A low carb and Healthy Shepherd’s Pie topped with Mashed Cauliflower and loaded with vegetables. This savory, meaty and easy shepherd’s pie is made with bbq sauce and a bit of cayenne pepper to get it spicy. A great mix of flavors that’s perfect for a cozy fall dinner.

I’ve had a shepherd’s pie – or Cottage pie as they call in Britain – on my recipe list for a while now; But of course with the mashed cauliflower option for the topping to keep it healthy.

Now that it’s Fall and I was trying to come up with a good casserole recipe for one of Mr. Spice’s sauce’s, I just took advantage of the opportunity.

A Shepherd’s Pie Casserole with their Garlic Steak sauce! Now it’s not only healthy from being loaded with vegetables, but extra easy too.

Ingredients for this Healthy Shepherd’s Pie with Mashed Cauliflower

No intimidating ingredients needed for this recipe – just the basics.

For the Mashed Cauliflower Topping:

Cauliflower florets
Low Sodium Vegetable or Chicken Broth
Salt
Pepper

For the Healthy Turkey or Chicken Shepherd’s Pie Filling

Ground Turkey or Chicken Breast or even extra lean beef or lamb
Olive Oil for frying
Onion
Garlic
All the vegetables: Celery, Carrots, Bell Peppers and Frozen Peas
A good low sodium sauce – I used Mr Spice’s Garlic Steak. The BBQ sauce is really good too
Vegetable or Chicken Broth – Low sodium here too
Salt and Pepper to season
Cayenne Pepper for some heat

How to make this Low Carb Spicy Shepherd’s Pie

First make the Cauliflower topping for the Keto Shepherd’s Pie

Bring water to a boil in a large pot.

Add in the chopped cauliflower, cover the pot, and let it cook for about 15 minutes. The cauliflower should be soft and easily pieced with a fork.
Drain out all the water.

Then place the cauliflower, chicken or vegetable broth, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender and let process it until it’s smooth.
You can also use am immersion blender.

Now cook the Filling for this Shepherd’s Pie with Vegetables

The filling for this recipe is extremely easy to make as well. Just cook the meat, cook the vegetables, and combine them both.

You can do this while the cauliflower is cooking.

Heat some oil in a large nonstick pan or skillet and cook the ground meat for about 5-7 minutes until it’s no longer pink. Be sure to break it up.
Then transfer it to a plate and set it aside.

Pour the remaining oil on the pan, and cook the onions, garlic, celery, carrots and bell peppers. The onions should be translucent and veggies tender.

Move the cooked meat back into the pan and add the sauce, broth, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.
Give it a good mix and let it cook until slightly thickened.

Turn off the heat and fold in the frozen peas.

And now just bake this Healthy Cottage Pie with Cauliflower Mash!

Pour the cooked shepherd’s pie filling into a 2 quart casserole dish or an 8 x 8 “ baking pan. Spread it out nice and even.

Now scoop out the mashed cauliflower and spread it evenly over the top.

Bake for about 25 or 30 minutes.
The cauliflower should be lightly golden browned.

Can you use leftover Mashed Cauliflower?

Yes! If you have any extra cauliflower mash from a different recipe, you can use that to top this shepherd’s pie.

If you really aren’t too particular about the carbs, feel free to use mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes instead. The sweet potatoes would give this British recipe a nice American Fall or Thanksgiving vibe!

Can you make Shepherd’s Pie with No Tomato paste

Yes! This shepherd’s pie is made with to tomatoes, tomato paste or even diced tomatoes. I used a store bought sauce for this recipe – Garlic Steak flavor from Mr. Spice.

A Barbecue Shepherd’s Pie!

Another great option is to go for a barbecue feel and use a bbq sauce for the filling! Quite an American Cottage pie I’d say. Try to go for a sugar-free sauce if you want to keep this keto and low carb.

Can you make Shepherd’s Pie in Advance

Cook it a day before!

You can cook the ground meat filling as well as the mashed cauliflower topping a day in advance, and store – separately – them in the fridge.

When it’s time to cook, let them both thaw to room temperature, and then proceed to the baking step.

Store the Cooked Shepherd’s Pie

This Shepherd’s pie is a great meal prep recipe and you can keep it as a whole or as individual portion serving sizes in the fridge. Use an airtight container and it should keep about 4 days.

To reheat the casserole out of the fridge, you can microwave it on high for about 2 minutes depending on the size of the piece, or heat it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes at 350°F.

You can Freeze!

This healthy Shepherd’s pie with mashed cauliflower is a freezer friendly make ahead recipe too. You can cook the chicken or turkey filling as well as the topping, assemble the dish in the casserole. Then cover it rightly in freezer safe wrap or place it in a zipper bag and put it in the freezer for up to 1 month.

You can either let it thaw overnight in the fridge or cook it from frozen – but this would take longer.

Some Side Dishes for Spicy Shepherd’s Pie!

Since this is quite a main course meal in it’s own, I would pair a shepherd’s pie with something light like simple cooked vegetables or a salad.

Here’s some of my recipes to try:

Sunny Side Roasted Veggies but leave out the egg
Strawberry Spinach Salad