I’ve been eating grain, dairy, soy, and refined sugar free for close to 6 months now. For some reason, I’ve been craving shepherd’s pie for just about the whole time I’ve been eating this way. I don’t know WHY, then, I waited until now to whip up a batch. But let me tell you, it was worth the wait.
This shepherd’s pie is grain, dairy, blah, blah, blah free. In this recipe, I used sweet potatoes for the topping, but you could easily swap that out for mashed cauliflower or parsnips and it would be just as delicious. Hands down, this is the best shepherd’s pie I’ve ever tasted. I made my roommate Scott taste it too just to make sure my taste buds weren’t biased. His response: “This is v amaze I give it a 10/10 thanks for probably the healthiest thing I’ve eaten all week.”
So I think it’s safe to say you should get your butt to the store and make this up this week. I’m pretty bananas for it.
Paleo Shepherd's Pie
Print RecipeIngredients
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 2 lbs ground turkey
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2-3 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons ketchup (I use Steve’s Paleo Goods)
- 1 cup diced tomatoes (I use canned)
- ½ head of cauliflower, chopped into small bite sized pieces
- 3 tablespoons of coconut aminos
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne (more if you like a lot of spice)
- 3 bay leaves
- Fresh thyme
- Salt & Pepper
- 2 large Japanese sweet potatoes, baked
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pierce your sweet potatoes with a fork and bake for 1 hour. Remove potatoes from the oven. Let cool until you can handle with your hands. Peel off the potato skin and mash in a large bowl using a potato masher or a fork. Add in the coconut oil, almond milk, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside, and lower the oven to 350 degrees.
Heat 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in a large skillet under medium high heat. Add the onion, carrot, garlic and celery. Cook for 4-6 minutes, until the vegetables become soft.
Add in the ground turkey, breaking up the meat until it is browned. Add the ketchup, canned tomatoes, coconut aminos, chicken broth, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt and pepper to taste and bay leaves. Mix and bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium, low. Cook for 30 minutes uncovered, mixing occasionally.
Add the cauliflower and a few sprigs of fresh thyme, cover and cook for another 15 minutes. Note: If you want to add other vegetables to the mixture, feel free to add them in this step. I just didn’t have anything else in the house at the time I made this.
Spray an 8x10 glass casserole dish with coconut oil (or rub coconut oil on the edges if you do not own the spray). Pour the meat mixture into the dish making it even throughout. Carefully dollop the sweet potato mixture throughout and spread with a spoon or fork. Top with paprika and more thyme. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes uncovered. Enjoy!
Notes
The topping for this recipe can vary. If you can tolerate potatoes, I like making this with Japanese sweet potatoes (which is what I included in the ingredients list). It gives it a lovely hint of sweetness while still having a very potato-y texture. If you don’t want to do potatoes, mashed cauliflower or parsnips would also be great.
