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Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie

ByHiya, I’m Shashi
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By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by The Mushroom Council and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.

The first time I had Shepherd’s Pie, I was hooked – I mean – what’s not to love about saucy meat and vegetables blanketed by cheese and hearty, buttery, garlic infused mashed potatoes?
Zilch – right?!

But…this Runnin Srilankan has a hard time running after a dinner of indulgent Shepherd’s pie! That heavy, weighed down feeling stays with me for at least 24 hours; slowing me down and making me feel tired -and I am not a huge fan of being tired! So…much like the way I healthy-fied these Chocolate Scones, I set out on a quest to healthy-fy Shepherd’s Pie.

After experimenting with versions using ground chicken, cubed eggplant and smooshed tofu (my daughter threatened to go on a hunger strike if I made her eat more than a bite of that latter version); I found a winning version using meaty portabella mushrooms.

shephards pie with portebello mushrooms

My daughter is my main guinea pig taste tester and if she doesn’t give a recipe a thumbs up, it doesn’t make it here on the blog. There have been many times when she has taken one bite and has given me a look that doesn’t require her to actually say the words “trash it”- like last week, when I made quinoa muffins with mango puree and applesauce!

mushrooms

But then, there are other times when her tastebuds are ignited and her teenage appetite makes it’s debut and what I thought was enough to last us 4 dinners, ends up vanishing in one?!

mushroom pie

And that’s what happened when I made this Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie! After I cut a piece of it to photograph, I went to find my camera and when I got back – the plate was empty! When I fished for an explanation – her justification was that I asked her to taste it – my math skills must be rusty because I don’t remember a teaspoon equaling a whole piece?

mushroomshephardspie

Though, I cannot really blame her – this version was insanely, epic-ally, dopingly, fantabulous!

mushroom in place of meat

With a meatless base loaded with meaty portabella mushrooms, garlic, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and ginger, and a topping of cauliflower, red potatoes and garlic mash separated by a layer of cheese, this healthy-packed-with-flavor version of Shepherd’s Pie is well worth a try!

shephards pie with mushrooms

As a member of Recipe Redux, I had the opportunity to enter my Shepherd’s Pie into the “Trend is to Blend” contest sponsored by the Mushroom Council, who are also sponsoring another contest on Facebook (open to all), titled “The Swap It or Top It Contest“! Please check out their page and enter to win 5 big ones! My math skills are not off on that one – you read right – it’s 5 BIG ones!

shepherds pie
 

Mushroom Shepherd's Pie

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Author: Shashi
A healthy, flavor packed, version of Shepherd's Pie!

Ingredients

For the base

  • 1 onion chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 inch piece of ginger chopped
  • 2 portabella mushrooms chopped
  • 1 carrot chopped
  • 2 celery stalks chopped
  • 1 green pepper chopped
  • 3 sweet peppers chopped red/orange
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • salt and pepper
  • 3/4 cup Cheddar/Monterrey cheese or cheese of your choice

For the topping

  • 1 cauliflower head boiled - for 30 mins
  • 4 red potatoes boiled - for 30 mins
  • 3 cloves garlic chopped
  • 3/4 cup coconut milk
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees

For the base

  • Saute the onion, garlic and ginger till onion caramelizes (about 30 minutes on a low/medium flame - it takes a while, but the flavor combined with the mushrooms is well worth the time)
  • Add the mushrooms and saute about 5 more minutes
  • Then add the peppers, celery, carrot, canned tomatoes and salt and pepper
  • Layer this in a baking glass/pyrex dish
  • Layer the cheese on top of the mushrooms/veggies layer

For the topping

  • Pulse the boiled cauliflower, potatoes, garlic and coconut milk in a blender or food processor
  • Add salt and pepper to taste
  • Then layer this on top of the cheese and mushrooms and veggies
  • Bake for 30 mins at 375
  • Serve warm with a side salad
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Tag @SavorySpin or tag #savoryspin so we can share your ceation.


As the CEOH (chief eater on here), I hope to cajole you to enjoy cooking at home more. To experiment with ingredients and have fun in the kitchen. And, I hope to do that by sharing mostly easy, dairy-free, budget-friendly, fusion recipes that can be made with ingredients from your local grocery store.

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68 Comments

    1. Thanks so much Angie! I didn’t take a picture of those quinoa/mango muffins – they were truly blech! I have to give them a go again…soon…

      Reply

    1. Thanks Christin – that topping was so good indeed, but I have noticed, without butter or oil, it doesn’t get as crispy – but it still tastes great!

