Shepherd’s Pie, Lightened Up
Comfort foods are traditionally fattening fare, but you can slim down your shepherd’s pie with a few tweaks.
What Is It?
Created in northern England and Scotland, where sheep herding was big, shepherd’s pie evolved from classic meat pie dishes made in the Middle Ages. Today, this stick-to-your-ribs meal is an American favorite.
A great way to use leftovers, shepherd’s pie is a combination of minced meat (usually lamb or mutton) with gravy and veggies, finished with a mashed potato topping. Another variation — called “cottage pie” — uses beef. Whichever filling you use, most recipes call for the addition of fat, fat and more fat! And, well, that doesn’t make for a healthy eat. In fact, traditional recipes have more than 1,000 calories and 60 grams of fat per serving.
The Meat
If you want to stick to the classic preparation, lighten up the meat portion by using a 90% or higher ground sirloin beef. Ground turkey, ground venison and ground bison are all low-fat alternatives. For a vegetarian pie, try texturized vegetable protein (a.k.a. TVP or “fake” ground beef) that, believe it or not, tastes quite yummy. TVP is versatile and works well alone or mixed with other meats because it picks up the flavor of whatever you mix it with. Other filler options include chopped portobello mushrooms, eggplant or beans.
The Veggies
Carrots, onions, corn and peas are typical shepherd’s pie add-ins. Experiment with different vegetables such as cauliflower or mushrooms. Frozen mixed veggies are a good time-saver. Try making a veggie-filled pie with scrumptious winter produce such as parsnips, rutabaga, roasted garlic and Swiss chard.
The Potatoes
These days shepherd’s pie is a good dish for Thanksgiving leftovers, but sweet potatoes and turkey are a winning combination any time of year. You can make your mashed potato topping with conventional russet potatoes, but try Yukon gold, sweet potato or a combination. If you opt for sweet potatoes, mash a banana into them as your very own “secret ingredient.”
Lowering the Fat
When I worked at a culinary school, all I heard was “fat equals flavor.” This is true. Thing is, too much fat also equals a quadruple bypass. The mashed potatoes and gravy are where the fat is. Slim down high-fat ingredients such as half-and-half, butter, oil and heavy cream by using lower-fat substitutes such as regular or low-fat milk or light cream.
Recipes to Try
Ellie Krieger’s Shepherd’s Pie: this Healthy Eats-approved dish weighs in at only 340 calories and 9 grams of fat.
Or use the suggestions above to lighten up Rachael Ray’s 30-Minute Shepherd’s Pie.
Very good tips, my Husband is diabetic and loves shepherds pie. I can use this tips to make my way of making it more healthy
Thanks
You can also substitute the mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower if you are worried about carbs. Use a little chicken stock,garlic and fat free sour cream mash with cauliflower till creamy.
Hi, I have been enjoying your emails to help many to loose weight. I make a shepards pie, with low fat ground beef and mix in tomato sauce and onions, Then the sauce being tomato it is not high in fat. I use drained green beans, Corn, Peas to the meat mixture and top with mashed potato using 1/4 cup butter.
I am going to try this recipe this weekend instead of eating pizza and hot wings
Thanks for the Info
I really appreciate all the info you give us. Thanks a lot.
Thanks so much for the great tips! I was trying to figure out what to fix for dinner tonight and now I have. Feeding a house full of boys is always challenging. Thats why I love recipes like this!
You make it very frustrating to find the actual recipe on your site. I gave up and went to another site to get a good Shepherd’s Pie recipe because your site is just full of comments and no recipe
I’ve been making shepherd’s pie for years and have been using various meats and veggies for the filling. Pre-cooked, shredded chicken or turkey works well with a light broth used for the gravy. Frozen mixed veggies are quick. I’ve also used a tomato based sauce with lean ground beef.
So where is the recipe? You don’t make it easy
Two recipes are listed for you to try at the end — Ellie Krieger’s Shepherd’s Pie and Rachael Ray’s 30-Minute Shepherd’s Pie (which you can apply our suggestions on to lighten it up).
I agree with Kathy….where’s the recipe??? I’ve tried clicking from here to there…I hope that answer comes up soon….I’m getting hungry after reading the comments.
If you top shepherds pie with whipped cauliflower you really cut the calories –and you never taste the difference!!!
Your Shepherds Pie recipe and comments have my mouth watering. Since I live alone, I’m planning on dividing this recipe into smaller oven-proof dishes that can be taken from freezer to toaster oven. What a way to come home to a relatively quick, healthy, and delicious meal. The cauliflower is a great replacement for the mashed potato’s.
This version of shepard’s pie is absolutely delicious! I never would have thought to combine cauliflower with the potatoes but it is fabulous! My husband and I both love this and I will keep this recipe for future dinners.
another vegetarian sub. for themeat is crumbled Bocca ‘burger’ patties. the’re great, and ready to go, although, I brown/grill them first for added flavor.
I usually only think about Shepherd’s Pie around St. Patrick’s Day but now with this great slimmed down approach I plan to fix it more often for my family.
This is my first time on this siet. I do like it very much. The recipes are easy to find. Just click on the highlite under the picture and you have it. Keep up the good work
How much percent is there is one serving of a shepherds pie and how many grams
Hi Emma,
One slice of traditional Shepherd’s Pie has more than 1,000 calories and 60 grams of fat per serving. Depending on if it serves 6, 8 or more– that could mean 6,000 or 8,000 calories for the entire pie–yikes!!
my mom made a shepherd's pie with leftover roast beef cut into bit size peices and added all of the leftover veggies and topped with potatoes. it was very good and there was very little fat in the dish.
At the “end” of my screen is the Post Comment area, not recipes, but I see at the TOP under “Recipes to Try” that you have those two listed. Rachel Ray’s is not as easy to see as Elie’s as it’s a link and doesn’t stand out. The area above BEFORE the comments is where the lady needs to look.