With a Mediterranean twist around a British Northern family favourite recipe, this tasty Summer minced lamb hotpot is so tasty and keto. It's topped with swede, baked Parmigiano Reggiano and full of low carb vegetables and all cooked in the same pot for ease.
A hotpot (AKA a hotchpotch according to Mrs Beeton in the 19th century), is a classic dish from the North of England where I grew up. It's now usually made with beef or lamb, potatoes, onions and carrots.
But this lamb hotpot recipe with a super tasty Mediterranean twist is one of my favourite dishes for the Summer and colder months as it's herby, cheesy and a little sweet with a gentle tomato infusion. Yum!
It's also keto friendly as it's made with swede instead of layers of potatoes and other low carb vegetables. Then baked with parmesan cheese to finish at the end.
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✔️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Really filling family meal
- Lower carb for keto dieters
- A simple recipe for the whole family
- Quicker at 1½ hours than a traditional slow cooker hotpot
- Easily adapted with whatever you have in your fridge or pantry
- Tasty Mediterranean twist with cheesy swede on top of the meat
🛒 Ingredient Notes
Please see the printable recipe card with exact ingredient quantities and preparation instructions at the bottom of this post.
Olive oil - or similar for browning the lamb, or melted butter
Lamb - I use lamb mince, but you could use diced lamb neck, or a piece of lamb with the visible fat removed.
Garlic cloves - minced for extra depth of flavour
Bay leaf - we use 2 bay leaves for a very gentle, warming taste
Vegetables - sliced onions, chopped green beans, sliced carrots, and chopped sweet bell peppers. Additionally, you could add mushrooms, garden peas, etc
Lamb stock - this is boiling water and lam stockpots
Seasoning - sea salt and ground black pepper
Herbs - dried or thyme sprigs and rosemary
Balsamic vinegar - for a pinch of gluten free sweet acidity, or Worcestershire sauce if not GF. Alternatively, stir in a dollop of redcurrant jelly
Xanthan gum - for a low carb thickening option. Or swap for seasoned flour which you can mix with the lamb in a large bowl before browning
Swede (rutabaga) - this is a small one around 400g (0.9lb) peeled and finely sliced, which is lower in carbs than potatoes, and high in vitamin C. Don't worry about the cm diameter as you will need to quarter and slice to create more layers as it is a very hard root vegetable
Tomato puree - (tomato paste) for a gentle tomato base flavour that isn't overpowering
Parmigiana Reggiano - or hard cheese grated like parmesan to bake for a nice cheesy crust that goes so well with the lamb
📋 Instructions
Preheat your oven at 160 c fan or 180c conventional/ 350F/ Gas mark 4.
In a large heavy casserole dish, add half of the oil and brown the succulent lamb mince with the salt and pepper.
This should take around 3-4 minutes.
Also, if you want to drain off any extra fat, then you can do it now.
Add the onions and garlic to the browned lamb and continue frying for a further 3 minutes on medium heat.
Then stir in the remaining ingredients except the parmesan and swede and final oil and bring to a boil.
Arrange the swede slices on top in an overlapping layer on top of the lamb and season once more.
Then place a tight-fitting lid on top and place in the oven for 1 hour.
Tip: or cover with tin foil, then place the lid on top.
Remove from the oven and remove the lid.
Then add the grated cheese and drizzle the final tablespoon of oil.
Increase the oven temperature to a medium-high heat of 180c fan/ 200c conventional/ 400F/ Gas mark 6.
Place back in the oven and bake for a final 30 minutes until golden brown.
Serve and enjoy, giving each dish an equal layer of topping combined with the meat and rich gravy!
👩🍳 Substitutions
Depending on your dietary needs, here are a few simple swaps you can make:
- Lamb - If you're not a fan of diced lamb or don't have any, you can swap Beef or Pork Mince, you could even use your leftover Sunday roast lamb cut up into small pieces.
- Swede - Swap for potato slices for the original recipe instead of swede
- Stock - swap for chicken broth or beef stock to flavour the sauce or make your own with lamb of beef bones
- Cheese - if you don't have Parmesan cheese or want to make it dairy-free, you can use nutritional yeast instead. It has a cheesy and nutty flavour and is vegan-friendly
⚖️ Variations
Here are a few different ingredients you can add to enhance your lamb hotpot:
- Spicy - if you like some heat in your dish, you can add some chilli pepper flakes or fresh chillies to the lamb mixture
- Traditional Lancashire hotpot recipe - although an acquired taste, you could add lamb kidneys to the meat
- Deluxe - add bacon lardons and diced celery to enhance the flavour
- Kid friendly - use a classic layer of potatoes with ketchup on the side, or chips instead of sliced potatoes
You can also find my cheaper minced beef hotpot version here, and a low fat unofficial Slimming World beef hotpot with potatoes.
🔪 Equipment
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- Large casserole dish*
- Measuring spoons
- Weighing scales
- Sharp knife
- Chopping board
- Measuring jug
- Salt and pepper grinder
- Potato peeler
- Cheese grater
- Wooden spoon
*If you don't have a large cast iron dish, then use a large frying pan and a casserole dish
❄️ Storage
Storing - we prefer eating lamb hotpot fresh out of the oven, but it can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Freezing - cool to room temperature and again, store in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
Reheating - If you want to eat the next day, defrost in the fridge if required and microwave until piping hot, or on the hob or stove with the lid on.
