Vegan Lentil and Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie
This is the perfect recipe to make on a lazy Sunday afternoon when you have plenty of time. This is NOT the type of recipe to make on a hectic Monday evening. It requires quite a bit of prep work and has to cook for about an hour between the stove and the oven. But I just HAD to share it because it is so delicious but also sooo healthy.
Both my kids loved it . . . I know, shocker! And my son hates mushrooms. All the flavors and textures just blend together so perfectly into the beautiful mess that is this vegan, protein packed deliciousness (those words do not even belong in the same sentence but I swear it describes this dish perfectly).
It doesn’t seem like a very kid-friendly dish, but I think it’s the tomato paste that makes the flavor familiar. It reminds my kids of sloppy joes.
I like to double the recipe because this is one of those dishes that tastes just as good, if not better, as leftovers, either frozen or in the fridge. I freeze half of it in a casserole dish and have a home-cooked meal ready in minutes on nights that I don’t feel like cooking. I also like to freeze it into single serving portions for easy lunches.
Roast Cauliflower. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and cut the cauliflower into medium pieces, put it in a roasting pan and toss with olive oil and salt. Roast for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Stirring after 15 minutes.
Sauté veggies. While the cauliflower is roasting, in a large skillet oven-safe skillet on medium-low, cook 2 cloves of garlic in a small amount of olive oil for the cauliflower “mashed potatoes”. Once the garlic is soft (1-2 minutes), put it in the blender and set aside. Next, in the same skillet, sauté the onion, celery, carrot, mushrooms, and garlic in a small amount of olive oil over medium heat, until softened (7-10 minutes). Any skillet will work here, I like to use caste iron so that I can put it right in the oven and I have less dishes to do. You can easily transfer this to a casserole dish if you don’t have a skillet that is oven-safe.
Cook lentils. Add the water and lentils to the vegetables, stir, cover, and cook on medium-low for 25 minutes or until lentils are soft and liquid is absorbed. You can substitute vegetable stock for the water and bouillon but when you cook lentils with salt (and vegetable stock has plenty of it), the salt can keep the lentils from getting soft. I’ve made this dish with stock before and it tasted good, but some of the lentils were still chewy. But I thought it totally worked either way.
Once the lentils are soft, stir in vegetable bouillon, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce.
Blend cauliflower into “mashed potatoes”. While the lentils are cooking, put the roasted cauliflower in a blender along with garlic. Add the parsley (or any fresh herb you have on hand – rosemary is delicious too), full fat coconut milk and almond milk. Blend until smooth, scraping the sides a few times and adding additional milk if necessary. It should be a little thinner than mashed potatoes made from a box.
Put it all together and bake. Smooth out the lentil mixture in the skillet (wiping the sides if you were messy like me) and spread the cauliflower “mashed potatoes” evenly over the top. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the top starts to get golden brown.
Mmmmmm, so delicious. I can’t even believe it’s health food.
If you try this recipe, please let me know what you thought in the comments below. I love to hear your feedback.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 55 minutes |
| Servings |
people
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- 1 head cauliflower
- 2 cloves garlic, minced and roasted
- 2 Tbsp. full fat coconut milk (use the cream from the top of canned coconut milk)
- 1/2 cup almond milk, or other non-dairy milk
- 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley (optional)
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
- 1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
- 16 oz. mushroom, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cups water
- 1 cube vegetable bouillon
- 1 cup dry brown lentils
- 6 oz. can tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp. vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
Ingredients
Cauliflower "mashed potatoes" layer
Lentil and Mushroom layer
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- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and cut cauliflower into medium pieces, put in a roasting pan and toss with olive oil and salt. Roast for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Stirring after 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large caste iron skillet or oven-safe saucepan over medium-low heat, sauté 2 Tbsp. garlic for the cauliflower "mashed potatoes" for 1-2 minutes of until soft. Put the softened garlic in a blender and set aside. Then, in the same skillet, add the onion, celery, carrot, mushrooms, and garlic and a small amount of olive oil and cook on medium heat until softened (7-10 minutes).
- Add water and lentils, stir, cover, and cook on medium-low for 25 minutes or until lentils are soft and liquid is absorbed. Stir in vegetable bouillon, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Once the cauliflower is done, add it in the blender with the garlic. Then add parsley (or any fresh herb you have on had - rosemary is delicious too), coconut milk and almond milk. Blend until smooth, scraping the sides a few times and adding additional milk if necessary. It should be a little runnier than mashed potatoes made from a box.
- Spread cauliflower mixture over lentil and mushroom layer and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the top starts to get golden brown.
