Low-carb shepherd’s pie was one of the first family meals I converted to a low-carb version. In fact, many family recipes can easily be adapted, as it is usually the side dishes or accompaniments that are higher carb.
So if you can do without the bread, potatoes, pasta, and rice you’re already on the right track.
Low-Carb Shepherd’s Pie with Cauliflower Mash
A low-carb shepherd’s pie topped with simple mashed cauliflower and cheese is a great healthy winter dish. It only takes 20 minutes of preparation while the oven is warming up and the cauliflower mash is made while the mince is cooking away.
Low-carb shepherd's pie with a cheesy cauliflower crust is an absolute low-carb family staple.Packed with tomatoes, carrots and cauliflower, served with more vegetables, and your children won’t realise just how much they have just devoured. To encourage my children to eat their veggies, I always have some type of healthy fat on the table such as grated/shredded cheese, butter or cream cheese.
It just makes eating vegetables so more appealing to children and aids the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.
Low-Carb Shepherd’s Pie – step by step guide
It appears to be complicated, but actually making a healthy version of shepherds pie is easy peasy.
Follow the recipe and this step by step guide.
And if you want to reduce the carbs even further from the family-friendly low-carb version, these are my top tips.
- Omit the carrot – carrots are higher in carbs. Families love carrots in their pie but if you’re keto you can simply omit this.
- Omit or reduce the tomatoes – my kids love the traditional flavour that the canned/tinned tomatoes bring, but they do add a number of carbs. To reduce the carbs significantly, why not only add half the tomatoes OR even add 2 tbsp tomato paste instead.
Low Carb Shepherd's Pie - with Cauliflower Mash
Ingredients
Shepherd's Pie
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 500 g mince/ground lamb or beef
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 400 g tinned/canned chopped tomatoes (optional)
- 60 ml beef stock
- 3 carrots grated/shredded (optional)
Cauliflower Mash Topping
- 1 small cauliflower cut into pieces
- 55 g butter
- 30 ml double/heavy cream
- salt/pepper to taste
- 50 g grated/shredded cheese
Instructions
Shepherd's Pie
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion and garlic until cooked, but not browned.
- Add the lamb and stir until it is thoroughly cooked and browned.
- Add the beef stock, tin/can of chopped tomatoes and grated carrots (optional). Mix.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes while making the mashed cauliflower topping. Let the liquid evaporate so the mince thickens.
Cauliflower Topping
- Boil the cauliflower until soft, this takes about 8-10 minutes.
- Drain and allow ALL the steam to escape. Too much water left in the saucepan will make a 'sloppy' mash.
- Add the butter, salt, pepper and cream. Using a stick blender with a blade attachment, puree until smooth.
To Assemble.
- Place the shepherd's pie mince/ground meat mix in the bottom of a large casserole dish. Top with the cauliflower mash then sprinkle on the cheese.
- Put the casserole dish on a baking try to catch any liquid that may bubble over.
- Bake at 180C/350F for 20 minutes and until the cheese is browned.
Some other family winter meals you may like:
LOW-CARB FAMILY MEALS: Need help and inspiration how to cook healthy family meals? Get all the resources you’ll need – CLICK HERE
Cathy B says
October 15, 2018 at 10:01 amHi Libby
Please can you confurm that 500g of mince is for 8 portions ?
Thanks
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
October 16, 2018 at 1:23 pmHi Cathy, thanks for pointing this out. No, in fact, it should only serve 5. I have recalculated the nutrition. I’m not sure how the 5 turned into an 8. Apologies. And thanks for keeping me on my toes!
Candice says
September 27, 2018 at 12:16 pmWow! This turned out so tasty!! I was pleasantly surprised that it’s way better than “regular” Shepard’s Pie recipes I’ve made for my family. Since going Keto a few months ago I am always looking for low carb options of our familiar family meals. This one did not disappoint! It was full of flavor, filling, and a welcomed change from another chicken meal. I did not change a thing, made the recipe as is and it was delicious. This will be in regular dinner rotation in my household for sure!! Thanks for this amazing recipe 🙂
Theresa says
September 15, 2018 at 3:08 amWhat is the cholesterol level in this? I want to make it but have to watch me cholesterol.
