Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie Recipe (Paleo, AIP, Whole30)
This sweet potato shepherd's pie is a delicious and healthy twist on the classic dish. It combines savory flavor-packed meat and veggie filling with the slightly sweet and creamy texture of whipped sweet potato. It's a hearty, comforting yet affordable meal that the whole family will love. Plus you can make easy substitutions to customize it to your needs and freeze it for meal prep too!
Course Main Course
Cuisine AIP, American, Paleo, Southern
Keyword shepherds pie recipe, sweet potato shepherds pie
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place all of the whole sweet potatoes on a baking sheet with the skin on in the oven and cook for about 45 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft and fork tender. Set aside to cool.
Once the potatoes are done, bring the oven to 425°.
To make the shepherd's pie filling, chop the onions, garlic, mushrooms and carrots.
Add 2 tbsp of oil to a pan on medium high heat. Once the oil is hot add in the onions and sauté for about 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the garlic, oregano, thyme, marjoram and sage and sauté for a couple more minutes until the onions are almost translucent and starting to brown a bit.
Add in the ground beef in small chunks then sprinkle with salt, pepper and cumin. Stir and break up the beef with a spatula. Sauté until the beef is browned on all sides.
Then add in the carrots, mushrooms, peas and 1/4 cup of broth and stir. Put a lid on the pan and allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots have softened. Then, turn off the heat and set the pan aside.
Once the roasted sweet potatoes have cooled enough to handle, remove the skin and place the potatoes into a separate bowl and add 2 tbsp chicken broth, 1 tbsp butter and sea salt. Use a potato masher, immersion blender or regular blender to puree the mixture until smooth and creamy.
To assemble the shepherd's pie, place the beef and vegetable mixture in a 9 inch pie dish or an 9x9 baking dish. Place the sweet potato purée on top of the beef and vegetable mixture in the pie plate and smooth evenly over the beef and vegetables.
Cook at 425°F for 20 minutes. Let cool and serve.
Video
Notes
To get the creamy smooth sweet potato topping it's easiest to bake the sweet potatoes first with the skin on, then after it cools the skin easily comes off. Adding the butter or coconut oil to the puree really helps to smooth it out too.
You can use either fresh or dried herbs for this recipe. I find that the flavor is a bit better with fresh, but dried is still good. I've done it both ways and they are both good!
Sometimes depending on substitutions or freshness of ingredients, the filling can get watery or soggy for some people. If you cook the filling and it seems a bit too watery or soggy you have two options while the veggies are still in the pan before you transfer them to the pie dish.
The first is to continue sautéing so that some of the liquid evaporates, but keep in mind this will continue to cook the vegetables and make them even softer.
The second option is to add corn starch or arrowroot starch to thicken the liquid into a more gravy like texture. Add in 1 teaspoon while it's still warm and stir it for a couple minutes, if you want it thicker add in another teaspoon until it reaches your desired consistency.
For more tips on special diets, substitutions and freezing/meal prep see the detailed info above the recipe card.