.

Simply cut a fresh crusty loaf into thick slices and serve in a bowl on the table.

5. Mushy Peas

Mushy peas make a great side for cottage pie and if you opt for ones from a tin, they’re an easy side too.

Simply remove it from the can and either heat it on the hob or in the microwave.

6. Roast Potatoes

I can’t think of a single meal that isn’t made better by the addition of roast potatoes.

And while I wouldn’t personally make roast potatoes especially to serve with cottage pie, many people use leftover beef and veggies from a Sunday roast to make their pie, so why not add any leftover roasties as a side?

It’s a great way to use them up and bulk out the dish overall if needed.

Leftover roast potatoes can easily be warmed through in the oven while the cottage pie is cooking (just pop them on the shelf below!) or if you want to crisp them up they can be cooked in an air fryer for around ten minutes.

Related Recipe: Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Leftover Roast Potatoes

7. Broccoli

Broccoli brightens up any dish and is full of important nutrients and iron, so makes a great side for cottage pie.

For lovely bright green broccoli, always add to a pan of boiling water to seal in the colour and cook for a few minutes until tender, drain and serve immediately.

Alternatively, you could use frozen broccoli which is often cheaper than fresh and helps to limit food waste.

8. Cauliflower Cheese

Cauliflower cheese is a delicious and warming dish and who wouldn’t to add some creamy, cheesy goodness to the ultimate dish that is cottage pie?

As well as being a side dish, cauliflower cheese could also double up as a main dish if you have any vegetarians coming to dinner. And while it does take more time to prepare than other vegetable sides, it is well worth the extra effort.

Plus, once prepared it can go into the oven alongside the cottage pie to get all lovely and golden brown on top.

Cauliflower Cheese Recipe

9. Wilted Greens

When planning any dish, I always like to see some greenery on the plate and wilted greens are one way to do this. Spring greens would be my personal choice to serve with cottage pie but there are plenty of other options including spinach, swiss chard and kale.

10. Extra Gravy

One of the best things you can serve with cottage pie is a huge jug full of piping hot gravy. Whether you make it from scratch or use instant it doesn’t matter, it compliments the pie perfectly and can be mopped up with those chunks of crusty bread I mentioned earlier!

11. New Potatoes

You may have realised by now that I have no qualms about serving more than one type of potato at a time!

So, my next suggestion is new potatoes. New potatoes have a different texture to the mashed potatoes on top of a cottage pie and are even better if you can roast them or crisp them up in the air fryer before serving.

You could also serve tinned new potatoes as a side dish for cottage pie.

Related post: Can You Fry Canned Potatoes? 

I hope this post has given you plenty of ideas for what to serve with cottage or what to serve with shepherd’s pie. Both dishes are equally delicious and even better with a little something extra served alongside.

Let me know in the comments which is your favourite dish to serve with cottage pie!