INGREDIENTS
Meat Layer:
- 1 pound ground lamb (or lean beef, for cottage pie)
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1/2 cup diced onions
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup
beef broth - 3 tablespoons
tomato paste - 1 1/2 teaspoons
dried rosemary leaves - 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon
olive oil
Mashed Cauliflower Layer:
- 1.5 pounds cauliflower florets
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 ounces cream cheese (1/4 of a brick), softened to room temperature
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Optional Toppings:
- shredded cheddar cheese
smoked paprika olive oil - chives or parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
Making Meat Sauce:
- Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add meat and cook until no longer pink, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
- Add diced celery, onions, carrots, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper to the pan. Cook until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add beef broth and tomato paste to the pan, stirring until the paste dissolves. Reduce heat slightly and let it continue to simmer until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes, before turning off the heat. While it’s simmering, start preparing the mashed cauliflower in the next step.
Making Mashed Cauliflower:
- Place cauliflower florets in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until the cauliflower is very tender, about 10 minutes.
- Spread out the florets on paper towels to drain for 5 to 10 minutes or until they stop steaming.
Transfer the cauliflower florets to a food processor or blender. Add cheddar cheese, cream cheese, butter, garlic, salt, and pepper. Puree until it has a smooth consistency resembling mashed potatoes. You may need to scrape down the sides of the food processor/blender bowl a few times.
Assembling & Baking:
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat mixture to an 8x8 inch or 2 quart baking dish, evenly spreading it along the bottom. Leave the grease in the pan.
- Evenly spread the mashed cauliflower over the meat. Use a fork to roughen the cauliflower surface.
- Optionally, top with shredded cheddar cheese and paprika. Lightly drizzle olive oil on top.
- Bake at 400 F until the peaks of the mashed cauliflower are browning, about 30 minutes. Optionally garnish with chives or parsley. It will be very hot so let it cool a bit in the pan before slicing and serving.
NUTRITION
| Makes 6 Servings |
| Amount Per Serving: |
| Calories 380 (66% from fat) | |
| Total Fat 28g | 43% |
| Saturated Fat 13g | 64% |
| Cholesterol 100mg | 33% |
| Sodium 1170mg | 49% |
| Net Carb 6.5g | |
| Total Carb 10g | 3% |
| Dietary Fiber 3.5g | 15% |
| Sugars 5g | |
| Protein 23g |
Overview
As is often the case with well-known dishes, there are a lot of variations of shepherd’s pie and cottage pie. They generally refer to meat pies or casseroles cooked in a sauce with vegetables, and topped with mashed potato before baking.
The term shepherd’s pie is usually reserved for when ground lamb is used for the meat sauce, and cottage pie for beef. This recipe uses lamb, but you can substitute it with beef for a similarly delicious result.
This dish is more involved than my usual easy recipes — it’s almost like two recipes in one, because you need to make two layers for this casserole — but totally worth the effort. Fantastic flavors and textures.
Developing A Low Carb Version
I’ve been making this classic dish long before I made the transition to a low carb lifestyle. To make this keto friendly, I replaced the traditional mashed potatoes topping with a mashed cauliflower version, adapted from my mashed cauliflower recipe.
There are a few differences compared to my standalone cauliflower mash; most notably, I altered the ratio of various ingredients so that the cauliflower mash is fluffier and thicker, which I think works better as a topping for shepherd’s pie. I love how it turned out — a generous layer that tastes identical to mashed potatoes.
For ideal texture, use a food processor, tabletop or personal blender, or immersion blender to puree the cauliflower florets until they resemble mashed potatoes.
Serving
The casserole will be very hot when it comes out of the oven, so let it cool a bit before slicing and serving. This will help the casserole keep its shape better, which means you’ll be able to serve slices that hold together instead of falling apart.
You can serve this with other Irish themed dishes, like Instant Pot Corned Beef with cabbage and carrots, corned beef hash, or with green colored veggie sides like broccoli, green beans, and peas.
