Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie is a lighter twist on the classic comfort food. It's loaded with veggies and lean ground turkey, then topped with creamy mashed potatoes.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
This healthier version of the traditional shepherd's pie and cottage pie uses ground turkey instead of lamb or beef. It's just as flavorful and delicious!
I love a hearty and cozy meal during the fall and winter, especially if it's lightened up. This one ticks all the boxes.
An herby and savory meat and veggie filling is topped with creamy mashed potatoes. It includes my favorite fluffy mashed potatoes.
You won't be able to stop eating this one. It's so good and is excellent for a delicious dinner or meal prepping for the week. It's easily customizable to your taste preferences.
Serve it with this honey glazed cornbread or apple arugula salad.
Ingredients
Mashed Potato Topping
- Potatoes: Yellow or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces.
- Chicken Broth: Low-sodium chicken broth for added flavor. You can swap it out for vegetable broth if that's what you have on hand.
- Sour Cream: A large dollop of sour cream to make the mashed potatoes extra creamy. You could substitute for plain Greek yogurt.
- Sea salt and Pepper: To taste.
Turkey Filling
- Ground Turkey: Choose 93% lean ground turkey. Leaner turkey may become dry and have less flavor when it's cooked. You can substitute for ground chicken, beef, lamb, or pork.
- Olive Oil: Extra virgin olive oil or any neutral-flavored cooking oil to brown the turkey and saute the onion and garlic.
- Onion and Garlic: A small yellow onion and a couple of garlic cloves add aromatics to this dish.
- Frozen Mixed Vegetables: Carrots, corn, peas, and green beans are the perfect veggie mix for shepherd's pie. You can swap them out for some cooked fresh veggies.
- Chicken Broth: Low-sodium chicken broth is the base for the gravy sauce in the filling. You can swap this out for vegetable or beef broth.
- Flour: All-purpose flour to thicken the filling.
- Tomato Paste: A little tomato paste to add richness to the filling.
- Worcestershire Sauce: To add some umami and tanginess.
- Seasoning: A sprig of fresh rosemary, finely chopped, and some dried thyme to give it all that flavor. You can swap out the seasonings and use your favorites, like sage and parsley.
- Sea salt and pepper: To taste
*The full ingredient list with amounts is in the recipe card below.
How to Make Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie
- Preheat. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly spray an 8-inch casserole dish with olive oil. Set aside.
- Boil the potatoes. Place the potatoes in a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are soft enough to pierce with a fork.
- Brown the turkey. While the potatoes are simmering, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground turkey, onion, and garlic. Season with sea salt. Cook, breaking up the meat, until cooked through, about 5 minutes.
- Prepare the turkey filling. Add the frozen mixed vegetables, chicken broth, flour, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary and thyme. Stir to combine. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste. Lower the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until thickened.
- Mash the potatoes. Drain the potatoes. Add the chicken broth, sour cream, sea salt and pepper. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed.
- Assemble the casserole. Spoon the ground turkey mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with the mashed potatoes. Lightly sprinkle with paprika.
- Bake. Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes until the top is golden. Serve warm and enjoy!
Expert Tip: Taste and season both the mashed potatoes and filling as needed. Add more broth or sour cream to the potatoes for your desired consistency.
Variations
- Make it dairy-free. To make a dairy-free shepherd's pie, substitute the dairy in the mashed potatoes for non-dairy alternatives. Try these almond milk mashed potatoes.
- Swap out the ground turkey. Try it with ground beef, bison, chicken, lamb, or pork. Look for meat that is no more than 93% lean for the best flavor and to keep the meat from drying out.
- Make the potatoes cheesy. Stir half a cup of freshly shredded cheddar cheese into the potatoes, or sprinkle it over the shepherd's pie during the last 5 minutes of baking.
- Use sweet potatoes. For a different twist on the mashed potatoes, use mashed sweet potatoes for the topping.
What to Serve with Shepherd's Pie
Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie is a delicious weeknight or Sunday dinner that's the perfect comfort food for the fall and winter. You can even make it to meal prep for the week.
It's great to serve for St. Patrick's Day for a lightened-up version of the popular shepherd's pie. It's also perfect to drop by a family, friend, or neighbor's house who might need a little comforting.
Serve it by itself or with honey wheat dinner rolls, oatmeal sweet potato muffins, or your favorite bread. It's also great with a side salad, like kale apple cheddar salad.
Make Ahead and Storage
Make Ahead: This is perfect for making ahead. You can prepare it as directed, then before baking, cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Bake when you're ready to serve. You'll need to add 5-10 more minutes since it will be cold when you start baking it.
Meal Prep: To meal prep shepherd's pie, make it as directed. Store it in the refrigerator in individual portions in airtight containers. Reheat before eating.
To Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
To Reheat: Reheat shepherd's pie in a 350°F oven in an oven-safe baking dish, covered, for 20-30 minutes or until it's heated through. You could also reheat it in the microwave.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
Cottage pie is made with ground beef, while shepherd's pie is made with ground lamb.
Peas, corn, green beans, carrots, or mushrooms are great veggie options for shepherd's pie filling. You can use either fresh or frozen.
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📖 Recipe
Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dishes
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie is a lighter twist on the classic comfort food. It's loaded with veggies and lean ground turkey, then topped with creamy mashed potatoes.
Ingredients
Mashed Potatoes
- 1 ½ pounds yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into (1-inch) chunks
- ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons sour cream or plain greek yogurt
- sea salt and pepper, to taste
- paprika, for sprinkling
Turkey Filling
- 1 pound 93% lean ground turkey
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, peas, green beans)
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- sea salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly spray an 8-inch casserole dish with olive oil. Set aside.
- Boil the potatoes. Place the potatoes in a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are soft enough to pierce with a fork.
- Brown the turkey. While the potatoes are simmering, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground turkey, onion, and garlic. Season with sea salt. Cook, breaking up the meat, until cooked through, about 5 minutes.
- Prepare the turkey filling. Add the frozen mixed vegetables, chicken broth, flour, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary and thyme. Stir to combine. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste. Lower the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until thickened.
- Mash the potatoes. Drain the potatoes. Add the chicken broth, sour cream, sea salt and pepper. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed.
- Assemble the casserole. Spoon the ground turkey mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with the mashed potatoes. Lightly sprinkle with paprika.
- Bake. Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes until the top is golden. Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
Taste and season both the mashed potatoes and filling as needed. Add more broth or sour cream to the potatoes for your desired consistency.
This is perfect for making ahead. You can prepare it as directed, then before baking, cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Bake when you're ready to serve. You'll need to add 5-10 more minutes since it will be cold when you start baking it.
Recipe adapted from Skinnytaste.
Nutritional Values (per serving) are approximates only.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 292
- Sugar: 4.6 g
- Sodium: 406.1 mg
- Fat: 8.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 34.7 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 20.5 g
- Cholesterol: 53.6 mg
Ryan Maguire says
Such a great and super easy recipe to make! Delicious!