Shepherd's Pie

Michael Eisenwasser

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A classic shepherd's pie with ground lamb, carrots, and parsnip in a thyme-and-rosemary gravy, topped with creamy mashed potatoes.

Prep 30 min

Cook 45 min

Serves 6

Gluten-free

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil
• 1/2 cup scallion greens, thinly sliced (green tops only)
• 2 medium carrots, finely diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 small parsnip, finely diced (about 150 g; roughly 25 g per serve)
• 1 1/2 pounds (680 g) ground lamb (or ground beef)
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon coconut aminos (in place of Worcestershire)
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 cups low-FODMAP chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 1/2 cups (about 225 g) frozen green peas (1/4 cup per serve)

Topping

• 1 batch low-FODMAP mashed potatoes (about 2 1/2 lb / 1.1 kg potatoes)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, for brushing
• Freshly ground black pepper, to finish

Instructions

Start the Mash

1. Start the mashed potatoes first so they're ready when the filling is done. Peel, chunk, and boil the potatoes while you work on the filling below. Finish the mash with butter and warm lactose-free milk per the linked recipe, then keep it covered and warm.

Build the Filling

1. Warm the garlic-infused oil in a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat.
2. Add the scallion greens, carrots, and parsnip. Cook, stirring often, for 6 to 7 minutes, until the vegetables soften at the edges.
3. Push the vegetables to one side. Add the ground lamb to the open space and break it apart with a wooden spoon.
4. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the lamb is browned and any liquid has cooked off. Tip out any excess fat if the lamb is very fatty; a couple of tablespoons left in the pan is fine.

Make the Gravy

1. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until it darkens and coats the meat.
2. Add the coconut aminos, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. Stir for 30 seconds.
3. Pour in the chicken broth and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by about a third.
4. Whisk the cornstarch slurry again and stir it in. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes more, until the gravy thickens to the consistency of a loose stew. Stir in the peas and cook for 1 minute, just to warm them through.
5. Fish out the bay leaf. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. The filling should be assertively seasoned; the mash on top will mellow it.

Assemble and Bake

1. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. If your skillet isn't oven-safe, transfer the filling to a 9x13-inch (about 3-quart) baking dish and spread it level. Otherwise leave it in the pan.
3. Spoon the mashed potatoes over the filling in dollops, then spread gently to the edges so the potato meets the sides of the dish and seals in the filling. Drag the tines of a fork across the top in ridges; the peaks crisp up beautifully.
4. Brush the top with melted butter and grind over some black pepper.
5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the gravy bubbles up around the edges and the potato peaks are deeply golden. If the top isn't browned to your liking, slide it under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes, watching carefully.
6. Let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. This sets the gravy and keeps it from running on the plate.

Tips & Substitutions

• Lamb is traditional; beef works. Shepherd's pie is technically lamb, cottage pie is beef. Both are plain, unseasoned ground meats with no Monash serve-size cap in typical portions. Pre-seasoned blends and most sausage meat carry onion or garlic powder, so start from plain and season the pot yourself.
• Check the Worcestershire label, or skip it. Lea & Perrins and most supermarket brands list garlic or onion in the ingredients, which puts them off-limits during elimination. Read the label before using; if it contains garlic or onion, coconut aminos plus a pinch of extra salt covers the umami and tang without the fructans. A splash of red wine vinegar sharpens it further if you have some open.
• Keep the parsnip portion small. Monash rates parsnip as low-FODMAP at 75 g per serve; larger amounts climb on sorbitol. 150 g across 6 servings lands each portion at 25 g, well under the limit. Don't double it, and don't swap in sweet potato without checking the current Monash entry (the safe serve is small).
• Peas at 1/4 cup per serve. Green peas are low-FODMAP at 1/4 cup (about 15 peas) and climb high-FODMAP at larger amounts. 1 1/2 cups across 6 servings keeps each portion right at the serve size. Leave them out if peas have bothered you in the past.
• Carrots are the easy win. Carrots are low-FODMAP in typical serving sizes, so they do the heavy lifting for sweetness and body in the filling.
• Cornstarch thickens cleanly. Most roux-based gravies start from wheat flour and butter, which brings in fructans. Cornstarch slurried in cold water is low-FODMAP, gluten-free, and thickens in under 2 minutes. Arrowroot or tapioca starch work the same way if that's what you have.
• Make ahead. Assemble the pie through step 4, cover, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Bake cold from the fridge for 35 to 40 minutes instead of 25 to 30. The filling and mash both hold up well overnight.
• Brown the top under the broiler. If the peaks aren't golden after the bake, 1 to 2 minutes under the broiler crisps them fast. Don't walk away; it goes from golden to scorched in seconds.

Why This Works

Garlic-infused oil and chicken broth carry the aromatics. Both the infused oil and the chicken broth are built to deliver garlic-and-onion flavor without the fructans. They cover the savory base that a classic shepherd's pie gets from sauteed onion and garlic cloves.

Plain ground lamb is the cleanest base. Plain ground lamb (or beef) is low-FODMAP in typical serving sizes. Pre-seasoned blends, meatloaf mixes, and most sausage meats carry onion or garlic powder, so start from plain and build the seasoning in the pot.

Carrots plus a small amount of parsnip do the mirepoix work. Carrots are low-FODMAP in typical serves and pull sweetness into the gravy. A small parsnip adds the earthy, almost-sweet depth that onion usually provides, as long as you respect the 75 g per serve limit.

Potato mash seals the filling. Monash rates yellow and red potatoes as low-FODMAP in typical serving sizes, which means a mash topping has real headroom. The linked mashed potatoes recipe uses butter and lactose-free milk to keep the topping creamy without the lactose load of standard milk.

Storage

Refrigerate leftovers in a sealed container for up to 3 to 4 days at 40°F (4°C) or below. Reheat single portions in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, or cover the whole dish with foil and warm in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Shepherd's pie freezes well: assemble unbaked in a foil pan, wrap tightly, and freeze for up to 2 months. Bake from frozen at 375°F (190°C) for 60 to 70 minutes, covered for the first 40, until the center is hot and the top is browned.

Not sure about an ingredient? FODMAP Tracker includes a database of 1,000+ foods with FODMAP ratings to help you cook with confidence.