This Moroccan Shepherds Pie is a healthy twist on a comfort food classic. With gently spiced ground beef and lentils, there’s sweetness, spiciness, subtle middle eastern flavours, and different textures making up this dish.
It really is a meal in one, and takes about 20 minutes to prep, and another 25 minutes in the oven.
If you’re a true comfort food lover, you’ve probably had your fair share of shepherds pie, but perhaps you’ve not had a Moroccan Inspired one.
What Makes This Shepherds Pie a Standout?
- it’s a meal in one, which means you don’t need to prepare other veges or salad to have with it
- 20 minutes of prep and then it cooks itself in the oven
- Makes 6 generous sized portions
- Serve it in ramekins for individual shepherds pies
- Its versatile: Can be made with any type of ground meat/mince – beef, chicken, turkey, lamb
- Its perfect winter comfort food made healthy
- It’s the right ratio of potato to meat
- It has little pieces of cranberries and feta for that delicious sweet and salty hit
- It has hidden veges
- It’s freezer friendly
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Onion: Red onion (also called Spanish onion) works well in this recipe for its mild flavour, however, brown or white onion can be substituted.
- Moroccan Seasoning – this is an all in one seasoning sold in supermarkets in Australia. I use the Masterfoods brand. If its not available where you live, you can make your own:
- 1 tablespoon of Tumeric
- 1 tablespoon Plain Paprika
- 1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 tablespoon Garlic Salt
- 1 tablespoon Dried Rosemary
- 1 tablespoon Dried Cumin
- 1 tablespoon Ground Corriander
- Lentils: make sure to use precooked canned lentils for this recipe. Using dried lentils wont work as theres not enough liquid in the recipe. Canned and drained chickpeas would also work as a substitute.
- Potato: White sweet potato/regular white potato may be substituted for the yellow sweet potato
- Cranberries: Try to get the reduced sugar cranberries if you can. Alternatively you may like to try dried blueberries as a substitute.
- Feta: Opt for a hard Greek feta so it will hold its shape during cooking. Avoid the softer feta cheeses and goats cheese and these will melt and disappear.
- Cornflake Crumbs: These offer a small textural element to the dish but can be left off if you don’t have them, or substituted for regular breadcrumbs
How To Make This
Step 1
Ge the Potatoes on. Boil a pot of water and add the sweet potatoes. Cook for approximately 10 mins, or until tender.
Step 2
Cook the Onion, Garlic. Heat a non stick saucepan to medium heat and add onion and garlic. Stir until soft. Add Moroccan seasoning and half of the coriander. Stir for one minute.
Step 3
Add the beef mince (or ground beef). Stir to break up any lumps. Cook until browned. Add passata, beef stock/beef broth and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Mixture will thicken slightly and liquid will reduce.
Step 4
Stir remaining ingredients through meat mixture - lentils and zucchini, cranberries chilli powder and remaining coriander.
Step 5
Mash Potatoes. When potatoes are tender, drain off the water and mash gently with a fork. Add in the butter, fetta and chives (reserving a few chives to sprinkle over the top before putting in the oven.
Step 6
Arrange in casserole dish. Spoon beef mixture into an ovenproof tray. Spoon in mashed potato mixture and sprinkle with remaining chives and cornflake crumbs
Step 7
Bake for 25 minutes.
Recipe Tips
Spice Blend: In lieu of Moroccan seasoning, you could purchase Ras al hanout - a Moroccan spice blend that can be found at deli’s and some supermarkets.
Extra Garlic: Stir through an extra couple teaspoons crushed garlic into the mashed sweet potato
You Questions Answered
I used a rectangle casserole dish 27 cm by 16 cm (10 ½ inch by 6 ½ inch). Any similar sized square or round dish would work.
Yes. This can be made upto a day ahead and all you need to do is reheat it in the oven or microwave
This dish will keep in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. Just make sure that its in an air tight container with lid.
More Healthy Comfort Food Recipes
- Shepherds Pie Lasagna
- Slow Cooker Spicy Moroccan Chicken
- Slow Cooker Moroccan Meatballs
- Crispy, Crunchy Smoky Paprika Chicken
Moroccan Shepherds Pie
Ingredients
- 500 grams / 1 pound. Beef mince or ground beef
- ½ medium Red onion - diced
- 2 cloves garlic - crushed
- ½ cup Corriander - finely chopped
- ¾ cup Passata tomato sauce
- ¼ cup Beef stock/beef broth
- 2 tablespoons Moroccan seasoning
- ½ medium Zucchini - grated
- 200 grams / 7 oz. Cooked Brown lentils - I use canned
- 2 tablespoons Dried cranberries - finely diced
- ½ teaspoon Mexican chilli powder
- 2 tablespoons Dried Chives
- 1 ½ Cups Orange sweet potato - 220 grams approx.
- ⅓ cup Fetta cheese - crumbled
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon Cornflake crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F
- Boil a pot of water and add the sweet potatoes. Cook for approximately 10 mins, or until tender.
- Heat a non stick saucepan to medium heat and add onion and garlic. Stir until soft. Add Moroccan seasoning and half of the coriander. Stir for one minute.
- Add the beef mince (or ground beef) in, stirring to break up any lumps. Cook until browned. Add passata, beef stock/beef broth and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Mixture will thicken slightly and liquid will reduce.
- Stir through the lentils and zucchini, cranberries chilli powder and remaining coriander.
- When potatoes are tender, drain off the water and mash gently with a fork. Add in the butter, fetta and chives (reserving a few chives to sprinkle over the top before putting in the oven.
- Spoon beef mixture into an ovenproof tray. Spoon in potato mixture and sprinkle with remaining chives and cornflake crumbs
- Bake for 25 minutes
Notes
- Onion: Red onion (also called Spanish onion) works well in this recipe for its mild flavour, however, brown or white onion can be substituted.
- Moroccan Seasoning – this is an all in one seasoning sold in supermarkets in Australia. I use the Masterfoods brand. If its not available where you live, you can make your own:
- 1 tablespoon of Tumeric
- 1 tablespoon Plain Paprika
- 1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 tablespoon Garlic Salt
- 1 tablespoon Dried Rosemary
- 1 tablespoon Dried Cumin
- 1 tablespoon Ground Corriander
- Spice Blend: In lieu of Moroccan seasoning, you could purchase Ras al hanout - a Moroccan spice blend that can be found at deli’s and some supermarkets.
- Lentils: make sure to use precooked canned lentils for this recipe. Using dried lentils wont work as theres not enough liquid in the recipe. Canned and drained chickpeas would also work as a substitute.
- Potato: White sweet potato/regular white potato may be substituted for the yellow sweet potato
- Cranberries: Try to get the reduced sugar cranberries if you can. Alternatively you may like to try dried blueberries as a substitute.
- Feta: Opt for a hard Greek feta so it will hold its shape during cooking. Avoid the softer feta cheeses and goats cheese and these will melt and disappear.
- Cornflake Crumbs: These offer a small textural element to the dish but can be left off if you don’t have them, or substituted for regular breadcrumbs
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