      Reply

  3. Hey Shashi!

    I like what you did with shepards pie. Mushrooms are good in so many dishes. And I agree, caramelized onions are definitely worth the wait!

    Reply

  5. GOrgeous colors Shashi! I love using portabella mushrooms as a meat alternative so I have no doubt this version of Shepherd’s Pie is as delicious as it looks. I love that you subbed some of the potatoes for cauliflower- such an easy way to get in an extra dose of veggies :)!

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much Khushboo!
      I am all about sneaking in veggies! When my daughter was younger she went through a face where she did not want to try anything colorful, so we made a deal to try one new vegetable a week – well…the days between, I had to come up with creative ways to sneak veggies in 🙂

      Reply

    1. Taylor, I am not a huge fan of beef – period! I think I’ve had beef only a handful of times …I was taken to a butcher-house back in Sri lanka and it kinda killed my beef love!
      Thanks so much sweet lady.

      Reply

  10. That looks utterly fabulous Shashi! The men in my life love mushrooms and I’m sure this would fill them up and make them happy. 🙂
    Have a marvelous Monday!

    Reply

  12. In my book as well 1 teaspoon = 1 portion – but only when the food looks this delicious. So don’ t expect any justification thereof, she did what was right 😉

    Anywayssss, I love that you made it with mushrooms; I’m like obsessed with mushrooms, so this is a total winner!

    Reply

    1. Haha – I read your comment out to her, Mike, and now she is on cloud nine!

      I am a little obsessed with mushrooms myself – made some lentil-mushroom burgers last night – they were so good my daughter ate 4 – this time her justification was that she had been existing on mashed and pureed food for almost 4 days – these were her initiation back to real food!

      Reply

    1. Haha – I hope you were able to trick him! my daughter loves shepherd’s pie, but she is not a huge fan of beef…the opposite of your hubby!
      Thanks so much Deanna!

      Reply

  15. What an awesome way to lighten up shepherd’s pie AND make it meatless! I love this! I’m such a fan of mushrooms so I know we would love this one!

    Reply

  16. This veggie filled shepherd’s pie is brilliant lady! I love how you lightened it up with the mushrooms and all those veggies. I am drooling over the sound of that cauliflower/potato mash with coconut milk and all the flavors in here! Haha I don’t want to have a hard time running after my 3 year old after dinner so this lightened up pie needs to happen – pinning 🙂

    Reply

    1. Thanks Kelly – that cauliflower/potato/coconut milk mash was so good! I made something similar with beets and cauliflower and coconut milk and it was so so good too!

      Reply

  18. This is freaky. Today I just bought the ingredients to make Shepherd’s Pie tomorrow, and I was looking at the big container of mushrooms in my fridge wondering if they would taste weird in it. It’s weird because I haven’t made Shepherd’s Pie in about four years!

    Reply

  26. The original Shepherds pie was never meant to be so heavy, it was a leftover dish. I guess somehow, over here its turned into a meat laden, cheese laden, potato laden nightmare. I agree with you, you can’t move if you eat that! I always try to make it with leftovers, traditional way. This way is great too, I love the mushrooms and I love the cauliflower topping. I adore mashed cauliflower and potato and always sneak those in instead of just mashed potatoes. This is great redux recipe! Good luck!

    Reply

    1. Thanks so very much Nazneen – I so appreciate your kind words! But, I was not aware that it was originally a leftovers dish – I learned something new about shepherd’s pie – thanks to you 🙂

      Reply

  28. I love shepherd’s pie too. It’s such a great family meal and very warming and comforting on a winter’s night. I’ve never tried it with mushrooms though but what a great idea xx

    Reply

    1. Thank You Charlie! This would be good on a winters night – I am one of those crazy few that that loves to bake year round, so we enjoyed this pie in the middle of summer here 🙂

      Reply

  31. I gotta say, mushrooms are still a pretty new thing for me. (I had an issue with the texture for the longest time…but now I’m over that!) This shepard’s pie looks like it needs to appear in my kitchen soon!

    Reply

    1. I am so glad you got over your mushroom-hating! Mushrooms are some of my fav food items – using them -specially the bellas- adds to much meaty texture – I made some mushroom and lentil burgers lat night and my daughter ate 4 and I gotta add, yesterday was her 4th day after having her wisdom teeth removed!

      Reply

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