
Shepherd’s pie, also known as the Cottage pie, is a dish that pleases all ages and tastebuds. It’s also quite inexpensive to make, even for a paleo version with grass-fed meat. My version with porcini and shiitake mushrooms is a little more gourmet but it’s still as hearty and rustic as the traditional Shepherd’s Pie.
Also on the budget: Chicken Drumstick Tagine with Parsnips & Artichokes
Cook’s notes
- Instead of making these as individual mini pies, feel free to bake it as a large pie in a casserole dish.
- Dried porcini or shiitake mushrooms can be purchased in most supermarkets and deli stores. You can use leftover shiitake mushrooms or get some dried porcini mushrooms as well. They add an amazing flavour to any soup or stew.
- AIP: Omit the tomatoes and paprika and use regular beef stock instead.
- Dairy-free: Cheese can be easily omitted from this recipe.


Paleo Shepherd’s Pies With Porcini Mushrooms
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: British
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried shiitake and/or porcini mushrooms
- 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon ghee or coconut oil (butter can also be used)
- 850 g / about 2 lb grass-fed ground beef/beef mince
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely diced
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2/3 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 star anise (optional)
- 2 dry bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon mixed dried herbs
- 1 cup water or beef/chicken stock (vegetable stock is also fine)
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon tamari wheat-free soy sauce or coconut aminos (optional)
- 2 teaspoons arrowroot or tapioca flour (for thickening)
Sweet potato mash
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 2 tablespoons grated aged Parmesan cheese (optional)
- 1 tablespoon butter or ghee (olive oil is also ok)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Soak the mushrooms in a cup of hot water for 10 minutes.Then chop roughly. Reserve the liquid.
- Sauté the onion in a large pan with ghee or coconut oil over medium heat for 7-8 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the rest of ingredients.
- Add the beef and bring the heat to high. Break the meat apart using a spatula, pressing it down and stirring through as it cooks, for about 5 minutes, until the colour changes. Add the carrots, garlic, red wine, salt, pepper, star anise, bay leaves, herbs and bring back to boil.
- Add the mushrooms and the reserved soaking liquid, extra water or beef stock, tomato paste, and Tamari sauce. Stir through and bring to boil. Turn the heat down to simmering and cover with a lid. Cook for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once beef is under way, place sweet potato in a
- saucepan of water. Bring to boil and cook for 10-15 minutes, until soft. Drain and return to the saucepan. Mash well, then add the butter, cheese and salt and mash again until well incorporated and smooth.
- Preheat the oven to 200C / 400 F.
- After 35 minutes of cooking, uncover the beef and add the arrowroot flour dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water. Mix through for a minute until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.
- Spread the beef mixture in a baking tray or small oven pie dishes, leaving some space for the mash. Carefully spread the mash evenly over the top. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes. If you want to brown the top even further, pop the dishes under a hot grill for 5 minutes. Prepare a side salad or some steamed greens in the meantime.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 491
- Sugar: 7.3 g
- Sodium: 1733.7 mg
- Fat: 13.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 7.4 g
- Trans Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 31.5 g
- Fiber: 5.1 g
- Protein: 53.6 g
- Cholesterol: 146.4 mg
Keywords: Shepherd’s Pie, Cottage Pie, Ground Beef, Beef Mince, Sweet Potatoes, Dinner

Love the affordable meal ideas. Thank you for sharing!
Delicious – and perfect for chilly winter evenings – thank you! Would these be ok to freeze for future meals?
You can definitely freeze the sauce and I don’t see why you couldn’t freeze the whole thing.
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Just made this. It was excellent.
I made a few modifications to make it toddler-friendly for our 3 year old and simplify things: diced the mushrooms after soaking them in boiled water, used the mushroom-soak water to make the stock from a beef stock cube. Also grated the carrot, which was easier than dicing. Our daughter gets cranky finding things of different (e.g. slimey or chunks) textures, so this was an easy way to avoid any arguments.
I really loved the combination of the musky porcini flavor with the robust Parmesan aromas.
Top work! Hope I see you at the Workbench.ch when you’re back in Oz.
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
Just FYI – There is a difference between Shepherd Pie and Cottage Pie. Shepherd Pie uses lamb and Cottage Pie uses beef. Otherwise, they’re the same. 🙂
Yum! Just made it and I have a very satisfied husband and 3 year old
looks delicious! can you do the meat part in the slow cooker?
Holy crap! That was the best pie i’ve ever made. The star anise def brought out awesome flavours. I made 5 single serve pies and still had left overs. One of the most delicious recipes i’ve ever made.
Thanks Jaime! I’m very happy you you liked it so much and thanks for leaving your lovely comment.
I don’t usually like traditional Shepherd’s pie, but this dish tastes amazing! I didn’t have dried mushrooms, so I used regular baby portabellas and fried them with the onions. It turned out wonderful! Would definitely make this again! Thanks for the recipe Irena!
★★★★★
Thanks, Juliana. I am so glad you enjoyed these. Portabellas are great, they have a slightly stronger flavour than regular white mushrooms, so that was a great choice to swap the dried porcini mushrooms.
My absolute pleasure! Glad you enjoyed this recipe so much. Irena