Beef Hotpot with Crispy Parmesan Potatoes

This beef hotpot recipe is inspired by one of the best dishes I had the pleasure of discovering while living in the UK. It’s proper comfort food: rich, filling and exactly the kind of dinner you want when it’s cold outside.

What I probably love most about hotpot, though, is how easy it is to make it your own. You can change the meat, use different mushrooms or root vegetables, add whatever is in season and play around with the herbs. My family loves it, and over the years I’ve realised that this is one of those dinners where a little improvisation is part of the fun.

A British Classic with Lancashire Roots

The best-known British version is Lancashire hotpot, a dish strongly associated with the north-west of England. The classic version is traditionally made with lamb or mutton, onions and sliced potatoes arranged over the top. As everything slowly cooks together, the potatoes become golden while the meat underneath turns beautifully tender.

But hotpot has never been quite as rigid as you might think. Historical versions varied, and beef has appeared in hotpots too. Even the origins of the name have been linked to hodge-podge, an older term for a mixture of ingredients cooked together.

I love that little piece of its history because it fits so well with what I enjoy about the dish today. There is a traditional idea behind it, but there is also plenty of room to work with what’s available and make it suit your own kitchen.

My Beef Hotpot

For my version, I use beef entrecôte with mushrooms, carrots, onion, garlic and fresh thyme. A little tomato purée and red wine go into the sauce, along with bay leaves and allspice, and then everything cooks slowly until the beef is tender and the flavours have had time to come together.

I also lightly coat the seasoned beef in flour before browning it. As the meat, onion and mushrooms cook, plenty of flavour builds up on the bottom of the pan. I don’t want to lose any of that. If things begin to catch, I add a little water and scrape all those browned bits back into the dish.

Then come the potatoes.

Those Crispy Parmesan Potatoes

Instead of simply placing plain sliced potatoes over the top, I lightly coat mine with extra virgin olive oil and finish them with finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

The potatoes cook over the rich beef filling, becoming golden on top while taking on some of the flavour from underneath. The Parmesan gives the surface another savoury layer and helps create that slightly crispy finish that, for me, makes the whole dish.

It’s one of those moments when you bring the pot to the table and everyone immediately knows which part they want plenty of.

Comfort Food with Plenty to Give

This beef hotpot is definitely a hearty dinner, but it’s also a meal that naturally provides plenty of protein and iron from the beef. I like dinners like this because they’re proper comfort food while still bringing something worthwhile to the table nutritionally.

And you can keep changing it. Different mushrooms, seasonal vegetables or herbs can give you a slightly different hotpot without changing what makes the dish so comforting in the first place.

That’s probably why it has stayed in our family menu. It’s warm, satisfying, flexible and made for sharing. And when that pot comes to the table with tender beef and bubbling sauce underneath those golden Parmesan potatoes, it really doesn’t need much else.