Thanks
Julie says
June 29, 2018 at 2:53 amHi Libby, love the idea and it sounds all positive. What alternative would I use to make it veggie. Normally I would use lentils. Any ideas?
Denise says
February 2, 2018 at 11:42 pmThis is great! Having made this a few times now I have found that we like it best with only one [good sized] carrot and I don’t bother with the beef stock as I never have it handy. I also add some home made pesto, [a couple of tablespoons],and 1 sachet [50 gm] of tomato paste. Letting the cauliflower steam after cooking is good advice, and if I don’t have cream I just add some extra butter. And it tastes even better the next day!
Stephen Costanzo says
January 31, 2018 at 10:15 amI noticed this on your site and others, why do you say “1 small cauliflower” and “1 red onion” as opposed to giving weight? I buy organic and a ‘medium’ there is a ‘small’ non-organic. It makes it difficult to know if I can trust the nutrition data – or – if i’m even making the recipe right.
Can this be updated in your future recipes or can you point me to a site which can help define those things? It’s very frustrating for those of us who must keep our carb counts low for medical reasons.
Thanks
Carole says
October 23, 2017 at 12:09 pmDo you freeze this before or after baking?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
October 23, 2017 at 12:15 pmDefinitely after. It’s handy to freeze individual portions so you have a ready-meal waiting for you.
Yvonne van der Westhuizen says
August 5, 2017 at 5:37 pmHi Libby. I want to make the cottage pie.
Thing Is, where I live i can’t find double/ thick cream.
Any suggestions on what to do?
Love all you recipes btw.
Thanks.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
August 8, 2017 at 11:25 amYou may know it as heavy cream.
Kathleen says
November 16, 2018 at 2:11 pmI used whipping cream. Hubby loved it! And he hasn’t had Shepard’s pie in 18 years. I added a half can of diced carrots instead.
Victoria Olson says
August 2, 2017 at 6:27 amSteaming the cauliflower on a steaming rack helps cut back on retained water. I then twist/squeeze it gently in a linen tea towel. I cut back on tomatoes (i use fresh halved cherry tomatoes) and carrots to lower the carbs, adding chopped celery to fill in. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
Low Carb with Jennifer says
April 20, 2017 at 2:10 amHi! I just wanted to let you know that I featured this recipe in my roundup post 14 delicious low carb recipes using cauliflower! https://jenniferbanz.com/14-delicious-low-carb-recipes-using-cauliflower
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
April 24, 2017 at 12:28 pmHey thanks Jennifer, this really is one of the most popular family meals here.
Mischa says
April 6, 2017 at 12:44 amJust wondering how you got the 10g Carbs?? I put this in My Fitness Pal and it came up with 18g, and that was without the carrots… Don’t really want to eat this if it’s actually at the 18-20g of carbs per serving?? Thanks
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
April 10, 2017 at 12:37 pmI avoid MyFitnessPal, it is so inaccurate. I use cronometer.com and advise readers to calculate using the brand they have cooked with as they can vary so widely. The carbs are coming from the vegetables such as cauliflower, tomatoes and carrots. 18-20g sounds way off. I’d check to make sure you have divided by the number of servings.
Kathy says
March 31, 2017 at 7:13 amCould I substitute maybe broccoli for the carrots ? I know it would change the carb count but carrots have a lot of natural sugar in them. I am trying to watch my blood sugar levels.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
March 31, 2017 at 12:54 pmSure thing, that would certainly reduce the carbs and keep happy stable blood sugars. I keep them in for the authentic look and taste for my children.
Mike says
March 18, 2018 at 1:54 pmI completely skipped the carrots and it’s still great
Lori says
March 27, 2017 at 6:09 amIs that 10 net carbs in one serving?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
March 27, 2017 at 3:17 pmIt is 10g total carbs, 3.2g fibre = 6.8g net carbs per serving.
Kim says
January 30, 2017 at 3:27 pmMy son said “mom, this is good!” And my daughter is actually eating it, cauliflower and all! Thanks Libby!
Shari says
January 29, 2017 at 4:38 amCan you lower the fat with a substitute for the heavy cream??
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
January 31, 2017 at 1:07 pmYou could, but I love the full fat for flavour and to keep me fuller for longer. Read here why we are higher healthy fat.
