This sausage hotpot recipe is a real family friendly dinner that is pure comfort food.
Made with basic ingredients, that you probably already have in your kitchen, this recipe is easy, tasty and very budget friendly.
With sausages, mushrooms, carrots and onions in a baked bean sauce, the mixture is topped with thinly sliced potatoes. Tender on the inside, they turn into a crispy crunchy topping in the oven.
The whole family will love it!
Enjoy

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Lancashire hotpot is probably the most well known British hotpot. Made with lamb and topped with potato, it's delicious, but nowadays can be expensive to make.
Instead, this sausage hotpot has all the elements of this iconic dish, but with a shorter cooking time and cheaper ingredients. This makes a double saving on energy and meat costs, which is so important right now.
For cooking casseroles like this, it really doesn't matter about the vegetables you buy. I tend to buy the economy range of onions, carrots and mushrooms, as when they are cut up, the appearance doesn't matter.
Of course, depending on your family's tastes, you can vary the sausages, the vegetables, add more flavours and easily make it vegetarian too. There are lots of variations to tempt your tastebuds!
❤️ Why you will love this recipe
- Budget friendly ingredients
- Family friendly
- Easy to add your favourite ingredients
- Simple to make
- All in one dinner if required
- Tasty and comforting all year round
🥘 Ingredients
- Sausages - pork sausages of your choice, ideally with a high meat content and lower fat. I prefer to use Lincolnshire or cumberland sausages as they have a good level of seasoning and herbs.
- Oil - vegetable oil or olive oil for fying.
- Onions - a medium brown onion. I tend to use these onions, as they have great flavour when cooked and are the most economical to buy.
- Carrots - any variety equivalent to 4 medium carrots.
- Mushrooms - chestnut mushrooms give a lot of flavour but any mushrooms are fine.
- Stock - chicken or pork stock made from a stock cube.
- Beans - tin of baked beans in tomato sauce.
- Tomato purée - this enhances the tomato flavour and adds some richness.
- Salt - cooking salt.
- Pepper - freshly ground black pepper or use what you have.
- Potatoes - I prefer the Maris Piper variety as an all round potato but any potato will work well in this dish.
- Butter - to top the potatoes and give them some extra colour.
- Herbs - dried mixed herbs.
- Cornflour - or cornstarch to mix with water and thicken the sauce.
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post.
🍽 Equipment
- frying pan or skillet - or cook everything in the casserole dish if you prefer.
- sharp knife
- chopping board
- shallow casserole dish about 30 centimetres or 12 inches
🔪 Instructions
Peel the onions and carrots and wipe the mushrooms.
Chop the onions into small pieces, the mushrooms into quarters or thick slices and cut the carrots on the diagonal.
💭 Top Tips
- There's no need to wash mushrooms if they have soil on them. They act as sponges, so will absorb water that they will release when cooking. making the sauce runny.
- Wipe mushrooms with a paper towel or soft brush instead.
- The smaller the onion pieces, the more they will break down when cooking. So, if you have children that go wild at a piece of onion in their dinner, chop it as small as you can!
Peel and slice the potatoes as thin as possible.
I prefer to use a food processor, but you can use a mandolin or cut them by hand,
Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and add the sausages.
Brown them for about 10 minutes, turning regularly.
Transfer the sausages to a casserole dish, evenly distributed.
Add the onions and carrots to the pan and soften for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
Add the mushrooms, stock, baked beans, herbs and salt and pepper.
Increase the heat slightly and stir in the water mixed with cornflour.
As the mixture comes to a simmer it will thicken.
Check the seasoning.
Pour the vegetable mixture over the sausages.
Arrange the potato slices over the top of the sausage hot pot, overlapping slightly.
Dot the butter over the potatoes and season with extra salt and pepper if you like.
⏲️ Cooking Time
Cook in a preheated oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 for 40 - 50 minutes until the potatoes are tender when pricked with a skewer.
If the potatoes start to brown too much before they are cooked, add a lid or cover the dish with foil.
Leave for a few minutes before serving.
🥗 Side Dishes
What do you serve hotpot with?
As the sausage hotpot already has potatoes and vegetables you can serve it as it is.
If you want to make the meal go further or add more vegetables, try these side dishes.
