Sweet Potato Chicken Cottage Pie
Sweet Potato Chicken Cottage Pie is a healthier take on a classic British comfort food—ready in just 30 minutes and packed with veggies!
This sweet potato chicken cottage pie is a healthier, lighter twist on one of the most loved British comfort foods!
Ready in just 30 minutes, it’s the perfect dish for busy weeknights when you need something quick, tasty, and satisfying.
This veggie-packed cottage pie version is made with chicken and topped with a creamy, mashed sweet potato crust instead of the usual mashed potatoes.
As an extra bonus, it’s super easy to customize with your favorite veggies!
I love adding peas and mushrooms, but carrots, broccoli, or spinach are also delicious options to mix in for extra flavor and nutrients.
Plus, it's gluten-free, making it a great option for anyone with dietary needs.
Family-friendly, flavorful, and so comforting—what’s not to love?
Ingredients
This heart-warming sweet potato cottage pie is super easy to put together.
It takes less than 30 minutes to make start to finish, and only requires a few simple ingredients such as:
- Chicken: I use chopped chicken breast, you can easily substitute it with turkey breast or chicken mince.
- Sweet potato: I love using both the regular orange sweet potatoes or purple sweet potatoes.
- Leek: You can substitute it with onion if you like.
- Mushrooms: I like to use a mix of shiitake mushrooms and cremini OR any large mushrooms (flat mushrooms, portobello, etc).
- Peas: You can use frozen peas, and there's no need need to defrost first. Alternatively, broccoli and spinach work really great in this recipe.
- Flour: To make this gluten-free cottage pie I use rice flour, if you don't have any dietary requirements, you can use all purpose flour.
- Milk: Use any kind of milk you like, I opt for fresh semi-skimmed milk.
- Stock: Go for regular vegetable stock, or if you have a little extra time, use this Italian chicken stock.
- Herbs: I love using fresh thyme for this recipe, but sage or rosemary work well too.
Sweet potato cottage pie serving tips
The best part about this cottage pie with sweet potato recipe is that it incorporates most of the typical items for a balanced meal into one dish!
The chicken, vegetables, and mashed sweet potatoes are combined to make a fulfilling and satisfying dish.
With that said, I often like to add some extra veggies on the side, here are a few ideas:
- Sauteed baby broccoli: flavourful, delicious and super quick to make!
- Confit potatoes: there's never enough potatoes in a meal, these potato confit are just incredibly tasty!
- A colourful winter salad (this Winter Quinoa Salad with Brussels Sprouts, Pomegranate and Pecans is a family favorite!)
Storage tips
Store leftover cottage pie in an airtight container, and keep in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Then transfer them into an oven-friendly dish, cover with foil and reheat in the oven until warmed through.
More British recipes to try
If you've tried and loved this sweet potato chicken cottage pie recipe, I have more British dishes to share!
Some of our family favorite British recipes include this classic coronation chicken, this comforting Shepherd's pie, these flavourful baked beans, and this gorgeous Platinum Jubilee trifle.
Did you try this recipe?
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Recipe
Sweet Potato Chicken Cottage Pie
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 400 g skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
- 150 g mushrooms, chopped
- 1 leek, finely sliced
- ½ tablespoon butter
- 250 ml chicken stock
- 1+½ tablespoon rice flour
- 100 ml semi-skimmed milk, warmed
- 100 g frozen peas
- handful fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- sea salt and pepper
For the topping:
- 750 g sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
- 1 tablespoon semi-skimmed milk, warmed
- sea salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180C / 350F.
- Heat a large skillet with the olive oil over medium heat. Fold in chopped leek and mushrooms and cook until slightly soften, about 2-3 min. Add in the chicken breast chunks, and brown the meat for a further 2 min on both sides. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add in butter and frozen peas, and sprinkle the flour all over the mixture. Gently pour in the stock while mixing, then pour the milk in too. Add thyme leaves, lower the heat and simmer for about 10 min, until the sauce has thickened and reaches a creamy consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- While the sauce cooks, steam the sweet potato chunks for about 10 min, until soften. Transfer into a large bowl, and mash with a potato masher, slowing incorporating the milk in. Season with salt and pepper.
