Paleo Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
As winter afternoons settle into early evening, pots bubbling on a hot stove seems meditative and comforting. While there are many times when I default to a quick-prep meal, I enjoy making more complex dishes during the colder months.
Since I work from home, I’ve found the transition into dinner as an important delineation between my home as a work space and my home as home. When it is time to make dinner, I close my laptop, set aside my phone, turn on music, and begin orchestrating pots and pans. For me, this recipe epitomizes the slower winter ritual of dinner preparation.
About the ingredients
Cauliflower and parsnips – I’ve tried many variations on paleo Shepherd’s Pie toppings. The traditional recipe uses white potatoes, but paleo recipes often call for either a sweet potato topping or a cauliflower topping. I find that the sweetness of sweet potatoes can overpower the savory filling, and the cauliflower mash can lack starchiness. I believe I’ve found the perfect balance in this topping, blending cauliflower with parsnips. The parsnips add a beautiful sweetness, creaminess, and depth of flavor.
Ghee – The buttery flavor of ghee creates a silky, rich topping. Ghee is my all-time favorite fat for both health benefits and flavor. I recently shared 10 reasons to eat ghee daily. Ghee is lactose and casein free, so it is usually well tolerated by those who do not usually tolerate dairy.
Arrowroot flour – Arrowroot starch/flour is a grain free flour that thickens the filling. You can substitute tapioca flour. If you are on a starch-free diet such as the GAPS Diet, you can try substituting coconut flour or simply omitting it, but the filling will not be as creamy.
You may have noticed that this recipe lacks pictures of the untouched shepherd’s pie. As I pulled the finished dish from the oven, it was so tempting that my friend and I devoured half of it before I paused for pictures.
- 1 medium cauliflower, cut into florets (16 ounces florets)
- 2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces (8 oz cut parsnips)
- 3 Tbs. ghee
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 lb. ground grassfed beef or lamb
- 2 Tbs. ghee, get a free jar from Thrive here
- 2 medium or 3 small carrots, sliced
- 2 medium or 3 small celery stalks, sliced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbs. white wine or apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup broth of choice
- 2 tsp. arrowroot flour
- 1 tsp. freshly chopped herbs such as thyme and rosemary OR ½ tsp. herbes de provence
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Preheat the oven to 400. Steam or boil the cauliflower florets along with the parsnip pieces until tender. Steaming takes about 20 minutes. Set aside and let cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, brown the ground meat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan - I used a dutch oven. When browned, place it, along with the drippings, in a 9x9 casserole dish.
- In the same pan, melt the 2 Tbs. ghee. Add the carrots, celery and onion along with a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender and the onion is translucent, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about a minute. Add the vinegar and turn off the heat.
- Whisk together the broth and arrowroot flour, Whisk this into the vegetables, and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir in the herbs. Add it to the casserole dish with the meat and stir to combine.
- To finish the topping, puree the cauliflower/parsnips with the 3 Tbs. ghee and salt + pepper. Spread the topping on the filling.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, until the topping is lightly browned. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.
I look forward to trying this recipe! I enjoy your newletters.
Noticed one small spelling error:
“When browned, pace it, along with the drippings, in a 9×9 casserole dish.”
Thanks for catching that, I just fixed it!
I realize French is not a common language here but it is “herbes de provence” although pronounced as if spelled provance. That would be like a Frenchman spelling our state of Missouri as “misoori” which may be the way it is pronounced but not spelled. The blend of herbs is named for the French state of Provence in the southern Mediterranean area of France. Glad you’re more creative than the dingbat dietitians on the DaVita kidney web site where they insist on washing all the potassium (supposedly bad for kidneys to clear by a diabetic) and they rinse and wash, rinse and wash potatoes several times then add in 1 cup of chemical ridden fake creamer to make Shepherd’s Pie taste “rich” again!! You can imagine how I reacted to that one and told them I was embarrassed to share the title “Dietitian” with such incompetence. They replied they were re-evaluating the use of the non-dairy creamer due to the phosphate chemicals in it. Gag me with a spoon!! Several other people had commented they used the cauliflower as a potato sub more diabetic and kidney friendly. Your version would be perfect!!
Do you think this would freeze well to make in advance for the holidays?
I think this sounds and looks wonderful. My only question the nutritional info. Is there a way I can take a recipe and get the information without too much hassle. I usually check the ingredients to see if I can tolerate or swap out then check nutritional info for net carbs and sugar but so many recipes don’t give information. Also it’s the case on many cookbooks.
Thanks
Judy
I don’t know if this will help but since you’re mostly interested in net carbs, the biggest contributor to them is the parsnips. It averages out @ 17 net carbs for the cauliflower, parsnips, carrots, celery and onion. But if you leave out the parsnips which do add a lot of the flavor she mentioned, you can get it down to 6 net carbs. If you replace the parsnips with more cauliflower, it will add 1.8 net carbs per serving for double the cauliflower and .9 net carbs if you use half as much additional cauliflower to cut the net carbs. Hope this helps. I didn’t figure the entire recipe, just the carbs since that’s what you asked about.
Thank you, Lauren, for a delicious recipe. We thoroughly enjoyed it tonight after doing fall yard work all day.
I highly recommend a double batch because you will be sooooo happy to have leftovers. I had actually put it together a couple days ago but baked it tonight so I would for sure consider it again to make ahead.
Lysanne, I do not see why it wouldn’t freeze well and am considering doing that myself. It is so lovely to have a meal ready to pop in the oven!
Just tried this tonight. Loved it. The cauliflower/parsnip puree almost didn’t make it on top of the casserole after i tasted it.
This recipe looks delicious! I am currently on AIP and would need to use a substitute for the ghee. Do you think coconut oil would work?
I just made this last night, and it is amazing. Wow. I did add a couple tablespoons of Japanese sweet potato to the topping and used grass fed ground lamb inside. Seriously, wonderful recipe. I had hoped to be able to get 4-5 servings out of it, but it’s so good that I keep making my servings large.
Looks great! I can hardly wait to try adding the parsnips to the cauliflower!!! I am curious about the vinegar. what is its purpose? Also I don’t add the broth and therefore do not need any thickening agent.
Thanks 🙂
Laura
I had Pinned this recipe a while ago and just made it this afternoon. It is fabulous! No lamb at the store so I made it with grass fed ground beef. I never get shepherds pie at a restaurant because I am picky about the type of meat I eat so I am delighted to make it myself. This is my first time having it. love the topping! Thanks for all your recipes. My next adventure this week will be your Paleo Casserole with salmon and mushrooms.
After 35 minutes in the oven, the juice is coming through the top! I don’t think it should do that but I’m hoping it solidifies after sitting a bit. I’m going to leave it for the full 45 minutes. I did think I should’ve added more arrowroot flower but didn’t want to ruin it. ?
After 35 minutes in the oven, the juice is coming through the top! I don’t think it should do that but I’m hoping it solidifies after sitting a bit. I’m going to leave it for the full 45 minutes. I did think I should’ve added more arrowroot flower but didn’t want to ruin it. ?
Oops flour ☺️