Often a hodge podge of pasta and canned soup, casseroles are admittedly not my first pick at a potluck.

There’s something about the whole “refined carbs meets additive-laden soup” that doesn’t exactly make me wanna dig in.

But, good casseroles are out there—both in terms of flavor and health benefits. Honestly, there’s a lot to love about one-pan meals when they taste good and are good for you!

A variation of my recipe for grass-fed beef shepherd’s pie appeared in my book, Real Food for Gestational Diabetes, for good reason: it’s simple, versatile, and nutrient-dense.

I specifically add a few ounces of grass-fed beef liver to this recipe to amp up the vitamin and mineral content. Liver is a powerhouse chock full of vitamin B12, iron, zinc, folate, vitamin A, choline, and a slew of other health-promoting nutrients. It’s not my favorite thing to eat by itself, but in big recipes like this, you can’t even taste it.

If I’m lazy (often am), I add liver pate instead of fresh, chopped liver. Since I get liver from my grass-fed cow share, it comes frozen in big 2-3 pound packages, which I use to make a large batch liver pate. As a family, we’ll usually eat 4-8 ounces fresh, so the rest I freeze in 4-8 ounce mason jars for later. Then, I can simply defrost a jar whenever I’m making a recipe like this. (Wanna know how I make it? Check out my recipe for Grass-fed Beef Liver Pate.)

For the topping, I go with cauliflower (or a 50:50 combo of cauliflower and potatoes) to lower the carbs a bit. If you do better with more carbs in your diet, by all means, go with the traditional mashed potato topping. Doesn’t hurt to try out a cauliflower topping, though!

Print Recipe

Grass-fed Beef Shepherd’s Pie

Filling:
1 lb grass-fed ground beef
3-4 ounces grass-fed beef liver, finely chopped OR liver pate (optional-see notes)
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 cups raw baby spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried oregano
Cauliflower Topping:
1 large head cauliflower, chopped (or ½ cauliflower and ½ potatoes)
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Steam cauliflower while preparing the filling, which takes 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of cauliflower pieces.
In a large cast iron pan, cook ground beef over medium-high heat. If the pan is dry, add a bit of butter or coconut oil (grass-fed beef can be very lean).
With a spatula, break up meat into bite-sized pieces. Once browned, add liver and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Remove from heat and place in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Do not drain rendered fat.
In the same pan, add butter, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, and oregano.
Cook for 10 minutes, being sure to scrape up browned bits. Add baby spinach and stir in to wilt. Transfer to baking dish and spread evenly over beef.
Mash steamed cauliflower with butter, salt, and pepper. Spread on top of meat and vegetables.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, until the topping is lightly browned.

Recipe Notes

Here's a tutorial for making liver pate.

Clean up is also a breeze. I use only two dishes to make grass-fed beef shepherd’s pie: a 9×13 inch baking dish + my trusty cast iron skillet.

Speaking of iron… As if there wasn’t enough from the grass-fed beef, liver, and spinach, you get an extra boost of iron by cooking everything in cast iron. That’s not the only upside of cooking with grandma’s favorite pan. Here are 6 benefits of cooking in cast iron.

If you enjoy this recipe, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

Until next week,
Lily

PS – Why do I keep saying the words “grass-fed?” Does it even matter? In short, yes. A LOT. Here are 7 reasons grass-fed beef is worth the money.

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