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
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Ingredients
Shepherd's Pie
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 500 g (1.1 lb) mince/ground lamb or beef
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 400 g (14 oz) tinned/canned chopped tomatoes (optional)
- 60 ml (¼ cup) beef stock
- 3 carrots grated/shredded (optional)
Cauliflower Mash Topping
- 1 small cauliflower cut into pieces
- 55 g (½ stick) butter
- 30 ml (2 tbsp) double/heavy cream
- salt/pepper to taste
- 50 g (½ cup) 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
Phyllis
Hello!
I liked your recipe. It's a good base.
Here's what I did to the base.
- Added 1 cup celery to base
- Swapped 10 oz frozen spinach for canned tomatoes + 1 TBSP Butter
- Swapped 1 small can mushrooms for carrots
- Added 1 TBSP Garam Masala (*I like Indian spice lol)
To the cauliflower mash, I added 1/2 a brick (4 oz) before immersion blending.
For portion control, I put it in 4 small pans. I'm baking 2 now in toaster oven. Will put other two in later.
Now I need to add the recipe I modified into to carb manager to get the stats so I can log it.
Sascha
Hi, in die video on youtube you add creamcheese to the mash. Ich guess this might be very tasty, In this recipe the creamcheese ist missing. Ist this for any reason? Did it turn out that it is better without the creamcheese?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Hi there, I think you may have been watching another video, I haven't shot a cooking video for this recipe yet, although I should, we enjoy this every single Friday night. You could add cream cheese, however, I always add a good dollop of butter to my cauliflower mash to make it super tasty and creamy.
Cathy B
Hi Libby
Please can you confurm that 500g of mince is for 8 portions ?
Thanks
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Hi 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
Wow! 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
What is the cholesterol level in this? I want to make it but have to watch me cholesterol.
Thanks
Julie
Hi 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
This 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
I 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
Do you freeze this before or after baking?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Definitely after. It's handy to freeze individual portions so you have a ready-meal waiting for you.
Yvonne van der Westhuizen
Hi 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
You may know it as heavy cream.
Kathleen
I 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
Steaming 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
Hi! 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
Hey thanks Jennifer, this really is one of the most popular family meals here.
Mischa
Just 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
I 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
Could 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
Sure 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
I completely skipped the carrots and it's still great
Lori
Is that 10 net carbs in one serving?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
It is 10g total carbs, 3.2g fibre = 6.8g net carbs per serving.
Kim
My son said "mom, this is good!" And my daughter is actually eating it, cauliflower and all! Thanks Libby!
Shari
Can you lower the fat with a substitute for the heavy cream??
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
You 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
Delicious.... Loved it, will do this on a regular basis, definitely a keeper. You can't tell it's not potatoes... Thanks for sharing.
Alice
My 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
Oh goodness, how can you put garlic in this quintessential British dish!! No no no!!!
Jenna
When an Italian wants to pretend to be British 😉 the more garlic the better!!
Lisa Margarete
because it's healthy and adds flavour - if it improves the original recipe why not?
Tim
This looks amazing! Does it keep and reheat?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Oh 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
Absolutely amazing recipe, definitely a hit at my house! Thanks a bunch 🙂
Kymberly
if you omitted the carrots and tin tomatoes what would the net carbs be?
Karen
There are a LOT of nutritional calorie/carb counting sites and programs online. Just Google them 🙂
Martina
OMG I love it. Added some nutmeg to cauliflower....
Linda
This sounds amazing! Will definitely try 🙂
Julie Hawkes
Shepherd'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
Yay!!! 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
This was incredible! But aren't the carrots fairly high in sugar?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Yes 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
Yeah 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
Hi 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
I think maybe my carrots were really big or something. I did only put in one. Thanks for all your replies!
Ray
Made 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
Love shepherd's Pie. Tasty recipe. I used homemade beef stock, as Oxo cubes contain wheat.
carla
Have you ever tried freezing it? If yes, how did you reheat it?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
I 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
I 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
Great to hear! Thanks Jamila.