My kids' school participated in a really great healthy fundraiser called "Farm to School" where they sell bundles of vegetables that you can purchase for yourself or donate to the food bank. I bought a couple of bundles and made this easy and Weight Watchers friendly Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie with mashed potato topping and ground turkey. This recipe is 2 WW points.
It's a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes! If you are looking for a healthy version of Shepherd's Pie, look no further. This Turkey Shepherd's Pie is Weight Watchers friendly and is classic comfort food at only 2 WW points!
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Considering all the chocolate and other unhealthy things I've had to sell for my kids' schools and activities over the years, this healthy option was a welcome idea. Not that I'm dissing chocolate or anything (chocolate, I really do love you!) but it's nice to have a healthy option for a change.
🥘 Ingredients
For this turkey shepherds pie recipe you'll need:
- large potatoes
- garlic cloves
- milk
- chicken stock
- sour cream
- parmesan cheese
- ground turkey
- olive oil
- onion
- celery
- parsnips
- frozen mixed vegetables
- flour
- tomato paste
- Worcestershire sauce
- rosemary
- black pepper
- salt
📖 Variations & Substitutions
- ground meat- you can substitute ground chicken or even lean ground beef (although the beef will be extra points) for ground turkey
- mashed potatoes - use leftover mashed potatoes or instant mashed potatoes or lighten it up even more with mashed cauliflower, as it has less calories and WW points. You could also use sweet potatoes instead.
- parsnips - if you don't have them or can't find them, use turnips
- rosemary - you can use fresh herbs (fresh rosemary) in place of dried ones, but you'll need to double the amount
💭 Top Tip
*I use instant mashed potatoes if I'm short on time or don't have potatoes for this easy shepherd's pie. My favorite brand is Honest Earth (affiliate link) because they are really creamy mashed potatoes and taste very close to real potatoes.
🌡️Storage
Store leftover turkey shepherd's pie in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can also freeze leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
If you want to freeze and entire turkey shepherd's pie, bake in advance in a 9x13 baking dish with a lid. Then cover in aluminum foil, seal with a layer of Glad Press n' Seal, (affiliate link) then put the lid on the container. It makes for a really easy meal!
TO REHEAT:
I love using this casserole reheating technique - it prevents the casserole from drying out.
- Simply bring the casserole out of the freezer the night before and let it defrost (preferably in the fridge). Ideally, you want to keep it at room temperature for about 30 minutes to an hour before you put it in the oven.
- Then heat the oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C, remove the lid and plastic wrap, then tightly seal your casserole dish with aluminum foil (shiny side in) - (if you follow above steps, this will already by done) and put it in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes, until it's warmed through. *you can remove the foil and broil it for the final 2 minutes if you desire.
- You can use an instant read thermometer (affiliate link) to make sure it's done (165 degrees F/75 degrees C)
👪 Serving Size
This shepherd's pie recipe makes 8 servings. However, you can half, double or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.
🔢WW Points
This ww shepherd's pie recipe is 2 ww points. I calculated this recipe in the recipe builder on the ww app.
🥗 Side Dishes
If you're not sure what to serve with Turkey Shepherd's pie, here are a few suggestions:
- Green beans and Mushrooms
- garden salad
- Spinach salad
- Skinny Coleslaw Recipe (shown below)
- Quick Cucumber Kimchi
- sliced carrot and cucumbers
🍽Equipment
You'll need and 9X13 baking dish (casserole dish) and a potato masher (affiliate links).
Light and Healthy Comfort Food: This Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie is a great comfort food and when you're on Weight Watchers healthy and weight watchers friendly comfort food can be hard to find. But this easy WW Turkey Shepherd's Pie is loaded with flavor, lean ground turkey and healthy veggies. A typical classic shepherd's pie is about 12 points, while this healthy turkey version is only 2 WW points on my plan. It's an easy and light comfort food that is the perfect make- ahead meal for your busy life!
And my 5 Ingredient Turkey Sloppy Joe's (shown below) is another delicious Weight Watchers ground turkey recipe!
And if you're looking for even more WW ground turkey recipes, be sure to check out my Slow Cooker Cranberry Turkey Meatballs, my Healthy Turkey Pesto Meatballs with Creamy Lime Ginger Sauce, and my Egg Roll in a Bowl(shown)
This Weight Watchers Shepherd's Pie recipe is healthy, easy to make, and a recipe the whole family will love!
📋 Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For the potatoes:
- 1-½ lbs potatoes peeled, diced or use leftover mashed potatoes or instant mashed potatoes
- 2 teaspoon garlic * I use the minced from a jar or you can use 3 cloves of garlic
- ¼ cup 1% milk
- ¼ cup fat free low sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoon reduced fat sour cream
- ¼ cup light parmesan cheese
For the filling:
- 1 lb lean ground turkey ground chicken can be substituted
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced (about ¾ cup onion)
- 2 celery stalks trimmed and diced
- 2 parsnips grated
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables defrosted
- 2 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup fat-free low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 5.5 ounce can tomato paste
- 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoon rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper if desired
Garnish:
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F/205 degrees C and spray oven safe casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray
- Place potatoes in a large pot with enough water so the water comes 2 inches above potatoes. Boil until soft, where a fork can easily go through them (or use leftover or instant).
- Drain potatoes and mash with ¼ cup chicken broth, sour cream, minced garlic, parmesan cheese and milk.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown turkey; season with salt and pepper, if desired. When cooked, set aside.
- Saute the diced onion in olive oil for 2 minutes then add the celery and grated parsnip, Cook about 10-12 minutes, or until celery is soft.
- Add garlic, 1 cup chicken broth, tomato paste, flour, Worcestershire sauce and rosemary to cooked turkey mixture and mix well. Simmer on low about 5-10 minutes. Add in defrosted frozen mixed vegetables.
- In prepared casserole dish, spread the meat mixture on the bottom of the dish. Top with mashed potatoes.
- Use a fork to scrape the top of the potatoes to make ridges if desired.
- Bake 20 minutes or until potatoes turn golden.
- Remove from oven and let it cool 10 minutes before serving. Freeze after cooling completely (I use a microwave safe casserole dish so it can go straight from freezer to microwave)
Monique
Thank you Terri. I love Shepard's Pie and this new twist will allow me to continue enjoying it through my weight loss program.
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Monique - that's great!
Denise from Urb'n'Spice
I applaud your children's school for providing such a healthy fundraising opportunity, Terri! Thanks for the great idea of using parsnips in your shepherd's pie. I love parsnips and they are certainly underappreciated, aren't they? Your shepherd's pie looks delicious! I have often used instant mashed potatoes for different things (like thickening a soup for a gluten-free client), and making them for the shepherd's pie topping is an awesome and tasty time saver! I am pinning lots of WW recipes for my sister so this recipe is perfect on so many levels! Thanks for sharing!
Terri Gilson
Hi Denise: Thank you! Yes, so glad they do that fundraiser - I actually suggested it because my niece in Wpg had done it! Hopefully they will do it for the 3rd time this year!
sara
Love the recipe, i will try today because boys coming over for watching football match, the recipe is perfect for this time because it seems so tasty and yummy. Thank you.
Terri Gilson
Hi Sara, Thanks for your comment! I hope you enjoy it - I just made 2 of them last week (and froze one) 🙂