Healthy Veggie-Loaded Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie is a nutritious meal, complete with all your essential macronutrients and fiber! This balanced meal is easy to make, especially if you have leftover mashed sweet potatoes!
Packed with vegetables, delicious ground lamb (or ground beef), and topped with silky, rich mashed sweet potatoes, this easy Shepherd’s Pie recipe is your ticket to a comforting meal for us meat and potatoes lovers!
The best part about this simple recipe is you can use up all sorts of fresh produce in your refrigerator! For the vegetables, I use carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, broccoli, and baby spinach, but you can toss in whatever you have on hand.
Ideal for meal prep or for serving the whole family on any given weeknight, this family favorite is the ultimate comfort food. Use it as a refrigerator cleanout, or find the ingredients at all grocery stores!
While this is a very non traditional approach to Shepherd’s Pie, I love that it is filled to the brim with vitamins, minerals, fiber, healthy fat, and complex carbohydrates. It’s just a win when it comes to healthy weeknight eating that is also satiating.
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for this amazing Shepherd’s Pie!
Ingredients for Shepherd’s Pie:
For the Filling:
The beef mixture is a combination of ground lamb (or ground beef if you prefer), onion, fresh garlic (garlic powder works too), carrots, celery, mushrooms, broccoli, fresh spinach, tomato sauce, chicken broth (or beef broth or water), coconut aminos (or soy sauce), and gluten-free all-purpose flour (for thickening the sauce).
This combination of ingredients makes a protein and fiber-packed concoction that is positively loaded with Vitamins.
For the Mashed Sweet Potatoes:
The sweet potato mash includes sweet potatoes, garlic, canned coconut milk (heavy cream or milk works too) and salt. This brings us a sweet and savory potato mash that is a great source of complex carbohydrates, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium, and more!
This balanced meal contains everything you need to keep you feeling full and energized.
Recipe Adaptations:
- Use your favorite type of ground meat including ground beef, ground turkey, ground pork, or ground chicken. Note that if you use a leaner meat like lean ground turkey or ground chicken, the meat mixture won’t taste quite as rich and flavorful due to the lack of fat.
- Make it AIP by replacing the tomato sauce with more chicken broth and swapping the GF flour for tapioca flour.
- Replace the sweet potatoes with white potatoes such as Yukon gold potatoes or russet potatoes if you prefer.
- Make it low-carb by following my Keto Cottage Pie.
- Mix 1 to 2 cups of grated cheese in with the mashed potatoes, or 3 to 4 tablespoons of butter, or 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, brown sugar, or honey.
- Replace the tomato sauce with 3 tablespoons of tomato paste plus 1 cup of broth.
- Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce if you have it on hand.
- Toss in your favorite vegetables, such as bell pepper, green beans, peas, corn, cauliflower, frozen mixed vegetables, etc.
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s make Shepherd’s Pie!
How to Make Shepherd’s Pie:
Make the Mashed Potatoes:
Chop the potatoes into chunks and boil in water on the stove top for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are very tender when poked with a fork.
Drain the water then place potatoes back into the pot you used for boiling and add the garlic, coconut milk, and sea salt. Use a potato masher to mash everything together until the sweet potato topping is well-combined.
Taste the mashed sweet potatoes for flavor and add more salt to taste. You can also add butter, pure maple syrup, or grated cheese depending on the flavor you’re going for.
While the potatoes are cooking, you can make the meat filling.
Prepare the Meat Filling:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Heat the avocado oil in a thick-bottomed large pot (I use my Dutch oven) or a large skillet or large saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion, sprinkle with sea salt, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the onion has softened, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the mushrooms, garlic, carrots, celery, and broccoli to the pot, stir well, and replace the cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin turning brown, about 5 minutes.
Add in the ground beef and use a spatula to break it into smaller pieces. Continue cooking until the beef has mostly browned and not much pink is left.
Stir in the tomato sauce and chicken broth.
Add the baby spinach and cover the pot. Cook until the spinach has wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir the mixture well, then add in the gluten-free flour.
Transfer all of the meat mixture to a large casserole dish and spread it into an even layer.
Spread the mashed sweet potatoes over the meat mixture evenly. If you’d like, drizzle the mashed sweet potatoes with extra virgin olive oil or melted butter for more delicious rich flavor.
Bake Shepherd’s Pie on the center rack of the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are slightly golden and the meat mixture is bubbly.
Serve Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie with any additional side dishes, such as Cheese & Herb Irish Soda Bread, and enjoy!
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
And that’s it! A simple easy Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie recipe that gives you a big bang for your buck! This hearty meal will surely please the whole family whether you’re serving it on a weeknight or for a special occasion or holiday.
If you love hearty casserole recipes like this, also check out these gems!
More Healthy Casserole Recipes:
- Chicken and Rice Enchilada Casserole
- Creamy Chicken Noodle Casserole
- Tuna Noodle Casserole
- Mediterranean Breakfast Casserole
- Wild Rice Chicken Casserole
Enjoy this veggie loaded healthy meal!
Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms chopped
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 3 large carrots chopped
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 head broccoli chopped
- 2 lbs ground lamb or ground beef
- 1 6-ounce can tomato sauce
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 Tbsp coconut aminos or soy sauce
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- 2 Tbsp gluten-free all-purpose flour
For the Mashed Potatoes
- 2 large sweet potatoes 2 lbs
- ½ cup full-fat canned coconut milk*
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ tsp sea salt
Instructions
Make the Mashed Potatoes:
- Chop the potatoes into chunks and boil in water on the stove top for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are very tender when poked with a fork.
- Drain the water then place potatoes back into the pot you used for boiling and add the garlic, coconut milk, and sea salt. Use a potato masher to mash everything together until the sweet potato topping is well-combined. Taste the mashed sweet potatoes for flavor and add more salt to taste. You can also add butter, pure maple syrup, or grated cheese depending on the flavor you’re going for.
- While the potatoes are cooking, you can make the meat filling.
Prepare the Meat Filling:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Heat the avocado oil in a large thick-bottomed pot (I use my Dutch oven) and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion, sprinkle with sea salt, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the onion has softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the mushrooms, garlic, carrots, celery, and broccoli to the pot, stir well, and replace the cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin turning brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add in the ground beef and use a spatula to break it into smaller pieces. Continue cooking until the beef has mostly browned and not much pink is left.
- Stir in the tomato sauce and chicken broth then add the baby spinach and cover the pot.
- Cook until the spinach has wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir the mixture well, then add in the gluten-free flour.
- Transfer all of the meat mixture to a large casserole dish and spread it into an even layer.
- Spread the mashed sweet potatoes over the meat mixture evenly. If you’d like, drizzle the mashed sweet potatoes with extra virgin olive oil or melted butter for more delicious rich flavor.
- Bake Shepherd’s Pie on the center rack of the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are slightly golden and the meat mixture is bubbly.
- Serve Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie with any additional side dishes and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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I’m not able to eat tomatoes. Is there a substitute for tomato sauce?
Hi Cathy! You can use more broth instead of tomato sauce! I would also add some coconut aminos or cider vinegar (1 to 2 tablespoons) to bring in some tangy flavor. You may need to cook the meat mixture for a few minutes longer until it thickens up. Hope you enjoy! xoxo