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?
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PaulaV says
I came across this recipe on Yummly… I have always been skeptical about the mashed cauliflower for potato substitution. My daughter encouraged me to go for it. So glad I did! I did the reveal halfway through dinner and my husband was shocked and pleased to find out it was cauliflower. A great recipe to use up available veggies… I had the carrots and celery and threw in some kale I needed to use up. Only had 1/4 lb bacon and that was plenty… I did drain off some of the fats after the beef browned. Also had some grated Parmesan I needed to use so tossed that on top before baking. I am now a mashed cauliflower convert… And look forward to checking out more of your recipes .
Elana says
Paula, what a great comment! I love how you mention the “reveal” :-)
Nicole Haller says
I just want to say, Thank you!!! I made this last night for my very picky family. To say it was a success is an understatement. All three of my kids asked for seconds! It was incredibly tasty.
I was in a bit of a panic because my food processor broke as I put the first batch of cauliflower in. However, I used my Nutribullet and the mash turned out better than any potato I could have used. It was creamy and smooth and I did not add anything to it except a dash of EVOO. HUGE success and I would recommend this dish to everyone.
Elana says
Nicole, so glad to hear this was a huge success!
Pam says
I am a picky friend of Nicole’s. She made one this afternoon & gave me a sample… LOVE IT! Making it for my picky eaters this week! :)
Susan says
Made this last night for dinner and it was fabulous! My hubby said he would not have known the cauliflower was not potatoes if I had not told him. I added some butternut squash to the carrots and celery. YUM!
Elana says
Thanks Susan! So glad that you and your husband enjoyed this!
Felixius says
Trditionally shepherds pie is made with lamb and cottage pie is made with beef.
Looks like a great recipe! Will be trying it out on Pi day ?
Sarah says
Omitted the bacon because we didn’t have any. It came out a little dry and bland. Bacon would have helped haha! Make sure to season the cauliflower mixture!!! Cauli mash might be tastier with ghee instead of olive oil, and maybe even some coconut milk to make it creamier. I’m thinking that cooking the cauliflower first might produce a better result and require much less time in the oven- a quick broil to heat and brown would be all.
Janna says
I think you missed the step of steaming the cauliflower.
Amber says
This had too much bacon in it for my taste. I only used 1/2 the recommended amount and the bacon flavor was overpowering. I still enjoyed it & think it’s a good recipe – but if I make it again I’ll probably leave the bacon out. Otherwise I’d just cook a couple strips first and crumble the bacon on top or into the beef.
Mara says
Agreed Amber. The bacon adds a nice flavor, but one pound is way too overpowering. I ended up using about 6 oz and even that seemed like a lot. Positive note, it was an uncured applewood smoked bacon, so it made up for my lack of “smoked” paprika–had to substitute with the Hungarian sweet (only thing in the pantry). Overall, this was a really good dish! Leftovers the next day (today) were great, but won’t last a week in the fridge, because it’s ALL GONE! I’ll be making it again…
Elana says
Mara, thanks for letting me know that this is a really good dish!
Daneen says
This Shepherd’s Pie recipe is fabulous! My husband used to LOVE mashed potatoes before Paleo and said this tasted just like mashed potatoes and could eat it every night! Thank you, Elana! Your recipes ROCK!
Lee says
Thanks, Elana for a delicious Thanksgiving meal for my hubby and me! It was easy to prepare and cook. My hubby said the cauliflower mash was a great substitute for potatoes. I will cook this again and share this recipe with my friends.
Jo'Anne Allenby says
Hi,
I will definitely be giving this a try, without the paprika though as I suffer with OLP.
I would just like to say though as an English person, that we do not call Shepherds Pie, Cottage Pie because they are two separate dishes. Shepherds Pie is always made with lamb and Cottage Pie is made with beef. Though admittedly we British do tend to use the ‘generic’ term Shepherds Pie more often when in fact Cottage Pie is being made in the home…. ?☺
Tracey Brown says
Tried this tonight & my family loved it! Didn’t tell them it was cauliflower mash until they had demolished the whole thing. I am allergic to wheat and a few other things, and went gluten free about 6 years ago. However, as I get older, I find that my body just doesn’t process carbs the way it used to so I have recently gone grain free as well. I have been trying a lot of your recipes lately and have to say I love them. Most of my family has enjoyed them as well (I have one son who is extremely picky and doesn’t care for healthy foods). Just wanted to say thank you so much! Stumbled across your website when I was looking for a low carb bread recipe and have so far enjoyed everything I’ve tried.
Renee says
We just made this for the 1st time tonight and it was delish! Thanks for a great recipe!