💡Pro Tips
- Swede is a tough root veg. Some remove the skin with a knife and sacrifice some flesh. I personally find it easy enough to peel. But, when it comes to slicing, that's a different matter, so here's what you can do:
Flatten on of the round sides so it stays still while slicing with a chopping knife, about 3mm thick
Or, slice using a food processor *although, you'll need to cut pieces small enough to fit in, which I tend to use for dauphinoise and ratatouille with melted cheese
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
This lamb hotpot is a complete meal on its own, but you can also serve it with some extra sides if you like. Here are some ideas:
Green salad - a simple green salad with lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes will add some freshness and crunch to your plate. You can dress it with some olive oil and lemon juice for a Mediterranean touch.
Bread - if you are not following a low-carb or keto diet, you can enjoy some crusty bread with your hotpot. It's great for soaking up the sweet gravy and cheese. You can also toast it and rub some garlic on it for extra flavour.
Roasted vegetables - you can roast some more low-carb vegetables in the oven while your hotpot is cooking. Some good options are cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus or zucchini. Season them with some salt, pepper, olive oil and herbs of your choice.
❓ FAQ
If you grew up in the North like us, then this easy lamb hotpot recipe is the type of dish we'd fill our boots with.
Traditionally from Lancashire and sometimes with beef mince, this one-pot recipe was, (and still is), great for using up leftovers or cheap cuts. It's also really filling, with stodgy potatoes, veggies and a gravy-type sauce. And it cuts down on washing up.
But, with it being a little colder up' North, it also became popular over neighbouring borders, such as Yorkshire, (my neck of the woods). It's now well known throughout the UK and served in many restaurants, cafes or ready meals.
A lamb hotpot with mince is traditionally topped with slices of potatoes and often full of starchy root veg. However, it's very high in carbs if following a keto diet, which is why I have created a healthier version for my diet.
The difference with my mince lamb hotpot recipe is:
It's thickened with xanthan gum (or you could use arrow root)
There's lower carbs in green beans and peppers
It's topped with sliced swede, which has around 50% less carb content, but you could use celeriac, which is 75% less
There's a limit of carrots, which should be eaten in moderation on a Keto diet, along with other starchy veg, like peas, parsnips, sweetcorn
So, with this being a less carby combination, I felt it made the perfect Italian lamb hotpot, for Summer or a keto diet all year around.
If you've been following a low fat diet for years, you may be questioning whether lamb mince is healthy? And especially since lamb is fattier than other meats, such as beef mince.
Also, for years, the only lean lamb mince I've been able to find, is 20% fat, as opposed to 5% lean beef which is much easier to find.
Lamb is high in protein, vitamins and minerals, while also low in carbs.
But with regards to a Keto diet, it's not a low fat diet. So, the question really should be, is a low fat diet actually healthy and do they work?
If you don't have xanthan gum to thicken the lamb sauce, then you could use arrowroot instead.
Alternatively, if you don't have either, you can use 2-3 tablespoon of porridge oats as I do in my unofficial Slimming World beef hotpot. Note, it will disintegrate in the lamb hot pot. The end result is identical to plain flour, but it's higher in fibre and less keto friendly.
Note, I am not a dietician, nutritionist, nor gluten intolerant myself. But without realising initially, my Summer lamb one pot recipe is a gluten free hotpot as I used Knorr gluten free lamb stock cubes.
Note that some stock cubes use wheat, which is not gluten free. Also, the thickening agent, xanthan gum I used is also gluten free. (I use Doves Farm).
➕ Similar Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
🍽️Pairing
Here are a few of our favorite side dishes to serve with this tasty hotpot:
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📖 Recipe
Summer Minced Lamb Hotpot - Keto & Low Carb
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil (1 for frying, 1 for drizzling on the swede)
- 1 kg lamb mince 20% fat
- 2 brown onions halved and sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 170 g green beans trimmed and cut into 3cm lengths
- 2 carrots sliced
- 800 ml water
- 2 lamb stock cubes *Use Gluten Free is needed
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ red pepper chopped
- ½ yellow pepper chopped
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 1 tablespoon rosemary
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 25 g Parmigiana Reggiano grated (or parmesan)
- 1 small swede Around 400g, peeled and finely sliced
- 2 tablespoon tomato puree
Instructions
- Preheat your oven at 160c fan/ 180c conventional/ 350F/ Gas mark 4.
- In a large casserole dish, add 1 tablespoon of oil and brown the lamb mince with the salt and pepper.
- If you want to drain any lamb fat off, do it now.
- Add the onions and garlic and continue frying for a further 3 minutes.
- Then add everything else except the swede, parmigiano and last tablespoon of oil, then stir while bringing to a boil.
- Arrange the swede sliced on top, drizzle the last tablespoon of olive oil, season again, then cover and place in the oven for 1 hour.
- Remove the lid, grate over the parmigiana/parmesan and increase the heat to 180c fan/ 200c conventional/ 400F/ Gas mark 6 and bake for a final 30 minutes.
- Enjoy alone or with extra low carb veggies.
Disclaimer
*This is an unofficial page and has no affiliation or endorsement from Slimming World. Slimming World's website can be found at https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/. Any syn values are personal estimates and not verified by Slimming World.
Video
Notes
Flatten on of the round sides so it stays still while slicing with a chopping knife, about 3mm thick
Or, slice using a food processor *although, you'll need to cut pieces small enough to fit in, which I tend to use for dauphinoise and ratatouille with melted cheese
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