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?
Brittany says
YUM! This is so so good! Thanks, Elana!
Cheryl says
Made this last night. Turned out fantastic! Thank-you!
Anna says
Serves 8? HA! More like serves ONE…this was so delicious I had to practice a TON of self control not to eat it ALL!!! I added some butternut squash with the carrots and celery…OH EM GEE! This might become a weekly staple around here!!!
Greg says
This sounds delicious! Thanks for posting. :)
Leigh says
We are making this now for dinner and I thought I’d say that in the instruction part you don’t mention when to add the onion! We almost forgot it. :)
Alicia says
I made this for my family and let me tell you…..It was AWESOME! I am making it again this weekend!
Lauren Amelia says
Hi Elana,
Just to let you know, in the UK Cottage Pie is so called because it is made with Beef, and Shepherd’s Pie is so called because it is made with Lamb.
Just thought you might like to know!
Lauren.
Elana says
Going to try this tonight. You have a great name by the way. :-)
Christin says
I made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing. I love having my veggies and protein all in one dish. The only change I made was to add a few cloves of garlic. Even my super picky husband liked it and wanted me to set him up w/ leftovers to take to work tomorrow.
Rue says
I made this with ground venison instead of beef, and it was delicious. Thank you!