Sensational Slow Cooker Recipes (2024)

Learn more about the new bookSix Sisters’ Stuff, full of delicious recipes, crafts, and idea lists from Deseret Book.

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
This dish quickly became one of the most popular on our blog because it is simple to throw together but tastes as though you spent all day preparing it. The honey in this recipe gives it the perfect amount of sweetness and flavor.

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup honey
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup diced onion
• ¼ cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 6 tablespoons water
• Sesame seeds

Season both sides of chicken breasts lightly with salt and pepper; place in slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic, and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low 3 to 4 hours or on high 1½ to 2½ hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from slow cooker, leaving sauce in ceramic insert. Dissolve cornstarch in water and pour into slow cooker. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high 10 more minutes or until slightly thickened. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice or noodles.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu
You would never guess this dish came from a slow cooker! Layer your ingredients in your slow cooker, set the timer, and have an amazing meal by dinnertime!

• 1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup milk
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 4 ounces sliced ham
• 4 ounces sliced Swiss cheese
• 1 (8-ounce) package herbed dry bread stuffing mix
• ¼ cup butter, melted

In a small bowl, combine cream of chicken soup and milk. Pour enough of the soup into a slow cooker to cover the bottom. Layer chicken breasts over the sauce. Cover with slices of ham and then Swiss cheese. Pour the remaining soup over the layers, stirring a little to distribute between layers. Sprinkle the stuffing on top and drizzle butter over stuffing. Cover and cook on low 4 to 6 hours, or 2 to 3 hours on high.

Makes 6 servings.

Slow Cooker Chile Verde Pork Tacos
This pork is very tender and full of flavor and requires very little work on your part! We love it in tacos, but it also tastes great on a salad, with tortilla chips, wrapped in a burrito, or even eaten as is!

• 1 (2- to 3-pound) pork roast
• 1 onion, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 green pepper, finely chopped
• 2 to 3 tomatillos, husked and chopped
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped (optional)
• 1 (16-ounce) jar green salsa
• 1 (4-ounce) can green chilies
• 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Flour tortillas
• Taco toppings, such as cheese, lettuce, avocado, tomato, sour cream

Spray a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Place the roast in the slow cooker. Add onion, garlic, green pepper, tomatillos, jalapeño, salsa, chilies, diced tomatoes, and cumin. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours. Once finished, shred the roast with 2 forks. (It will literally fall apart.) Serve on flour tortillas for tacos and add desired toppings.

Makes 6 servings.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Slow Cooker Pot Roast
The combination of various sauces in this recipe turns pot roast into a mouth-watering feast with all the simplicity of a slow-cooker meal. This melt-in-your-mouth recipe is sure to become a family favorite.

• 1 (3- to 4-pound) beef chuck roast
• 1 (12-ounce) can Cola (not diet)
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup Heinz chili sauce
• ¾ cup ketchup
• ¾ packet dry onion soup mix
• 4 to 5 new red potatoes, cut up
• 1½ to 2 cups baby carrots

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Brownies
I recently moved from Missouri, where it was extremely hot and humid. The last thing I wanted to do was slave over a hot oven. I found this recipe, and my family loves it! The brownies are hot and gooey when they come out; I put a scoop of ice cream on top to make it the perfect summer treat!
—Kristen

• 2 cups brownie mix
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ¼ cup water
• cup milk chocolate chips
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• ¾ cup boiling water
• Chocolate frosting (optional)
• Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Combine brownie mix, egg, oil, water, and chocolate chips in a bowl. Spread batter in greased 3- to 4-quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cocoa, and boiling water, making sure to completely dissolve sugar and cocoa. Pour over batter. Cover and cook 2 hours on high heat. Turn off slow cooker and let sit for 30 minutes. Spoon into bowls and serve with ice cream and hot fudge. Refrigerate leftovers. If you prefer frosting on your brownies, let them cool completely, then spread on your favorite chocolate icing.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Get the new bookSix Sisters’ Stuff, full of delicious recipes, crafts, and idea lists from Deseret Book. You can also get more great slow cooker recipes and learn more about the Six Sisters family dinner challenge.

