This slow cooker 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, onion, and garlic and cook until browned. Crumble the meat as it cooks. Drain the grease and add to the slow cooker.
- Add the broth, peas & carrots, tomato paste, salt, thyme, and pepper. Stir to mix well.
- Cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW 6 to 8.
- Cook the cauliflower using your preferred method until tender. Add the cauliflower, ghee (butter), milk, salt, and pepper to a food processor or blender. Pulse until smooth, adding more almond milk if necessary.
- The last 30 minutes of cooking time, spread the mashed cauliflower on top of the food.
FAQs & Tips
What is Shepherd’s 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.
Can you use mashed potatoes for the topping?
Of course. No other modifications to the recipe are needed, just swap the potatoes for the cauliflower.
Will the topping be crispy?
No. 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. IF you have a Crock-Pot brand slow cooker, you can crisp the top in the oven in temperatures up to 400 degrees. Remove the slow cooker from the heating element first!
How do you store leftovers?
Store leftover crockpot shepherd’s pie in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
What size slow cooker did you use?
I use small 3.5-quart slow cooker. Feeding a larger crowd? Double the recipe and use a larger 6-quart slow cooker!
St. Patrick’s Day Recipes
-
Corned Beef & Cabbage
-
Irish Dublin Coddle
-
Low-Carb Corned Beef & Cabbage
-
Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup
-
Corned Beef & Hash Breakfast Casserole
Slow Cooker Shepherd’s Pie
This slow cooker 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.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- 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 and 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
- 2 tablespoons ghee or butter
- 1/4 cup milk of your choice
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground meat, onion, and garlic and cook until browned. Crumble the meat as it cooks. Drain the grease and add to the slow cooker.
- Add the broth, peas & carrots, tomato paste, salt, thyme, and pepper. Stir to mix well.
- Cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW 6 to 8.
- Cook the cauliflower using your preferred method until tender. Add the cauliflower, ghee (butter), milk, salt, and pepper to a food processor or blender. Pulse until smooth, adding more almond milk if necessary.
- The last 30 minutes of cooking time, spread the mashed cauliflower on top of the food.
This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on one of the product links, I might receive compensation. For more about my disclosure policy see here: https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/about/disclosure-policy/.
54 thoughts on “Slow Cooker Shepherd’s Pie”
Easy and yummy. I used a little vegan cream cheese to make the cauliflower crust creamy. I
When do you add the beef broth?
Fantastic! Easy to make and delicious!!
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?
Pingback: Keto Ground Beef Crockpot Recipes | Low Carb Crockpot Beef Recipes - The Best of Life Magazine
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
I made it and it was great! Where are the nutrition facts for the recipe?
Pingback: Slow Cooker Crockpot Whole30 Paleo - You can’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day w... - Photo Stock
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
I don’t have a food processor? What do you recommend I use instead?
Any basic blender should work!
Pingback: 101 Gluten-free Dairy-free Crockpot Recipes - Rachael Roehmholdt
OMG….this was AMAZING! I did the full head of cauliflower and whole large sweet potato since I like a thicker mash, and it was so good. This is going to become a regular rotation! Next time totally making a double batch to freeze. 🙂
Pingback: The Best Whole30 Slow Cooker Recipes - Fit SlowCooker Queen
Pingback: Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage - Fit SlowCooker Queen
If I were to add sweet potatoes, how much should I add and would I cut back on the cauliflower?
About 1/2 lb sweet potatoes. Since the cauliflower is a little wet/runny you don’t need to cut back on the cauliflower, just add in the potatoes. Enjoy!
Ok, so I saw this when it posted and just came back to it after finding ground lamb at the store. So I have all the ingredients except for Thyme or Rosemary, is there any other spice I could substitute or are those really the best for a more authentic taste? Thanks!
I apologize for the delay, I’m traveling at the moment. You can pretty much substitute any herb whether it be basil, oregano, rosemary or thyme. While it might not have the exact same taste, it should still turn out good:-)
Can’t wait to try these
Wow. Looks yum. I love slow cooking recipes. I don’t eat meat. But would love to share it with friends who do!
