Southern Shepherd’s Pie

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Shepherd’s Pie is the ultimate southern staple.

Here we’ve taken a classic recipe and given it a much needed upgrade. 

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As the leaves begin to turn and summer fades into fall, we often start craving those comfort food classics we enjoyed as a kid: Baked Mac & Cheese, Meatloaf, and Spinach Dip are a few that come to my mind. One item that I did not grow up with was Shepherd’s Pie. It always looked appealing and sounded delicious, really. I mean, who wouldn’t like ground beef topped with buttery mashed potatoes and cheese?

Since fall is approaching, we are looking forward to all of the fall sporting events! This past weekend we were invited to watch the NHRA Carolina Nationals from the Cabarrus County Visitors Bureau race suite. It had fantastic views of the track and a real highlight was the jet dragsters, which can go 300+ mph!

Since this was our first time attending a live drag race, we had absolutely NO IDEA how loud these cars were! Dylan had a great time, especially because our suite had bowls of candy everywhere and we let him try Skittles for the first time.

We had such a wonderful time attending the drag races. Next year I think Dylan will be old enough to visit the pit area, which I know will be a blast!

Now, back to those fall food cravings….

Traditional Shepherd’s Pie is made with ground beef and vegetables that are topped with mashed potatoes. However, since I did not have these traditional items in my pantry, I created my own version with a southern twist.

I must say, isn’t the pop of orange and green color in this dish mouth-dropping? It also makes for a beautiful fall presentation during the holidays.

Hint Hint… make this for your next holiday party.

First off… I didn’t have any ground beef on hand (whoops), so I decided to substitute that with some shredded chicken. You can grill the chicken and shred it with two forks or go the easy route and use your crockpot. I chose the easy route, as I often do, and used my crockpot. For the next layer, I used a mix of sautéed sweet yellow onions and matchstick carrots. Traditionally this recipe calls for peas… but I didn’t have those either (Can I still call this Shepherd’s Pie? 😉 ) so I completely revamped this dish according to what I had on hand. Oh, and lastly… I only had sweet potatoes in my pantry (of course), so I used them instead of regular white potatoes you see in most other recipes.

I sprinkled the entire skillet with blue cheese crumbles because (you guessed it) my son had ate the remaining mozzarella in our refrigerator during lunch. Once the dish was done cooking in the oven, I topped it with chopped cilantro and served with BBQ sauce for dippin’.

Ingredients: 

• 3 large Sweet Potatoes
• 4 tbsp. Butter
• 2 tbsp. Heavy Cream
• 1 lb. cooked Chicken (I used this recipe)
• 1 Sweet Onion, chopped
• 1 cup matchstick Carrots
• Olive Oil, as needed
• 1/2 cup Blue Cheese Crumbles
• Cilantro, for garnish
• BBQ Sauce, for serving (optional)

Note: You can substitute with what you have here. This recipe would taste delicious with ground beef or turkey as the base, and if you have some frozen peas… toss them in! Recipes on SliceOfJess.com are meant to minimize waste and use what you have on hand.

Directions:

1. If you’re using crockpot chicken in this dish, start your crockpot 6-8 hours prior to assembling this dish. If you’re grilling the chicken, grill it first, shred and set aside.
2. Bake Sweet Potatoes in a 350F oven, covered, for 45 minutes to an hour. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Carefully peel the skin off and place flesh in a medium sized mixing bowl. Smash with a fork and mix together with Butter and Heavy Cream until well combined. Set aside. Turn heat up to 400F.
3. Chop and saute Onion and Carrots in a dab of Olive Oil for 6-8 minutes, or until fully cooked. (Helpful Hint: The grocery store sells Carrots already in matchsticks. Buy those and save yourself some time.) Set aside.
4. Spoon the Sweet Potatoes into a large ziplock bag. Cut the bottom right tip off and use this as a piping bag for creating the pillows.
5. Add Chicken to a greased, oven-proof skillet. Next layer the Onions & Carrots and top with pillows of Sweet Potatoes.
6. Sprinkle with Blue Cheese Crumbles and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until cheese is slightly browning.
7. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped Cilantro. Serve immediately with BBQ sauce on the side.

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