Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie
Published March 7, 2024
- Total Time
- About 1½ hours
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour, plus 15 minutes’ cooling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 1½pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1½-inch chunks (about 2 large potatoes)
- 3tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
- 2teaspoons smoked paprika
- Salt and black pepper
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1large yellow onion, chopped
- 1teaspoon ground cumin
- ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛teaspoon ground cayenne, plus more to taste
- 3large garlic cloves, minced
- 1pound ground lamb (or beef)
- 1(15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed
- ½cup pitted dates, chopped
- 3tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for serving
- 2tablespoons tomato paste
- 2tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1cup beef broth
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
612 calories; 33 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 61 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams dietary fiber; 22 grams sugars; 22 grams protein; 866 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until fork tender. Drain, then return the potatoes to the pot and cook over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until any remaining moisture has evaporated. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth. Add the butter and ½ teaspoon of the paprika; mix until smooth. Season to taste with salt.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 375 degrees and make the filling: In a large (12-inch) skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low. Add the onion, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and the remaining 1½ teaspoons paprika, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Step 3
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the lamb. Cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas, dates and parsley. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until it’s incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle on the flour and cook until no more flecks of flour are visible, about 1 minute. Add the broth and cook over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Step 4
Transfer the filling to a 9-inch or other 2-quart baking dish with 2-inch sides. Dollop spoonfuls of the mashed sweet potatoes on top, covering the surface, then use a spatula to spread them into an even layer.
- Step 5
Bake, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes, until the filling is bubbling up around the edges of the pan. To brown the top slightly, broil on high for 2 minutes, watching carefully. Cool for 15 minutes, then serve, garnished with more parsley.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Brad
Sounds delicious. Any thoughts on a vegetarian version? Just leave out the lamb or some other suggestion, addition?
Jared
To make this vegetarian, replace lamb with lentils or minced mushrooms. Put 1.5 lbs of mushrooms in the food processor and then sauté till they release their moisture and start to caramelize. Then use as ground mead. They’ll give the dish plenty of umami and texture wise will be very like ground meat. And to make the sweet potato mash less watery, bake them instead of boiling them.
Husband of LeFrenchMonster
I’ve done a more traditional shepherds pie with Impossible (or Beyond) ground fake beef, and mushroom bullion and it was spectacular. I bet the same would work here for a veggie version.
Pantry goblin
Easy to make. The preparation of the filling and of the sweet potatoes takes just about the same amount of time. It was very tasty, but the recipe underplays the amount of salt you'll need. Of the potatoes it says "Season to taste with salt." but it doesn't say the same of the filling. Between the tomato paste and the dates and the onion, there's a lot of sweetness in the filling, and it needs salt to balance that and express the flavor of the spices.
JLS
Brad, for a vegetarian version I’m thinking lentils instead of the meat, leave out the chick peas.
Katie
Tried with lentils, added carrots and celery to onions. Surprisingly delish (we’re a meat family, but looking for more alt options).
Paula
I've made shepherd's pie using lentils and they are a great swap
Jen
I was just thinking that this would be a great way to use up the Impossible ground in my fridge! But if you’re not fond of the substitutes, maybe some mushroom, eggplant, or baked tofu cubes?
Denis in Boston
This is great! Couple of hacks: Microwave the sweet potatoes (my nuke has a button for potatoes) then slice in half along the length, squeeze out the meat, it will be naturally dry, and proceed with the recipe. Second hack: use meatloaf mix (beef, veal, pork) it has similar fat profile to lamb but not the same taste. Still quite adequate given all the spices and saves money.
Linda S.
I made this tonight, the only substitution was 1 1/2lb of eggplant cubed and roasted in oil and S+P in place of the meat. It was delicious
Frankie
Without having tried it, my thought is increase the chickpeas? I'll try making it and report back.
Anna S
Made this recipe last night. Delicious! I did use Oriental yams as suggested which worked quite well. Used beef not lamb. Vegan butter for dairy allergy. Nice balance of flavor and sweetness. Added salt at a couple of additional junctures in the recipe: browning the onions, browning the meat, and when I added vegan butter. Recipe approved by my husband and toddler.
