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This healthy Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie has everything you want for an easy weeknight dinner. Savory mashed sweet potatoes, perfectly seasoned turkey meat, and hearty veggies combined together to make this incredible, satisfying dish your whole family will love.
I have always loved Shepherd’s Pie even as a kid. This Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie is now one of my new favorite versions of this old classic dish.
Savory, delicious sweet potatoes, perfect juicy, seasoned turkey mixed in with hearty veggies. It really is a great healthy dinner your whole family will love!
Plus, it is super easy to make and can be made ahead and baked the day of serving. How great is that?
Why you will love this Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie
- Hearty and packed with protein and lots of veggies
- Kids and adults just love a good Shepherd’s pie so it works for the whole family
- The best savory sweet potatoes ever are the perfect topping twist on this old classic dish.
- You can make it ahead and bake it off the day of serving
- It stores great so you can enjoy it all week long.
What is Shepherd’s Pie?
Shepherd’s Pie is a dish that I believe came from England and used to be called “Cottage pie” or it still is but here in the U.S we call it Shepherd’s pie.
It is typically a meat pie with a topping of regular mashed potatoes and maybe some peas and carrots mixed in with the meat.
In this version, I swapped the traditional white potatoes with more nutrient-rich sweet potatoes and used ground turkey meat in place of the traditional ground beef.
What ingredients do you need to make this shepherd’s pie?
How to make sweet potato shepherd’s pie
- Make the mashed sweet potatoes. Now, there are a couple of ways to do this but my preferred, fastest and best way is to make Instant Pot Mashed Sweet Potatoes ahead and have them ready to go for this dish. You could also peel and chop the potatoes, add them to a pot, cover them with water, bring them to a boil, then cover and simmer on low until tender and strain. Then season with salt and pepper and a little butter and mash them up. Either way they are delicious.
- Cook the turkey meat. Heat a pan with some olive oil, add in the onions and let them cook for few minutes until they get nice and fragrant and soft. Then add in the minced garlic and ground turkey. Season that with salt and pepper, toss and let it cook until most of the turkey is no longer pink. Then stir in the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and veggie stock then let that all simmer for a few minutes.
- Cook the veggies on the stovetop or for a few minutes in the microwave to bring them back to life, then add them to the turkey meat.
4. Final step is to top the meat and veggie mixture with the luscious, creamy mashed sweet potatoes. This is so much fun for some reason, lol!
5. Then bake it for about 25-30 minutes until the top and edges are lightly golden brown.
I like to spray the top with olive oil spray and sea salt right before baking to give it a little extra taste and texture. Then you can top it with fresh herbs after it is done baking. So good!
You want to let it cool for a few minutes before serving then dig into it.
Recipe tips
- You can use ground turkey or ground beef but I think the ground turkey pairs better with the sweet potatoes. If using ground beef then simply cook it using the same method and seasoning used in this recipe for the turkey meat.
- If you are short on time then you can buy sweet potatoes that are already peeled and diced at most grocery stores and then cook them using whatever method you prefer as noted in this post. Like I said, I prefer to cook mine in the Instant pot.
- For the veggies, you can use just corn, or just peas, or whatever blend you like. Just make sure to cook them a little bit before adding them to the turkey meat so they do not water down the flavor of the meat.
- To make this dish ahead: Follow all of the steps before baking, let it cool completely, cover the whole thing tightly with foil and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Then just bake as noted in the rest of the recipe.
Did you try this recipe? If you did, then please leave a rating and comment below. I would love to hear from you.
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Healthy Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This healthy Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie has everything you want for an easy weeknight dinner. Savory mashed sweet potatoes, perfectly seasoned turkey meat, and hearty veggies combined together to make this incredible, satisfying dish your whole family will love.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs of sweet potatoes peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 medium white onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 lbs lean ground turkey breast
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup vegetable, chicken, or turkey stock
- 2 cups frozen mixed veggies
- Kosher salt
- Ground black pepper
- Italian seasoning or thyme for topping – optional
Instructions
Make the mashed sweet potatoes
- Now, there are a couple of ways to do this but my preferred, fastest and best way is to make Instant Pot Mashed Sweet Potatoes ahead and have them ready to go for this dish. You could also peel and chop the potatoes, add them to a pot, cover them with water, bring them to a boil, then cover and simmer on low until tender, strain. Then season with salt and pepper and a little butter and mash them up. Either way they are delicious.
Cook the turkey meat
- Heat a pan with some olive oil, add in the onions and let them cook for few minutes until they get nice and fragrant and soft. Then add in the minced garlic and ground turkey.
- Season that with salt and pepper, toss and let it cook until most of the turkey is no longer pink. Then stir in the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, and veggie stock, and let that all simmer for a few minutes.
- Cook the veggies on the stovetop or for a few minutes or in the microwave to bring them back to life, then add them to the turkey meat. Let that all hang out on low heat for a few minutes.
Assemble and Bake
- Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees.
- Cover the turkey and veggie mixture with the mashed sweet potatoes in an even layer. To make it crispier on the top, you can spray it with olive oil cooking spray and sprinkle it with kosher salt before you bake it.
- Place the shepherd’s pie into the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top and edges are lightly golden brown and you can see some of the sauce bubbling around the edges. OMG! It is is good!
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
- You can use ground turkey or ground beef but I think the ground turkey pairs better wit the dish sweet potatoes. If using ground beef then simply cook it using the same method and seasoning used in this recipe for the turkey meat.
- If you are short on time then you can buy sweet potatoes that are already peeled and diced at most grocery stored and then cook them using whatever method you prefer as noted in this post. Like I noted, I prefer to cook mine in the Instant pot.
- For the veggies, you can use just corn, or just peas, or whatever blend you like. Just make sure to cook them a little bit before adding them to the turkey meat so they do not water down the flavor of the meat.
- To make this dish ahead: Follow all of the steps before baking, let it cool completely, cover the whole thing tightly with foil and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Then just bake as noted in the rest of the recipe.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 25
- Category: Healthy Dinner Ideas
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
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