putting a background of @android:drawable/dialog_holo_light_frame, gives shadow but you can't change background color nor border style, so it's better to benefit from the shadow of it, while still be able to put a background via layer-list
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<layer-list xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<!--the shadow comes from here-->
<item
android:bottom="0dp"
android:drawable="@android:drawable/dialog_holo_light_frame"
android:left="0dp"
android:right="0dp"
android:top="0dp">
</item>
<item
android:bottom="0dp"
android:left="0dp"
android:right="0dp"
android:top="0dp">
<!--whatever you want in the background, here i preferred solid white -->
<shape android:shape="rectangle">
<solid android:color="@android:color/white" />
</shape>
</item>
</layer-list>