Susan
Brad, I’d increase the chickpeas to two cans and mash them leaving some chunks, and continue the recip from there. Alternatively, as JSL suggests, asd lentils in lieu of meat, but do use the chickpeas, too. You might consider mushrooms, too, to get that umami flavor.
KM
Delicious! Made this with Impossible Meat and swapped golden raisins for the dates, both of which I'd do again. Next time will follow my gut and add chopped green olives along with the chickpeas.
Victoria
OMG soooo good! Has a bit of a baked beans vibe - the dates completelymelted into the sauce. Used ground chuck & doubled the spices & garlic, but oh my gosh, it was soo good, it is definitely a "do over"!
Chris
I just made this and it was delicious. A sort of half batch based on the weight of the sweet potato but I put in the full amount of cumin freshly ground. Only other change was garlic chili paste for cayenne
Mark in Oakland
Smells amazing while cooking - and guests ask, as I’m making this, how long until it will be ready. And the final product does not disappoint. I’d love to tell you how it reheats or freezes, but it has never made it past my dinner company.
MARY
Cook potatoes in large red pot. Takes a long time for water to return to boil after put in potatoes, so start early. Cut potatoes into small pieces —- cook faster. Get all materials prepped before starting to cook. Probably need to allow an hour of prep time, leading up to when it goes in oven. Bake pie in brown Arabia dish. Good dish for company because bakes for 30 minutes and then rests for 15. A bit like moussaka.
ZFMT
Used Harissa instead of tomato paste--why not? perfect for a Moroccan flavor profile--and subbed in some delicious Mantequilla beans from Rancho Gordo which were perfect in the filling. I like that they are dark, so were more visually integrated with the filling than chickpeas would have been; and because they're slightly more neutral in flavor than garbanzos, they soaked up the flavors of the filling beautifully.
Amanda S.
Very tasty! I followed one of the directions on the comments and microwaved the sweet potatoes - eliminated the need to heat up a pot of water and take out the potato masher. They were a perfect consistency. I used prunes instead of dates, because I didn't have any dates, but I did have prunes.
Dan
This was good with beef.
Bailey
Really delicious take on shepherd's pie! The meat, dates, and chickpeas provide excellent flavor and texture. I roasted my sweet potatoes in the oven before mashing, which takes a bit more time than boiling but adds sweetness. It also let me skip peeling since the skins pull off easily once they are cooked.
Katherine
I made this and would leave out the dates completely as it overpowers the dish.
Lesley
I was so excited to try this recipe, but it is weird. No salt in the filling? And what's with the flour? The tomato paste and spices are more than enough to thicken it. Even without the flour I used 2-3 cups of broth. The spices seemed to cancel each other out so I added balsamic vinegar and creme fraiche to perk it up. So shoot me, recipe police. When assembled, it looked very unappealing, so I topped it with parmesan/panko. My husband liked it, though it's possible he was just being nice.
Rebecca
We loved this. I made it with 12oz of Impossible (standard package size) and didn't miss the other 4oz. Next time I'd increase the spices a tad. While it isn't boring as written, I like a more "robust" spice profile. If feeling omnivorous, a sprinkle of feta before the final broil is nice.
Val
Since January I've tried at least one new recipe a week, most often from here. I cooked this for family dinner on Easter Monday. A hit with everyone, including Mom, who has diminished smell and taste. I didn't have paprika but added turmeric. Will make this again, but with the microwave shortcut for the sweet potatoes. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!
Doug C.
Very good, easy to make. However, I found that one cup of beef broth was insufficient — it turned the two tablespoons of flour into something similar to the paste we used to play with in kindergarten. I kept adding more broth and stirring, and I ended up using the whole can to get an acceptably thin sauce.
delicious and hearty
Agree with previous comments on salt—you need to add it to the filling to balance out the sweet. Delicious and comforting!
dimmerswitch
Made per recipe choosing lamb option and with minor change of swapping out canned garbanzo beans for cooked from dry beans (Rancho Gordo Alubia Blanca) I had ready. (If you're looking for a garbanzo swap out, I think almost any white bean would work with the lamb as beans and lamb are BFF.) Delicious North African flavors. Easy to assemble ahead, refrigerate, bring to room temp on counter (maybe an hour) before popping in oven to finish at meal time. (Plan 40'ish min.)
Flo
I tried this recipe last night swapping out the lamb for diced cremini mushrooms and it was delicious.
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