This low carb shepherd’s pie is a deliciously comforting dish ready to eat in no time.
Seasoned ground lamb or beef is cooked with onions, celery, carrots, and mushrooms in a beefy gravy topped with cheesy mashed potatoes.
Baked until piping hot, this hearty dish is sure to be on regular repeat all year long.
Low-Carb Shepherd’s Pie Highlights
- Flavor: Savory, hearty, and rich with a creamy, cheesy topping – no one will suspect it’s low-carb!
- Budget tip: Use ground beef instead of lamb for a more affordable option.
- Time-Saving Tip: It’s a great option for make-ahead meal prep. Use pre-chopped frozen vegetables and riced cauliflower to make it even easier.
- Serving Suggestions: Shepherd’s pie is a full meal on its own so all it needs is a fresh and easy cherry tomato salad.
Ingredients & Variations
Meat: Lamb is the most common protein for a shepherd’s pie, followed by ground beef. Chicken, turkey, or even sausage are adequate substitutes as well.
Vegetables: Besides celery, a carrot, and mushrooms, any low-carb vegetable goes into a shepherd’s pie recipe. For the best results, be sure they’re cut into bite-sized pieces so a little bit of everything gets onto every forkful.
Topping: Cauliflower is the star of this recipe and is a nutritious swap for potatoes or pasta. Cream cheese can be swapped out for Greek yogurt for a lighter, lower-calorie, and lower-fat version.
Variations: Experiment with other kinds of cheese like mozzarella, Swiss, provolone, feta, or blue cheese in the topping. Top the shepherd’s pie with some keto breadcrumbs before baking for a little crunch. Shepherd’s pie will easily accommodate similar leftovers like beef stew, or ground beef soup.
How to Make Low-Carb Shepherd’s Pie
- Prepare cauliflower, and mix with topping ingredients. (Full recipe below.)
- Cook ground beef with onion and garlic, then add remaining ingredients and simmer.
- Transfer meat mixture to a casserole dish, top with cauliflower mixture and bake.
Favorite Shortcut Tips
- A food processor or blender will give the cauliflower a smooth, spreadable consistency.
- Assemble low-carb shepherd’s pie a day ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.
- Before baking, place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of a baking sheet and then the casserole dish on top of that. This will help catch any drips and keep the oven clean.
Leftovers
Keep leftover low-carb shepherd’s pie in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and reheat portions in the microwave. To freeze low-carb shepherd’s pie, bake and cool before wrapping it in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Bake for 45 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered.
Favorite Low Carb Dishes
Did you enjoy this Easy Low Carb Shepherd’s Pie? Leave a comment and rating below.
Easy Low Carb Shepherd’s Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pouned lean ground lamb or beef
- 1 onion diced
- 2 stalks celery finely chopped
- 1 carrot finely chopped
- 4 ounces mushrooms finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Cauliflower Topping
- 1 head cauliflower washed and chopped
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese divided
Instructions
Cauliflower
- Steam cauliflower until tender and drain well.
- Place in a mesh strainer and press to remove as much liquid as possible.
- Using a food processor (or blender) puree cauliflower. Stir in cream cheese, onion powder, butter and ¾ cup cheddar cheese. Set aside.
Shepherd’s Pie
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a frying pan, cook beef, onion and garlic until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
- Add mushrooms, celery, carrot, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and beef stock. Stir and simmer uncovered about 5-7 minutes or until most of the liquid is evaporated.
- Place meat mixture in the bottom of a 2 qt casserole dish. Top with mashed cauliflower and finally remaining cheese.
- Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Rest 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Store leftovers, or the assembled pie in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Bake 45 minutes covered, and 15 minutes uncovered if cooking a whole pie straight from the refrigerator.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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REPIN this Easy Low Carb Shepherd’s Pie recipe
I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious–full of flavor and very satisfying. I made it in my cast iron skillet so I didn’t have to use a separate baking dish–one less thing to wash afterwards.
Maybe my cauliflower was small, but I could have easily used two for the topping.
This is going in my personal recipe collection and dinner rotation.
I just found this site and made my week’s dinner menu all from recipes I found here. I’m looking forward to new things for dinner the rest of this week 🙂
Thank you!
So happy you enjoyed this recipe Jeanett. Also, I am all for one less dish to wash, great idea!
I am anxious to try this recipe this weekend, but I am curious as to where the 17 grams of carbs comes from. I found many other recipes with fewer carbs, but they have the same ingredients.
The onion has a total of 10g carbs, carrot has 6g, mushrooms have 4g, tomato paste has 6g, and a large cauliflower has 29g (there are a few other places that there are carbs but those are the main ones). This information is and estimate from the program that I use to calculate nutrition. Perhaps other sites have smaller portions or use less of the carby portions of the recipe.
I am curious how many servings this recipe is suppose to make.
This recipe makes four servings. You’ll find them listed at the top of the recipe card on all of our recipes :).
Didn’t get a photo, and now the leftovers look all mangled. But this was one of the best low carb recipes I have ever tried!
It was so easy and so delicious! True comfort food on this rainy St. Patrick’s Day. I’m going to put this on rotation for our fall and winter dinners.
Used ground Turkey breast, instead of lamb or beef. Didn’t have tomato paste, so used the 3:1 ratio for tomato sauce, and then just ended up using leftover pizza sauce instead. Ran out of cheddar cheese halfway through, so used cheddar cheese for the mashed cauliflower, but used mozzarella for the topping. Also, I felt like the meat mix could use some seasoning, so I sprinkled a pinch of garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper in the meat. Next time, to make it even healthier, I’m going to swap out the cream cheese for Greek yogurt.
Anyway, I otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I finely diced the carrots, celery and mushrooms the night before (just to save time). And soaked them overnight with the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato sauce. That’s not necessary, I just like to work ahead. The mashed cauliflower was wonderful and so flavorful!
Like I said, we really enjoyed this, and it was so easy! I also liked that it made a small 8×8 pan. Some recipes make a large casserole, but this was the perfect size for 2 with leftovers. I served it with low calorie, low carb, sugar free Keto bread and butter.
So happy you enjoyed it, Tara! Thanks for sharing your substitutions, glad they turned out so delicious!
Mine was tasteless. I thought about adding salt and pepper but opted to follow directions and maybe next batch can be tweaked. Other than that it was great, held together good and everything cooked properly.
Glad you enjoyed it, Itap. We look forward to hearing the modifications you make to the flavor of this recipe!
We have made this recipe numerous times and it is always a fan favorite!! We use ground turkey instead of beef and it is just as flavorful. Also, to kick it up the heat, we used a Serrano pepper in the cauliflower when processing the other ingredients. Sooooo good!!!
So happy to hear this recipe is a hit with your family, Kate!