Trader Joe's Shepherd's Pie

I popped into my local Trader Joe's the weekend before St. Patrick's Day and I noticed a few items were on display to pay homage to the holiday. One of those dishes was the Trader Joe's Shepherd's Pie. Now, I'm a bit of a shepherd's pie snob because I've always had my mothers variation of the dish ... so anything other than the "traditional" is different in my book.

 

Deciding to bridge the gap and try something different, I took a look at the nutrition facts and was surprised to find them truly not that bad. Bad in comparison to some of the other variations of the dish out there on the market or even in restaurants. Classic shepherd's pie has vegetables and a sort of "gravy" to the sauce. The shepherd's pie I grew up eating was ground hamburger meat cooked with onion, corn, creamed corn and mashed potatoes. So, just looking at the picture on the box was a walk on the wild side for me.

 

I opted to heat the meal up in the microwave so I followed the directions on the box and my lunch was done quickly. Truly, I wasn't sure what flavors to expect ... but I have to say I was pretty much pleased with the dish. It was lacking in a seasoning aspect (salt and pepper primarily) so a little sprinkle on top and it did the trick. Truthfully, I was expecting the dish to be just loads of mashed potatoes with a little bit of meat and veggies thrown in the mix. And it was anything but ... it is loaded with shredded pieces of beef and veggies which are moistened with gravy, it's then topped with a light layer of mashed potatoes on top.

 

Even with the switch to shredded beef over ground beef and the absence of an abundance of flavoring it was pretty good. I found it to be a quite satisfying meal and undoubtedly something I'd repurchase if I was in the mood for a convenient shepherd's pie.

 

A serving, 1 cup (227g or roughly 1/2 the container) is 180 calories or 5 points plus values.