Slow Cooker Welsh Lamb Hotpot
, Updated Jun 18, 2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Slow Cooker Welsh Lamb Hotpot – tender chunks of Welsh Lamb cooked with root vegetables in a rich gravy under a blanket of golden potatoes.
In collaboration with PGI Welsh Lamb.
This hearty and satisfying Lancashire hotpot is the perfect family meal. Prepare and leave to cook long and slow in your crockpot while you go about your day! I think this is the perfect meal for rainy weekends and one the whole family will enjoy.
What’s a Hotpot?
This traditional stew from Lancashire in the North West of England dates back hundreds of years and hasn’t lost any of its comfort food appeal! Lamb hotpot is usually made with only a handful of ingredients: lamb or mutton, onions and carrots cooked under a layer of sliced potatoes.
Once upon a time, lamb kidneys and even oysters (before they became trendy and expensive) were included in this humble stew. The hotpot cooked for several hours while workers toiled away ready to greet them after a hard day’s work!
The slow cooker is the obvious choice to make this stew in my opinion – allowing you to prep the ingredients in the morning and come home to the most comforting aroma in time for dinner.
Lamb Hotpot Ingredients
The star ingredient in this recipe is, unquestionably, the lamb. I used PGI Welsh Lamb shoulder for the BEST tasting hotpot with meltingly tender meat that’s packed with flavour.
Welsh Lamb has been granted PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) status by the European Commission. This is in recognition that the lamb’s superior quality is derived by the unique landscape and traditional methods it is produced with.
It also makes sense to buy local – Welsh Lamb born and reared in Wales that can even be traced back to the farm on which they were raised.
I stuck to pretty much the traditional hotpot medley of root vegetables, onions, butter and flour with a little tomato paste, cranberry sauce, garlic and Worcerster sauce for added punch.
Floury potatoes such as Maris Piper are best for the topping, sliced fairly thin so that they cook through and become a bit crispy.
How to make Slow Cooker Lamb Hotpot
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
- Start by seasoning your lamb with a few turns of the salt and pepper mill then browning the meat, in batches, in a hot pan. This adds a lot of flavor to your stew but you can skip the browning stage if you are in a hurry.
- Add butter to the hot pan and sautée the onions and leeks until softened but not colored. Stir in the flour and a little of the stock to make a gravy.
- Stir in the the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, garlic and cranberry sauce. I know cranberry sauce is hardly traditional but it adds a lovely bit of sweetness!
- Add the stock, lamb and the pan contents to the slow cooker and stir in the parsnips, carrots and bay leaves.
- Layer the sliced potatoes over the top, overlapping them slightly. Season with the salt, pepper and thyme. Cover and cook on the HIGH setting for 7-8 hours.
- For a finishing touch, brush the potatoes with a little butter and brown under a hot grill in the oven for 5-7 minutes until slightly crispy at the edges. Serve and enjoy!
Oven Cooking Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170C/325F (fan). Season the lamb brown the lamb, in batches, over high heat. Set aside.
- Add butter to the hot pan and sauté the onions and leeks until softened. Stir in the flour and a little of the stock to make a gravy then add the Worcester sauce, tomato paste, garlic and cranberry sauce.
- Add the stock, return the lamb to the pan and and stir in the parsnips, carrots and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Layer the sliced potatoes over the top, overlapping them slightly. Season with the salt, pepper and thyme. Cover and cook for 60 minutes.
- Take the lid off and brush the potatoes with a little butter. Turn up the heat to 200°C (400°F) and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes are browned.
Recipe notes and Tips
- Prep ahead: you can prepare the recipe in advance and add to your slow cooker without the final layer of potatoes. Cool and store in the fridge until you are ready to cook the hotpot, adding the potato layer on top before turning on the slow cooker.
- For a richer gravy you can use some red wine or port as well as the lamb stock – just make sure the liquid in the recipe makes 2 cups (480ml).
- I used a 3.5L slow cooker in the recipe video. You can use a slightly larger one if preferred (it won’t be as full) but you might need more potatoes for the topping.
Check out these popular lamb recipes
HAVE YOU MADE MY LAMB HOTPOT RECIPE? Please leave a rating, sounds off in the comments, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day!
