Author Topic: Share your best slow cooker recipes  (Read 2322 times)

Offline gaggleofseven

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Share your best slow cooker recipes
« on: August 25, 2018, 01:09:23 PM »
I bought a 4 quart Crock Pot slow cooker and want to try some new recipes. Can you share your best slow cooker recipes? I am particularly looking for some non-tomato recipes for variety.

What I make regularly: sloppy joes, spaghetti sauce, taco seasoned meat (either ground beef or turkey), cowboy beans ... that's about it.

Looking forward to your recipes, ideas, suggestions, links, etc.!

Jennie
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Offline greyhoundgirl

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Re: Share your best slow cooker recipes
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2018, 03:12:19 PM »
Carnitas is a favorite around here. I have made this recipe for several years now. Only thing is, you might have to halve it to fit a 4 quart slow cooker. I was using a 7 quart before the lid broke and now do it in an 8 quart instant pot (generic one). I do NOT add the can of Rotel at the end--left it out once by mistake and we liked it better without. And I usually sub pintos for the other beans as the others were hard to find around here.

http://preschoolersandpeace.com/blog/crockpot-pork-carnitas?rq=carnitas

Offline gaggleofseven

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Re: Share your best slow cooker recipes
« Reply #2 on: August 25, 2018, 07:18:45 PM »
This looks good, and I would have most ingredients on hand. How do you serve it? It looks versatile (in tortillas, over rice, etc.), which is good with picky eaters. ;)

I decided to down-size my slow cooker (6 qt to a 4 qt) as fewer kids were eating at home. I am looking forward to using this new 4 qt because it's oval instead of round, so larger cuts of meat should fit better.

Thanks, Catherine!
Jennie
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Offline greyhoundgirl

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Re: Share your best slow cooker recipes
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2018, 06:36:32 AM »
You're right; it is versatile! The kids usually eat it in tortillas. I don't think we've had it over rice but that would definitely work as well. I often just put the bean and meat mixture in a bowl with toppings and eat it that way for a lower carb option, or have it with tortilla chips on the side if I'm not watching carbs. I usually put out cheese, sour cream, salsa, and guacomole if we have it.

I don't have a slow cooker at the moment, but am looking at the 8 quart (still  oval) as I'm at the opposite stage, I guess--all five kids at home and three seem to be in their growth spurts, plus Earl likes leftovers for his work lunch. I had the 7 quart oval and liked it because I could easily fit a large whole chicken. I have a 6 quart Instant Pot and an 8 quart generic version but both are round. I do like them for many things, but sometimes miss the slow cooker as I don't feel the slow cook option on the IP cooks the same (seems to cook way lower and I haven't had much success judging cook times).

Offline greyhoundgirl

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Re: Share your best slow cooker recipes
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2018, 06:46:20 AM »
Another one I thought of is drip beef sandwiches. I had never heard of these till a couple of years ago, but they are SO good! I cannot remember what recipe I ended up using the first time, but know I had looked at Pioneer Woman's so here's a link to that: https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/drip-beef-two-ways/ I went with the Italian style.

However, that said, I have since just winged it on my own for a simpler version because I don't regularly keep pepperoncini peppers around. And I also don't buy onion soup mix any more. I put in the roast, a good amount of minced and powdered dry onion, salt, pepper, and pour on beef broth. Cook till almost falling apart, then shred and put back into the broth/liquid till ready to eat. We can get these rolls called bollo rolls at the local grocery for .25 each, so I usually serve it on those, but any type of crusty roll or baguette bread, or even some French or Italian bread cut sub style would work.

Offline Rooney

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Re: Share your best slow cooker recipes
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2018, 01:28:08 PM »
Hi Jennie. :)  I don't use a slow cooker, though I am considering getting an instantpot for this fall/winter.  A youtube channel I visit frequently does have lots of slow cooker recipes.  It used to be the Encouraging Homeschool Mom channel, but I think the food channel "spinoff" she has is Jamerill's Large Family Table.  She has slowcooker recipes for things like Broccoli Alfredo, Pulled BBQ Chicken, Cabbage Soup, Chicken Pot Pie, Italian Chicken, Fahitas, and more, I'm sure.  She is a large family mom, so all her recipes are things that kids would want to eat too.  So, if you are interested she is on Jamerills Large Family Table and just look into her slow cooker meals.  If you do a lot of freezer cooking, she has tons, I mean tons of videos on that too.
Sorry, I would put the actual link so you could just click on it, but this forum hasn't been allowing links to show up in my posts.
Lindsay
« Last Edit: August 26, 2018, 01:30:41 PM by Rooney »

Offline Alice

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Re: Share your best slow cooker recipes
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2018, 10:05:39 AM »
I use my Instant Pot way more now than my slow cooker. Life is different now than 8 years ago when the kids were all at home and I was working and the instant pot craze wasn't happening yet.

Back then, I would just throw anything in the slow cooker and make it do for dinner. A roast with potatoes and carrots with some seasonings and a little flour tossed over the roast and dinner would be done by the time we all got home from school or work. Chicken thighs with chicken broth was a start to chicken and rice dinner. But the rice was cooked separately after we all got home.

Nowadays we only have 2 or 3 of us home for dinner and I choose not to think too much about tonight's dinner so I now reach for my IP and do the same thing--throw it all in and cook for much less time! I love it so much better and the foods taste wonderful. I often don't even remember to pull out meat from the freezer the night before so I am more often than not putting in frozen meat. That works well also.

Here's a few ideas that I like to make in both:

chicken noodle soup
baked potatoes
whole chicken
chicken and rice
scalloped potatoes and ham
wild rice and chicken soup
beef stew (no tomatoes)
BBQ ribs
beef roast
refried beans
vegetable hamburger barley soup

We also like the cookbook fix it and forget it. My daughter who lives in Honduras has a crockpot and since her oven/stove range doesn't work she cooks all her food in the crockpot. She meal plans for the entire week and on Saturday does all her cooking and then freezes a bunch and keeps a bunch ready to eat. She also only has a very small dorm sized refrigerator so she can't build a stock for a rotation. She asks me for advice A LOT so I just give her easy slow cooker recipes. I referred her slow cooker 365 (something like that) to look for recipes.

Alice
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