How’s it going old friends? All is well? Are you enjoying the fall season? I know I am. In this time of the year, I find myself naturally wanting things that are warm, spicy and comforting. Like sweaters, cinnamon and Shepherd’s Pie.
Our Keto Shepherd’s Pie is not a compromise but rather an improvement. I was delightfully surprised by how well this turned out. I thought that for sure. I will have to make/tweak this recipe a few times before I get it right, but I didn’t. I hit the jackpot on my first try, and you will too.
It is that easy.
How to Make This Low-Carb Shepherd’s Pie
The Main Ingredients
Ground Lamb or Beef: Because it is Shepherd’s pie, it’s traditionally made with ground lamb. However, if you don’t have any on hand and want to use beef you can go right ahead. There will be a difference in taste since lamb tastes different, however if you want to insure the same texture make sure you use ground beef that has around 15-20% of fat.
Garam Masala : This is optional, of course. However I highly recommend adding this awesome spice blend to your ground beef. It will bring out the flavour of your meat and add a little sweet hint to it.
Cauliflower : This is the ingredient that makes this Shepherd’s pie keto. Cauliflower si a low-carb staple and swapping potatoes for cauliflower is a no brainer for this dish. By choosing cauliflower instead of potatoes, we saved about 53 calories and 13 grams of carbs, per half cup. Boom!
Parmesan cheese: The secret ingredient to our golden mash. Parmesan adds an amazing taste to the mashed cauliflower and helps us get that golden brown top that we all love.
The Instructions:
To get this dish right from the first time all you have to do is follow these simple steps.
Step 1: Brown your ground lamb/beef on medium high heat along with your onion and carrot (5-7 minutes). Once you do that, add your Worcestershire sauce, garam masala and tomato paste. Cook your mixture for another 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Set aside once ready.
Step 2: Boil your cauliflower for 8-10 minutes, drain and let it completely cool down. Make sure your cauliflower is dry to the touch before you blend it as this will avoid you ending up with a soggy mash. Place your cauliflower, butter, egg yolks, Parmesan salt and pepper in a food processor. Blend until smooth.
Step 3: Move your ground meat to an oven safe dish. Scoop your mash on top of it and spread it evenly. Using a fork, make a swirl, or any pattern you like. Bake for 400F for 15-20 minutes, or until it gets golden brown.
Speedy Keto Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
- 500 grams ground lamb or beef
- 1 small minced onion
- 1 small minced carrot
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp garam masala (optional) I really like the flavour it adds to it
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Mashed Cauliflower
- 1 large head of cauliflower cut into florets
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F.
- Heat up a pan to medium-high heat. Add your minced meat along with the minced carrot and onion. Cook for 5 minutes and add your salt, pepper, garam masala, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce. Cook for another 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes thicker. Remove your mixture and place it in an oven safe dish or pan.No need to add any oil here, the meat has enough fat to cook it all.
- Boil your cauliflower on high heat for about 10 minutes or until they get very soft. Drain and let them cool down for 5-7 minutes or until all the steam is gone. This is very important as it will garantee that your mash is not soggy.
- To a blender or food processor add your boiled cauliflower, egg yolks, butter and parmesan cheese. Blend until smooth. Scoop your mash on top of your minced meat and spread it evenly.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Before serving, let your pie rest for at leat 10 minutes. It makes for a better texture. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Lovely, easy and tasty!
I left out the Garam masala and added a few homegrown chillies, and threw in some chopped spinach that would’ve gone in the bin. Thanks for sharing
Sounds Delish, Alison. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Great recipe thank you! I Never would have thought to add the Garam masala it was so good! I used Trader Joe’s mashed cauliflower and mixed in the two egg yokes and parm cheese … I’m sure it’s better if you make your own but as a time saver it was still delish.
Sounds great! Didn’t know about the existence of premashed cauliflower, I’m gonna give it a try. Thank you for the feedback Julie <3
Soooooo finger licking good! I didn’t have tomato paste or Worcestershire sauce, replaced these with ketchup and half ketchup/half soy sauce respectively. Also added more salt and cumin powder 🙂 Never going back to traditional Shephard’s pie after this!
So glad to hear that Jenny! It’s a very easy swap and I find that it is totally worth it 🙂
Would suggest you get adds out of the way so that the recipe can be read.
Looks delicious. Just wondering is that net or total carbs?
Hi Debbie! The total net carb is around 7.3 according to my calculator 🙂
Are the nutritional values per portion? Or the full pie?
Hi Victoria,
The calculation is supposed to be per portion 🙂
Made this last night and it was so yummy! thank you so much for sharing. is it ok to freeze? have 3 portions left. i could eat them all now but thought better of it lol
Hi Debbie! Yes, you could totally freeze it. I would let it thaw before reheating just to avoid it becoming too dry when you warm it up.