Slow Cooker Minced Beef Hotpot

Use the slow cooker to cook up our wonderful winter warmer - minced beef hotpot is a cheap and easy mince and potato stew that'll easily stretch to feed a big family.

Minced beef hot pot recipe is a proper wintery stew. An easy, dump and go slow cooker recipe, that you can easily bulk up to feed even a large family.

We use beef mince in our hotpot along with potatoes and simple vegetables to keep the cost low. And I'll run through loads of easy ways to stretch this meal to feed more at the end.

Choosing to cook our slow cooker beef mince hotpot is a total win-win! Here’s why! 

• The slow cooker cost less to run than the oven, so you'll be saving money on fuel.

• No faff or browning required, literally dump, stir and go!

• Hotpot is super easy to bulk up to feed more people.

• Beef hotpot can be made ahead of time, you can turn leftovers into other meals, and it freezes well.

Equipment Needed

• Chopping board

• Vegetable knife

• Measuring jug

• Slow Cooker

• Cooking spoon

Minced Beef Hotpot Ingredients

You'll just need a handful of ingredients to make our easy mince and potatoes slow cooker recipe

• 1 brown onion - diced, you can sub this for a couple of leeks, trimmed, and sliced if you prefer.

• 500g carrots - if using the baby carrots, just scrub them and top and tail, if using bigger carrots, scrub and chop into bitesized pieces.

• 1.5kg potatoes - peeled and diced

• 500g beef mince - you could also use lamb mince if you like, or a mixture of pork and beef minced meat.

• 2 stock pots - I used Knorr Stock Pots

• 300ml boiling water - you could also use a mixture of ale and water or red wine and water.

• Pinch salt

• Pinch black pepper

• Couple of shakes of Worcestershire sauce

How To Make Minced Beef Hotpot In The Slow Cooker

This is a great recipe for busy people, there's no faff, no browning, no bringing to the boil, just dump and go!

Step One - preheat the slow cooker

• Preheat the slow cooker to low - if cooking for 7-8 hours or high if cooking for 3-4 hours.

Step Two - add the mince and potatoes beef hotpot ingredients to the slow cooker

• Add the mince, potatoes, carrots, onions, stock pots, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and boiling water to the slow cooker pan.

• Give everything a gentle mix together using a wooden spoon.

Step Three - cook the mince beef hot pot recipe

• Put the lid on and cook for either 7-8 hours on low, or 3-4 hours on high.

What To Do If Your Stew Needs Thickening

Sometimes, depending on your slow cooker a stew can be a little watery, our hotpot is usually fine and the potatoes cook into the gravy and thicken it.

But if your stew needs thickening, then it's super easy. Just follow the steps below

How To Thicken Stew With Cornflour

• Add a couple of heaped teaspoons of cornflour to a mug and mix into a paste using some cold water from the tap.

• Stir the paste through the stew and cook for around 5 minutes to thicken. You can repeat this until you have the thickness you like.

Try Our Chilli Pasta Bake Recipe Here

How To Thicken A Stew With Gravy Granules

• Just sprinkle 2-3 teaspoons of gravy granules into the casserole or stew and stir well to thicken the gravy.

Cooks Note! Just remember when thickening with gravy granules you are adding more salt, so maybe adjust the salt content in the recipe to account for this.

Can I Make Minced Beef Hotpot In Advance

You can make this hotpot up to 48 hours in advance, just cool thoroughly within 2 hours of cooking and store in an air tight container in the fridge.

When reheating do so slowly on the hob and reheat to a minimum core temperature of 75C and simmer for at least 5 minutes at that temperature or above.

Can I Freeze Beef Hotpot

You can freeze the hotpot, freezing can sometimes make the potatoes a little mushier when you defrost and reheat.

Get Our Steak Chili Recipe Here

Get more easy ground beef recipes here

How To Bulk Up Stew To Stretch It To Feed More People

With our delicious minced beef hotpot you'll find it really easy to bulk up. Try any of the tasty ways below, all of which will stretch your meal further.

Add more potatoes - bulk up easily with extra potatoes

Add more vegetables - add in some extra carrots, swede, parsnips, any root vegetables are great for stretching a stew.

Add tinned beans or pulses - you can add in any canned beans or lentils, not only will they bulk up the casserole but they'll also add an extra source of protein.

Add in some dumplings - cook dumplings on top of the stew for the last couple of hours, everyone loves a dumpling!

Minced Beef Hotpot Leftovers - Here's How To Use Them Up, Deliciously!

If you've any mince beef hotpot recipe left over, then turn it into dinner for another night. Here's our favourite ways of using up leftover hotpot!

• Make a pie - Grab a sheet of ready rolled puff pastry, load the hotpot in a line, down the centre, pull over the sides like a plat, then bake and serve with potatoes and vegetables.

Get the Best Shepherd’s Pie Recipe - with Colcannon Potatoes Topping  here

• Use as shepherds pie filling - reheat the hotpot, top with fluffy mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes then add some grated cheese and finish off under the grill to brown. Serve with baked beans or peas and sweetcorn cooked from the freezer.

• Turn into curry - add a can of lentils, 3 tablespoon of curry paste and reheat on the hob. Serve the curry with rice or naan bread for dipping.

More Easy Minced Beef Recipes To Make

• Beef Mince Curry

• Minced Beef Pie
• Easy Sweet Potato Cottage Pie Recipe

• Lancashire Potato Hash

Make your family’s mealtimes more interesting with one of our mouthwatering beef mince recipes

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Grab all our top tips on how to cook minced beef here along with some super simple recipes!

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