One of my favorite comfort foods in the fall and winter is Shepard’s pie. I just love the warm, melty, layered goodness of a Shepard’s pie but being on a low-carb diet has meant that I could not eat Shepard’s pie this winter. The recipe that I have always used for Shepard’s pie contains sweet corn, a lot of mashed potatoes, and brown gravy: all things that are high in carbs. The net carb count on my traditional Shepard’s pie has a whopping 27.5g. per serving! That is just under my entire day’s carb allowance, so because I was wanting Shepard’s pie I decided to make a low-carb version.
I will say that this recipe does not make an exact match for the traditional Shepard’s pie I am used to, but it was close enough that I felt like I was enjoying one of my favorite foods without indulging in all the carbs. This new recipe has only 7.9g. of net carbs per serving and it makes a lot! Since I am in the process of making a bunch of recipes to freeze, I split the recipe into two 8X8 square pans. I cooked one for dinner and froze the other pan before it was baked. However, if you are feeding many people or just want leftovers, the recipe fits nicely into a 13X9 cake pan.
No pictures this time, my family attacked it before I could take any.
Low-Carb Shepard’s Pie
- 3 lbs. hamburger
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1/2 T. minced garlic
- 2 t. dried thyme
- 1 t. dried rosemary
- 2 T. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 lb. frozen green beans
- 4 lbs. frozen cauliflower
- 1/2 cup butter
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 t. xanthan gum
- 2 C. cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Fill a large soup pot with water and turn on high. Bring to a boil.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the hamburger with the onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. When hamburger is cooked fully, drain off the fat. Set aside.
- While hamburger is browning, add the cauliflower to the boiling water and cook until very tender.
- Drain the cauliflower and place in a food processor. Pulse until cauliflower resembles rice.
- Lay out a clean, thin dish towel and transfer the cauliflower rice to the middle of the towel. Gather the corners of the towel and begin twisting. Keep twisting to until the towel is tightly squeezing all the water out of the cauliflower.
- When the cauliflower rice is drained, transfer it to a bowl and add the butter and cream cheese. You can also add salt and pepper at this time to flavor the cauliflower mash. Stir to melt the butter and cream cheese into the cauliflower. When the butter and cream cheese is thoroughly mixed into the cauliflower mash, set aside.
- In a sauce pan, bring the beef broth to a boil. Once boiling, add the xanthan gum, stirring until completely dissolved. Take off the heat and mix into the browned hamburger.
- In a 13X9 pan or two 8X8 pans, spread the hamburger and gravy mixture on the bottom. Next, spread the frozen green beans and then spoon the cauliflower mash on top of the green beans. Sprinkle the top with the cheddar cheese.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the green beans are heated through. Makes 12 servings.
*If freezing, do not bake. Cool completely and then cover with foil. On the foil write Shepard’s pie, the date, and cooking directions: thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Nutritional Facts*
- Calories: 487, calories from fat: 253, total fat: 28.1
- Cholesterol: 162g., sodium: 568mg., potassium: 1106mg.
- Total Carbs: 13.3g., dietary fiber: 5.4g., sugar: 5.4g., protein: 45.6g.
*Nutritional facts provided by caloriecount.about.com