For Fun: Books To Read While Devouring This
Shepherd’s pie and its many variants are staple foods in fantasy books. I’m always so intrigued when authors mention the specific foods that characters are eating.
Here are a few of my favorite fantasy series:
- The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb, plus all of the subsequent series in the Elderlings realm (see bibliography)
- The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon
- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Enjoy!
I usually don’t leave comments. But I’m here to say that this recipe is the exact balance of comfort, delicious, and healthy that I desperately search for on Pinterest. I will never make “normal” Shepard’s pie again. Thank you for your talent and our full bellies tonight!
This is a very good recipe. My husband even enjoyed it as well. So that was a win for me. LOL I will be definitely be making this again.
This is terrific! I make my own cauliflower rice by running uncooked cauliflower through the food processor and then freezing it (uncooked) in Zip’n Steam microwave bags.
I defrosted a couple of bags and then used a tea towel to squeeze the excess moisture out. Worked great!
I’m commenting because of the books… I just purchased The Deed of Paksennarrian, because if you liked the other two, this series must be great too! And also, I love the recipes. Have you read Patrick Rothfuss?
Funny you mention Patrick Rothfuss, I just finished his Kingkiller Chronicle books and greatly enjoyed them. Now, if only he would get around to publishing the rest of the series…
This recipe is delicious! I’ve made it 2x so far and I use ground lamb.
Hi I was just wondering if you can use frozen califlower rice instead of fresh?
I’m not sure as I haven’t tested frozen cauliflower rice. My guess is that it’s fine, as long as you let the cauliflower rice fully thaw in the refrigerator and make sure to pat dry with paper towels to absorb excess moisture.
Thank you for such a delicious, easy and tasty low carb meal, the whole family licked their plates clean!!! Will be making this often 🙂
I made this for my keto friends, it was a hit. As me and my husband are not keto, I doubled the recipe and topped one with cauliflower mash and one with traditional mashed potatoes. And then I cooked it again…..and again.
I am looking forward to making this, HOWEVER…..can you please tell me about how much cauliflower is 24 florets? A head? 2 heads? I don’t even have a guess so I’m hoping someone can help me out here. Thanks a bunch!
It’s not 24 florets, it’s 24 ounces (a unit of weight) of florets. If your supermarket sells cauliflower florets in pre-cut bags, they will indicate the weight on the packaging. Or if there’s a food scale at your supermarket, then you can weigh a head of cauliflower to get an idea of what you need.
Do you think this is freezable?
It might. I haven’t tried freezing this, so unfortunately I can’t say for sure.
Fantastic – again!! I’m slowly working my way through your recipes and can thank you enough for sharing them
Thank you Nicola!
Made this recipe as written last night. I have to say, the meaty base was spot on delicious, so delicious that I found my husband eating it for breakfast with hash browns (he’s not Keto) this morning. The cauliflower topping, however, was a bit overpowered by the addition of the raw garlic. Next time I might gently saute the garlic to tame its powerful flavor, or try using a bit of garlic powder instead for a more subtle garlic-mash effect. Better yet, I might put the garlic in the meat mixture and leave it out of the cauliflower mash altogether…All-in-all…this one is a keeper…
I made this for our St. Patrick’s Day dinner and it was outstanding! Thanks for the great recipe – and the book suggestions too!
Made this last night for an early St Paddy’s Day get together. It was so good!
Made this for my family of 5, everyone loved it! My husband and 13yr old son had multiple helpings! We didnt even miss the taters, and the beef mixture was delicious! The beef mixture would also make a great bolognese sauce! Will definitely make this again!
This is delicious!!!! We made it with mozzarella instead of cheddar since we had that on hand and we loved it. I used my Vitamix for the cauliflower topping and it was off the charts delish. Definitely making this again. Thanks!
Hi Julia,
Thanks so much for the great recipe, and I really like the addition of books you recommended to go along with the meal. You take the experience to a whole other level!
Haha thanks Carol. Hope you get a chance to try out the recipe.