Whether you are looking for a quick and easy healthy weeknight meal for the family, or something suitable for meal prep, this Shepherd’s Pie recipe has you covered!

This would be an excellent option for a diabetic friendly meal, as the traditional potato topping has been replaced with…mashed cauliflower!

Side story… just in case you aren’t sold on the idea of mashed cauliflower! One Christmas a few years back, I was charged with bringing a couple of vegetable side dishes to the dinner at my In-Law’s house. As with most families, the usual Christmas dishes had all been assigned to the family members that were particularly good at making them. I hadn’t really been involved with the holiday cooking long enough to have an “assigned dish,” so they just let me decide on anything I wanted to bring. Since I try to eat healthy, I usually bring a couple sides to any large gathering. Really just for sake of knowing that my husband and I have something to fill up on before choosing which things are worth splurging on. Knowing that Christmas would offer a plethora of carbs, I went the route of mashed cauliflower to balance things out. I probably should have made more, because what I didn’t expect was for everyone to love it so much. There were no leftovers and I was assigned to bringing the dish for family get-togethers from then on out! Now, at the time Green Giant had not come up with their mashed cauliflower side dishes, so I took the time to make my own from scratch. At our last Thanksgiving get-together though, I was short on time and so I brought the Green Giant version. Nobody knew the difference!

I did NOT like mashed potatoes as a kid, so Shepherd’s Pie is not a recipe that I think about making often. I suppose maybe that is why I didn’t think about using the cauliflower mash as a stand in for potatoes in Shepherd’s Pie sooner. Now that I am an adult though, I have no problem with mashed potatoes. Weird huh? Still, I wanted a lower calorie, lower carb recipe, and thus this came to be.

If you need a Paleo-friendly option, just sub mashed cauliflower for the pre-made Green Giant kind that I used, but keep in mind that you will likely need to add more seasonings to the recipe.

This is not a sponsored post BTW. As usual, I am just sharing products and methods I use, love, and have had success with. If ever I do have an affiliate link, I will always disclose it!! 🙂

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Low Carb Shepherd’s Pie:

Ingredients:

For the filling:
-1 lb lean ground beef
-12 oz mixed onions, celery, and peppers
-8 oz mixed carrots and peas
-2 TBSP ketchup
-2 TBSP mustard

For the topping:
-20 oz mashed cauliflower

Method:
1/ Cook meat in a pan over medium heat.
2/ Remove meat from the pan and add frozen veggies. Continue to cook over medium heat until tender.
3/ Add back the cooked meat, mustard, and ketchup and cook until heated.
4/ Meanwhile, prepare the cauliflower by package instructions in the microwave.
5/ Once filling ingredients are cooked, transfer them to an oven safe dish and top with mashed cauliflower. Broil to brown the top (optional, if serving as a main dish. I skipped this and divided the meat/veggie mix evenly between my meal prep containers, then divided the cauliflower evenly on top).

Note: I usually like to roast my asparagus by this method, but since I was making this for meal prep, I just used steamed. I used Bird’s Eye microwave steamed asparagus and was very pleasantly surprised by how good it was.

 

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These are the ingredients I used:

I found this at Publix. Any lean ground beef will work.

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I like using this blend because everything is already diced.

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I only used half the bag of peas and carrots, so if you find a smaller bag, that would actually work better!

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Can sub any mustard, even regular. I had just enough left in the bottle, so I figured I’d use it up!

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Again, use what you have on hand. This brand is just my favorite! You can order online or find it in stores like Whole Foods.

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You could take the time to make your own mashed cauliflower if you wanted to. (You need to if you want a Paleo friendly version). To me, the ingredients are not too bad (they actually state no artificial flavors or preservatives on the package) and it is worth the convenience and time saved. I love that the seasoning / flavor is just right so I didn’t have to add any more spices to the beef and veggies mixture.

For those interested:
INGREDIENTS: Cauliflower, Milk, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D3, Water, Olive Oil, Garlic, Modified Rice Starch, Partially Skim Milk, Cultures, Salt, Enzymes, Sea Salt, White Pepper.

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| Kaci

 

Reader Questions:
1/ Have you ever tired mashed cauliflower?
2/ Are you a fan of shepherd’s pie?