Dubious about shepherd's pie

[PickyEaters]

OH and I are embarking on a healthy eating plan to lose weight. He has suggested shepherd's pie to go on the meal list as he "can't eat salad every day" (I like salad). I have never eaten shepherd's pie (I'm an immigrant) but it doesn't look very healthy to me (minced fatty lamb, potatoes and gravy with a few overcooked peas thrown in?), not to mention it sounds like it would taste disgusting! Isn't this something that featured heavily inschool dinners of the 1970s and should be banished to memory?

I’m an immigrant - and I tend to not describe other cultures’ food as disgusting. I’d be quite hurt if - I don’t know - people called Biriyani or Keema Pulao disgusting.

nonetheless, nothing to stop you getting creative, right?

1. replace the fatty lamb mince with low fat mince, plant based mince, grated veg and lentils?
2. serve with a large serving of a salad?
3. make up the mash with as little fat as you prefer?
4. don’t eat it more than once a (insert suitable length of time for you)?

@PayPennies you are completely right

I agree @PayPennies .

I make it with Meatless farm mince. Low fat and add lots of veggies. As others have said traditionally it's not a low fat food but can be. My kids are veggie but my meat loving husband also prefers this dish with the veggie mince.

I use 50% lamb (pour away the fat after browning) and 50% lentils plus lots of root veg diced/cubed e.g. carrot, parsnip, turnip, swede, squash, whatever we have. Cinnamon and rosemary. A bit of cheddar on the top to go crispy. One of my favourite meals.

It's all about balance. Use lower fat meat and a load of veggies and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Like most foods, it can be made leaner quite easily. Youve made it sound gross in your description, but its a traditional dish and its delicious.
I would use as lean meat as i could find, and bulk out with soya,red lentils, chopped carrots, peas, celery, onion, garlic, mint, worcestershire sauce.
Id do the mash topping with mix of normal potatoes and sweet potatoes.

I love salad too, but would bore me to tears to eat it every day.
If you dont think youd like it, maybe have a day where you both sort your own food

I made shepherd's pie this very evening, or rather the veggie version with veggie mince (not quorn) which I believe is called shepherdess' pie.

Flavoured with mushroom ketchup and homegrown tomato sauce, plenty of carrots and peas (plus onion, red pepper and mushrooms). Topped with potato + sweet potato mash, small sprinkling of cheese.

Delicious!!

So don’t overcook the peas and add more veg? I do prefer cottage pie (with beef) but that’s a personal taste. I use one of the packet mixes for the seasoning and the left overs freeze well.

I’ve just sat down after getting the mince out of the freezer to defrost overnight to do a cottage pie, oddly enough.

If you are genuinely eating salad every day, I can see why your DH is fed up. My last diet involved no salad whatsoever (OK, maybe the odd tomato) - ending up starving and therefore snacking on biscuits would not have been helpful!

I don’t like lamb mince but I make a vegetarian cottage pie using a tin of lentils and lots of veg. You can use other root veg for the mash mixed with potato.

I add garlic and chilli to mine. Its far from disgusting.

Where are you from OP? There might be foods from your country that others would see as disgusting, but until you try something- can shouldn't make such a rude and sweeping statement!

To cut calories I make cottage pie with 3% or 5% beef mince. Add plenty of vegetables to bulk it up- you could include grated carrots, grated courgettes, celery and peas.

I also use either cauliflower mash on top, or sweet potato or sweet potato/potato mix

Here is a recipe from Jamie Oliver. Not traditional, but likely to be tasty and…. 436 Cals per portion. Can’t see what’s wrong with that ad part of a healthy diet.

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/lamb-recipes/super-shepherd-s-pie/

It's lovely. I tend to make cottage pie with lean beef and lentils. My kids absolutely love it.

🙌🙌 I just got some mince out freezer to do this tomorrow! Thanks for the inspiration. Never put tomatoes in before but will give it a go.

I prefer cottage pie, and just have a small (I weigh it as I batch cook!) 350g portion with a load of veg on the side

I love cottage pie and shepherd's pie. As others have said you can make healthier versions. You could even try turkey mince maybe instead of beef? I've done the mash as sweet potato mash before because you dont need to add butter to it. You could also do a nice hearty stew which can be very healhy

This is genuinely the most 'hacked' traditional dish out there.

Iterations in my house have included beef mince, lamb mince, every veggie mince going, black eyed beans, green lentils, red lentils, leftover quinoa...

...& that's before topping it with potatoes. Sweet potatoes. Random root collection including celeriac or salsify, & radishes that were looking a bit sorry - they turned out to be a fantastic addition.

We've mostly settled on a vegetarian version, but it's still basically a 'mince' layer topped with a 'root vegetables, mashed then baked until crispy' layer.

It's a really healthy meal! Just pile the plate with more veg.

I top with swede and carrot mash to lower the calories and it's great.

Whether or not you think shepherd's pie is suitable for your dietary needs describing it as "sounds like it would taste disgusting" is frankly disgusting.

Well, there's portion control... TBH, it sounds more like you have nothing better to do in a boring November Saturday eve.

YABU, or course! But you surely know that.

We dont have much "british cuisine" but by god we will defend what we have with our lives 😂

Make it with lentils or turkey mince. Lighten up the mashed potatoes on top (so maybe semi-skimmed milk instead of cream or full fat milk and butter). Boost it with plenty of peas and carrots.

It’s a very healthy, filling and reasonably priced meal if you know how to make it right, which is why it’s so popular in the first place.

DM me if you want a good recipe for it (I make it once every few weeks in autumn/winter!).

I’ve been doing the keema shepherds pie on BBC food website, very tasty and uses sweet potatoes.

i prefer cottage pie, and use half normal half sweet potatoes for the topping.