My favorite Fall 21 Day Fix dinner gets an Instant Pot Makeover! This Instant Pot Shepherd’s Pie is a healthy version of the comfort food classic! It’s also dairy and gluten free, as well as Paleo and Whole 30 friendly. This post contains affiliate links for products I’m obsessed with.
One of my readers recently suggested that I separate my Instant Pot posts out from the traditional recipe in order to make following on mobile easier.
You guys have the best ideas.
It might take me a few to get everything posted the way I want to, but with the temperatures finally getting cooler, I wanted to share this updated Instant Pot 
version of my favorite fall comfort food – Shepherd’s Pie.
This recipe is so near and dear to my heart. That probably sounds so lame, but it’s true. I remember the first time I made it and how proud I was of the cauliflower mashed potato topping…and how my husband said it tasted like Thanksgiving.
It’s not the quickest dinner in the world to make, but the Instant Pot definitely cuts down on the prep time. And aren’t we all looking to save a little time these days?
You will need a pan for the pot in pot method of cooking for this recipe. Before buying something, check your cabinets to see what you have! Any pan that works in the oven will work in the Instant Pot, too.
If you don’t have something that fits, you might want to invest in an aluminum cake dish
, a springform pan
, or a porcelain casserole dish
…my favorite being the latter. I love a dish that looks great going from the oven to the table.
You also might want to get a silicone sling
to make your life easier. Honestly, I have had an Instant Pot for almost two years now and I just got one, but honestly, I’m not sure why I waited so long! It’s a million times easier and quicker to use than my homemade foil slings.
How Healthy is Shepherd’s Pie?
Traditional Shepherd’s Pie is very high in calories and in carbs, but this 21 Day Fix Shepherd’s Pie is extremely healthy! I used ground turkey, tons of veggies, and a mix of cauliflower and potatoes for the topping for a healthy twist on this comfort food favorite.
Can I use this Instant Pot Shepherd’s Pie recipe for the 21 Day Fix and/or the 2B Mindset? What about the 80 Day Obsession?
This Healthy Shepherd’s Pie recipe is perfect for the 21 Day Fix and the containers are already calculated for you! As far as the 2B Mindset, this recipe makes a perfect lunch. If you would like to eat it for dinner, replace the potatoes with more cauliflower and you will be all set! As far as the 80 Day Obsession, this is the perfect “stoplight” meal for timed nutrition because is a red, yellow, and green, plus teaspoon!
Can you freeze Shepherd’s Pie and reheat it? Can you make Shepherd’s Pie in advance?
Yes and yes! I would prep the Shepherd’s Pie using your Instant Pot, but skip the last direction of placing it in the oven. Freeze in an airtight container for up to three months! Then, to reheat, thaw in your refrigerator and bake on 350 until warmed!
In fact – I used it in my Crock Pot Freezer Bootcamp!
How do you make Shepherd’s Pie in the Instant Pot?
Check out this video to see how easy it really is!
How many Weight Watchers Points is this Shepherd’s Pie?
Check out the link below to find your personal points!
Healthy Instant Pot Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
- Olive oil avocado oil, or coconut oil cooking spray
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 1 1/3 cup reduced sodium chicken broth divided use
- 1 teaspoon Himalayan salt
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 lb organic lean ground turkey
- 2 cups chopped cauliflower
- 2 cups red potatoes peeled and chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter vegan butter, olive oil, or ghee
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to saute and spray well with cooking spray. Add in ground turkey and brown until cooked through. Add in veggies and mix together well, cooking an additional two minutes.
- Remove meat and veggies from Instant Pot and transfer to a heat safe dish that fits into your IP. Stir in 1/3 cup of broth, tomato paste, and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp of salt. Cover with foil.
- Add cauliflower, potatoes, and 1 cup of broth to the bottom of your Instant Pot. Place trivet on top of potato and cauliflower mixture and place the dish with the turkey on top of the trivet. Cover and lock Instant Pot.
- Cook for 7 minutes on manual/pressure cook. Quick release and carefully remove the pot using the handles of the trivet (or silicone sling).
- Drain the potato mixture, reserving the cooking broth. Mash right in the Instant Pot, or transfer to a Food Processor to blend. Add in 1/2 tsp of salt and 2 T of olive oil, ghee or vegan butter and mix. If necessary, add in a tablespoon or two of cooking broth.
- Top turkey mixture with potatoes and broil for a few minutes to brown the top, if desired. **If your dish isn’t broil safe, bake at 350 instead.
Erin says
I love the idea of using the instant pot to make this dish! I would just make a couple tweaks next time:
As some others have mentioned, my carrots were not fully cooked. Perhaps parcooking them a little beforehand, or leaving the veggies and meat in to saute a little longer before transferring into the pot to pressure cook.
Also, it was a little bland so I would increase the salt a bit. I also added minced garlic and garlic powder and that helped! I’m sure that has to do with it being a healthy recipe, though.
Finally, I might drain the meat and veggies a bit before topping with the mashed potatoes.
All in all this is a fantastic idea and I will definitely be adding this to my rotation. You truly cannot tell that the mash has cauliflower in it!
Nancylynn says
Definitely saute the veggies a little more! Thanks for the feedback Erin!
Patti says
I’m curious about what size IP is used for this dish in pot recipe. I just bought a 6qt stainless steel to replace an 8 qt crockpot IP with nonstick lining, scratching.l.
Nancylynn says
I typically use my 6 quart!
