It's time for a healthier spin on the traditional Shepherd's Pie recipe, made with ground turkey & topped with a simple, yet hearty carrot and rutabaga mash!
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Ingredients in turkey shepherd's pie
The filling for this shepherd's pie is relatively straightforward! I've used ground turkey to keep it lighter, and then used a carrot and rutabaga mash instead of mashed potatoes. Here's what you need below:
- olive oil
- Ground turkey
- onions
- garlic
- flour
- Worcestershire sauce
- red wine
- beef broth
- frozen vegetables
How to make turkey shepherd's pie
Shepherd's pie is a lot easier to make than you think! There are quite a few more steps, but this is an easy recipe that you can make ahead of time and meal prep.
Here are the exact steps below:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Make the carrot rutabaga mash.
- Meanwhile, cook the ground turkey, onions and garlic until lightly browned, then stir in the flour. Add salt & pepper, Worcestershire sauce, red wine and beef broth, then stir in the frozen veggies.
- Add the filling to a large 9×13 baking dish, then top with carrot & rutabaga mash.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then serve and enjoy!
Ingredient substitutions
This recipe is SO versatile and you can substitute almost anything to make it work with your diet. Here are some easy substitutions:
- Ground turkey – you can use ground beef, pork or chicken in this recipe instead of ground turkey
- Flour – use cornstarch to make this recipe gluten-free but still thicken the sauce. You can also use 1/4 cup less broth and leave out cornstarch and flour altogether
- Broth – use vegetable or chicken broth instead of beef broth
- Vegetables – I use a big package of Green Giant frozen veggies but you can use any type of veggie in the meat filling. Frozen is usually easiest but you can use whatever you have on hand
- Topping – This recipe uses a carrot rutabaga mash but you can use mashed sweet potatoes or regular mashed potatoes too
How to make the carrot rutabaga mash
I've made a hearty carrot and rutabaga mash in place of those rich mashed potatoes for this shepherd's pie recipe. It is simple to make and SO delicious but I understand that it is a bit of extra work. The good news is that you can make it up to 3 days in advance, or you can make it ahead of time and freeze it for the future.
The carrot and rutabaga mash is made much the same way as mashed potatoes are: by cutting up carrots and rutabaga, boiling for 15 minutes, and mashing with a bit of salt & pepper and lemon juice. It is definitely a refreshing new addition to this Shepherd's Pie recipe, one I promise you will love!
Storing and reheating
Once you've made this recipe, you can store it in the fridge up to 5 days. I would recommend storing in individual servings so that it's easy to take a serving from the fridge and reheat it for 2-3 minutes in the microwave. This way you don't have to portion out the leftovers when you go to eat them – you've already done it!
Freezing this recipe
You can also freeze this recipe until to 3 months! Wait until it comes to room temperature, then freeze in small glass bowls (make sure you are freezing individual serving sizes only). You can defrost in the fridge overnight, or reheat from frozen in the microwave for 6-7 minutes, stirring halfway through.
What to serve with healthy shepherd's pie
You can serve this shepherd's pie by itself – it's such a hearty, filling dinner idea! But if you're looking to add something extra to the side, here are some ideas:
- Side salad
- Roasted broccoli or cauliflower
- Crusty bread and butter
- Crostini
More ground turkey recipes
Tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls for leftovers
- A Y shaped vegetable peeler is the best way to peel rutabagas
- Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls with lids up to 3 months
Meal prep challenge
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Healthy Shepherd's Pie with Carrot Rutabaga Mash
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb Ground turkey
- 2 onions diced
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp red wine
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 2 cups frozen vegetables
Carrot Rutabaga Mash
- 4 Carrots peeled and chopped
- 1 rutabaga peeled and chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil carrots and rutabaga in water in a large saucepan for 20 minutes. Check with a fork for doneness and drain. Mash with lemon juice, salt and pepper then set aside.
- While the carrots and rutabagas are boiling, heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add ground turkey, onions and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes until turkey is lightly browned. Add flour, mixing well to combine. Add salt & pepper, Worcestershire sauce, red wine and beef broth, cooking another 5 minutes until mixture has thickened.
- Stir the frozen vegetables into the meat mixture, then add to a large 9x13 baking dish. Top with carrot & rutabaga mash, then bake for 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Gail M Parent says
Way too high in Carbs…. any way to lower this with a recipe tweak?
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Gail – not sure how it’s too high in carbs. Most of the carbs are from veggies, not any type of starch or bread. You can always leave the topping off but I’m not sure what that would do to the carb count.
Misha says
It’s very high in sugar and salt too. Here’s my suggestion…You can tweak this recipe easily. Minus the additional salt, use low sodium or Coconut Aminos instead of Worcestershire sauce. Use less high carb veggies (minus corn) and use more green cruciferous (i.e.broccoli) or water based veggies (i.e. zucchini). Use homemade beef broth or low sodium beef bone broth.
Many ways to lessen the impact. I hope this helps.