Chinese Hot Pot

What Makes This Chinese Hot Pot Recipe So Great

• DIY. There’s something festive and wholesome about gathering everyone around a simmering pot of spicy broth, using chopsticks (or forks, no judgment) to add in our favorite dippers. It’s a social meal, and perfect for chilly weather.
• Delicious Asian flavors. I use a handful of ingredients from my local supermarket’s Asian food section to make a rich, umami-packed homemade hot pot broth. It’s sweet and savory, and it can be as mild or as spicy as you’d like.
• Easy. The broth comes together quickly enough on the stovetop, and you leave it to simmer while you prep the rest of the ingredients. You can have everything on the table in about 35 minutes.

Broth Ingredients

Let’s kick things off with some notes on what you’ll need to make this easy Chinese hot pot at home. You’ll find a printable ingredients list in the recipe card along with the full recipe amounts and details.

• Sesame Oil – This is a key flavor and ingredient in Asian-style cooking, so there’s really no substitute. You can use regular or toasted sesame oil. In a pinch, another cooking oil, like olive oil or vegetable oil, works to sauté the ingredients, but the flavor just won’t be the same.
• Onion and Garlic – Yellow onion, sliced up thinly, and freshly minced garlic cloves.
• Chicken Stock – I always cook with low-sodium chicken broth or stock (I like the Kitchen Basics® Unsalted Chicken Stock). This way, I can season my hot pot to taste without it becoming overly salty. You can also use beef broth or vegetable stock in this recipe.
• Soy Sauce – Like the stock, I prefer low-sodium soy sauce. Any kind will do, though. You can swap out soy sauce for tamari or coconut aminos if needed.
• Brown Sugar – You can use granulated sugar, too, or another sweetener like honey or maple syrup.
• Curry Paste – I love the convenience of ready-made red curry paste, like the one from Thai Kitchen®. If you don’t have curry paste, a good substitute is curry powder (I use it in recipes like my Instant Pot coconut chicken curry and curried prawns). I recommend 1 teaspoon of curry powder per tablespoon of curry paste.
• Spices – I season the broth further with a little ground ginger and turmeric, plus salt and pepper to taste. You can play around with more seasonings, like Chinese Five Spice, chili powder, and cayenne, depending on how spicy or mild you like your broth.

What Goes In a Hot Pot?

Your typical hot pot ingredients include meat, veggies, noodles, and tofu. But there’s a big variety of dippers that you can serve with hot pot recipes! Here are some notes on the ones I use most often, plus more ideas.

• Protein – I use thinly sliced chicken breasts and cubed firm tofu. Other good protein choices for hot pot are beef, pork, or seafood, like shrimp. Make sure to slice the meat thin so that it cooks through quickly in the hot broth.
• Leafy Greens – Larger leaves like Chinese cabbage (napa cabbage) and Swiss chard should be sliced into smaller ribbons. You can also use kale, baby spinach, or bok choy.
• Vegetables – I like trimmed and chopped green beans and bell pepper slices, but other good hot pot vegetables include snap peas, broccoli, mushrooms, julienne carrots, and baby corn.
• Starches – In this case, I serve my hot pot with lo mein noodles (the same kind I use for chicken lo mein). You can also serve it with rice noodles or ramen noodles, regular linguine, or another starch, like thinly sliced cooked potatoes or sweet potatoes.

How to Make Chinese Hot Pot at Home

One of the best things about making a Chinese hot pot is that I can have it on the table in about half an hour. Most of that time is the broth simmering! Follow the steps here.

Homemade Hot Pot Broth

First, get out a large stockpot or Dutch oven to make your broth:

To Serve

While the soup is cooking, gather your protein, vegetables, tofu, and other hot pot add-ins to get them ready for serving:

• Prepare the dippers. Slice, chop, and pre-cook the ingredients as needed. Prepare the lo mein noodles, and transfer everything to serving bowls.
• Set it up. When you’re ready to serve, place the pot with broth over a portable hot plate or transfer it to a preheated slow cooker to keep warm. Arrange your bowls of fresh ingredients around the hot pot. This is when the fun starts!
• Get dipping. Let everyone at the table cook their protein and veggies in the steamy broth. Dish up lo mein noodles into individual bowls, and layer the meat and veggies over top, followed by a scoop of warm soup. Enjoy! See below for more serving ideas.

What to Serve With Chinese Hot Pot

This easy Chinese hot pot is SO perfect for gathering on a chilly winter evening. Most of the ingredients cook within 2-3 minutes in the hot broth, which leaves plenty of time to pass around appetizers, like shrimp shumai or air fryer crab rangoon. If we’re really making it into a Chinese-style feast, I’ll make a plate of Chinese boneless spare ribs or char sui pork and bao buns for the table. Afterward, we’ll finish things off with a slice of banana pound cake for dessert.

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

• Refrigerate. Store any leftover broth and ingredients in separate airtight containers. The length of time they’ll stay fresh in the fridge depends on the types of ingredients you use. The broth keeps for 2-3 days.
• Reheat. Warm the broth in a pot on the stove until it’s piping hot throughout.
• Freeze. You can also freeze the broth in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months. Thaw it in the fridge before reheating.

More Asian-Inspired Recipes

• Salt and Pepper Chicken
• Kung Pao Beef 
• Beef Ramen
• Instant Pot Chicken Pho
• Massaman Curry
• Thai Chicken Soup