- When the chicken filling is cooked through, transfer to an ovenproof dish, top with the mash and ruffle with a fork.
- Bake the sweet potato and chicken cottage pie for 10 mins, until slightly browned and crunchy on top ( you may also put it under the grill to brown if you like).
- Serve nicely hot straight from the oven.
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Hi Andrea, what size dish did you use for this? I'm hoping to make it for a dinner party this weekend! I wanted an interesting way to serve chicken and sweet potato and this looks like the one!!
Hi Lucy, what a great idea! It's one of my absolutely favorite meals, hope you like it too 🙂 You can use an 18/20/22 cm baking pan or casserole pan for this!
Enjoyed your recipe for dinner tonight. Also had not thought of chicken for a Shepherd Pie.
My family enjoyed this and it will be a regular in my house. Thank you for sharing.
I'm SO SO happy to hear that!!
this looks so delicious! My husband hates mashrooms, so I never make Frittata’s which is a shame. Have you tried freezing this or something similar. I’m thinking for my breakfast or lunch, I could make ahead. Let me know, much appreciated!
Thank you! I think you were meant to say cottage pie? 🙂 I've freezed this before and it turned out well after reheating. Make sure you first cook the cottage pie, then instead of putting it back int he oven to get that nice crust, freeze it and simply put it back in the oven after defrosting, for 15 min. Hope it turns great and you convert your hubby into liking mushrooms 🙂
Cottage pie is my favorite, especially closer to St. Patty's day! I'll have to try it with sweet potatoes, that's a great twist!
Can you believe the only Shepherds Pie I have ever had was in Kenya. It was during a rhino research project I had hooked up with and was cooked by an African tribesman for the European scientists staying at the camp. How crazy is that? Anyhow, I'm loving your version with the sweet potato topping. Way tastier and way more attractive in my book.
I love Shepherd's Pie so I bet I would love this!!
Your cottage pie looks delicious, I love the idea of using sweet potato and chicken pieces instead of minced beef. I usually make a vegetarian cottage pie as I'm not keen on minced beef but now I can try your recipe for a change. Thanks for sharing.
Big fan of cottage pies and this one really looks delicious and that too easy to make. And adding that healthy twist to it is always welcomed.
I love this idea, it's somehow a nice healthy twist to a traditional dish... Although I'm sure in Germany shepherd's pie are so not typical. I ll make this for my german husby who loves sweet potato! Great dish!
I have never made a cottage pie. We love meat pies, which this is .... but with potatoes instead of a traditional crust. This would make great leftovers for another delicious meal during the week. Perfect comfort food for the cold, winter season.
Thank you so much for providing a skinny version to a classic dish. Sometimes, I get scared to try some of my favorite recipes as they are loaded wit fat and carbs. This one looks amazing. Loved the pics as well.
I love the sweet potato topping on this - makes it so much more colourful and at the same time healthier than a traditional cottage pie!
I LOVE finding skinny versions of all my favorite foods and this recipe for skinny shepard's pie sounds so delish! What a great way to pack in more vitamins and nutrients with the sweet potato topping instead of the traditional mashed, love it! Thanks for a great recipe!
This really looks good, I gotta try it. My wife would love it! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome photos! This dish looks so pretty I wouldn't want to cut/scoop into it! 🙂
I would have never thought of using chicken, this is a completely different spin. Interesting. Lovely, bright pictures as usual.
Thank you so much for your lovely feedback Solange, it made my day 🙂 I'm trying to eat less red meat these days, so I thought chicken could have been a great alternative for this cottage pie. Let me tell you, it was even better than the traditional version!
Looks delicious!!
You had me at sweet potato - I love them in any form and shape and nothing beats a good old cottage pie. Comfort food at its best 🙂
This is definitely my kind of cooking. I love chicken fillings for pies and even with pasta, and I know I'd love it with a sweet potato topping like this.
This recipe looks divine - I love sweet potatoes, will need to try it soon.
Thank you so much Heidi!