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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.

close up shot of cooked Slow Cooker Shepherds Pie on a white plate

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

Slow Cooker

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Cook HIGH 3-4 hours or LOW 6-8.
  4. 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.
  5. Pour mashed cauliflower on top of pie filling. Cook an additional 20-30 minutes.
overhead shot of cooked Slow Cooker Shepherds Pie in a black slow cooker,

before

overhead shot of uncooked Slow Cooker Shepherds Pie in a black slow cooker, topped with mashed cauliflower

add mashed cauliflower topping

close up shot of cooked Slow Cooker Shepherds Pie in a black slow cooker, garnished with fresh parsley

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. 

close up shot of cooked Slow Cooker Shepherds Pie on a white plate

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!
Print
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close up shot of cooked Slow Cooker Shepherds Pie on a white plate

Slow Cooker Shepherd’s Pie

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

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

Units Scale
  • 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

Slow Cooker

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Cook HIGH 3-4 hours or LOW 6-8.
  4. 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.
  5. Pour mashed cauliflower on top of pie filling. Cook an additional 20-30 minutes.
  • Author: Shannon Epstein
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 4 hours

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/.

Slow Cooker Shepherd\'s Pie
Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

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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Tuesday 19th of September 2023

[…] Sheppard’s Pie | Fit Slow Cooker Queen […]

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?