FAQs

How do I get the best results from a slow cooker? ›

Avoid overcrowding: For the best results, fill a slow cooker between one-half and two-thirds full. Go ahead and cook big roasts and whole chickens; just make sure you use a large crock and that the lid fits snugly on top. Trim fat: For silky sauces and gravies, take a minute or two and cut the excess fat from the meat.

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Is it better to cook on high and then low for slow cooker? ›

If possible, turn the cooker on the highest setting for the first hour of cooking time and then to low or the setting called for in your recipe. Foods take different times to cook depending upon the setting used. Certainly, foods will cook faster on high than on low.

Why does gravy go watery in slow cooker? ›

This moist environment allows you to leave food to cook for hours without risking it drying out. But because there is no evaporation, the liquid isn't able to reduce and thicken naturally in a slow cooker, often resulting in watery sauces and loose gravies. The common solution? Using a thickener.

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Why do slow cooker recipes taste bland? ›

Slow cookers also don't evaporate as much liquid as stove top cooking, so when making soups and stews, add a little less broth than you would otherwise. Substituting broth or stock for water, or even throwing in some soup base like Better Than Bouillon can also improve many dishes.

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Is 4 hours on high the same as 8 hours on low in a slow cooker? ›

The difference between "High" and "Low" on slow cookers seems to differ with every brand and model. One thing that is consistent, though, is that food takes seven to eight hours to reach a simmer point (around 210°) on low; versus three to four hours on high.

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Why do you put a tea towel under slow cooker lid? ›

Soak up the condensation

Taste user Jenny says she puts a tea towel under her crockpot lid to catch water and stop it thinning too much. This technique is also a favourite with taste's food editor Miranda.

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Is 3 hours on high the same as 6 hours on low? ›

Place in the slow cooker with other ingredients, including fresh water. The water should cover the beans by about two inches. Change cooking times depending on your schedule. One hour on HIGH generally equals two hours on LOW.

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Is 2 hours on high the same as 4 on low? ›

The general rule is the high setting cooks about twice as fast as the low setting.

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Can you leave lid off slow cooker to thicken? ›

Take the lid off

Place the cooker on a high setting, and open the lid for 30-45 minutes to let excess moisture cook off. The liquid will reduce, leaving you with a thick and delicious gravy or sauce. (Tip: This trick can also be applied for thickening stews, or when you've accidentally added too much liquid.)

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What can I use to thicken sauce in slow cooker? ›

Cornstarch, potato starch, and chickpea flour are a couple of pantry-friendly ways to thicken soups, stews, and sauces in the slow cooker. Just a tablespoon or two of any — added towards the end of cooking — will thicken sauces especially well.

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Can you add flour to slow cooker? ›

Plenty of people asked how to thicken a crockpot stew, and yes, there were answers. Include a bit of flour (1/4 cup or thereabouts) mixed in at the beginning, possibly tossed with the meat before browning it (assuming you plan to brown it first). Leave the lid off and let it cook down.

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Why do vegetables not cook in slow cooker? ›

Not enough liquid: Slow cookers rely on moist heat to soften food. If you don't have enough liquid in the pot, the carrots won't cook evenly and may stay tough. Aim for at least a cup or two of liquid, enough to reach about a third of the way up on the ingredients.

Can you put raw onions in slow cooker? ›

Just throw onions and butter in the slow cooker and let them cook for hours and hours and hours, without having to babysit the crock pot and stir them every few minutes, and go through the process of deglazing the pan?!?

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Why does beef go dry in slow cooker? ›

The most likely cause of this is overcooking. As meat cooks, its muscle fibers shorten in both length and width and eventually squeeze out the juices they normally hold. As you can imagine, this leaves meat dry, and often stringy in texture. To avoid this problem, choose less-tender cuts of meat.

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Should meat or vegetables go in CrockPot first? ›

Fill the crock pot at least half full and no more than two-thirds full. Thaw frozen meats and vegetables before placing in the crock pot. Place dense vegetables in crock pot first, such as carrots and potatoes, since they take longer than meats to cook.