Make this Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie recipe for a cozy comfort meal. With sweet potato and turkey, this is an updated twist on a classic dish!
Weeknight-easy
Beginner-friendly
You’ll Learn: How to whip sweet potatoes for the perfect texture
Worth It: It’s a satisfying, protein-forward option that actually keeps you full
Bonus: A simple step that makes it feel even more satisfying
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Comfort meal – Shepherd’s pie is the perfect dish for a cozy dinner. It is warm, creamy and delicious, making it the perfect comfort food. With minimal prep time and a total time under 45 minutes, you can even make this on a weeknight!
- Updated classic – shepherd’s pie recipes are usually made with white potatoes and ground lamb, or ground beef in a cottage pie, but I love to change it up with ground turkey and sweet potatoes.
- Great freezer meal – This turkey shepherd’s pie is great for the freezer. I like to freeze half of the pie and defrost at a later date
Serving suggestions
This sweet potato shepherd’s pie is great on its own because it’s packed with veggies and protein already. If you want to add some sides, I love making maple glazed carrots or air fryer butternut squash.
If you are making this dish for a group, I love pairing it with a simple green salad with apple cider vinaigrette or mason jar salad dressing. This shaved brussels sprout salad would also be delicious.
Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes – the sweet potatoes are the base of the potato layer in this shepherd’s pie
- Plain Greek yogurt – the yogurt makes the potato layer so fluffy and creamy
- Chicken broth – the broth thins out the potatoes just enough while adding great flavor
- Unsalted butter – butter makes the potato layer super creamy and delicious. Ghee would also work in this recipe
- Parmesan cheese – the parmesan melts into the potatoes adding so much tasty flavor
- Oil – you can use any oil you would like. I used olive oil but any will work
- Yellow onion – the onion is base of your flavor in the meat layer
- Ground turkey – I like using ground turkey as a way to mix it up with this recipe but any ground meat will work
- Dried oregano, dried thyme, dried basil – I love this combination of spices for the shepherd’s pie. You could also add garlic if you would like
- Salt – add salt to enhance all of the flavors in your pie. I use kosher salt
- Chicken broth – add broth to help keep the shepherd’s pie moist. You can use any broth here and low sodium will work
- Tomato paste – tomato paste adds a ton of concentrated flavor to the dish
- Worcestershire sauce – I love using worcestershire sauce because it really deepens all the flavors in the pie
- Frozen vegetables – you can use any combination you would like. I used frozen peas, carrots, and corn
Ingredient Substitutions
You can also make this recipe with white mashed potatoes. It won’t have the same sweetness as the sweet potato topping, but it will be a delicious, classic shepherd’s pie! You could also experiment with cauliflower mash. This will change the texture but could be a great way to add more veggies.
If you need this recipe to be gluten free, just make sure your Worcestershire sauce is gluten-free. Not all brands are, so double check.
I use ground turkey for this recipe, but ground beef, ground lamb, or ground chicken all work too. For the vegetables, you can use any combo you want. Mushrooms would be a great addition.
To make this recipe dairy-free, you could use non-dairy yogurt, oil instead of butter, and omit the cheese.
How to make
Step 1: Brown your Turkey and add veggies
Preheat oven to 400F. Place cubed sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Pour 1 tbsp kosher salt into the pot and stir. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover pot and let simmer for 10 minutes.
In a separate pan or cast iron skillet, heat oil over medium to medium-high heat and add the onions to the pan. Saute until fragrant 3-5 minutes. Add the ground turkey to the pan, brown and break into crumbles (Image 1). Mix the seasonings into the ground turkey.
Add the chicken broth, tomato paste, and worcestershire sauce to the turkey mixture and stir to combine. Add the frozen mixed vegetables to the pan and mix in (Image 2). Allow mixture to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Step 2: Whip the potatoes
When sweet potatoes are fork tender, drain the water and add yogurt, chicken broth and butter to the warm pot (Image 3). Allow the butter to melt and then whip everything together with a hand mixer (Image 4). Taste and add salt as needed.
Step 3: Assemble the layers
Assemble in a casserole dish with an even layer of the meat mixture on the bottom (Image 5). Top with the mashed sweet potatoes and smooth into an even layer (Image 6). Sprinkle on the parmesan cheese.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. If desired, increase oven heat to broil at the end to add some browning to the parmesan cheese.
Storage, reheating and Freezing
Allow the turkey shepherd’s pie to cool completely and then transfer to an airtight container. Place in the fridge and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Reheat in the oven or in the microwave until just warmed through. Top with fresh herbs and serve.
This shepherd’s pie freezes perfectly. Transfer to a freezer safe container after cooling and freeze for up to 4 months. To keep it in the same pan, wrap it in plastic wrap and foil to make it airtight. Thaw one day before you would like to eat, and heat it in the oven.
Check out these other Comfort Meal recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Layer
- 2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- Salt to taste
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Meat Layer
- 1 tbsp oil
- ½ a yellow onion – diced
- 1 lb ground turkey
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups mixed frozen vegetables
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Place cubed sweet potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Pour 1 tbsp kosher salt into the pot and stir. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover pot and let simmer for 10 minutes.
- In a separate pan heat oil over medium heat and add the onions to the pan. Saute until fragrant 3-5 minutes. Add the ground turkey to the pan, brown and break into crumbles. Mix the seasonings into the ground turkey.
- Add the chicken broth, tomato paste, and worcestershire sauce to the turkey mixture and stir to combine. Add the frozen mixed vegetables to the pan and mix in. Allow mixture to simmer for about 10 minutes.
- When sweet potatoes are fork tender, drain the water and add yogurt, chicken broth and butter to the warm pot. Allow the butter to melt and then whip everything together with a hand mixer. Taste and add salt as needed.
- Assemble in a casserole dish with an even layer of the meat mixture on the bottom. Top with the sweet potatoes and smooth into an even layer. Sprinkle on the parmesan cheese.
- Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. If desired, increase oven heat to broil at the end to add some browning to the parmesan cheese.
Recipe Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge.
- Freezer Instructions: Freeze before baking. Allow to cool completely before covering tightly with 2 layers of tinfoil. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- After thawing: Bake in the oven 400F uncovered for 30-40 minutes.
- From frozen: Bake covered at 350F for 2 hours and uncovered to brown the crust.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Leave a Reply