Shepherd's Pie (Gluten-Free)
Easy Irish favorite and a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes!
Easy Irish favorite and a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes!
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef (can substitute ground turkey)
- 1 cup onions diced
- 2 cups carrots peeled and chopped
- 2 teaspoons flour (i used arrowroot starch to make this gluten free)
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon thyme (fresh)
- 2 teaspoons rosemary finely chopped
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1/2 cup peas
- 2 cups mashed potatoes (i use leftover)
- Carbohydrate 36.0866859493376 g
- Cholesterol 215.285450377791 mg
- Fat 71.160248397157 g
- Fiber 4.11187083016679 g
- Protein 28.9623165222655 g
- Saturated Fat 39.3003246721456 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (487g)
- Sodium 941.027873765185 mg
- Sugar 31.9748151191708 g
- Trans Fat 6.31744266098186 g
- Calories 892 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat Oven to 400°F
- Heat olive oil in sauté pan over medium heat. Add diced onion and carrots. Sauté for 3-4 minutes until veggies start to become soft. Add 2 cloves of garlic. Stir to combine.
- Add ground beef and cook until browned (3-4 minutes.) Sprinkle meat with flour and cook for another minute. Add tomato paste, chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary and thyme. Combine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until thickened, about 12 minutes. Stir in corn and peas.
- Place mixture in 8x8 baking dish and cover with mashed potatoes.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Starch selection dictates the structural integrity of any thickened braising liquid far more than the primary protein does. Swapping standard wheat flour for arrowroot starch requires careful timing because root starches gelatinize at lower temperatures than grain starches, losing their thickening capacity if subjected to prolonged, aggressive boiling. Sautéing onions and carrots for precisely four minutes in medium-heat olive oil softens their cellular walls without caramelizing their natural sugars, preserving the clean savory profile required underneath a potato crust. Fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme introduce volatile essential oils that dry alternatives lack, releasing their aromatic compounds directly into the chicken stock as the mixture reduces for twelve minutes. Ground beef contributes rendered fat that must be partially drained or controlled with the correct starch ratio; otherwise, the filling liquefies and compromises the baked potato topping. Arrowroot lacks the protein matrix of wheat flour, meaning it produces a glossier sheen but demands gentle heat application during the reduction phase to prevent thinning. Utilizing leftover mashed potatoes expedites assembly, though cold starches require a full thirty-minute bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure thermal penetration reaches the center of the 8x8 baking dish. Fresh peas and corn added at the final stage of stovetop simmering retain their vibrant green pigmentation and crisp cellular bite, contrasting sharply against the rich, slow-simmered beef base.
