Mexican Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
This Mexican shepherd’s pie is the perfect alternative to your usual taco Tuesdays! (Pssst!! I’ve used this for taco filling, too!)
After my first attempt at making shepherd’s pie, I was so smitten with the stuff that I knew I had to make it again soon. But I knew that shepherd’s pie can come in many different versions, so I was looking forward to trying a new version as well. I just couldn’t let too much time go by before making this dish of deliciousness again.
So I thought about all the different twists I could put on it and finally settled on a Mexican-flavored version. We seem to be surviving off of clean taco salad around here lately. We love the flavor of it. So I figured I’d transition that into a shepherd’s pie.
The entire family loved it! It was a major success in the McCauley household. Cannot wait to make it again. In fact, I think I’ll go make another batch now…
More Healthy Dinner Ideas
Mexican Shepherds Pie
Ingredients
Bottom Layer Ingredients
- 1½ lb. ground turkey
- 1 tbsp. garlic powder
- 1 tbsp. onion powder
- 1 tbsp. ground cumin
- 1 tbsp. chili powder
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 15 oz. can diced tomatoes (no sugar added)
- 1 lb. frozen corn (organic to avoid GMO’s)
- 15 oz. can black beans (no sugar added – drained and rinsed)
Top Layer Ingredients
- 2 lb. russet potatoes
- 1 tbsp. onion powder
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup milk (any type except coconut milk)
- 1 cup chicken broth (no sugar added)
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- ½ tsp. ground black pepper
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes in a large pot until soft and easily pierced with a knife or fork.
- While the potatoes boil, place the turkey and spices in a large pan and cook until the meat is well cooked through.
- Transfer the turkey to a casserole dish (mine was 9×13) and spread evenly across the bottom.
- Next, layer the tomatoes, corn and black beans over the turkey.
- When the potatoes are done, drain the water.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Using a thick hand towel so you don’t burn yourself, peel each potato and return it to the pot or blender (if you don’t have a handheld blender).
- When all the potatoes are peeled, add the rest of the Top Layer Ingredients to the potatoes and blend until smooth.
- Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the meat, corn, beans and tomatoes. Spread evenly with a spatula.
- Using a fork, score the potatoes by dragging the fork lightly over the top, back and forth, both over the width and the length of the casserole.
- Using an oil mister, mist the top lightly with olive oil and place in the oven.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, or until you see the bottom layer get bubbly (if your casserole dish is clear glass). The idea is to brown the top of the potatoes slightly. If this doesn’t happen in 30 minutes, turn your oven to broil and broil for about 10-15 minutes, keeping an eye on it to avoid burning.
- Allow ample time for cooling. The potatoes really hold on to their heat!
Notes
Nutrition
Janice – I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Just made it for dinner and loved it! The picky 5 year old ate it (though not the tomatoes) and the even pickier 2 year old ate the turkey, corn and potatoes! Thanks!
Nancy – That’s wonderful!!!!
DiAnn – Oh no!!! Ya, I find that if I don’t focus in the kitchen, I end up with complete disasters! Glad it was still edible!
This was delicious! Everyone enjoyed it and it was even better reheated for leftovers!!
Ally – That’s wonderful! Glad you enjoyed it!
So glad I found this site. Thanks for the amazing looking recipes! Can’t wait to try them out!
C Noun – Welcome! I hope you enjoy them!
That’s odd. Sorry that happened. That’s the only problem with recipes, Sometimes it’s hard to account for variance between the ingredients I use and what others use.
This looks great and I’m making it tonight. Do you know if it can be put together and frozen? I was planning on splitting it in half for tonight and later.
Sure!
I made a little variation and I think it turned out awesome. I didn’t have any diced tomatoes so I used a can of tomato paste. I was also too lazy to mash up potatoes and all I had was a sweet potato. The “pie” mixure on top of a baked sweet potato is absolutely splendid!
My husband and I(mainly my husband!)made this for one of our weekly meals last night, and it turned out so good! We especially love the idea of using milk and chicken broth for the mashed potatoes–added great flavor and creaminess to them! Thanks for another great recipe!
Paula – My pleasure! 🙂
You could even swap the potatoes for mashed cauliflower! Yum!
Emily – Yup! But I’ve tried that and it just wasn’t the same. I guess it’s all what you get used to though.
I’m a vegetarian and i don’t care for tofu. I was thinking i could use vegetarian refried beans for the bottom layer but I’m not sure how that would turn out. Do you have any on what else i could use for a bottom layer?Any advice is greatly appreciated! 🙂
Katie – I would have to say lots of chopped veggies. You could mix a few refried beans in with it, but you need a little more bulk. I think if you just did beans, you wouldn’t have much of a shepherds pie. Here’s a vegetarian pie recipe I found that looks pretty tasty: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/03/17/vegan-shepherds-pie-with-gravy/
Just wondering- why do you boil first then peal? It sounds more complicated but maybe there is a good reason that I don’t know?
Amy – The potatoes get too watery if you boil them without skins. At least in my experience. But you can do whatever you feel comfortable with. 🙂