This Healthy Turkey Shepherd’s Pie is a comfort food classic, made with ground turkey and topped with carrot and rutabaga mash.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or any other neutral cooking oil such as canola or avocado oil.
- Ground turkey – you could also use ground beef, pork or chicken, although the ground turkey provides a leaner protein option.
- Yellow onion – white onion or shallots will also work.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Flour – cornstarch would also help thicken the sauce, or you can use ¼ cup less of beef broth.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
- Worcestershire sauce – use a combination of soy sauce and ketchup instead.
- Beef broth – vegetable or chicken broth would both be good substitutes here.
- Frozen vegetables – use any frozen vegetable blend of your choice.
Carrot rutabaga mash
- Carrots – you could also top your shepherd’s pie with mashed sweet potatoes or regular mashed potatoes.
- Rutabaga – see substitution notes above.
- Lemon juice – freshly squeezed lemon juice is best but bottled will work just fine.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
How to make shepherd's pie with ground turkey
- Make the carrot rutabaga mash.
- Sauté the turkey, onion and garlic.
- Make the sauce.
- Stir in the frozen veggies.
- Top the meat mixture with the mash.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
What goes with shepherd's pie?
You can serve this shepherd's pie by itself since it's such a hearty and filling dinner idea! If you're looking to add something extra on the side, here are some great ideas:
- Side salad
- Roasted broccoli or cauliflower
- Crusty bread and butter
- Crostini
Frequently Asked Questions
Cottage pie and shepherd’s pie are the same dishes, just with different names. Cottage pie is sometimes used to describe the dish when it’s made with meat and shepherd’s pie is sometimes used to describe the dish made with lamb. At the end of the day though, they’re pretty much the same dish!
Traditional shepherd’s pie is made with ground beef, veggies and a rich gravy that’s topped with mashed potatoes then baked in the oven. This recipe offers a bit of a healthier spin on the classic dish, using ground turkey instead of ground beef with a carrot and rutabaga mash on top instead of classic mashed potatoes.
This dish is called cottage or shepherd’s pie because it was originally made with potatoes by people who lived in cottages in the country. The ‘shepherd’ comes from the mashed potato topping, which represents a sheep’s fleece (and sheep are looked after by shepherds).
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Storing and reheating
Once you've made this recipe, you can store it in the fridge up to 5 days. I would recommend storing individual serving sizes so that you can just pull it out of the fridge and reheat it for 2 to 3 minutes in the microwave. This way you don't have to portion out the leftovers when you go to eat them – just pull it out, reheat and dig in!
Freezing this recipe
You can also freeze this shepherd’s pie for up to 3 months. Wait until it comes to room temperature, then freeze it 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.
More ground turkey recipes
Meal prep 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.
Healthy Turkey Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb Ground turkey
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 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, onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes until turkey is lightly browned. Add flour, mixing well to combine. Add salt & pepper, Worcestershire sauce and beef broth, cooking another 5 minutes until mixture has thickened.
- Stir the frozen vegetables into the meat mixture, then add to a large 9×13 baking dish. Top with carrot & rutabaga mash, then bake for 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Comments & Reviews
Jill says
Hi Taylor!
I’m planning to make this shepherd’s Pie this weekend.
I noticed that the recipe references a 9×13 baking dish, but you use a loaf pan in your Instagram post.
Which works better, do you think?
Thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Jill! I cut most recipes in half when I film the reels because I live alone and can only eat so much food LOL. The recipe itself with the 9×13 baking dish instruction is correct for 4 servings.
Jill says
Ahhh, okay! I’m glad I asked, a 9×13 it is. Thank you! I have never in my life cooked with a rutabaga; I’ll be checking that box this weekend, I’m excited. 🙂
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.