Ever since I saw Claire from Bon Appetit recreate tater tots, I have been determined to get my fix of them. The allowance of tater tots as a meal was not common in my house as a child, so naturally I remain fixated on them as an adult. In what is essentially an excuse to buy and consumer tater tots, today I am sharing a recipe for FODMAP friendly vegan Shepherds pie. It’s vegetarian, gluten free, easy and truly delicious.

FODMAP friendly vegan Shepherds Pie

The ‘meat’ aspect of this FODMAP friendly shepherd’s pie is a variation on my vegan bolognese recipe. It uses frozen and defrosted tofu, which develops an alarmingly mince meat like texture once the defrost is complete. The pie uses a number of flavourings to develop a meat like umami, and is finished with the heart and soul of the dish, tater tots (or mash). Tater tots are essentially a lazy person’s version of mash – no manual labour required.

Of course, if you’d prefer, there is an option to use mashed potato instead. I’ll go into that below. I have also used Impossible Meat in this recipe just to try it out. Although it was scarily real to me (as a 7+ year pescetarian) it worked really well. 

What to top your FODMAP friendly vegan Shepherds Pie with

This recipe includes an option to top your Shepherd’s Pie with homemade mash or tater tots. An impossible choice, right? But a choice to make. Tater tots make for an easy and quick Shepherds Pie, but mash is traditional and equally delicious. In Australia, it would seem that a fair few brands of tater tots (potato gems) are gluten free. They might not be everywhere, though, so check the labels.

If you’re opting for the mash version, a few things to note. Firstly, you can easily make the mash vegan. Use vegan butter and milk. Either use a vegan cheese on top or simple omit the cheese. 

On the note of cheese, you can add some cheese into the mash to make it extra fancy. A nice sharp cheddar would make an excellent addition (dare I say, perhaps even a truffled cheese?)

Which potato variety is best for mash?

For a delicious, fluffy mash, it’s gotta be a starchy or all rounder potato. The varieties that are best will differ from country to country, so if you don’t like in Australia Google is your friend. If you are Australian, the following are some good choices: 

• Sebago (generally the washed white variety at supermarkets) are a great all rounder
• Yukon Golds (a starchy potato with a beautiful yellow flesh)
• Russett potatoes
• King Edward potatoes

Mash potato tips and tricks

I hate having more kitchen gadgets than necessary, but I am OBSESSED with my potato ricer. It makes the fluffiest, most delightful mash. If you don’t have one and you consider yourself a mash enthusiast, I recommend the investment. 

To make a good mash, there are a few important things to consider. Firstly, it’s important to boil the potatoes until a knife positively slips through. If they are even slightly undercooked, you’ll end up with a lumpy mash. 

Boiling your potatoes whole means they won’t be waterlogged, like they would be if you cut them up. I always boil mine whole and with plenty of salt in the water.

Next up, it’s good practice to remove the skins and rice the potatoes while they are still hot. This makes for a super smooth and creamy mash. 

The final few tips come to you courtesy of Bon Appetit:

• Add the butter before adding the milk
• Add the milk gradually, and as much as necessary
• Season it constantly 

Low FODMAP Shepherds Pie recipe notes

You can buy vegan Worcestershire sauce but I also have a recipe which you can find here. 

Make sure you buy firm tofu for freezing. Anything else will not work in the same way.

I like to buy a few packets of tofu while they’re on sale and pop them in the freezer. That way I have frozen tofu ready to go whenever I need it.

My preferred method of defrosting it is to throw it in the sink (with the packet still intact) while I’m doing dishes. The hot water defrosts the tofu in around 20-30 minutes. You can also use firm tofu without freezing it – freezing it just creates a more meaty texture. 

If you need a frozen tofu refresher, have a read of this article.

You could really throw whatever vegetables you have on hand into this pie. Some rocket or spinach wouldn’t go astray, nor would some grated pumpkin or chopped tomatoes. Feel free to use it as an opportunity to sneak vegetables into your children by disguising them with tater tots.

I have used Massell Beef stock cubes for this recipe. They’re vegan (just beef flavoured) and FODMAP friendly.

FODMAP notes

These FODMAP notes are current as of August 2024.

