Foodtastic Mom logo

Jill McOwen
Updated October 27, 2025

Pumpkin Shepherd’s Pie with Ground Turkey

Jump to Recipe Add as a Trusted Google Source

Pumpkin Shepherd’s Pie is a comforting Thanksgiving inspired dish made with ground turkey, canned pumpkin, Brussels sprouts and bacon.

If you like this recipe, check out my Cottage Pie next!

pumpkin shepherds pie in the skillet

Want to save this recipe?

Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!

Save Recipe

One of my son’s favorite meals has always been shepherd’s pie. I think it’s a direct result of his Harry Potter obsession from when he was a child. I love the traditional beef and mashed potato version (also known as cottage pie). But  I decided to get creative and make a pumpkin version for the fall. This is a completely unique recipe. The meat pie filling includes ground turkey, Brussels sprouts, bacon and cranberry sauce. And the mashed potato topping includes canned pumpkin and Swiss cheese. This pumpkin shepherd’s pie serves 6 and takes about 65 minutes from start to finish, with 25 minutes of prep and 40 minutes in the oven.

More savory pumpkin recipes

Ingredients for pumpkin shepherds pie

  • Meat Filling – Bacon and flour are used for the fat, flavor and thickening agent. Chicken or turkey broth makes the gravy. Then a combination of lean ground turkey, onion, fresh Brussels sprouts and jellied cranberry sauce.
  • Potato Topping – Russet potatoes are mashed together with pumpkin puree, Swiss cheese, half and half and butter.
  • Seasonings – A combination of salt, fresh thyme and nutmeg. You could also add black pepper and garlic if you want to.

showing the bacon, brussels sprouts and onion cooking in the skillet

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large pot cover the potatoes with cold water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook the potatoes until fork tender. Drain the potatoes and add the pumpkin puree, half and half, 4 tablespoons of butter and salt. Mash well until mostly smooth. Stir in the shredded cheese, thyme and nutmeg and set aside.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a cast iron skillet (12 inches in diameter) until melted. Add the bacon, onion and brussels sprouts. Cook over medium heat until bacon is browned, about 10 minutes. Add the turkey and salt. Cook, stirring often to break up the turkey. Once the turkey is cooked through stir in the broth and cranberry sauce and simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for an additional 2 minutes to thicken up the sauce.

Remove the skillet from the heat. Spread the pumpkin mashed potatoes evenly over the cooked turkey mixture. Or if you don’t have a skillet for baking, transfer the filling to a 9×13 Pyrex (or similar) baking dish. Top the filling with the pumpkin mashed potatoes.  Bake the shepherd’s pie at 400 degrees for 40 – 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and serve.

Keep scrolling to the bottom of this post for my free printable recipe card.

Serving suggestions

Here’s some more of my recipes to turn my pumpkin shepherds pie into a complete meal –

a plated serving of pumpkin shepherds pie

Variations and tips

  • Shepherd’s pie or cottage pie? Traditional shepherd’s pie is made with lamb. When it’s made with beef, it’s usually called cottage pie. This version uses ground turkey. If you’d like the beef version, try my Cottage Pie.
  • Meatless version: Sliced mushrooms can stand in for the ground turkey, and you can leave out the bacon.
  • Swaps for the Brussels sprouts: One reader roasted butternut squash instead of Brussels sprouts, and added sweet potato to the mashed topping.
  • Leaving out the potatoes: I haven’t tested this recipe without the potatoes. I think pumpkin by itself would be too loose to set up.
  • Pumpkin puree: Use plain canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.

Storage directions

Store leftovers in an airtight container. They will stay fresh in the refrigerator for 3 – 5 days. It will also stay fresh in the freezer for 2 – 3 months.

Kitchen tools

  • I used a cast iron skillet similar to this one to bake my pumpkin shepherd’s pie.
  • You could use a 9×13 Pyrex dish instead if you don’t have a cast iron skillet.
pumpkin shepherds pie pictured in a white cast iron skillet with two small pumpkins on the side as decoration
Print Pin
4.88 from 8 votes

Pumpkin Shepherds Pie

Pumpkin Shepherd's Pie is a comforting Thanksgiving inspired dish made with ground turkey, canned pumpkin, Brussels sprouts and bacon.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword pumpkin shepherds pie, turkey shepherds pie
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 471kcal
Author Jill McOwen

Ingredients

  • 4 cups russet potatoes peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling
  • 1 cup Swiss cheese shredded
  • 1/2 cup half and half
  • 6 tbsp butter divided
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 3 slices bacon chopped
  • 1/2 sweet onion chopped
  • 2 cups fresh Brussels sprouts stems removed and sliced
  • 1 lb 99% fat free ground turkey
  • 1 cup chicken or turkey broth
  • 1/3 cup jellied cranberry sauce
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  • In a large pot cover the potatoes with cold water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook the potatoes until fork tender. Drain the potatoes and add the pumpkin puree, half and half, 4 tablespoons of butter and salt. Mash well. Stir in the shredded cheese, thyme and nutmeg and set aside.
  • Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a cast iron skillet (12 inches in diameter) until melted. Add the bacon, onion and Brussels sprouts. Cook over medium heat until bacon is browned, about 10 minutes. Add the turkey and salt. Cook, stirring often to break up the turkey. Once the turkey is cooked through stir in the broth and cranberry sauce and simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for an additional 2 minutes to thicken up the sauce.
  • Remove the skillet from the heat. Spread the pumpkin mashed potatoes evenly over the cooked turkey mixture.
  • Bake the shepherd's pie at 400 degrees for 40 - 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and serve.

Notes

If you don't have a skillet for baking, transfer the filling to a 9x13 Pyrex (or similar) baking dish. Top the filling with the pumpkin mashed potatoes.

Nutrition

Calories: 471kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 104mg | Sodium: 989mg | Potassium: 919mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 7194IU | Vitamin C: 33mg | Calcium: 228mg | Iron: 3mg

Foodtastic Mom is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program (Amazon Associate), an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any highlighted, clickable Amazon links you see are affiliate links that I may earn advertising fees on when you click to purchase.

Pumpkin Shepherd's Pie is a comforting Thanksgiving inspired dish made with ground turkey, canned pumpkin, Brussels sprouts and bacon.

Pinterest

Be sure and follow Foodtastic Mom on TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram!

Related recipes

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Melanie says

    5 stars
    Made this recipe last night…amazing!! We ate it outside by the fire last night. Truly comfort food with a great fall twist!! I had a little too much potato so might cut that down next time but otherwise wouldn’t change a thing.

    Reply

  3. Sheryl says

    4 stars
    This was so good! I used this recipe as inspiration. For the base I roasted butternut squash instead of brussel sprouts. For the mashed potato part I added sweet potato, regular potato and pumpkin. I seasoned both parts with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Thank you so much for this recipe, I will definitely use it again!

    Reply

      • Veronica Wylie says

        Do you think it would work with just pumpkin and no potatoes? I have SO MUCH pumpkin left from my pie pumpkins but all the potatoes have been eaten already. Just wanna use up leftovers! 😇

      • foodtasticmom says

        I’m sorry for the late reply on this. I think the pumpkin by itself might be too loose and not set up. Let me know how it turned out if you already tried it with just pumpkin. Thanks!

  5. Gabi says

    I love that you’ve hidden even brussels sprouts in this creative fall dish. I’m sure my hubby would be thrilled if I’ve baked him your pumpkin’s shepherds pie:)

    Reply

    • foodtasticmom says

      Thanks! Pumpkin puree is just so convenient – except for when there is a shortage. That happened in our store a couple of weeks ago. Glad it’s back 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating