This slow sooker shepherd’s pie is a comforting recipe that’s satisfying yet healthy! Using a homemade mashed cauliflower topping, this version is low-carb and Whole30 compatible. The best part is you can tailor this to fit your dietary needs. Free up your oven and make this flavorful shepherd’s or cottage pie in your slow cooker.
Ingredients For Slow Cooker Shepherd’s Pie
- Ground Lamb (or ground beef)
- Frozen Peas & Carrots
- Beef Broth
- Onion
- Garlic
- Tomato Paste
- Seasonings: dried thyme, salt, pepper
- Topping: cauliflower, milk, butter, salt, pepper
How To Make Shepherd’s Pie In The Crock-Pot
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground meat and cook until browned, crumbling the meat as it cooks. Drain the grease.
- Add the browned ground meat to the slow cooker along with the onion, carrots, peas, tomato paste, salt, thyme, and pepper. Stir to mix well.
- Cook HIGH 3-4 hours or LOW 6-8.
- Cook cauliflower using your preferred method until tender. Add the cauliflower, ghee (butter), milk, salt, and pepper to a food processor. Pulse until smooth, adding more almond milk if necessary.
- Pour mashed cauliflower on top of pie filling. Cook an additional 20-30 minutes.
Shepherd’s Pie vs Cottage Pie
Shepherd’s or cottage pie is a savory pie consisting of ground meat and veggies topped with mashed potatoes. The difference between shepherd’s pie & cottage pie is the type of meat used. Shepherd’s pie is made with lamb while cottage pie is made using beef. I used ground lamb so what you see here in the pics is a shepherd’s pie. I understand that ground lamb can sometimes be expensive, hard to find, or just not everyone’s cup of tea. If that’s the case, use ground beef and make yourself a cottage pie.
Mashed Cauliflower Topping
While a traditional shepherd’s pie is made with a mashed potato topping, I use mashed cauliflower. You will find the instructions and ingredients to my mashed cauliflower recipe in the recipe box below. If you have a different mashed cauliflower recipe, feel free to substitute it in. Of course mashed potatoes work well to.
FAQs & Tips
- Since there’s no cheese & this is not cooked in the oven, the mashed cauliflower topping will be heated through but will not have the crisp topping of a traditional shepherd’s or cottage pie.
- For strict low-carb, substitute diced zucchini for the peas.
- This recipe uses a 3.5-quart slow cooker. Feeding a larger crowd? Double the recipe and use a larger 6-quart slow cooker!
Slow Cooker Shepherd’s Pie
This slow sooker shepherd’s pie is a comforting recipe that’s satisfying yet healthy! Using a homemade mashed cauliflower topping, this version is low-carb and Whole30 compatible. The best part is you can tailor this to fit your dietary needs. Free up your oven and make this flavorful shepherd’s or cottage pie in your slow cooker.
- Total Time: 4 hours 10 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground lamb or beef
- 1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
- 1 cup frozen peas & carrots
- 1/3 cup onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoons thyme
- 1/2 teaspoons pepper
- 1 tablespoon oil
Mashed Cauliflower Topping
- 1 small head cauliflower, cooked
- 1 tablespoon ghee (or butter)
- 1/4 cup milk of your choice
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground meat and cook until browned, crumbling the meat as it cooks. Drain the grease.
- Add the browned ground meat to the slow cooker along with the onion, carrots, peas, tomato paste, salt, thyme, and pepper. Stir to mix well.
- Cook HIGH 3-4 hours or LOW 6-8.
- Cook cauliflower using your preferred method until tender. Add the cauliflower, ghee (butter), milk, salt, and pepper to a food processor. Pulse until smooth, adding more almond milk if necessary.
- Pour mashed cauliflower on top of pie filling. Cook an additional 20-30 minutes.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours
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Helen
Tuesday 24th of October 2023
Fantastic! Easy to make and delicious!!
Lyndsey
Sunday 15th of October 2023
I saw beef broth is in the list of ingredients but I didn’t see anywhere to use it in the recipe. Did I miss something?
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Amy
Wednesday 18th of January 2023
My husband really liked this! I ended up adapting it to the oven because I didn’t have enough time to put it in the slow cooker. So I sautéed the veggies (carrots and zucchini), put it altogether in a Corning Ware dish, and baked it at 375 for about 30 minutes. Great flavor and an easy to make gluten free dish
Vivian
Monday 9th of March 2020
I made it and it was great! Where are the nutrition facts for the recipe?