Chicken Sheppard’s Pie

This recipe I originally found in a weight watcher’s cookbook (see citation at the bottom). I’ve messed with it a little, mostly to improve on the “gravy”, we tend to like a bit more sauce in our Sheppard’s Pie. NOTE: This is from memory & is a bit of a draft because I keep forgetting to go get the damned recipe card to double check. But I’ve made this a dozen times & am sure it’s all good ;) Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 2-3 cups of cooked, mashed russet potatoes
  • 2 cups (about 3 medium breasts) cubed, cooked chicken (note: you can also use dark meat if you prefer)
  • 3 tablespoons of unbleached white flour (original recipe called for 2)
  • 3 tablespoons of light butter (original recipe called for 2, I use light lactancia)
  • 1 & 1/2 - 2 cups of low-fat/salt organic chicken stock (regular will do, but you already have 3 tablespoons of butter in there fatty!)
  • 1 cup of skim milk
  • 1 small onion finely diced/minced
  • 3 fresh young carrots (about 1 & 1/2 cups) chopped into thin slices & blanched
  • 1-1 &1/2 cups of spinach, washed, blanched (the measurement is post blanching, so about 3-4 cups of raw spinach)
  • 1 cup of corn kernels (uncooked)
  • 1 tablespoon marjoram
  • 1/2 tablespoon thyme

Preparing

  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. In a large saucepan, melt the butter & add 2/3 of the flour to it, cook for a couple minutes. Add the chicken stock, mixing with a whisk, the sauce should start to thicken, then add the milk, sauce should continue to thicken & become gravy-like.
  3. Add the corn, carrots an spinach to he chicken in a bowl, add the thyme & marjoram, and the rest of the flour. Mix together & add to the gravy.
  4. Cook together for a couple minutes, sauce should be nice & thick, if it is not add a bit more flour, if it’s too thick, add some more chicken stock.
  5. Pour hot mixture into a casserole dish & spoon the potatoes over top so they cover the mixture.
  6. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes or until the peaks of the potatoes are golden.
  7. Take out of oven & let site for 5-10 minutes.. its HOT!

Options

  • Add grated Parmesan and or paprika to the top of the potatoes for and extra zip.

Notes

  • Chicken:
    • I cube it then cook it in a little olive oil with rosemary, thyme, salt & pepper, but you can use whatever spices you want or none at all.
    • I’ve also tried roasting the chicken on the BBQ in spices, then shredding the chicken. This adds a different texture to the dish & the spices add a little zing.
  • Potatoes: I whip mine in my pretty Kitchen Aid mixer my sweetie got me. I add a little skim milk & light sour creme.
  • Veggies: Add/try other veggies you think may go well! Broccoli, parsnip, turnip, etc would all work.
  • Gravy: You can make the gravy with a gravy starter or canned gravy (not nearly as good or healthy, most are packed with sodium)

Share on Facebook