This low carb Shepherd’s Pie is topped with mashed rutabaga instead of potatoes. The filling includes the traditional carrots and peas with beef seasoned with warming spices and pine nuts. It’s Paleo, Whole30, gluten-free, egg-free and grain-free!
For some reason, I find Paleo Shepherd’s Pie SO much fun to make! I love anything with layers. In fact, I started the double tank top layer trend at my middle school in 2002. The second and last trend I started was the following year when I would use my father’s ties as belts for my jean shorts and skorts.
These days I prefer layers I can eat and do not cause future embarrassment. I wanted to post a traditional (but lower carb) Shepherd’s Pie recipe but with my spin on it! A little more nutrient dense than the already healthy, hearty original spiced with some of my most cherished Lebanese additions as well as bone broth & aminos for extra flavor.
The meat mixture could be served on its own. It features a combination of beef, pork or lamb, toasted pine nuts, onions, cinnamon, cumin, allspice and gut-nourishing bone broth. Traditional peas & carrots next… if you don’t eat peas you can use diced zucchini or asparagus.
Finally, I topped it with a creamy, smooth, buttery (well, ghee-y) mashed rutabaga topping. If you don’t love rutabaga roasted or boiled, definitely try it mashed with some Fourth & Heart Himalayan Pink Salt Ghee & fresh cracked pepper!
WHAT YOU NEED FOR THIS PALEO SHEPHERD’S PIE
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Ground Beef
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Ground Pork or Lamb
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Onion & Garlic
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Cinnamon, Cumin & Allspice
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Bone Broth
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Coconut Aminos
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Peas & Carrots
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Rutabaga
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Ghee
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Salt & Pepper
Looking for some other family-friendly recipes to try?
Taco Beef & Butternut Rice with Dairy-Free Sour Cream
Wild Salmon with Cucumber-Nectarine Salsa
Creamy Mushroom & Pork Casserole
Low Carb Shepherd’s Pie with Mashed Rutabaga
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
Meat Layer
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork or lamb
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- cracked black pepper
- 1/3 cup bone broth
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
Peas & Carrots Layer
- 3 large carrots, peeled and diced
- 10 ounce frozen peas
- pinch sea salt
Mashed Rutabaga Layer
- 2 ½ pounds rutabaga, peeled and halved
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- cracked black pepper
Instructions
Meat Layer
Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic for 3 minutes until tender. Add pine nuts and toast for 2 minutes until golden. Stir in ground beef, pork or lamb and break up with a wooden spoon until finely minced. Season with cinnamon, cumin, allspice and black pepper to taste as well as an additional ¾ teaspoon sea salt. Add broth and aminos and simmer for 5 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
Peas & Carrots Layer
Reheat cast iron skillet over medium heat and add carrots. Saute for 3 minutes until crisp-tender then stir in peas and pinch sea salt. Cook for 5 minutes until the peas are warm and tender.
Mashed Rutabaga Layer
Steam, boil or use your Instant Pot to cook the rutabagas until tender. For the Instant Pot (my preferred method), cook with 1 cup water in high pressure for 15 to 17 minutes depending on size of rutabagas. Add cooked rutabagas to a high-powered blender and blend, using the tamper to keep the mixture going. Blend in ghee, sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Arrange the Shepherd’s Pie
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9×13 inch glass casserole, layer the meat first with the peas and carrots next and finally the mashed rutabaga smoothed on top. Bake for 20 minutes on the 2nd highest oven rack. Broil for 5 minutes to give the rutabaga a bit of a crust. Slice into 6 squares and serve warm.
9 Responses
My daughter started huge fashions trends too! 4th grade it was leggings under her shorts (she has really long legs). Then in 5th grade it was wearing her dads biggest hoodie. 3 years later and all her closest girlfriends have one of the xxl hoodies now too. I can’t wait to try making this!
Ha! Send that girl to Milan – pretty sure all of Kanye’s lines now feature oversized everything, so she was definitely ahead of the times 🙂
I bought Enthused but I can’t find anything about Pastelon de Platano Maudro. Did you name the recipe something else?
Yes for sake of people needing to pull out a Spanish translator – Beef & Plantain Casserole 🙂
So I am planning to make the Pastelon de Platano Maudro this weekend, but I just noticed that the ground beef is missing from the ingredients (unless I am just completely missing it, in which case I am going to blame brain fog and beg forgiveness!). Do you know how much ground beef you used in the recipe? I am assuming 1-1.5 lb.
You are right! It is 1 lb of ground beef. If you purchased the ebook the first day or two it released, those copies had the error but it’s been fixed since then!
Loved this recipe ! So comforting and satisfying and very simple to make. Thanks Aleana for another great recipe !
Great recipe for a cold night and tons of leftovers for a two person household!
After a series of unfortunate events I find myself with Turnips instead of Rutabaga ? would this be an appropriate or acceptable substitute?