- Cheesy Mash
- Roast Potatoes
- Pan Heggarty
- Fried Cabbage with Bacon and Onions
- Leeks in White Sauce
- Cheesy Duchess Potatoes
- Whole Baked Cauliflower Cheese
- Honey Roasted Swede
- Courgette and Sweetcorn Fritters
🥙 Substitutions
- Vegetables - use frozen mixed vegetables or tinned vegetables if you prefer.
- Onions - use red onions, shallots or spring onions.
- Butter - use oil to brush the top of the potatoes instead.
- Tomato purée - use 2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup.
📖 Variations
- Sausage hotpot in slow cooker - place all the ingredients in the slow cooker rather than the casserole dish. Cook on high for 6 to 8 hours.
- Potatoes - add some grated cheese at the end of cooking and brown under the grill to brown. Alternatively, top with mashed potatoes and reduce the cooking time for 20 minutes for a sausage cottage pie. Swap the potatoes for sweet potatoes or celeriac.
- Sausages - for a change try chicke, beef, lamb or turkey sausages or any spicy sausage. Chipolatas also work well for children.
- Vegetarian or vegan - swap the sausages for vegan or vegetarian and use vegetable stock.
- Additions - add a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce for richness, fried bacon pieces or lardons, or fresh thyme.
- Vegetables - butter beans, kidney beans, haricot beans, broccoli, suede, parsnips, turnips, butternut squash or green beans.
🍣 Storage
- Refrigerator - cool, cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.
- Freezer - freeze the sausage hot pot before it goes in the oven or cool and freeze when it is cooked. Freeze individual portions in sealed containers. Store for up to 3 months.
- To reheat - place in an oven proof dish and cover with foil. Reheat in the oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4.
🍱 Prepare in Advance
- Prepare the sausage hot pot up to adding the potatoes, cool, cover and store in the fridge for a day before cooking.
🤔 FAQs
A stew is normally cubes of meat and vegetables, browned then cooked in stock until tender.
Sometimes dumplings are set on top of the stew to steam in the stock.
A hotpot is really a stew with a sliced potato topping, baked in the oven.
More casserole and sausage recipes
- Beef Olives
- Pheasant and Venison Casserole
- Cotechino Sausage with Lentils
- Lincolnshire Sausage Skewers
- Venison Sausage Plait
- Sausage Casserole
- Savoury Mince
📋 Recipe
Sausage Hotpot
Equipment
- Frying pan or skillet
- Sharp knife
- Chopping board
- shallow casserole dish about 30 centimetres or 12 inches
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 8 pork sausages
- 1 onion
- 300 g carrots 4 medium
- 200 ml chicken stock
- 100 g mushrooms 6 medium
- 410 g baked beans i tin
- 2 tablespoon tomato purée
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 800 g potatoes
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon mixed herbs
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Peel the onions and carrots and wipe the mushrooms. Chop the onions into small pieces, the mushrooms into quarters or thick slices and cut the carrots on the diagonal.
- Peel and slice the potatoes as thin as possible by hand or in a food processor.
- Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and add the sausages. Brown them for about 10 minutes, turning regularly, then transfer to a casserole dish evenly distributed.
- Add the onions and carrots to the pan and soften for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Add the mushrooms, stock, baked beans, herbs and salt and pepper.
- Increase the heat slightly and stir in the water mixed with cornflour.
- Pour the vegetable mixture over the sausages.
- Arrange the potato slices over the top of the sausage hot pot, overlapping slightly.
- Dot the butter over the potatoes and season with extra salt and pepper if you like.
- Cook in a preheated oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 for 40 - 50 minutes until the potatoes are tender when pricked with a skewer.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article
More pork and ham dishes
Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using gas.
Do you have a question or did you make the recipe?
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Tayler Ross
My family loves sausage, so I can't wait to make this for dinner soon! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Shadi
This was amazing and such a treat! Thank you! Everyone in my family loved it.
Kelley
This was very delicious! My whole family loved it!
L
Love the crispy potatoes on top - can't wait to try!
Sara Welch
Served this for dinner last night and it was a hit all around the table! Classic comfort food; easily, a new favorite dish!
Ieva
What a lovely and inexpensive recipe! I can definitely see it being a staple in our house when the weather starts getting a bit colder again!
Natalie
As a busy mom, I love one-pot meals. This recipe has all my family loves, can`t wait to try it out, thanks!
Gina Abernathy
All of my favorite ingredients! My husband is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so this is perfect for him.
Michelle
Love how hearty and delicious this sausage hotpot is! And even better how it's done in one pot!
Dannii
Now this is my kind of comfort food. So easy to adapt too.