Easy Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato

This Shepherd's pie with sweet potato is the ultimate comfort food, a ground beef and vegetable casserole topped with fluffy sweet potatoes. Simple, delish and easy to make!

Shepherd's pie is a classic comfort food dish. This shepherd's pie with sweet potatoes is an easy but flavorful and delicious meal the whole family will love.

Traditional shepherd's pie recipes use lamb and mashed potatoes. I switched it up by using ground beef and mashed sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes add a beautiful color and the perfect amount of sweetness to the dish.

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• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Variations
• Storage
• Recipes You May Like
• 5 Easy Weeknight Dinner Recipes!
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Ingredients

What you need for the shepherd's pie:

• Olive oil
• Yellow onion
• Carrot
• Celery
• Ground beef- ground beef adds a lot of great flavor to the shepherd's pie but can be replaced with ground lamb or ground turkey.
• Garlic
• Tomato paste- use ketchup if you don't have tomato paste.
• Worcestershire sauce
• Rosemary and thyme- can use fresh or dried herbs.
• Nutmeg
• Beef broth- if you only have chicken or vegetable broth at home, use that instead.
• Flour- the flour helps to thicken up the beef mixture and makes it more gravy-like. For gluten intolerances, use arrowroot powder or cornstarch instead.

What you need for the potatoes:

• Sweet potatoes
• Butter- butter is optional but makes the potatoes creamier.
• Broth or milk- use either leftover beef broth or your favorite milk to mash the sweet potatoes.
• Paprika

Instructions

How to make the shepherd's pie:

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add diced onion, carrot and celery. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and cook until soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
2. Add ground beef, black pepper, more salt, garlic cloves, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and mix, breaking up ground beef.
3. Add in thyme, rosemary, nutmeg and beef broth. Stir and cook the beef mixture for 6-8 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon flour, cornstarch or arrowroot powder to thicken, cook for 2 more minutes.
4. Turn off heat and add the mixture to a baking dish. I used a round dish but a 9x13 inch baking dish will work.

How to make the mashed sweet potatoes:

1. Add sweet potatoes to a large pot with water, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-high, remove the lid and cook for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender enough for a fork to easily slide in and out.
2. Drain water and mash sweet potatoes with salt, black pepper, paprika and broth or milk.
3. Spoon mashed sweet potatoes over beef in a baking dish, careful not to mix the two. Using a fork make a zig-zag design. Top with a sprinkle of paprika.
4. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. Broil for a few minutes on high if desired.

Variations

Put your own twist on this shepherd's pie with sweet potato recipe.

• Add extra vegetables to the beef mixture. This recipe simply uses mirepoix, but peas, corn and/or green beans would be great additions.
• Use ground lamb or ground turkey instead of ground beef. Ground bison would also be delicious in this shepherd's pie recipe.
• Purple sweet potatoes would add beautiful and unique color to this dish. Check out this guide to sweet potatoes to learn more about different varieties.

Storage

Store in the fridge for a few days covered or in an airtight container to have as leftovers. The shepherd's pie with sweet potato can also be frozen in a freezer-safe container for a few months.

Defrost in the fridge overnight or on the counter for up to 4 hours. Heat in the microwave for about 2 minutes or in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes.

Serve my Gluten-Free Apple Crisp with Cranberries for dessert!

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