Fall Favorite: A Smart(points) take on Shepherd’s Pie

I’ve been making shepherd’s pie for a long time, but I decided to try to play by the new Weight Watcher rules and lighten it up with turkey and cauliflower. Don’t worry, there’s still beef gravy and potatoes in it, all is not lost.

I love a good shepherd’s pie, but I’ve just rejoined Weight Watchers and I’m trying to adjust my old favorite to their new-ish program revamp. Veggies have been “free” for awhile, but now chicken and turkey breast are too. Could I use these instead of beef? Would it be too dry? Here’s what I changed:

• Swapped ground turkey breast for the ground beef
• Added more veggies in the meat mixture
• Made my own onion gravy with beef stock
• Used a head of cauliflower to replace half of the potatoes
• Reduced the amount of cheese on top

So, what does this give you? A giant 9”x13” dish of shepherd’s pie that serves 8 at 4 Smartpoints per serving (per the recipe builder in the WW app.) The ingredients are pretty simple. I like to gather them all at the beginning, it speeds up the time between steps, and in this case, you need the peas and carrots to start defrosting.

I multitask when I cook, so let me show you how to get your Instant Pot, sauce pot, frying pan, and cutting board/grater all in use at the same time.

First, I can’t say enough about my Instant Pot. For real, it’s a game changer! I have the 6 quart pot, which is great for making anything I’ve tried. Yes, I’m cooking for one, but I cook to have leftovers for the week, so most things I prepare are family sized. I like one of the original models, the DUO 7-in-1, which has a yogurt function (I’ll save that for another post.) There are several more expensive ones with customizable cooking profiles/altitude settings and WiFi options and one less expensive one that doesn’t have the yogurt function, but otherwise they all work the same way. Anywho, this recipe uses the Instant Pot to cook the cauliflower and potatoes.

Get your Instant Pot ready by putting the steam rack that came with it into the bottom and pour about a cup of water in. You need at least a cup of water, but not so much that it tops the level of the rack. Now, wash the potatoes and cut into 1” cubes. Put them on the rack in the pot.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Next, prepare the cauliflower. It’s going to be cooked whole! By cutting the potatoes into smaller pieces, both the cauliflower and potatoes will now cook in the same amount of time. Give the head a good wash, take the leaves off the cauliflower, then cut off as much of the stem as you can. Some large florets may come off as you cut out the stem, no worries, toss them on top of the potatoes. Put the whole head on top of the rack in the Instant Pot.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Put the lid on to the Instant Pot and twist to lock. Set the valve on top of the lid to “Sealing”. Then use the “Manual” button to set the pot to 4 minutes. Make sure it’s also set to use high pressure. Let it go! It will probably take about 10 minutes to come to pressure, then it’ll cook for 4 minutes, then let it count back up to 10 while the pressure releases naturally.

NOTE: No worries if you don’t (yet) have an Instant Pot, you can steam your veggies the old fashioned way, or cook them in the microwave until super soft.

Let the multitasking begin. Heat up a sauce pot over medium heat. Slice the red onion into half-rings and separate the pieces. Spray the sauce pot with a little olive oil cooking spray and toss the onions in. Stir, then let them cook a couple minutes to get some color. Turn down the heat and let them cook down, stirring every couple minutes. Add a generous amount of black pepper once they start looking transparent. Don’t add salt yet, remember you’re adding broth next and it’s always salty.

• 

• 

• 

Keep on multitasking…while the Instant Pot is coming to pressure and the onions are cooking down, heat a non-stick frying pan up over medium to medium high heat. Brown the ground turkey breast in the frying pan, making sure to break up any large pieces. The peas and carrots have been defrosting on the counter for awhile now, but if needed, microwave them for a minute to speed up the process. When the turkey is browned, add the peas and carrots and stir together. Turn off the heat once the veggies are heated through.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Ok, ready for the 4th set of concurrent tasks? Get out your grater and grate the cheddar cheese while everything is cooking. Make sure not to put it next to the stove when you’re done, it needs to be sprinkled on top at the end and it’ll get a little melty if it’s near the heat.

• 

• 

In a separate small bowl, make a slurry from the flour and cold water. Make sure all the lumps are out of the slurry (or else you’ll get lumps in your gravy.)

• 

• 

So, here’s where the recipe stands…

The meat and veggies are cooked together and off the heat.

The Instant Pot should just now be done and counting up while the pressure releases. It should count to 10 minutes and then valve on the lid should be (carefully) turned to “Venting” to quick release the rest of the pressure.

• 

• 

• 

The onions should be cooked down. Add approximately 3 cups of beef broth and heat over medium high heat until bubbling. Add the dried rosemary. Reduce the heat and pour in the slurry while whisking the gravy. Bring back up to a simmer and let it thicken, then turn off the heat.

• 

• 

Time to make the mash. This is going to be a mix of cauliflower and potatoes. I personally think cauliflower purée on its own is too runny unless you add cream cheese, which defeats the purpose of lightening it up. The potatoes will add some good, old-fashioned lumps and stiffen up the cauliflower purée. Take the steamer rack out of the Instant Pot. (It has handles, just lift the whole thing out and put it on your cutting board.) Use a food processor to purée the cauliflower. (Yes, this is your mother’s food processor, I have no idea what all the fancy expensive ones do, this one has served me faithfully forever.) Do not use the food processor for the potatoes, they’ll get gluey (if that’s a word?!), but try it once and you’ll realize what I mean. So, put the potatoes in a bowl and mash them with a potato masher or a fork. Add the cauliflower purée and stir together. Then add about 1/2 cup of non-fat Greek yogurt (yay for 0 SmartPoints), some salt, pepper and a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic. Stir, taste, adjust seasoning, stir again.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Ready to assemble? Preheat the oven to 350°. Add the gravy, a little at a time to the meat/veggie mixture. You want it to be moist, but not swimming in gravy. I generally end up using the entire pot, because the turkey can get a little dry. Later the meat and gravy mixture in a 9”x13” baking dish. Then spread the mash on top of the meat. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Put the dish in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Then turn on the broiler for a couple minutes to brown the top.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Once it’s done, let it set for about 5-10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

BTW: The leftovers are REALLY good…

• 

• 

---

NOTE: As an Amazon Associate, and at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission from any products purchased from the links in this post. Seriously, I’m not in this for the money, but if I can offset the hosting costs, I’ll be a happy traveler!