Once again, leftovers scored big with a fantastic Chili Shepherd’s Pie with Chipotle Mashers, made with leftover chili. As I mentioned last week, I’ve been making loads of soup and chili lately in response to this unbelievably cold weather we’ve been having.

Instead of simply reheating the leftover chili like I usually do, I was in the mood for some kind of baked casserole when I got the idea to top the chili with mashed potatoes for a new twist on Shepherd’s Pie. And what a great idea it was!

The chili already had some veggies in it, but I added some extra corn kernels and spread it in a baking dish. I swirled about 2 tablespoons of chipotle chiles in adobo (a mix of the sauce with some minced chipotle) into the mashed potatoes, making it a gorgeous reddish-orange color. After spreading the mashers on the chili, I sprinkled some panko crumbs on top for a little crunch.

I had a feeling this was going to taste good, but it was even better than I expected. Seriously. If you have some chili on hand, it’s worth whipping up some mashed potatoes just to make this.

Labels: chili shepherd's pie, chipotle mashed potatoes