Firm tofu is FODMAP friendly 170g serves per person. This vegetarian or vegan Shepherds pie serves 6-8, which puts it within acceptable FODMAP limits.

Same goes for tinned tomatoes – they are FODMAP friendly in 100g serves. We’re using one 400g tin in this dish. A tip: use Roma/Plum tinned tomatoes if you can find them. They contain moderate fructose in serves exceeding 182g. Common tinned tomatoes contain moderate fructose in serves exceeding 132g. As such, Roma or plum tomatoes give you a bit more fructose related wiggle room.

You can also use my low FODMAP Nomato sauce recipe to replace some or all of the tinned tomato. One batch of Nomato sauce makes approximately 1.2kg, which is equivalent to 3 x 400g cans of tinned tomato. 

Spring onion greens are low FODMAP in 75g serves. In 97g serves, they contain moderate amounts of fructose. The average big bunch from supermarkets in Australia yields about 50-75g worth of spring onion greens.

Frozen peas are FODMAP friendly in 15g serves per person. I’ve added some but you can leave them out if you want to. You can also substitute frozen with canned – canned peas are low FODMAP in 53g per person.

Last thing to note is that you will need to make sure your stock is low FODMAP. When I used the Impossible Mince, I actually just used water in place of stock because I found the sauce was already sufficiently meaty. You can also do this with the tofu option, if you’d prefer not to use stock. I have a recipe for low FODMAP vegetable stock which you can find here.

How to add flavour and umami to this vegan Shepherds Pie

Because this is a vegan dish, it requires a hit of umami to recreate the depth of a meat variety. Aside from the beef stock cubes, there are a few ways to bump up the umami in a vegan dish. These include:

Miso paste. Half a tablespoon of (gluten free) miso paste can add a lovely umami boost.

Red wine. Red wine is huge in developing an umami, meaty depth of flavour. I never recommend omitting it for this reason. The alcohol cooks off and you are left with a delicious, flavoursome sauce.

Vegemite, nutritional yeast, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and seaweed are more options. They’re not in this recipe, but you could add some to your next pie if you’re into it.

Green tea is another umami booster. If you have a random cup of cold green tea lying around (or even if you don’t) throw that in for a umami boost.

Impossible Meat did have a meaty flavour when I used it, so that’s an easy way to add some authenticity. I probably wouldn’t use vegan meat everyday (mainly because my digestive system would likely crack the sads) but it is a really cool, easy thing to have every now and again. 

Tips for a golden mashed potato topping on your FODMAP friendly vegan Shepherds Pie

If you’re using the mashed potato option, I learned some great tricks from Recipe Tin Eats. Firstly, create some texture on the mashed potatoes by marking them with a fork. You can drag the prongs around, make little dents as you would a yoyo biscuit – whatever you like.

Next, melt some butter and dab it onto the textured surface using a pastry brush. Cover the whole surface in the butter. Finally, sprinkle over some finely and freshly grated parmesan cheese. I like to use my Nutribullet for this to create a super fine sprinkle. 

Lastly, cook the pie at 200C/400F for about thirty minutes or until golden brown. Because (in a mash version) all elements are already cooked, this is purely about browning.

Notes on using impossible mince

As I mentioned in my reel on Instagram, I have also used Impossible Mince for this Shepherd’s Pie. I really liked the taste and texture! It was surprisingly meaty and I would definitely serve it to non-vegetarian people as it is more of a dupe than tofu. On the FODMAP side, there’s nothing that stood out to me as being particularly dangerous. It’s gluten free and made from soy protein. Anecdotally, I felt fine after eating it each time. I’d say it might be down to personal tolerance, but it was fine for me. 

To use it in this Shepherd’s Pie, simply sub it in for the tofu. Add a little less stock (I actually just used water because I wasn’t needing to add in beef flavour). That’s about it! It’s a really delicious fill in for tofu and I recommend it every now and again. 

More low FODMAP vegan recipes

• This vegan, gluten free lasagne
• ‘Chicken’ noodle soup
• This Moroccan inspired vegetable tagine
• These gluten free vegan sausages
• This vegan, gluten free gravy