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?

The slimming world vegetarian one with lentils is awesome.

No, its a traditional comfort food. Make it right and its both healthy and tasty.

Wikipedia has a lovely entry on shepherds pie.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd%27s_pie
where i'm from the filling is usually sweet corn: ground beef; sweet corn; mashed potato. really pretty when cut with three distinctive layers.

again with all things "healthy" count the calories and adjust the portion size.

What's disgusting about lamb? Drain off the fat after frying it, add veg in and on the side - I don't understand what is unhealthy...but then I don't think 'diet' food is healthy.

Do a variant of it with Turkey mince and sweet potato. Prob won't taste as nice but fewer calories.

I can't get my head around the idea of putting veg in shepherd's/cottage pie. Just no. Don't do that.

Lots veg on the side fantastic, but not in the baked item. Wrong.

My cottage pie is not low calorie. Ha!

I do traditional shepherds or cottage pie with meat left over from the Sunday roast. Mince meat in processor, add mint sauce or a little mustard accordingly, boil potato with an onion, mash and put over meat, stick in oven and serve with mixed veg and gravy.

Miles off. Fatty lamb ? Only if you but fatty lamb, overboiled peas if you do it and unhealthy if you add oil salt and if you eat to much then you will consume to many calorie. Add brocoli and cauliflower

While the lamb mince is cooking down in the sauce I skim off any oil/fat in the surface. Yes some lamb mince can be fatty but doing this helps.

Thank you all for the advice; I will check out the recipes pp have suggested. Apologies to any Brits who may have taken offense to my prejudice about your traditional cuisine. (I love fish & chips, Cornish pasties and beef brisket, if that's any consolation… and curry!) x x

Don’t eat meat really now but used to make it regularly. Was delicious. Just drain the fat off of the lamb prior to adding the other ingredients.

A well made shepherd's pie (or cottage pie if you'd prefer beef) is delicious.

Potato is probably the most nutritious carb you can eat - its essentially a superfood but much more affordable than goji berries!

Lots of iron in red meat. And you can buy lean mince and skim the fat off the gravy before cooking.

Add a dash of Worcestershire sauce to it!

If you make from scratch, it can be quite healthy.
I drain the fat off the lamb. I use only 200gs of it too as like others I bulk it out with vegetables. Any stew vegetables work like carrots, peas, onion, swede, celery, mushrooms. As you’ve not had it before, try your DHs preference for veg. I would suggest that he actually cook it too. If someone’s got to learn, why not him? And then he can be the one who makes that dinner each time you have it.

I digress. Anyway, I also use bistro onion gravy as that is low fat and vegetarian. Finally with the mashed potato topping, I use a bit of chicken stock instead of butter which massively cuts the calories and saturated fat down. I still use milk, but semi-skim. Finally I put in some parsley or garlic depending on mood. I also do not put shredded cheese on top like some people do. Just a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper.

It’s a good all in one meal, although we often steam some broccoli or cauliflower to serve alongside it.

Diets don't work. Healthy eating in a calorie restriction will help you lose fat. It's not all about the salad, you can actually eat whatever floats your boat, in moderation.

Shepherds pie is actually quite delicious. Try it, you might be converted. Or you could opt for cottage pie, same as a shepherds pie but with beef mince, you can buy that low fat, it needn't be unhealthy.

Oh a tip to ensure peas are not over cooked is to use frozen peas and stir them in with mince & other veg at the last minute before putting on the mash potato. They cook beautifully in the oven.

Calorie restriction is diet😁

Agree with the rest though😁

@NosyNeighbour22
I do this and sweet potatoes cook so quickly and mash really easily, lovely. I do the Tom Kerridge lentil / veg one and he uses all Sweet Potato but I think the combi works better. Sweet Potatoes have quite a bit of protein I understand.

I love shepherds pie. I couldn't care less if it's considered healthy or not.

Do a massive beef brisket then, eat half of it as you usually would then use the other half for a sort of shepherd's pie. Really, in our house, shepherd's pie just means 'a layer of something meat saucy topped with something crispy root veggie'.

Note these sort of meals would traditionally been made from the leftovers of a Sunday roast so doing with leftover brisket would be perfectly traditional!

The only issue is do you love cottage pie or shepherd's put more?

Depends how you make it. I prefer cottage pie but would bulk out the beef with lentils and plenty of veg.

Topping can be a mix of potato and carrot mash

Sweet potatoes contain a little less protein than normal potatoes (both are very low though - just a couple of grams per 100g).

Just make sure there aren't any pages missing in the recipe book.

It wasn’t originally made with mince, but left over lamb from the weekly roast. It’s far nicer if you use left over lamb to make it.