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Chicken & Mushroom Hotpot Recipe

ByLumina Liu July 2, 2025July 2, 2025

I had exactly one large onion threatening to sprout, a container of mushrooms that were past their prime but not quite ready for the compost bin, some leftover roasted chicken from Sunday’s ambitious meal prep session, and two potatoes that had been rolling around in my crisper drawer for who knows how long.

In other words, the classic weeknight refrigerator situation that every home cook knows intimately — that moment when you either create magic or order takeout.

But then I remembered my grandmother’s old hotpot recipe, the one she used to make on rainy afternoons when the house felt too quiet and she wanted to fill it with the kind of warmth that only comes from slow-cooking comfort food.

She never called it a “chicken & mushroom hotpot recipe” — to her, it was just “using what you have,” which is honestly the best kind of cooking philosophy.

As I started pulling ingredients from various corners of my kitchen, I realized this dish embodies everything I love about home cooking: it’s forgiving, adaptable, and transforms humble ingredients into something that feels like a warm hug from the inside out.

Plus, unlike some of those Instagram-worthy dishes that look gorgeous but taste like disappointment, this hotpot actually delivers on both the comfort factor and the flavor department.

The Beautiful British Tradition Behind This Comforting Dish

Hotpot — not to be confused with the bubbling communal dining experience you might find at a Chinese restaurant — is a quintessentially British dish that originated in the industrial Northwest of England, particularly around Lancashire.

Think of it as the UK’s answer to casserole, but with a signature crown of thinly sliced potatoes that crisp up beautifully in the oven while protecting the tender filling beneath.

This chicken & mushroom hotpot recipe represents the kind of practical, no-nonsense cooking that British home cooks have perfected over generations.

What makes hotpot so brilliant (and why it deserves a place in your regular dinner rotation) is its incredible flexibility.

Originally created as a way to stretch modest ingredients into a filling meal for working families, hotpot can accommodate whatever protein and vegetables you happen to have on hand.

The technique — building a roux-based sauce, layering in your filling, and topping with overlapping potato slices — remains consistent, but the flavor combinations are virtually endless.

Some regions swear by lamb hotpot, others prefer beef, but this chicken & mushroom version hits that perfect sweet spot of familiar flavors that both kids and adults can agree on. It’s comfort food that doesn’t require a trip to three different grocery stores or a degree in culinary arts to execute successfully.

Mastering the Perfect Chicken & Mushroom Hotpot Recipe: Step-by-Step Instructions

Before we dive into the cooking process, let’s talk about why this particular chicken & mushroom hotpot recipe works so well.

The secret lies in building layers of flavor — from the golden roux that forms the base of our sauce to the perfectly arranged potato topping that creates both visual appeal and textural contrast.

This isn’t a throw-everything-in-a-pot kind of dish; each step serves a specific purpose in creating the final result.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• 50g butter (plus an extra knob for the potato topping)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 100g mushrooms, sliced (button or cremini work beautifully)
• 40g plain flour
• 1 chicken stock cube
• Pinch of nutmeg (don’t skip this — it’s the secret weapon)
• Pinch of mustard powder
• 250g cooked chicken, shredded or chopped
• 2 handfuls of sweetcorn (fresh, frozen, or canned all work)
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Building Your Hotpot Foundation

Start by preheating your oven to 200C (180C fan/gas 6) — you’ll thank me later for getting this out of the way early. In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the 50g of butter over medium heat.

The key here is patience; you want the butter to melt gently without browning, creating a neutral fat base for your aromatics.

Add your chopped onion to the melted butter and let it cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

You’re looking for that magical moment when the onion becomes translucent and fragrant — not brown and caramelized (save that technique for French onion soup), but soft and sweet. This is when your kitchen starts smelling like home.

Once your onion reaches that perfect soft stage, add the sliced mushrooms to the saucepan.

Here’s where things get interesting: mushrooms release a lot of moisture as they cook, which might seem concerning at first, but this is exactly what we want.

That moisture will help create the base for our sauce, and the mushrooms will concentrate in flavor as the water evaporates.

Creating the Perfect Roux

When your onions and mushrooms are almost cooked (the mushrooms should have released most of their moisture and started to look more golden), it’s time to stir in the flour.

This creates what’s called a roux — a mixture of fat and flour that serves as the thickening base for countless sauces. Crumble your stock cube directly into this mixture and stir well.

The mixture will look like a thick, somewhat lumpy paste, and that’s exactly right.

Now comes the crucial part: put your roux over low heat and stir continuously for 2 minutes.

This step cooks out the raw flour taste and ensures your final sauce won’t have that unpleasant, chalky flavor that can ruin an otherwise perfect dish. Your arm might get a little tired from all the stirring, but this is where the magic happens.

Building the Sauce

Remove the roux from heat — this is important because adding liquid to a hot roux can cause dangerous splattering. Slowly add 500ml of water (since we’re using a stock cube rather than fresh stock), stirring constantly.

The key word here is “slowly” — if you dump all the liquid in at once, you’ll end up with a lumpy mess instead of a smooth sauce.

Add it gradually, stirring constantly, and watch as the mixture transforms from a thick paste into a smooth, creamy sauce.

Season with black pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, and a pinch of mustard powder. The nutmeg might seem unusual, but it adds a subtle warmth that complements both the chicken and mushrooms beautifully.

The mustard powder provides a gentle background tang that brightens the entire dish without being identifiable as “mustard.”

Return the saucepan to medium heat and bring the mixture to a gentle boil, stirring constantly.

Once the sauce has thickened to the consistency of heavy cream, reduce the heat to very low. Fold in your cooked chicken and sweetcorn, stirring gently to coat everything evenly with the sauce.

