🥧 Dr. T's Purple Power Shepherd's Pie™

Here's a bladder-friendly upgrade on a seasonal, traditional family favorite!

Serves: 4–6
Prep: ~20 minutes | Bake: ~20 minutes

🛒 Ingredients

Purple Potato Crown

• 2 lbs purple potatoes, peeled if desired and cut into chunks.
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter or extra-virgin olive oil
• ⅓–½ cup milk or unsweetened tolerated non-dairy milk
• ¼ tsp salt, or to taste

Savory Rainbow Filling

• 1 lb lean ground turkey — my first choice for the BB version
• 1 Tbsp olive oil, if needed
• 8 oz white button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup carrots, finely diced
• 1 cup green peas
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp dried rosemary, crushed between your fingers
• 1½ cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 1 Tbsp flour or cornstarch*
• ¼–½ tsp salt, to taste
• Tiny pinch of black pepper, optional

*For cornstarch, mix it with 2 Tbsp cool broth before adding.

👩🏾‍🍳 Let’s Make Some Purple Power

1. Build the purple crown. Add the purple potatoes to a pot, cover with water and simmer until fork-tender, about 15–20 minutes. Drain well. Mash with butter and enough milk to make them creamy and fluffy. Season lightly with salt.

2. Make that filling taste GOOD. While the potatoes cook, brown the turkey in a large skillet over medium heat. Don’t rush this part—the little browned bits help create savory flavor without needing a heavy sauce.

Add the mushrooms and carrots. Cook for about 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released their moisture and the vegetables begin to soften. Add the thyme and rosemary and cook another 30 seconds until everything smells like cozy Sunday dinner. 

3. Create the gravy. Reserve about ¼ cup of the broth. Add the remainder to the skillet and simmer gently for 5–7 minutes.

Whisk the flour into the reserved broth until smooth, then stir it into the filling. Simmer until the mixture becomes rich, glossy and spoonable—not watery. Stir in the peas during the final 2–3 minutes so they stay bright and sweet. Taste and season lightly.

4. Crown it in PURPLE. 💜 Spoon the filling into a lightly greased baking dish. Spread those gorgeous mashed purple potatoes across the top. Use the back of a spoon or fork to make swirls and peaks—kids can absolutely handle this job.

5. Bake the magic. Bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes, until the filling is bubbling around the edges and the potato peaks are beginning to brown. For extra color, broil very briefly at the end while watching it closely.

Let it rest for 5–10 minutes before serving.

Why Dr. T especially likes this for the Bladder Breakthrough program:

We've quietly packed purple + green + orange + white plant foods into one familiar comfort-food format. The purple potatoes also bring a legitimate Eat the Rainbow connection: their color comes largely from anthocyanins, the family of plant pigments behind many red, blue and purple foods.

And from a kid-acceptance standpoint, I think the flavor architecture works: savory turkey + umami-rich mushrooms + sweet carrots and peas + aromatic thyme + creamy potatoes. Nothing about that combination screams “health food.”

Dr. T’s Parent Note: Every child is different. This recipe uses generally mild ingredients, but if your child has known food triggers, substitute accordingly and keep noticing their individual patterns.

The flavor combination I'd test first

Ground turkey + mushrooms + carrots + peas + thyme + low-sodium chicken broth → creamy mashed purple-potato crown.

That sounds legitimately delicious. The mushrooms give the turkey the savory depth it otherwise lacks; carrots provide sweetness; peas pop; thyme makes it smell like comfort food; and those purple potatoes turn an ordinary shepherd's pie into something a kid is going to stare at and say, “WAIT…why is my dinner PURPLE?!” 😂💜