I love sweet potatoes and I could eat them all the time. I like them with savory spices and sweet ones. I like them in my salads, soups and desserts. I love them baked in my Thai Spiced French Fries too. With this deep commitment to the sweet potato I needed it to be a star in my very first recipe post on Family Fresh Cooking.
Yes, this my friends is the first recipe I ever published on this blog back on June 25th 2009.
My kids and husband loved this recipe. It is a complete meal as it has loads of veggies, protein and flavor. I serve this with a side salad that included baby spinach leaves, diced tomatoes, some grated Parmesan a splash of lemon juice, olive oil and cracked pepper.
It is also perfect to pack in your lunch box. A great recipe for my Project Lunch Box.
Ingredients
- 4 medium to large Sweet Potatoes cleaned and cut into chunks (also know as Garnet Yams, these are bright orange inside, skins on)
- 1/2 cup Non-fat Milk (you could use whole milk if you wish)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- a little of Maple Syrup to taste
- Pinch of Cinnamon and/or Nutmeg to taste
- Splash of olive oil to coat pan
- 1 Chopped Onion
- a few Cloves Chopped Garlic or a few teaspoons Crushed garlic
- 1 cup Frozen Peas
- 2 handfuls Baby Spinach Leaves
- 1 pound Ground Turkey, Chicken, Beef or Lamb (You can also use your leftover Thanksgiving Turkey here. Shred it with your hands or chop it up)
- (1) 14 ounce can Cream of Mushroom Soup (not condensed)
- 2 tablespoons Chopped Italian Parsley (you can use 1 tablespoon dry here if you wish, but the fresh has so much flavor)
- 1 teaspoon dried Thyme
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Method
- Place sweet potatoes in large pot of boiling water, use enough water to cover. I left the skins on as they provide even more nutrients and flavor. Simmer them until they are cooked through about 20 minutes. Drain immediately. Add milk and desired seasonings. Mash sweet potatoes with a fork or potato masher. Set aside.
- Pre heat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat a large sauté pan with the olive oil over medium heat. It is best to use one that can go straight into the oven so you only have one pot to clean up. Saute the onion and ground meat until meat is browned and cooked through. Drain fat if necessary. If using leftover shredded turkey add on next step. Add mushroom soup, peas and other veggies to pan. Add parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until spinach wilts and vegetables cook through. If there is too much liquid in the pan you can spoon it out so the filling doesn't get too runny.
- Take pan off the stove and spoon or use a spatula to cover the top with the mashed sweet potatoes.Sprinkle some cinnamon or nutmeg on the top. Place in pre-heated oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove, let sit a few minutes and serve.
- You can incorporate as many veggies as you like. Extra mushrooms, carrots, celery, broccoli. Be creative here!
Shepherds Pie Recipe Links
- Greek Inspired Shepherd’s Pie Chez Us
- Potato Tot Topped Shepherd’s Pie Taste and Tell
- Shepherd’s Pie One Haute Plate
- Spiffed Up Sirloin Cheddar Shepherds Pie Babble
- Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Shepherd’s Pie Pham Fatale
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Love this recipe and cant wait to try it. I have a 3 year old who is a super picky eater so I am going to keep an eye out on this site for how to make food that my mac and cheese loving toddler will actually touch!
great recipe, happy anniversary…..love that your first post was about sweet potatoes, love them!!
Hey Marla! I have a question for you. What can I use instead of non-condensed cream of mushroom soup? I could not find it locally, so I used Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup. Neither my husband nor I have ever had Shepherd’s pie, but this looked great, so I gave it a try. The dish was wonderful and my husband REALLY liked it! I want to make it again, but I would prefer to use something besides the Campbell’s Soup.
I just made this for me and my fiance for dinner and it was EXCELLENT. I have a hard time finding ways to cook yams and this was so perfect. It was warm and filling comfort food! I actually bought condensed soup so I mixed a half a can of water in with the can of soup(I think it was 10 oz condensed) and it was the perfect consistency…not too watery at all.
I will definitely be making this again!
Rebecca, you just made my night!! That was the first recipe I ever posted on my blog. Can you believe it!! Now I am craving it too. Glad to hear your fiance liked it as well. Great adaptation with the mushroom soup.
I tried this recipe last week. Just a note: the instructions never mention the garlic. So I completely forgot to include garlic in my shepherd’s pie
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