Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
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This clean eating shepherd’s pie is a healthy twist on a family classic!
This is the first time I’ve ever made or even eaten shepherd’s pie. I have to admit that the name conjured up images of me tending my flocks of sheep in the meadows somewhere.
I was never really 100% sure about what went in to a shepherd’s pie and to be honest, it didn’t appeal to me based on the name alone.
But I’ve gotten several emails from you all asking for a clean version. So I finally bit the bullet and made my first-ever shepherd’s pie.
All I can say is… DANG, I’ve been missing out!!! The flavors are simple, but it’s one of those dishes that grows on your with every bite.
In fact, I used a casserole dish that was 9X13 inches, and my ex-husband ate HALF of it for dinner! He just could not stop eating it!
Needless to say, he had to pack something different for lunch the next day because there was just none of it left when dinner was done.
So ya, this was yummy, in my humble opinion. I hope you’ll like it too!
More Healthy Casserole Recipes
Clean Eating Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb. ground turkey
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 12 medium garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 large shallot (chopped)
- 1 ½ cups chopped white onion
- 2 cups sliced carrots
- ¼ cup sliced celery
- 1 ½ cups diced zucchini
- 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 3 lb. sweet potatoes (peeled and diced)
- ½ cup chicken broth (no sugar added)
- ½ tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
Instructions
- Place your sweet potatoes in the microwave for about 20-30 minutes, or until they are cooked all the way through.
- While the potatoes cook, saute the garlic, shallot and onions together in the oil.
- When the onions are translucent, add in the turkey meat, carrots, celery, zucchini, and balsamic vinegar and continue to cook until the veggies are cooked most of the way. They don’t have to be completely cooked because they will bake more in the oven. Just a bit tender is good.
- When that is finished cooking, transfer everything to a casserole dish. (Mine was 9×13).
- Using a thick towel so you don’t burn yourself, peel the potatoes while they are still hot.
- Place them in a mixing bowl with the chicken broth, garlic powder, onion powder and salt. Blend with a hand blender until smooth. A food processor or regular blender will work too.
- Smooth the potatoes over the meat in the casserole dish. Drag a fork lightly across the top to “rough up” the surface a bit for baking.
- Bake at 350 degrees F. for approximately 30 minutes or until it’s nice and bubbly (you’ll see that if your casserole dish is clear glass).
- Cut into 12 sections and allow to cool a bit before serving. The potatoes really hold onto their heat, so be careful.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe from the Gracious Pantry archives, originally posted, 10/4/11.
I was wondering if you could use mashed cauliflower instead of sweet potatos? Also did you use yams or sweet potatos? The color in the picture looks more like yams. Thank you so much. So excited to try some of you recipes. New to the site and its amazing!
Welcome! Yes, you could use cauliflower too. I did use sweet potatoes. Enjoy!
You could try. The meat would certainly cook. Then you just have to layer everything.
Haha! Thanks for pointing that out! Had no idea!
My pleasure! So glad you enjoyed them!
I’m new to this clean eating thing (although most lf my meals i make from scratch). Shepherds Pie is a staple in our house. Never thought of topping it with sweet potato rather than regular potato mash. One quick question from the novice – is there any reason why you chose turkey mince over lamb mince? That is how the dish got it’s name after all…
Personally, I can’t stand lamb. So I never use it. Feel free to if that’s your preference.
I finally got around to making this with my own spin on it and it was delicious! OMG the sweet potato I am gonna also make them this way for other dishes too. I used only half and onion and 4 cloves of garlic because it seemed like too much and I am glad I did because hubby made a comment on it was too oniony. I didn’t have any shallots or zucchini so I omitted those and added peas instead.
Janel – Glad it worked out! 🙂
Just made this dish for my husband and I. Really enjoyed it. Very fresh/flavorful. love your website
Jessica – Thanks so much! I’m so happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
My friend made this casserole and shared it with me! Yummy Now I must make this myself ! Thanks for sharing all your wonderful and healthy recipes.
Patti – My pleasure! Enjoy! 😀
Just popped this in the oven, tasted all the components before sticking it in the oven and it was “DA’ BOMB”. Surely cannot wait until that timmer beeps and we can eat this fantastic meal.
P.S. When I try to check the box to notify me when you reply it won’t check.
JenniferSheppard – Awesome! I hope you enjoy it! And thanks for letting me know about the box. I’ll look into it.
I made this tonight for dinner and it was tasty but didn’t turn out well. My husband is really sensitive to garlic so i only used 3 cloves and then added some salt and pepper to the meat mixture to help add some more flavour. Once baked, it ended up really watery, probably from the zucchini. It ended up in mushy piles on everyone’s plates. Next time, I’ll stick to green beans. I’ll also stick turn the broiler on for the last few minutes so the sweet potatoes dry out a little and brown on top. The flavours were good though.
BTW, in the ingredients list, you have black pepper but don’t actually say where to add it. Since its listed with the potato ingredients, i assumed thats where it was supposed to go.
Melanie – I’m sorry you didn’t care for it. It is possible that it was the zucchini. Some are more watery than others.