Keto Shepherd's Pie Casserole

Continuing our long-running penchant for ground beef and cauliflower: I whipped this up on Wednesday night. This is a filling and delicious Winter comfort food while being healthy, keto, and very low carb. Also, you get some nice Greek-style tastes here from the olive oil melted garlic, onion and peppers!

Keto Shepherd's Pie Casserole

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 2 green peppers
• 2 yellow onions
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 large head of cauliflower
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste
• cheddar cheese

1.) Finely chop peppers, onions, and garlic. Sauté salted vegetables on medium high heat in olive oil until onions and garlic are "melted" and translucent.

2.) While veggies are cooking, remove outer leaves and stem of cauliflower. Roughly chop up the cauliflower. Boil chopped cauliflower in salted water. Make sure the boiled cauliflower is still firm and not mushy -- you want your faux-tato casserole topping to be creamy, not watery. Drain cauliflower.

3.) Once vegetables are cooked and melted, add ground beef and salt and pepper to taste. Brown meat in vegetable mixture.

3.) Add salt, butter, and pepper to taste to your boiled, drained cauliflower. Then mix all in food processor or blender. (I used my trusty Ninja!) Set faux-tato mash aside.

4.) Once meat mixture is cooked, layer meat evenly into a casserole pan.

 

5.) Evenly spread your faux-tatoes on top of the meat mixture.

 

Pro Tip: A flexible spatula is the best way to get a nice and even layer here. It's useful for lots of things, really, including icing baked goods. We have a great set of silicone spatulas in three different sizes. Bonus when using silicone spatulas: they don't melt at high heat!

 

 

6.) Grate cheddar cheese and sprinkle on top of the casserole. I did this because cauliflower does not brown the way potatoes do in a traditional Shepherd's pie -- cauliflower lacks the starch to do so. The melted cheese on top basically completes the "look" of the pie. It's also delicious! I also lightly sprinkled on some cayenne for the same reasons (and you know how much I love cayenne!)
 

 



7.) Bake casserole in oven for 25 minutes at 375 degrees. Keep an eye out, though...if the sides start bubbling over, take it out ASAP!

8.) Admire your pretty pie.

9.) EAT!

Pro Tip #2: Wait about 5-10 minutes to let this cool down and use your large silicone spatula to cut squares and serve (as you can see from the above picture, I was in a rush and hungry and didn't take my own advice at first...). This casserole really stays together and looks nice. It's also very easily reheatable!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as Bear and I did! Let us know what you think in the comments!

-Alex