Kelley says
I absolutely love using my IP now that I have taken the dive to receive the meal prep emails from this site. It is only my husband and I. Also, I am usually the only one eating the meals that have lots of veggies. That being said, I enjoyed this recipe. I am a HUGE shepherds pie fan.
I took the liberty to add my left over zucchini and a can of mushrooms to the mixture. I also used a bag of cauliflower rice to mix with a healthy mashed potatoes already prepared. I mixed the cauliflower with the mashed potatoes and covered the veggies.
This recipe is a winner. Keep the good stuff coming!
Katie Sweatman says
I’ll be honest…I expected this to be healthy, but not necessarily tasty. It was both! My husband and I absolutely loved it and couldn’t wait for leftovers. Thanks for the recipe!
Nancylynn says
Katie, this is amazing feedback! Thank you for sharing!!
Andrea says
Love love loved this and my family did too! Adding it into our favorite recipes for future use. Thank you for sharing :).
Nancylynn says
Made my day, Andrea!
Emily P says
This was REALLY good! We made it for St Patrick’s day. I have a high calorie more traditional (maybe) shepherds pie I usually make with a mixture of meat and a full crust of mashed potatoes, which is great but I wanted to go lighter this year and faster in the IP. Everyone loved it! I used frozen diced cauliflower because that’s all I had but no one knew the difference!
Nancylynn says
Doing a happy dance over here! Thank you for trusting the recipe enough to try it in place of your more traditional one. And thank you for sharing and taking the time to comment and rate the recipe – it’s so helpful!
J Kenney says
Hi NancyLynn – quick question. My hubs hates cauliflower (even though he’s had it before in several of your recipes – sshhh) Can you taste the cauliflower in this recipe? Looking forward to using even more of your recipes now that he’s been diagnosed as celiac and so many of your recipes are gluten free.
Nancylynn says
Hi! Honestly, you can’t! My husband LOVES this one!
heidi Merriman says
we do not like turkey, can we substitute with ground beef and still be on plan?
Erica says
I made this tonight since I had ground Turkey ready to cook and it was delicious! Only thing I did different was used matchstick carrots since it’s all I had on hand! Flavors are wonderful and it’s not bland at all! Will definitely make this again!
Nancylynn says
Yay, thank you for this comment and for taking the time to rate the recipe. It helps other readers so much! Way to use what ingredients you had on hand!
Erin says
I made this recipe tonight for my family. We all loved it! I’ve already added it to my recipes and will definitely be making it again.
Nancylynn says
YAY! This made my day! Thanks, Erin!
K. Ward says
do you have any tips for making this in a normal crock-pot? hubby and I haven’t joined the IP club yet ):
Nancylynn says
Not a crock pot version, but here is the original stovetop recipe- just as yummy!
https://confessionsofafitfoodie.com/21-day-fix-shepards-pie/
Jessica Evelsizer says
Is there a way to make this not in the instant pot? I still haven’t joined that club yet
Nancylynn says
Here’s the original stovetop version!
https://confessionsofafitfoodie.com/21-day-fix-shepards-pie/
Monica Lynn says
LOVE this recipe – I’ve made it TWICE this month already because I love it so much! The last time I made it the hubby was gone and he hasn’t gone looking for leftovers in the refrigerator yet, so that means MORE leftovers for me!!! 🙂
Jaime says
A family favorite! They have no idea there is cauliflower in there!! Yay!
Alexis says
OK you hit it out of the park with this one! It’s cold out and this was the PERFECT dish for a day like this!!
I followed the directions 95% and it turned out sooo good. I agree with another comment that the carrots weren’t fully cooked BUT it didn’t affect the result to me in any way. Just made it easier for the hubs to pick out (he doesn’t like carrots) or cauliflower LOL…what he doesn’t know won’t kill him.
The only thing I did different was ad a half a cup of colby jack cheese to my potato cauliflower mash to firm it up a little bit since I accidentally put too much broth in it.
Results were YUM…everyone loved!!
Brenda says
I really, really wanted to love this recipe but it was just not good. I was exciting because I finally got my husband on board to try a healthy recipe and we made it together. Unfortunately, it tasted like nothing. We were trying to add cheese and hot sauce at the end to make it taste like anything. Also, like another person pointed out, the carrots weren’t cooked all the way through. In my opinion, this recipe was kind Of labor intensive for an IP recipe and we won’t be making it again.
Nancylynn says
I am really sorry you guys didn’t love this- it’s a favorite here and a favorite amongst my readers, too.
Marisa says
I tried this recipe and although the meat and veggies mixture came out great, my potatoes and cauliflower kept triggering the burn setting on my IP. Any suggestions?
Nancylynn says
what size pot?
Kristina says
Seriously SO good! Thank you Nancylynn for this wonderful recipe. Myself, my hubby and 3 little boys loves this so much I made it 2 nights in a row!
Aline Bergemann says
Hi I made this recipe tonight and found that even though I followed the recipe instructions the carrots didn’t cook, they were still hard and I cut them like you have yours. Other wise I also added so minced garlic and a tablespoon of Whistshire sauce and it added some more flavor to it. It was all very good so I dug the carrots out and steamed them another 5 min and added them back to the left overs.
Nancylynn says
Oh really? Did you have a good seal on your pot?
Nicole says
I really liked making this in the IP because I had less dishes to wash! And the flavors were just THAT much better!
Nancylynn says
Awww, yay! I couldn’t agree more!