Slow Cooker Lamb Hotpot
Video
Equipment
- Slow Cooker 3.5L – 6L
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (900g) PGI Welsh Lamb shoulder or neck, cubed
- salt and pepper to season
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil to brown lamb
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 onions , diced
- 2 leeks , white parts only, finely diced
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ tbsp cranberry sauce or seedless raspberry jam
- 1 tsp garlic paste or fresh minced garlic
- 2 cups (480ml) lamb stock or chicken stock
- 2 carrots cut into small cubes
- 2 parsnips peeled and diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 large baking potatoes sliced thinly (more if needed)
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp melted butter for brushing
- Rosemary sprig , to garnish
Instructions
- Start by seasoning your lamb with a few turns of the salt and pepper mil. Heat the oil in a pan and brown the lamb, in batches, over high heat. Set aside.2 pounds (900g) PGI Welsh Lamb, salt and pepper, 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- Add butter to the hot pan and sautée the onions and leeks until softened but not coloured.2 tbsp butter, 2 onions, 2 leeks
- Stir in the flour and a little of the stock to make a gravy then add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, garlic and cranberry sauce if using.2 tbsp plain flour, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp tomato paste, ½ tbsp cranberry sauce or seedless raspberry jam, 1 tsp garlic paste or fresh minced garlic
- Add the stock, lamb and the pan contents to the slow cooker and stir in the parsnips, carrots and bay leaves.2 cups (480ml) lamb stock , 2 carrots, 2 parsnips, 2 bay leaves
- Layer the sliced potatoes over the top, overlapping them slightly. Season with the salt, pepper and thyme. Cover and cook on the HIGH setting for 7-8 hours.3 large baking potatoes
- For a finishing touch, brush the potatoes with a little butter and brown under a hot grill in the oven for 5-7 minutes until slightly crispy at the edges. Sprinkle with the rosemary, serve and enjoy!1 tsp fresh thyme, 1 tbsp melted butter for brushing, Rosemary sprig
Notes
- Prep ahead: you can prepare the recipe in advance and add to your slow cooker without the final layer of potatoes. Keep this in the fridge until you are ready to cook the hotpot, adding the potato layer on top before turning on the slow cooker.
- For a richer gravy you can use some red wine or port as well as the lamb stock – just make sure the liquid in the recipe makes 2 cups (480ml).
- I used a 3.5L slow cooker in the recipe video. You can use a slightly larger one if preferred (it won’t be as full) but you might need more potatoes for the topping.
- Preheat the oven to 170C/325F (fan). Season the lamb with a few turns of the salt and pepper mil. Heat the oil in a casserole dish and brown the lamb, in batches, over high heat. Set aside.
- Add butter to the hot pan and sautée the onions and leeks until softened but not colored.
- Stir in the flour and a little of the stock to make a gravy then add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, garlic and cranberry sauce if using.
- Add the stock, lamb an and stir in the parsnips, carrots and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Layer the sliced potatoes over the top, overlapping them slightly. Season with the salt, pepper and thyme. Cover and cook for a further hour.
- Take the lid off and brush the potatoes with a little butter. Turn up the heat to 200°C (400°F) and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes are browned.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
OMG I love love love this recipe. I feel as though it must be bad for me somehow (maybe really high in fat or calories etc) because I have never known anything taste this good without a catch. However, maybe there are a couple of downsides, which could be ‘the catch’. Firstly, it’s quite expensive because lamb is expensive. There are a lot of ingredients but obviously the lamb is the costly part here. But that has not put me off, it’s not like we have it every week, perhaps once a month, it’s kind of a treat dinner (since finding this recipe I have cooked it 5 times). Secondly, the recipe states 20 minutes prep time !! Pff maybe once you have washed peeled and chopped all the carrots, parsnips, leeks, onions, garlic, sliced the potatoes,chopped the lamb, and gathered all the other ingredients such as flour, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and prepared the stock. All this takes about 1 and a half hours. Then you can begin the 20 mins prep time! It’s very long. However, this recipe is soooo good that even though I don’t like all the prep it is 100% worth the time. (And I do feel like a bit of a chef once I have all my ingredients laid out). This is a firm favourite and is in my recipe folder for good. Oh and I do find myself referring to it as MY LAMB HOTPOT when I’m telling everyone how good it is 😁 I have just popped one in the slow cooker now but I prepped the onions leeks carrots and parsnips last night so saved me a bit of time this morning. 😁
Thank you for this recipe I am very glad that I found it.
Roll on 6pm tonight!!
Hi,
Just making the lamb hotpot slow cooker style. 7 – 8 hours on HIGH? I’d have guessed on LOW if that long a period? Please can you advise.
Many thanks
Kris
Hi Kris, I have cooked it on High but different slow cookers vary. Cook on low if preferred but make sure the potatoes are cooked through
Looks delicious I don’t have a slow cooker so have you got instructions to cook in a normal oven perhaps on a low heat for a while I have done this with various recipes when it’s a slow cooker recipe thank you
Hi Denise – thanks for your question. I have added instructions in the post and recipe card. xx