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Turkey Shepherd’s Pie is an easy, delicious quick meal that you can serve to your family and know that they will love it. Made with ground turkey and no condensed soup, this Turkey Shepherd’s Pie will be your new favorite easy dinner idea.
Some life lessons you need to learn the hard way and once learned, you will never make that same mistake again. Not taking a large enough portion of Turkey Shepherd’s Pie the first time around is one of those lessons learned through disappointment and frustration. Hear me out on this one …
My husband LOVES my Turkey Shepherd’s Pie .. I don’t mean a casual appreciation for a delicious dish.. I mean L-O-V-E, love!!!! I even tried to step up my game and make him REAL Shepherd’s Pie… all fresh, homemade ingredients, meat stewed for hours in a rich beautiful sauce, fluffy hand whipped potatoes… the REAL DEAL. My reward?…. “Um, this was ‘good’ but please don’t ever mess with my Turkey Shepherd’s Pie again.”
….sigh……
And the lesson that I have had to learn the hard way is if I do not gauge my portion needs appropriately, I will be out of luck because once he hits that bubbling hot casserole dish, there is no more Turkey Shepherd’s Pie left to be had… none.. gone.. done deal… sorry you are still hungry, you should have planned better… Now, while my little heart just pitter patters at the joy of knowing I have made his day happy happy happy, my heart might be fluttering by my tummy is grumbling!!! Apparently, all is fair in love and hot Turkey Shepherd’s Pie!! Well, once I realized what game we were playing, I made up my own set of rules. Now I make sure to get to that Turkey Shepherd’s Pie casserole dish first and I load up!!! .. If I take too much, I can always give him what is left over … otherwise I might was well just go make a PB & J and have it waiting on the sidelines. Insert unhappy face HERE!
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTAGE PIE AND SHEPHERD’S PIE?
Now, I have to point out that technically, this Turkey Shepherd’s Pie is not ‘Shepherd’s Pie’. Making this recipe with ground turkey is a twist on making it with ground beef which is traditionally called “Cottage Pie”. Traditional Shepherd’s Pie is made using lamb but since this dish is mostly known as Shepherd’s Pie, that’s what we call it. Right or wrong, this Turkey Shepherd’s Pie is delicious!!!
CAN YOU MAKE SHEPHERD’S PIE AHEAD OF TIME?
Yes, simply prepare your Shepherd’s Pie and refrigerate it until you are ready for it. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Simply construct your Shepherd’s Pie in a freezer to oven pan, wrap tightly in foil and freeze up to 3 months. To bake, simply move your still covered Shepherd’s Pie to a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
CAN YOU MAKE SHEPHERD’S PIE WITH INSTANT POTATOES?
Yes, if I am crunched for time, I use instant potatoes for this Turkey Shepherd’s Pie all the time. If you have one brand you like best, cook that based on that brands instructions and then add it to this recipe. I prefer Simply Potato tubs of instant potatoes for mine.
HOW DO YOU MAKE TURKEY SHEPHERD’S PIE?
Easy! To make Turkey Shepherd’s Pie, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and cut potatoes into bite sized pieces and add them to a large pot of salted water. Cover pot and bring potatoes to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
Drain potatoes and return them to the pot. Add milk, salt and butter and mash potatoes to a creamy consistency. Set aside.
While potatoes are cooking, brown your turkey in a large skillet over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Drain grease and set turkey aside. To your skillet add butter and once melted, whisk in flour.
Cook for 1 minute and then whisk in milk, spices and chicken stock and bring to a low boil. Add turkey back into the skillet and stir to combine.
Transfer turkey to the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan and smooth out until it is an even layer. Add corn on top of that layer and smooth until even.
Drop large dollops of mashed potatoes over the corn and gently smooth them together with the back of a spoon to create an even layer over the corn and then evenly cover the mashed potatoes with shredded cheese and green onions.
Bake for 20 -25 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately.
This Turkey Shepherd’s Pie the easiest, yummiest recipe that I know your whole family will love just as much as mine does. It’s not fancy, there’s no hours of prep or stewing involved, there’s no complicated instructions or a long grocery list involved (I use corn but feel free to substitute any veggie you like). This Turkey Shepherd’s Pie is just an easy, delicious meal that you can serve in just over 30 minutes using convenience products from your local grocery store… and who doesn’t love that?
Don’t forget… get there first!
Enjoy!!
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Turkey Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
Turkey Layer
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 lb ground turkey
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Mashed Potato Layer
- 3 large russett potatoes
- 4 tablespoon butter
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Corn and Cheese Layers
- 15 ounces canned corn
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese
- 4-5 green onions diced
Instructions
- To make Turkey Shepherd's Pie, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and cut potatoes into bite sized pieces and add them to a large pot of salted water. Cover pot and bring potatoes to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Drain potatoes and return them to the pot. Add milk, salt and butter and mash potatoes to a creamy consistency. Set aside.
- While potatoes are cooking, add olive oil to large skillet and brown your turkey over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Drain grease and set turkey aside. To your skillet add 2 tablespoons of butter and once melted, whisk in flour.
- Cook for 1 minute and then whisk in milk, spices and chicken stock and bring to a low boil. Add turkey back into the skillet and stir to combine.
- Transfer turkey to the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan and smooth out until it is an even layer. Add corn on top of that layer and smooth until even. Drop large dollops of mashed potatoes over the corn and gently smooth them together with the back of a spoon to create an even layer over the corn and then evenly cover the mashed potatoes with shredded cheese and green onions. Bake for 20 -25 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately.
Nutrition
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Great recipe and easy to make as a mom of a 15 week old. I subbed the chicken stock for “Better than Boillon” roasted garlic base and it gave it a great garlicky flair! I also added chopped cooked carrots with the corn. Looks coloroful and tastes great.
Thanks for the sharing your tweak Allison, it sounds super amazing and I am so down to try it that way.
Your Shepherds Pie looks amazing, we will just love it. I love your presentation with the colored plates! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday and have a great week!
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
I’ve been thinking about making this! Looks delish 🙂
The Spheperds Pie looks gorgeous and uber delicious. I can see why it gets finished in no time.
We like Shepard’s pie too! I am not sure to the degree that your husband does, but a good Shepard’s pie is a great dish, especially on a cool winter day!
Chris.. I don’t think ANYONE could like it as much as my husband ..haha!! And yes, perfect when the weather starts cooling down!!
I have never tried shepherd Pie. This looks easy to put together and so delicious, got to try now!
Priya, it is so easy to make and you can substitute many of the items for the ‘healthier’ products and that’s what I like best
Loved reading your post! And this quick recipe of making Shepherd’s Pie is simply gorgeous!
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thank you Madiha!
Fast is good – especially when they like that version!
Anne – AGREED!! haha