How to Lighten Up Shepherd’s Pie But Keep All the Flavor
When I need to make a good hearty dinner that requires little effort, minimal thaw time, and still serves up a helping of veggies, I lean hard on shepherd’s pie. The only problem is that it tends to be a little heavy in its original form. So, I lighten it up to make it a wee bit healthier.
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Pick Your Protein Wisely
Of course, traditionally, it’s made with ground lamb or beef. While we do occasionally have a little bit, red meat is not our first choice. It tends to be more expensive, especially to get a responsible choice, and most stores only have 85/15, which is a bit too fatty for my stomach.
Instead, I like either ground turkey, ground chicken, or meatless crumbles. Meatless crumbles are a great way to make this pie vegetarian or vegan, just remember to use vegetable broth instead of chicken.
Use Veggies for Volume
Grab a bag of Mixed Vegetables from the frozen section of the grocery store and save yourself a ton of trouble. The kind that has peas, carrots, corn, and green beans is perfect. If your grocery store has frozen diced onion, grab that, too, just to make life easy.
When your ground meat or crumbles are cooked, toss in the onions and let them sweat a bit. You’ll, then, make your sauce with a sprinkle of flour and a healthy dose of broth. Use vegetable broth if you’re going on the vegetarian theme.
Once your sauce has thickened, you’ll add in the frozen mixed veggies. It’s super easy. All of this will take about 15 minutes.
Topping Your Shepherd’s Pie
Traditionally, you’ll want to top your shepherd’s pie with mashed potatoes. It’s super easy to lighten this up, though. Instead of boiling cubed potato, switch to florets of fresh cauliflower.
Then, use a drizzle of olive oil and a quarter cup of nutritional yeast to go vegan. Purée this together for your topping, and voila! You can go the extra step and cover with vegan cheddar, if you’re feeling it.
For those who don’t mind dairy, purée the cauliflower with skim milk, olive oil, light, or fat-free cottage cheese. Spread the thick creamy deliciousness over your pan of filling. Top with low-fat cheese, and it’s ready to bake.
Make Your Shepherd’s Pie Even Easier
I don’t know about you, but I love to minimize the dishes I use. That’s why I am a big fan of pans that can go from stovetop to oven. Yes, the mashed cauliflower requires a separate pot to boil, a bowl to combine the ingredients, and a stick blender to get the right texture.
If this is too much work, get a bag of frozen mashed cauliflower and save yourself the dishes. It’s just as good and so easy just to microwave the bag and dump it on top.
So, as far as my favorite pan goes: I use a shallow enamel coated pan from Le Creuset. It’s great for making everything from chicken shawarma to risotto, and that includes shepherd’s pie.
After browning the meat in the pan, I can sweat onions, make a rue, make a sauce, add in the veggies, top with mash and cheese, and toss the whole thing in the oven. It’s super easy. AND I can set my pretty pan right on the table and serve everyone’s plates from there.
What to Serve with Shepherd’s Pie?
I have a couple of recipes for rolls that I love to serve with shepherd’s pie, and all of them are relatively easy to throw together. Give one of these a try:
- 3 Ingredient Beer Bread Muffins
- Small Batch Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
- Small Batch Chili Cheddar Biscuits
- Flaky Layered Biscuits
So, that’s it! Below is my recipe for the easiest and healthiest shepherd’s pie. It’s a filling dinner that sneaks veggies and protein into your family’s diet, and won’t fill your sink with tons of dishes.
Comment and let me know if you give this a try, especially if you implement my tips for making it vegetarian/vegan! And don’t forget to subscribe for awesome freebies and new posts sent to your inbox!
Lighter Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
Shepherd's Pie Filling
- ½ pound lean ground turkey (or ground chicken or meatless grounds)
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp all purpose flour (or cornstarch for gluten-free)
- 4 cups frozen mixed vegetables
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
Mashed Cauliflower Layer
- 1 pound cauliflower
- ¼ cup skim milk (or vegetable broth of vegan)
- ½ cup fat-free or low-fat cottage cheese (use 1/2 cup nutritional yeast plus 4 tbsp cauliflower water for vegan)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- 1 cup low fat cheddar (or vegan cheese)
Instructions
Make the Mashed Cauliflower
- If you are not using a bag of premade, frozen mashed cauliflower, break down a 1 pound head of cauliflower.
- Boil the cauliflower in salted water until it's tender. Drain (reserve 4 Tbsp water if making a vegan mash).
- Combine the drained cauliflower with milk, cottage cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper (and use whatever alternative you need to for vegan). Use an immersion blender to purée the cauliflower until the mixture is smooth. Set aside while you make your filling.
Make the Filling and Construct the Shepherd's Pie
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Heat your oven-safe pan on the stove, and brown your ground turkey or chicken. If you're using meatless crumbles, heat them through.
- Add in the diced onions and stir until translucent.
- Sprinkle flour or cornstarch evenly over the whole pan and stir until no dry spots show. Continue to cook until a fond forms on the bottom of the pan and turns golden brown.
- Slowly drizzle in the vegetable broth, stirring continually until a thick sauce forms. Make sure to scrape up the fond and incorporate it into the sauce.
- Pour in the vegetables and turn off the heat.
- When it stops simmering, layer the mashed cauliflower over top, and sprinkle the cheese on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
- Cool slightly before serving.