France says
November 9, 2016 at 12:56 pmDelicious…. Loved it, will do this on a regular basis, definitely a keeper. You can’t tell it’s not potatoes… Thanks for sharing.
Alice says
October 28, 2016 at 3:18 amMy family we do everything but we use tomato sauce. My mother always made it that way and would add green beans. Just another way to try. It’s very good. I make my own sauce. Less salt and sugar.
Avril Collins Martinez says
October 14, 2016 at 1:39 amOh goodness, how can you put garlic in this quintessential British dish!! No no no!!!
Jenna says
September 8, 2017 at 7:12 amWhen an Italian wants to pretend to be British 😉 the more garlic the better!!
Lisa Margarete says
November 22, 2017 at 6:55 ambecause it’s healthy and adds flavour – if it improves the original recipe why not?
Tim says
September 24, 2016 at 6:55 pmThis looks amazing! Does it keep and reheat?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
September 26, 2016 at 4:31 pmOh yeah! I can absolutely vouch for this one. Every time I buy more and more meat to make a bigger and bigger batch as my children LOVE this for breakfast. They reheat a bowl in the microwave and wolf it down.
Stef says
August 26, 2016 at 11:16 amAbsolutely amazing recipe, definitely a hit at my house! Thanks a bunch 🙂
Kymberly says
August 12, 2016 at 2:36 amif you omitted the carrots and tin tomatoes what would the net carbs be?
Karen says
September 23, 2016 at 4:11 amThere are a LOT of nutritional calorie/carb counting sites and programs online. Just Google them 🙂
Martina says
May 31, 2016 at 10:14 pmOMG I love it. Added some nutmeg to cauliflower….
Linda says
March 15, 2016 at 5:31 amThis sounds amazing! Will definitely try 🙂
Julie Hawkes says
December 13, 2015 at 6:20 amShepherd’s Pie, my husband’s favourite dish! Understandably I was nervous to mess with it by making it LCHF, but hey, I did it anyway. I made it exactly as your recipe stated, he said it was beautiful. Thanks
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
December 15, 2015 at 9:12 amYay!!! I love shepherds pie and knew I had to make our family favourites in a new way for LCHF to be sustainable forever for us. Hence you see so many of our family favourites on my site. You might like the spaghetti bolognese with zoodles too.
Lindsay says
October 8, 2015 at 7:16 amThis was incredible! But aren’t the carrots fairly high in sugar?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
October 8, 2015 at 10:40 pmYes and generally I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone who really needs to monitor their carbs strictly for weight loss or a health issue, but for many of my family meals, I don’t want my children to feel there is any vegetable that is out of bounds for them. My focus for them is whole foods and no processed carbs, with me monitoring their quantity of starchy vegetables. I hope that makes sense.
Lindsay says
October 16, 2015 at 1:57 pmYeah that makes sense – but is it still only 7.6g of carbs? That seems low with all those carrots in there. Normally I wouldn’t worry about it too much, but I am trying to stay below 30g/day as I’m just starting low carb.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
October 16, 2015 at 6:35 pmHi Lindsay, there are only 3 carrots and this makes a huge shepherds pie, serving 6-8. So in reality it is only less than half a carrot per person. You can omit this easily, it’s not necessary, I just like to sneak in extra veggies where I can for my children.
Lindsay says
October 17, 2015 at 3:33 amI think maybe my carrots were really big or something. I did only put in one. Thanks for all your replies!
Ray says
October 7, 2015 at 7:46 amMade it today. Very tasty and pleasing to the eye. I live alone so have frozen the remaining portions. I’ve previously frozen traditional cottage pie with good results and see no reason why this shouldn’t be similar.
HarryB says
February 25, 2015 at 1:38 amLove shepherd’s Pie. Tasty recipe. I used homemade beef stock, as Oxo cubes contain wheat.
carla says
November 3, 2014 at 5:16 amHave you ever tried freezing it? If yes, how did you reheat it?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
November 3, 2014 at 10:07 amI have never tried freezing it, we usually eat the leftovers the next day. If you do freeze it, I would reheat in the oven, once defrosted, for 20 minutes at 180C.
Jamila says
October 11, 2014 at 5:08 pmI have made this several times for my family, even the little ones eat it. Very worth the effort, good comfort food and so healthy
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
October 11, 2014 at 8:34 pmGreat to hear! Thanks Jamila.