This is the best low calorie shepherd’s pie recipe ever! You can enjoy a huge serving for just 215 calories, leaving enough room for seconds, or dessert!
What makes this the best shepherds pie is not just the calorie count, but the amazing flavor and the use of real beef. Sure you can make this easy shepherds pie with turkey or chicken, but for the purest trying to cut calories, this will taste just like a classic shepherd’s pie recipe.
This easy shepherd’s pie recipe with beef is packed full of protein (over 10g of protein!) and topped with fluffy mashed potatoes.
I even added a bit of cheese to the top so the recipe for shepherd’s pie has a browned and almost crispy topping.
This Low Calorie Shepherd’s Pie Recipe is just 215 calories…
Low Calorie Shepherd’s Pie
What You’ll Find in this Article:
Ingredients in Healthy Shepherd’s Pie
You can make this shepherd’s pie with corn and other frozen vegetables. In fact, this popular mashed potatoes and ground beef recipe is made extra easy by purchasing a frozen vegetable medley!
To make this shepherd’s pie simple, you can pre-make the mashed potatoes. Try this low calorie mashed potatoes recipe tonight, and make extras for your shepard’s pie dinner later this week.
You can make this a shepherds pie with beef, or swap it out for ground turkey or chicken. It’s delicious no matter how you make it!
Shopping List for Skinny Shepherd’s Pie:
- Olive oil spray
- Potatoes
- Onion
- Frozen vegetables (carrots, corn, peas)
- Lean ground beef (or ground turkey, or chicken)
- Beef broth
- Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper (see nutrition section for low sodium tips)
- Unsweetened almond milk
- 0% Greek Yogurt
- Gruyere cheese
You can get whatever frozen veggies you prefer, I like a mixture of carrots, peas and corn, and often will also get the bag that has green beans too.
How to Make Healthy Shepherd’s Pie
At just 215 calories per serving, I had to lean on some of our best calorie cutting tricks to lighten up this recipe. You can use these in al for healthy casseroles.
Calorie Cutting Tricks:
- Use Olive oil spray in place of butter (this saves 100’s of calories and lots of fat!)
- Replace heavy cream with Unsweetened almond milk (removes 100’s of calories, lots of fat and is metabolism boosting!)
- Add 0% Greek Yogurt to the mashed potatoes to add fluffiness and added protein (it’s also metabolism boosting!)
How to Make Healthy Shepherd’s Pie:
- Preheat oven to 400° and lightly spray a 9×13 casserole dish with olive oil.
- Add the potatoes to large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until fork tender, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat a large pan over medium heat, and spray with olive oil. Then add the onions and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
- Add ground beef to the pan with the onions and cook until no longer pink (about 5 minutes). Add in vegetables, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and mix together.
- Mix in the Worcestershire sauce and beef broth. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes.
- When the potatoes are done cooking, reserve a cup of potato water (use a coffee cup to dip in and remove water) and set aside.
- Drain the potatoes and add back to the pot. Add in 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, almond milk, Greek Yogurt and 1/8 cup of the potato water. Mash with a potato masher, adding more potato water as needed to thin the potatoes.
- In an even layer, spread the beef and vegetables mixture in the prepared casserole dish.
- Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the ground beef. And sprinkle the top with cheese.
- Move to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until browned and bubbling. If necessary, broil for the last 2 minutes to help brown the potatoes.
- Store leftovers in the fridge for 4 days and the freezer for one month.
Low Calorie Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
This Healthy Shepherd’s Pie Recipe is just 215 calories and it is packed full of protein. You can make this Shepherd’s Pie Recipe with beef or with turkey or chicken. It’s easy and versatile!
More Low Calorie Dinner Recipes:
Low Calorie Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
- Olive oil spray
- 3 large potatoes peeled and quartered
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 cups frozen vegetables carrots, corn, peas
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt divided
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper divided
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 cup 0% Greek Yogurt
- 3 tablespoons grated gruyere cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° and lightly spray a 9×13 casserole dish with olive oil.
- Add the potatoes to large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until fork tender, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat a large pan over medium heat, and spray with olive oil. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
- Add ground beef to the pan with the onions and cook until no longer pink (about 5 minutes). Add in vegetables, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and mix together.
- Mix in the Worcestershire sauce and beef broth. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes.
- When the potatoes are done cooking, reserve a cup of potato water (use a coffee cup to dip in and remove water) and set aside.
- Drain the potatoes and add back to the pot. Add in 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, almond milk, Greek Yogurt and 1/8 cup of the potato water. Mash with a potato masher, adding more potato water as needed to thin the potatoes.
- In an even layer, spread the beef and vegetables mixture in the prepared casserole dish.
- Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the ground beef. And sprinkle the top with cheese.
- Move to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until browned and bubbling. If necessary, broil for the last 2 minutes to help brown the potatoes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and Calories in Shepherd’s Pie
Low Sodium Tip: Remove the salt from the recipe and replace it with garlic powder.
The nutrition and calories is based off 1 serving (1 cup) of the The Best Low Calorie Shepherd’s Pie Recipe above.
Important Note: As a reminder, at Lose Weight By Eating it is my goal to make you healthier, all-natural versions of your favorite recipes… not all will be “diet worthy” depending on the diet you are on. But they will be healthier versions to help curb your cravings.
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Article History:
- Originally written and published April 20, 2021 by Audrey Johns
- Updated on September 19, 2023 by Audrey Johns
There appears to be a lot of sodium so I’d eliminate the beef broth.