Creamy fish pie with mustard mashed potatoes

Creamy, comforting fish pie, with delicious mustardy mash, is a wonderful, nutritious family dinner. Make ahead for an easy meal.

Sometimes, things don’t go exactly as you had hoped. For instance, I recently had a complete fish pie disaster.

Despite years of fish-pie-making experience, the sauce came out lumpy and needed to be blended smooth, I got covered in fish scales, and the pan of potatoes boiled over. Then, when I assembled the pie, the dish wasn’t big enough and I spilled sauce everywhere.

By the time it went into the oven I was ready to give up and just have toast for dinner. 

The future’s bright!

Still, try, try and try again, right?

The fish pie you see in the photos went into the oven with much less fuss, and was soon wafting a delicious aroma into the kitchen. It came out of the oven looking golden and gorgeous. And not a fish scale or lump of sauce to be seen!

Make it in advance

This delicious fish pie is another recipe in an ongoing series of ‘dishes that can be made in advance and left to cook by themselves in a pre-set oven’. You can assemble it all the way up to topping it with the mash, then leave it to cool and simply bake it when you’re ready.

You can even freeze it! Of course if you’re baking it from cold it will take a little while longer in the oven. You need to make sure that the filling is completely piping hot, all the way through.

In praise of fish pie

I really love fish pie, especially when the weather is cold or grey. It’s warm and comforting, smothered in a blanket of creamy mash and gooey with sauce. I like to include some smoked fish in the mix, which adds an extra layer of delicious flavour.

In this recipe I used dill in the sauce and mustard in the mash, which gave it an altogether Scandinavian feel, and was utterly scrumptious.

Ingredients for a delicious fish pie

To make this yummy pie, you will need the following ingredients:

• Fish! Of course! – I like to use a combination of white fish such as cod, haddock or hake, some salmon or trout, and something smoked.
• Potatoes – choose a floury spud for a perfect mashed potato topping.
• Butter – for making the roux for the creamy sauce.
• Flour – to thicken the sauce.
• Milk – for a creamy sauce and smooth and creamy mash.
• Fresh dill – goes wonderfully with the fish and makes the sauce extra yummy!
• Whole grain mustard – to flavour the topping, so good!

Fish pie top tips!

My top tips for making a successful fish pie are as follows:

• Always use more fish than you think you’ll need – I used to put in one portion of fish per person, but this seemed to never be quite enough. Add one extra portion for every three people.
• Likewise with mash – more is better.
• Don’t make the sauce too thick – it will thicken up in the oven. In any case, the contrast of runny sauce and thick, creamy mash is wonderful.
• Make sure the mashed potato topping gets nice and crispy on the top. It’s sometimes necessary to give the pie a quick blast under a hot grill (broiler) to achieve this, but it’s definitely worth it. 

Follow those tips, and hopefully fish pie disasters (like mine) will be a thing of the past!

Serves 3-4.

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📖 Recipe

Fish pie with mustard mash

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Creamy, comforting fish pie, with delicious mustardy mash, is a wonderful, nutritious family dinner. Make ahead for an easy meal.

4.67 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine British

Servings 4

Calories 467 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

For the filling

• 150 g haddock fillet (or other white fish)
• 150 g smoked haddock fillet
• 250 g salmon or trout fillet
• 25 g butter
• 2 tablespoon flour
• 500 ml milk
• 2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill

For the mash

• 850 g potatoes
• 50 ml milk
• 1-2 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

Instructions

 

• 850 g (30 oz) potatoes
  First, cook the potatoes. Peel them, then cut into 1-2cm (approx. ½-1 inch) dice. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until very soft.
• 150 g (5¼ oz) haddock fillet (or other white fish), 150 g (5¼ oz) smoked haddock fillet, 250 g (8⅚ oz) salmon or trout fillet
  Meanwhile, prepare the fish. Skin the fillets if necessary and remove any remaining bones. Cut the fish into bitesize chunks and set aside.
• 25 g (⅛ cup) butter, 2 tablespoon flour, 500 ml (2 cups) milk
  Melt the butter in a large heavy based pan, then stir in the flour and cook for a minute, stirring all the time. Gradually add the milk, stirring well to ensure a smooth sauce. Once all the milk is added, continue to cook, stirring continuously, until the sauce come up to the boil and thickens slightly. Remove from the heat.
• 2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
  Gently stir the chopped dill and prepared fish pieces into the sauce. Cover with a lid and set aside.
• 50 ml (⅕ cup) milk, 1-2 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
  Make the mash. Drain the cooked potatoes and mash well with the milk and mustard to give a creamy consistency. If necessary, add a drop more milk.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Use a slotted spoon to gently transfer the fish from the sauce into a pie dish. Spread the fish in an even layer, trying to mix up the different sorts of fish. Very carefully, pour the sauce over, trying to avoid disturbing the fish pieces.
• Arrange the mashed potato on top of the fish and sauce, and use a fork to rough up the surface. Place the pie dish on a baking tray and transfer to the oven.
• Cook at 180°C (350°F) for 30-45 minutes, until hot throughout and browning on top.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Fish pie with mustard mash

Amount per Serving

Calories

467

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

14

g

22

%

Saturated Fat

 

7

g

44

%

Trans Fat

 

1

g

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

2

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

4

g

Cholesterol

 

111

mg

37

%

Sodium

 

524

mg

23

%

Potassium

 

1652

mg

47

%

Carbohydrates

 

47

g

16

%

Fiber

 

5

g

21

%

Sugar

 

9

g

10

%

Protein

 

37

g

74

%

Vitamin A

 

460

IU

9

%

Vitamin C

 

42

mg

51

%

Calcium

 

214

mg

21

%

Iron

 

3

mg

17

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword fish, potato

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More delicious fish recipes

If you want the flavour of a fish pie but with a bit less faff, try this fish pie pasta bake instead!  Alternatively you might enjoy this cod and sweetcorn pie, topped with puff pastry.