Slow Cooker Dinner Ideas for Easy Homemade Meals

Let me clue you in on slightly secret: One of the simplest methods to make restaurant-quality meals at dwelling (I’m speaking barely lifting a finger right here) is by enlisting the assistance of a trusty sluggish cooker.

Even after the lots of (!) of hours I spent at culinary faculty studying the lots of (!!) of chef-approved cooking strategies there are—blanching, poaching, roasting, frying, you title it—sluggish cooking yields among the best outcomes with the least quantity of effort of all of them.

Between the sheer comfort of merely letting a machine do the cooking for you to the fork-tender proteins and veggies you’ll take pleasure in after just some hours of hands-off work, there’s actually no trying again when you’ve gotten the grasp of sluggish cooking.

If you’re able to embark on this culinary journey, we salute you—and never solely as a result of it is the proper time (see additionally: winter). We’ve rounded up among the greatest sluggish cooker dinner concepts for you so you may take pleasure in scrumptious melt-in-your-mouth meals each night time of the week.

The greatest sluggish cooker available on the market

First issues first, you’re going to want to get the appropriate gear. IMO, you merely can’t go unsuitable with a Crock-Pot, an OG title within the recreation.

The Crock-Pot Programmable Six-Quart Slow Cooker with Sous Vide is my tried-and-tested choose. It combines a sluggish cooker and a sous vide machine for final precision cooking. It additionally has a built-in, detachable thermometer probe and digital settings to simply program cooking instances from 5 minutes to 30 hours. For straightforward cleanup and supreme versatility, the detachable stoneware is dishwasher and oven secure. (And fairly! This model is available in a stunning ‘oat milk’ colorway that’s the proper shade of impartial vanilla—no must stash it within the pits of your cabinets anymore, people.)

What’s greatest to prepare dinner in a sluggish cooker?

Although sluggish cookers are typically related to tenderizing cuts of meat, this actually isn’t the one scrumptious factor to prepare dinner in a sluggish cooker. In reality, this kitchen workhorse can do—and prepare dinner—absolutely anything you throw its method. From making pillowy-soft bread to one-pot pasta dishes to stick-to-your-bones soups and stews, a sluggish cooker is ideal for nearly any recipe.

That stated, like several dish you make, you’ll must know the appropriate suggestions and methods to reaching the most effective outcomes. Thankfully, the parents at Crock-Pot have you ever coated with this easy cooking guide for cooking veggies, meats, frozen meals, and even desserts to perfection.

6 easy sluggish cooker dinner concepts for weeknight meal perfection 

Slow cooker most important dishes

1. Hearty Vegan Red Lentil Chili

Legumes and beans—as longevity-boosting and scrumptious as they could be—are infamous for taking ceaselessly (and ever) to prepare dinner. But with the set-it-and-forget-it nature of a sluggish cooker, the sweetness is that you just don’t must spend hours stirring and even babysitting an enormous ol’ pot of lentils till they’re good and tender. Instead, you should use the helpful machine to make hearty vegetarian sluggish cooker recipes like this purple lentil chili by Running on Real Food with out even breaking a sweat. Yep, you simply must throw all the things (actually) within the sluggish cooker and switch it on. Three hours on excessive (or 5 hours on low) later, and also you’ll be digging right into a warming bowl of vegan chili earlier than you understand it. Bonus: Each serving has a whopping 18 grams of protein that can assist you meet your every day nutrient targets.

Get the recipe: Vegan Slow Cooker Red Lentil Chili

2. Spicy Salsa Verde Chicken

Looking for a straightforward four-ingredient paleo sluggish cooker recipe to make in a pinch? Say no extra. This salsa verde rooster recipe by Downshiftology is strictly what your recipe field has been lacking. In a sluggish cooker, add rooster breast, salsa verde, cumin, cilantro, plus salt, and set it on low for 4 to 5 hours. Once it’s prepared, all you want are two forks to simply shred the succulent rooster for serving over a mattress of heat, steamy rice or smooth, tender tortillas. Swoon.

Get the recipe: Crock-Pot Salsa Verde Chicken

3. Feel Better Chicken Soup

Throat beginning to get that obnoxious little tingle that alerts a chilly is just some hours away? Stop it in its tracks with this immune-boosting and nourishing “feel better” rooster soup by Feasting at Home. And in case you are questioning how a sluggish cooker rooster soup can have the ability that can assist you begin feeling higher very quickly, effectively, this recipe filled with nutrient-and vitamin-rich components like lemon, ginger, and rooster broth to replenish your depleted vitality shops ASAP. Plus, who needs to prepare dinner whereas feeling below the climate? Let the sluggish cooker do the work for you as a substitute.

Get the recipe: Feel Better Chicken Soup

4. Lasagna Soup

Fam, I’ve made this lasagna soup recipe by Feel Good Foodie numerous instances and may affirm it’s nearly as good because it will get relating to fast dinner recipes which are as comforting as might be. Imagine the heart-warming goodness of a creamy and dreamy home made lasagna, however with out the fuss of layering all of it collectively (and getting the casserole pan sitting on the very backside of all of your bakeware out of the cabinet). Although this recipe might be made in an everyday ol’ pot, I’d argue that making it in a sluggish cooker will unlock unholy depths of taste your tastebuds will thanks for later. Simply prepare dinner all the components (minus the noodles) on low for six to eight hours (or on excessive for 4 to 5), and toss cooked noodles simply earlier than serving. Trust, it’s even higher than it sounds.

Get the recipe: One-Pot Lasagna Soup

Slow cooker sauce

Easy Slow Cooker Marinara

Nothing says leveling up your culinary abilities than making a home made marinara sauce that rivals your store-bought favourite. The better part? This recipe by Budget Bytes comes out to a grand whole of simply over 4 {dollars} per seven-cup batch—a steal a lot? And it pairs effectively with absolutely anything—pizza, spaghetti, meatballs, shakshuka, you title it.

Get the recipe: Slow Cooker Marinara 

Slow cooker dessert

Vegan Chocolate Lava Cake

Would dinner actually be full with out one thing candy to seal the deal? And who’s to say all vegan sluggish cooker recipes must be savory? So, for those who firmly stand on staff candy over salty, then this sluggish cooker vegan chocolate lava cake by Thyme and Love is asking your title. It’s easy and unsuspecting, but one chew of this heat, luscious lava cake with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream and also you’ll be seeing the world by way of rose-colored glasses. Want so as to add one thing crunchy for juxtaposing textures? Whip collectively a slow-cooked granola to garnish the dessert (and avoid wasting for breakfast, too!).

Get the recipe: Vegan Chocolate Lava Cake

More dinner recipes incoming: