Shepherd’s Pie is a classic Irish recipe, often consisting of a ground lamb or ground beef base topped with creamy mashed potatoes. This recipe is my preferred twist on it using delicious & nutritious sweet potatoes. It adds a little boost of sweetness while still sticking to the creamy topping of a classic shepherd’s pie.
If you’re trying to take the traditional route, use white potatoes instead of sweet and ground lamb instead of ground beef. Peas & corn are also a usual addition to the base if you want to add even more texture and flavor. Any variation is delicious, I’m sure.
You will need to make this in an oven safe pan. I like to use cast iron, but stainless steel also works great.
Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
- GROUND BEEF BASE:
- 2lb Grass Fed Ground Beef
- 3 Carrots, chopped small
- 3 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1 Sweet Yellow Onion, chopped small
- 2tsp Fresh Parsley (dried works too)
- 2tsp Dried Thyme
- 1tsp Salt & 1 tsp Pepper
- 2tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1/2 Cup Bone Broth
- 1tbsp Flour or Arrowroot Starch (thickener)
- 2 tbsp Butter
- SWEET POTATO TOPPING:
- 3lbs Sweet Potatoes, peeled & chopped into small cubes
- 1tbsp Butter
- 1/4 cup Heavy Cream (or coconut cream)
- 1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan
Instructions
- Peel & chop sweet potatoes into small pieces. Bring some water to a boil and cook the sweet potatoes until soft.
- While the sweet potatoes are cooking, chop your mireproix & garlic.
- Heat the butter in an oven save pan & add the mireproix and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until slightly golden.
- Add your ground beef to the pan. If you like to drain your beef, you can remove the veggies, cook the beef, drain, and add them back afterwards. Or, you can just mix everything together without draining.
- Mix in salt, pepper, fresh and dried herbs, and tomato paste well.
- Add in bone broth. Mix in enough starch or flour to make a light gravy. Turn off the stove and set aside.
- Mash the sweet potatoes and mix in butter, cream, and parmesan.
- Top the ground beef with the sweet potato mash. Option to top with more parmesan.
- Bake it all in the oven at 400 for 20-30 minutes, or until there is a slight browning on the top.
Notes
For a simpler / less gravy like recipe, you can leave out the bone broth & flour. It will be more of just a ground beef and veggie base, but is just as good.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 8.5ozAmount Per Serving: Calories: 450Total Fat: 25gCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 33g
Are there any special twists you put on shepherd’s pie? Let me know in the comments! Much love, see ya next blog.