Assembly and the Art of Potato Arrangement

Grease a medium-sized ovenproof pie dish with a little butter — this prevents sticking and adds flavor. Pour your chicken and mushroom mixture into the prepared dish, spreading it evenly with a spoon.

Now for the fun part: arranging the potatoes. Slice your potatoes as thinly and evenly as possible (a mandoline makes this easy, but a sharp knife and steady hand work just fine).

Lay the potato slices on top of the hotpot filling, overlapping them slightly like shingles on a roof. This overlapping technique isn’t just for looks — it helps the potatoes cook evenly and creates those beautiful crispy edges we’re after.

Brush the potato topping with melted butter. This step is crucial for achieving that golden-brown finish that makes hotpot so visually appealing.

The Final Bake

Slide your assembled hotpot into the preheated oven and bake for about 35 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when the potatoes are cooked through and golden brown on top.

The edges should be crispy, and the center should give slightly when pressed with a fork.

Essential Tips and Tricks for Hotpot Success

After making this chicken & mushroom hotpot recipe more times than I can count, I’ve learned a few tricks that make the difference between good and absolutely incredible.

These aren’t the kind of tips you’ll find in most recipes, but they’re the details that separate home cooks who follow instructions from those who truly understand their food.

Perfecting Your Potato Game

The potato topping is arguably the star of any hotpot, so getting it right matters. First, choose the right variety — waxy potatoes like Yukon Gold or red potatoes hold their shape better during the long bake, while russets can become too fluffy and fall apart. Second, slice thickness matters more than you might think.

Too thin, and they’ll crisp up too quickly and burn before the filling is properly heated through.

Too thick, and they won’t cook evenly. Aim for slices about 1/8-inch thick — thin enough to cook through in 35 minutes, thick enough to maintain some structure.

Soaking your sliced potatoes in cold water for 10-15 minutes before arranging them removes excess starch and helps them crisp up better. Pat them completely dry before arranging — any residual moisture will steam rather than crisp during baking.

Sauce Consistency Secrets

The sauce should coat the back of a spoon but still flow easily — think somewhere between heavy cream and gravy consistency. If your sauce turns out too thick, whisk in a little more water or stock, one tablespoon at a time.

Too thin? Simmer it uncovered for a few more minutes to reduce and concentrate. Remember, the sauce will thicken slightly as it bakes in the oven, so err on the side of slightly too thin rather than too thick.

Make-Ahead Magic

This chicken & mushroom hotpot recipe is actually better when made a day ahead. Assemble the entire dish (including the potato topping), cover tightly with foil, and refrigerate overnight.

The flavors meld beautifully, and the potatoes absorb just enough moisture from the filling to cook more evenly. Add an extra 10-15 minutes to the baking time if cooking from cold.

Creative Variations to Keep Things Interesting

Once you’ve mastered the basic chicken & mushroom hotpot recipe, the world of variations opens up before you.

This is where hotpot really shines — it’s essentially a template that can accommodate whatever ingredients you have on hand or whatever flavors you’re craving.

The Herb Garden Variation

Add 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme leaves and 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary to your onion and mushroom mixture.

The herbs infuse the entire dish with aromatic complexity that transforms this from simple comfort food to something that feels almost restaurant-worthy. Fresh sage is particularly beautiful here too — use it sparingly (about 6-8 leaves, chopped), as its flavor is quite strong.

The Cheesy Upgrade

Sprinkle 50g of grated sharp cheddar cheese over the potato topping before baking.

The cheese melts down between the potato slices and creates little pockets of golden, bubbling deliciousness. For something more sophisticated, try gruyere or a mixture of parmesan and cheddar.

The Vegetable-Forward Version

Increase the mushroom quantity to 200g and add diced carrots, celery, and peas to create a more vegetable-heavy version. This is perfect for using up whatever vegetables are languishing in your refrigerator.

Root vegetables like parsnips and turnips work particularly well, adding sweetness and earthiness to the mix.

The Smoky Twist

Add 100g of diced bacon or pancetta to the pan before the onions for a smoky, meaty depth that transforms the entire character of the dish.

Cook the bacon first until crispy, then use the rendered fat in place of some of the butter for the roux. This version is particularly good for cold winter nights when you want something extra hearty.

What to Expect: Realistic Results and Final Thoughts

Let’s be honest about what this chicken & mushroom hotpot recipe delivers, because setting realistic expectations is part of being a trustworthy recipe developer.

This isn’t going to win any beauty contests — it’s rustic, homey food that prioritizes comfort over Instagram-worthiness.

The potato topping will be gorgeously golden and crispy around the edges, but don’t expect perfectly uniform browning across every single slice. That’s not the point.

What you will get is a dish that fills your kitchen with the kind of aroma that makes everyone suddenly appear asking “what’s for dinner?”

You’ll get tender chicken and earthy mushrooms in a sauce that tastes like it took hours to develop but actually comes together in about 45 minutes total.

The potato topping provides both visual appeal and textural contrast — crispy on top, creamy underneath where it meets the sauce.

This is the kind of recipe that becomes part of your regular rotation not because it’s revolutionary, but because it’s reliable.

It’s the dinner equivalent of a favorite sweater — comfortable, familiar, and exactly what you need when the world feels a little too complicated.

The leftovers (if there are any) reheat beautifully, and the dish actually improves slightly after sitting overnight, making it perfect for meal prep or feeding a crowd.

Most importantly, this chicken & mushroom hotpot recipe teaches you a technique — the roux-based sauce and layered potato topping — that you can apply to countless other ingredient combinations.

Once you understand the method, you’ll find yourself creating variations based on whatever’s in your refrigerator, and that’s when cooking stops being about following recipes and starts being about understanding food. And honestly, that’s the most delicious outcome of all.