Shepherdess Pie (Turkey Shepherd’s Pie with Veggies)

Shepherd’s Pie made with turkey is a healthier take on a classic. This homemade Turkey Shepherd’s Pie recipe is simple and easy to make with the best cauliflower mashed potatoes and a veggie-packed turkey layer that’s gluten-free and dairy-free. A great make-ahead meal that everyone will love.  

This Shepherdess Pie recipe is from Alisa Fleming‘s new cookbook, Eat Dairy Free. This is a beautiful, allergy-friendly cookbook with over 100 recipes is the newest addition to my shelf. And I couldn’t wait to share this dinner recipe with you. 

There’s something so comforting and warm (and delicious) about a dinner like this. The sauce, the flavours, all the vegetables, all baked together until perfectly golden brown on the top, this Turkey Shepherd’s Pie with veggies is sure to be a hit any night of the week! 

Shepherdess Pie (Turkey and Veggie Shepherd’s Pie)

---

• Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Yield: 6-8 1x

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Description

Shepherd’s Pie made with turkey is a healthier take on a classic. This homemade recipe is simple and easy to make with the best cauliflower mashed potatoes and a veggie-packed turkey layer that’s gluten free and dairy free. A great make ahead meal that everyone will love.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the Mashed Potato Layer:

• 4 medium-sized russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 pounds) potatoes)
• 2 cups cauliflower florets (about 12 ounces or 1/2 a head)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or use coconut oil)
• 1/2 cup milk (regular or unsweetened dairy free)
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

For the Turkey and Vegetable Layer:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 2–3 cups diced onion (about 1 large)
• 1 cup diced peeled carrots (about 2 medium)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed) sweet corn kernels
• 1 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) peas
• 1 cup diced red bell pepper (about 1 medium pepper)
• 2 cups finely chopped kale
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 3 tablespoons oat flour (or use all purpose flour)
• 1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

For Serving:

• Paprika, smoked paprika, or chopped fresh herbs (optional)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350F and lightly spray the sides of a 9 x 13 baking dish with oil.

For the Mashed Potato Layer:

1. Boil the potatoes and cauliflower for 12 to 15 minutes over medium heat, or until tender, and drain well.
2. Transfer the cooked potatoes and cauliflower to a large mixing bowl. Add the milk, oil salt, pepper and garlic powder and mash with a masher until just a few small chunks remain. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.

For the Meat and Vegetable Layer:

1. While the potatoes and cauliflower are cooking, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the turkey and sauté. (breaking up the turkey) until cooked through and no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the meat to a bowl and drain any excess liquid from the pan.
2. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add the onion and carrots, and sauté until the onion is translucent and the carrots just begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the corn, peas, red pepper and kale and the thyme and paprika sauté for a minute or 2 until the kale is wilted. Remove the vegetables to a bowl.*
3. Add the cooked meat back into the pan. Whisk the oat flour into the skillet, stirring constantly for about a minute, until the meat is evenly coated in the flour. Slowly whisk in the stock, continue to stir until the liquid becomes smooth. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Add the cooked vegetables back into the pan and stir in the 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Taste and add more seasoning, if needed.

Assembling the Pie:

1. Spoon the meat and vegetable mixture into the prepared baking dish and even out.
2. Spread the potato mixture on top of the meat in an even layer. Sprinkle the top of the casserole with paprika, if desired.
3. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until heated through and the potatoes are just brown on the top.
4. Garnish with freshly chopped herbs or sliced green onions, if desired. For leftovers, cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 1 day. This pie freezes really well.

Notes

1. *My largest skillet was a little too small to comfortably stir the vegetables and meat together without it ending up all over my stove. Removing the vegetables before adding the cooked meat back to the pan is not completely necessary if you have a HUGE skillet.
2. Make-Ahead Tip: This dish can be prepped a day in advance and stored in the refrigerator, or frozen for enjoying at a later date. If frozen, increase the cook time to 40 minutes, or until heated through.
3. Veggie-ful Vegan Option
   Substitute 1 to 11/2 pounds coarsely chopped vegetables for the meat, skip step 3, and cook the added vegetables for a few minutes with the onions and carrots. We like Portobello mushrooms and zucchini in this recipe. Use vegan no-chicken broth or mushroom broth in place of the chicken broth.
4. Shepherd’s Lean Variation
   Use lean ground buffalo or beef (preferably grass-fed) in place of the turkey and beef broth instead of chicken broth.

Recipe Adapted from Alisa Fleming’s Eat Dairy Free Cookbook

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 50 minutes

MORE ABOUT THIS TURKEY SHEPHERD’S PIE RECIPE

There may seem like a lot of different steps and ingredients in this recipe but I promise it’s not that bad. This pie does take a little bit of prep work before it hits the oven but I assure you, it is all worth it. 

I stayed pretty true to Alisa’s original recipe and modification suggestions. I replaced half of the suggested meat with more veggies and added some garlic and extra spices. You can definitely leave the turkey out and go for all veggies if you’d like as well. 

The mashed potatoes are mixed with cauliflower – which if you’ve never tried that before, it’s amazing. You’d never know extra veggies were able to sneak their way in there. Especially when sprinkled with extra paprika on top. And I kept this pie gluten-free by using oat flour to make the gravy-like sauce and dairy-free by using olive oil instead of butter in the mashed potatoes. 

This shepherd’s pie recipe can be made ahead of time (hello, make-ahead dinner for a busy week, anyone?) or even frozen in individual serving sizes to be heated up as needed. Because that is definitely my kind of healthy eating. #winning (And if you want more freezer-friendly recipes you just have to check out this one and this one too!) 

MORE ABOUT THE EAT DAIRY FREE COOKBOOK

This cookbook couldn’t have come at a better time. I’ve realized in the last little while (it was November of last year when I finished my very first Whole30-esque plan and started to reintroduce certain foods) that milk and dairy products hurt my tummy. I was in denial for a while because it was the hubs with the food intolerance issues, not me. And because cheese. And because I had always done cream in my coffee and couldn’t imagine coffee any other way. But the more I started to eat dairy-free the better I felt. 

And so fast-forwards a couple months and we are a gluten- and dairy-free house now.  …I can see the looks of panic on our friends and family faces now as they frantically try to think of what to serve the next time we are invited over for dinner. 

Worry no more, friends and family, you can borrow my copy of the Eat Dairy Free cookbook!

This cookbook is loaded with over 100 dairy-free and allergy-friendly recipes. Yep, so many gluten-free, peanut-free, nut-free, soy-free, egg-free recipes all beautifully curated and photographed. And seriously a recipe for every occasion! Alisa includes drinks, breakfast baked goods, brunch recipes, comfort food, desserts and she even has a whole chapter dedicated to Asian Eats (aka healthy take-out food made at home!). There are meal plans (!!), an ingredient guide and super helpful special diet reference charts at the beginning of every chapter to make it even easier for you to quickly see which recipes are naturally free of certain allergens. 

I hope you like this recipe as much as I do! If you give this Shepherdess Pie recipe a try let me know in the comments below and be sure to share a picture on social media using the tags @alwaysnourished and #alwaysnourished. I love to see what you’re cooking!

I was compensated for this post with a free copy of Eat Dairy Free. All opinions are my own.