Shepherd’s Pie is a traditional English dish. In Britain it is generally made with lamb or mutton; in this recipe I have made a simple ground beef shepherd’s pie and added bacon for extra flavor.
Shepard’s pie is often referred to as “cottage pie,” by the English; it is a casserole made of cooked meat and vegetables that is then topped with mashed potatoes and baked. I have made this dish into a Paleo casserole by using Mashed Cauliflower for the topping. This reduces the glycemic index of the dish and increases the nutritional content, since cauliflower is a super food.
I based my recipe for ground beef Shepherd’s Pie, on this Shepherd’s Pie recipe from functionalfoodie.com. As you can see, I made some adjustments. First, I eliminated the tomato sauce, as research from Dr. Loren Cordain points to the possibility that tomatoes contain immune disrupting lectins (I have therefore eliminated them from my diet as I have MS). I also did not use coconut milk in the mashed cauliflower topping, and skipped the Worcester sauce (since I’m too lazy to read ingredients and prefer to use the simple spices in my spice rack).
I hope you enjoy this gluten free comfort food as much as I have!
Paleo Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 pound turkey or pork bacon, cut into ½-inch slices
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 2 cups diced celery
- 1 pound organic grass fed ground beef
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup Chicken Stock or Kettle & Fire Bone Broth
- 2 large heads cauliflower, trimmed, chopped and steamed until very soft
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a very large frying pan
- Sauté onion for 15 minutes until soft
- Add bacon pieces to pan and sauté until cooked, about 10 minutes
- Add carrots and celery to pan and sauté in bacon fat for 10 minutes until soft
- Add ground beef to pan and sauté until brown, just a few minutes
- Season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika
- Add chicken broth and cook down broth until 60% evaporated
- Place cauliflower in food processor and puree with olive oil until smooth
- Pour ground beef mixture into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish
- Pour mashed cauliflower over beef mixture
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes
- Serve
I found that in my fridge this Shepard’s Pie kept for close to a week. I ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
What is your favorite gluten free comfort food?
Cat says
Your recipe is one of the best dinners I make! My son’s best friend even ate it tonite and that 8 year old doesn’t do veggies.
Winifred says
Made this in a pinch tonight for dinner… Didn’t have celery so I subbed yellow, red and orange peppers. I added goat cheese to the cauliflower mash. It was HEAVEN! Elena, the addition and bacon and smoked paprika was genius! Thank you:)
Also picked up you cupcake book while I’m waiting for your almond flour cookbook to come in the mail and wow! The savoury muffins are outta this world! Thank you;)
linda burr says
Best recipe ever!!!! I used bacon, (which wasn’t in the book recipe) and added frozen collards from my garden last year. YUMMMMMMM.
Lois says
I loved the Sheperd’s Pie recipe. I am making it again tomorrow for company and can’t wait to eat it again. Am I crazy, or did you add capers to this recipe in one of your blogs? I have your recipe book and it’s not in there and I printed it from your website also and not in there either. Maybe I dreamed it, but I’m going to put capers in the one I’m making tomorrow. Thank you for all your wonderful recipies. I just retired and I’m getting into cooking again. I do have celiac.
Shelley says
Has anyone tried freezing this? (I scanned comments and didn’t see anyone mention it, but my apologies if it was and I missed it.)
Gman says
For future reference the reason a Shepherds pie is called Shepherds pie is because it’s made with lamb. If it’s made with beef then it’s a cottage pie.
I’ve never needed to use oil when cooking cottage pre the beef is more than oily enough to help cook the rest of the ingredients. I also add a few more herbs like sage and parsley. I personally prefer beef stock to go with my beef but that’s just personal preference. Might try the paprika though and the cauliflower. Nice try.
Alice Crittenden says
Just wanted to clarify, you are correct in saying Shepherd’s Pie is lamb or mutto based. Cottage Pie is the term used for beef based.
Letitia says
For humanity sake, please stop encouraging people to cook olive oil as doing so it becomes carcinogenic. Please replace this ingredient with coconut oil ghee or tallow as they can safely be heated. THANKS :)
Sean Seidell says
This Shepherd’s Pie was amazing! I ate three portions for dinner. I didn’t have cauliflower so I used Sweet Potatoes as a sub. Looking forward to trying your other recipes!
Thank you for the great recipe!
Keli says
Can you make this 24 hrs before and then cook? I’m thinking of prepping on Sunday but cooking on Monday.