Could you swap in sauteed Portabella mushrooms for the meat? I am trying to make a vegetarian keto dish for a potluck.
Absolutely. That sounds fantastic. Enjoy!
Pingback: 7 Shepherd's Pie Recipes to Fill Up on Before Your Pub Crawl - google healths
How it looks super yummy! Need to make at home.
Happy Thursday! Kisses,
BLOG | TAISLANY
This is the recipe to beat all recipes. I love shepherd’s pie! I would really love it more fixed in a slow cooker. I absolutely love this recipe!
Omg can we say yum?!?! I just love Shepards pie!!!! I will have to give your recipe a try!!!
This looks so good! I want to make it at home. I will be saving this recipe for sure!
This is right up my alley because I’m always looking for quick meals and I love a good Shepard pie!
Confession: I’ve never had Shepherd’s pie! I’ve also never found a successful mashed cauliflower recipe, so I’m so excited to try yours out!!!! This looks absolutely delicious! We did a 30-day Paleo challenge over on the blog, and this would have been an awesome recipe to use! Thanks so much for sharing the details!!!
This looks wonderful and I’m sure my family will love it!
I love Shepards Pie. We normally eat it year round.
YUM! This looks so delicious, I make a version of this, but LOVE the idea of doing it in the crockpot!!
shepherd’s pie is one of my mums all time favorite dishes! She used to make it a lot as a kid but never in a slow cooker so I will have to show her this recipe!
I never would have thought to make this in my slow cooker!!! I am pinning this to try asap! My husband loves Shepherds’ Pie!
Oh my! That looks so delicious and so simple to make too. I am saving this so I can try to make this soon.
Belle | One Awesome Momma
I love your very simple yet delicious recipe! I can do this! I often try to find wonderful recipes to try using my crock pot because I often lack the time to make dineer. So this is added to my list!
Yum this look delish. It such an easy meal to make. xx
This looks so great! I tried Whole 30 and it was just too hard for me but I didn’t have this! My mom follows the Paleo as part of her lifestyle so I’ll share this with her.
I love shepherd’s pie! I love your recipe even more because it’s paleo! Anything healthy is an A-OK for me! Thanks for sharing!
This looks absolutely delicious! Love me a good pie! I really need to get a slow cooker, I don’t even understand how I’m living without one haha x
What a perfect meal for this month and St. Patrick’s parties! And it’s healthy! Pinned.
This looks so filling and yummy. I love that it is Paleo and Whole 30 but doesn’t seem that you are giving up anything.
I had no idea that Shepherds pies were a traditional Irish dish but I like the sound of your version. I am intrigued to try the mashed cauliflower as well!
I’m a fan of shepherd’s pie AND of slow-cookers, so I’ll give this a try. Your photos are fantastic! I just want to reach through the screen and take a bite! Shouldn’t have looked at this at lunchtime on a snow day…
This looks delicious! I love a good Shepherd’s pie, but have never tried it in a slow cooker. I will have to try this out one night soon!
There’s really nothing quite like Shepherd’s pie. It’s a staple in my house not just because I’m broke but because it’s so good and it can go such a long way! Perfect cozy winter food!
Oh I love shepherds pie it is really good with the sweet potatoes on top. I would’ve never thought to switch out the potatoes for cauliflower I’m not exactly sure my husband would go for the cauliflower either.
Love how you made this traditional St. Paddys recipe in a Paleo form. The changes that you made would be barely noticed and you get the healthy benefits!
Surprisingly I’ve never had Shepard’s Pie before, my husband was telling me I’d like it so I think I’ll give this recipe a try!
Oh wow this looks awesome!! My hubs doesn’t really like melted cheese, so I love how this doesn’t have it!!
This looks so delicious! What a good idea for a st. Patrick’s Day meal that my whole family would enjoy. Thanks for sharing it!
Oh yum! I love shepherd’s pie! It is one of my favorite winter meals. I have never tried it in the crock pot before, but I can’t wait to try your recipe!
This looks so yummy and hearty. We are expecting a blizzard tomorrow and this looks so good and perfect for a snow day!