Raising an active family, I often find myself running short on time. Even with fall’s busier schedule of school and sports, it remains important for me to keep my family fueled with a healthy diet. To keep everyone energized, I serve healthy comfort meals, offering a hearty balance of both protein and vegetables like this sweet potato cottage pie. It is a crustless meat pie covered in mashed potatoes- in this case made with ground beef and sweet potatoes.
Fueling Your Family with Healthy Comfort Food
So many people believe they need to eliminate meat from their diets to stay fit; however the nutrients and protein meat provides give us the energy to make it through a busy day. It fuels our children with the energy to handle school, extracurricular activities and homework.
You don’t need to eliminate meat, but you do need to keep portion control in mind. One healthy serving of lean beef is four ounces of pre-cooked beef. Some people like to use smaller plates to encourage smaller portions. Others add plenty of vegetables to a serving of lean meat to make up substantial servings that are always healthy and always satisfying. I also like to use lean beef. Is an excellent source of protein, providing fuel that propels our bodies through the day. It also cuts down on the greasy, heavy feeling that you sometimes get with a more fatty beef.
So in the bustle of fall activities, remember to fuel your family with a hassle-free comfort food meal. To get started, stay energized with a hearty one dish recipe, such as this sweet potato cottage pie. This Cottage Pie recipe is easy to make ahead and have ready to heat up when it’s time for dinner at the end of a busy day. This recipe was provided by Barb Freda who is a food blogger and personal chef.
Easy Cottage Pie Recipe with Sweet Potato Topping
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes stove top, 25 minutes in oven
Serves: 6
Cottage Pie Ingredients:
1 pound Laura’s 92% Lean Ground Beef
1 onion, chopped
6 ounces white mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
1 ounce flour
2 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped parsley plus additional for garnish
2 15-ounce cans sweet potatoes in syrup, drained and rinsed well
How To Make Cottage Pie:
1. Heat oven to 425°F. Place large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and cook until pink is gone. Stir in onion, peas and carrots, and mushrooms; cook about 5 minutes more. Sprinkle flour over all and stir to coat. Cook 2 minutes, then add stock, Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from bottom. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and let thicken (about 5 minutes).
2. While sauce thickens, mash sweet potatoes (I prefer a hand masher, leaving some lumps). When sauce is thickened, remove skillet from heat. Stir parsley into beef mixture and transfer mixture to a pie dish or small baking pan. Spoon sweet potatoes over all, spreading to cover filling.
3. Place dish, uncovered, in hot oven and cook until potatoes start to brown lightly, about 25 minutes. (If pie is made ahead and chilled, heat for 45 minutes in oven.)
4. Sprinkle extra parsley over the top and serve immediately.
This sweet potato cottage pie makes the perfect family dinner for the fall and winter season!
Printable Sweet Potato Cottage Pie Recipe
Hearty, filling cottage pie with meat and potatoes!
Ingredients
- 1 pound Laura’s 92% Lean Ground Beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 6 ounces white mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
- 1 ounce flour
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley plus additional for garnish
- 2 15-ounce cans sweet potatoes in syrup, drained and rinsed well
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425°F.
- Place large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and cook until pink is gone.
- Stir in onion, peas and carrots, and mushrooms; cook about 5 minutes more.
- Sprinkle flour over all and stir to coat. Cook 2 minutes, then add stock, Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from bottom.
- Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and let thicken (about 5 minutes).
- While sauce thickens, mash sweet potatoes.
- When sauce is thickened, remove skillet from heat.
- Stir parsley into beef mixture and transfer mixture to a pie dish or small baking pan. Spoon sweet potatoes over all, spreading to cover filling.
- Place dish, uncovered, in hot oven and cook until potatoes start to brown lightly, about 25 minutes.
- Sprinkle extra parsley over the top and serve immediately.
If cottage pie is made ahead and chilled, heat for 45 minutes in oven.
If you haven’t tried a cottage pie before, it is very similar to a Shepherd’s Pie but instead of ground lamb, it uses ground beef. This easy cottage pie recipe also feature a twist by using sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes. I think it makes it extra tasty! Let us know what you think! Tag us on social media @familyfocusblog
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Is it possible to use turkey meat instead?
I host Thanksgiving every year and there are two people that come to dinner that don’t like turkey (imagine? LOL), so I ususally make an “alternative” main course instead. This recipe sounds perfect for that.