Best Shepherd's Pie Recipe with Cauliflower/Potato Crust

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Shepherd's Pie is one of those good, old-fashioned, stick-to-your-ribs dinners that just makes you feel like everything is right with the world. Some might say it's because of the heavy carbs - but not with this dish.

The creamy, cheesy, potato crust on top is made with a combo of potato and cauliflower, and the rich, cheesy flavor comes mostly from low fat cottage cheese!

I created this recipe back in 2015, when our middle son was 18. This is what I wrote back then:

“We have a son who just does not like vegetables. Especially cooked vegetables. He is 18, so he's old enough and mature enough to know that he should like vegetables, and he really does try. He ate his dinner, and he admitted that it tasted really good, but I could tell from the look on his face that those peas and carrots mixed in with the beef and the rich tomato sauce were just a little hard for him to take.

The funny thing happened when the conversation turned to vegetables we like and ones we don't like. He said, " I'm learning to like a lot more vegetables, but the one vegetable I can't stand is cauliflower. I don't like it in any form at all. I hate the texture, the smell, and everything about it."

I just didn't have the heart to tell him that he was scooping hot mouthfuls of cauliflower into his mouth during this whole conversation! I mean, why ruin a great dinner?

I am not usually the type to be sneaky about what I make the kids eat. I always come clean with what I'm serving for meals because I want everyone to know how great healthy food can taste.

I weighed the pros and cons, and decided to keep quiet about the fact that cauliflower was a big part of what we were eating. Oh, I'll tell him one of these days. After he's had a few more servings of this delicious Shepherd's Pie :)”

Why This Shepherd's Pie is Just So Good

It’s easy to blend the taste and texture of the cauliflower right in with the potatoes so it goes completely undetected.
The meat and vegetable base is really rich and thick so it holds its shape on the plate.
It contains a healthy dose of protein from ground beef and cottage cheese. Scroll down to see the nutrition label - 29 grams of protein per serving 🤯
You also get a big serving of vegetables from the peas, carrots, and cauliflower. And you can include tomatoes in that too.

Keep scrolling for the recipe ⤵️

Best Shepherd's Pie Recipe with Cauliflower/Potato Crust - Beneficial Bento (3)

Best Shepherd's Pie Recipe with Cauliflower/Potato Crust - Beneficial Bento (4)

Ingredients

Ground beef
Garlic - finely minced
Shallot - finely minced, equal amount as the garlic (so there won't be an overpowering oniony flavor ☹️)
Tomato paste and tomato sauce
Frozen peas and carrots
Worcestershire sauce
Frozen cauliflower - I have also used fresh cauliflower in this recipe, but frozen is just more convenient
Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes - both will work in this recipe but I typically use Russett.
Cottage cheese - replaces the milk, adds delicious creaminess to this dish
Shredded cheddar
Salt and pepper

The Secret Tricks That Make This So Good

There is a trick to taking the smell and taste out of the cauliflower - you can't just combine cooked cauliflower with cooked potatoes and expect it to work out.

When I make this recipe, the first thing I do is add a 12 oz. bag of frozen cauliflower to a pot of hot water. I let that boil while I brown the beef and make the rest of the filling. Then I peel and chop the potatoes, and THEN I add them to the water with the cauliflower and continue to boil until the potatoes are tender.

Why this works: Cauliflower takes longer to cook than potatoes, so it has time to get good and soft by the time the potatoes are just tender. Also, cooking the potatoes and cauliflower in the same water seems to make the cauliflower absorb the potato flavor, and it totally takes away that bitter smell and taste that my son hates, and frankly, most of us hate.

I use a similar method in my Low Carb Mashed Potato recipe that I make in an Instant Pot. If you have an Instant pot you could make the topping for shepherd’s pie exactly as written in that post and top this casserole with it.

Another trick I used to get a thick, creamy, and cheesy texture to the potato crust: when I mashed the potatoes and cauliflower, I replaced the milk I normally would have used with blended cottage cheese. I use a hand-held immersion blender to blend out all the cottage cheese curds so it's thick and creamy, almost like cream cheese. I used this technique in my Dijon Chicken with Bacon and Mushrooms recipe to make a thick and creamy mushroom sauce, but I used a blender. Both methods work just as well.

Why this works: Cauliflower doesn’t have as much body as potatoes when it’s mashed, so it tends to get a little runny without some help. Enter blended cottage cheese! When the curds are blended smooth it has a thick, creamy consistency that helps to bulk up the thin mashed potato/cauliflower combo.

Change It Up

If you prefer, you can substitute ground turkey or ground chicken for ground beef.

Let's Make Some Shepherd's Pie

Best Shepherd's Pie Recipe with Cauliflower/Potato Crust - Beneficial Bento (5)

Step 1. Boil the frozen cauliflower.

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Step 2. Brown beef, garlic, and shallot.

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Step 3. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water.

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Step 4. Add peas and carrots

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Step 5. Add potatoes to the cauliflower still boiling in the pot.

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Step 6. When potatoes are tender, drain and sprinkle with salt

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Step 7. Blend cottage cheese with an immersion blender

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Step 8. Add cottage cheese to the potato mixture and mash it.

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Step 9. Spread beef mixture in a casserole dish.

Tools for Blending and Mashing

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If you would like, you can mash the potatoes using an immersion blender instead of using a potato masher.

You can blend the cottage cheese with an immersion blender, a regular blender, or a food processor. I find the easiest to use (and clean) is the immersion blender.

I don’t recommend mashing the potatoes in a blender or food processor though - it will break them down into a paste.

FAQs

Why did my mashed potatoes turn out like glue?

Using potatoes that have a low starch content can lead to a gummy texture when mashed. Red potatoes and other waxy varieties of potatoes are low starch, and not the best choice for mashing. The potatoes with the highest starch content are Russet or Yukon gold potatoes. Starchy potatoes absorb dairy products like milk, butter, or cheese really well and have a fluffy texture when mashed.

Why is my shepherd’s pie soggy?

Use a good starchy potato such as Yukon Gold or Russet, drain it well after cooking, and don’t over-blend the potatoes when mashing. Mash it just enough to combine all the ingredients. After baking the shepherd's pie remove a small portion to allow steam to escape, which will help to eliminate excess water. Follow these steps and you should end up with a creamy, fluffy Sheherd's pie that holds its shape.

How can you tell if a potato is starchy or waxy?

One way to tell is to cut the potato in half and rub the two halves together. If the halves stick to each other and the juice that seeps out looks cloudy, it is a starchy potato that will be good for mashing. If water seeps out from the potato halves and they won't stick together, you most likely have a waxy potato that will hold its shape when it's boiled.