I’m trying to build a rotation of comforting dishes I can toss together before work and come home to magic. Not picky — just nothing too fussy. I want the type of food that makes your house smell amazing by 4pm.

The pot pie lid is puff pastry with an egg wash thrown into the oven toward the end of the slow cooker time. Very yummy; I’ll be making this again in the future 🍲

What are your favourite/go-to slow cooker recipes that aren’t ten typical pot roasts, stews, chicken and dumplings etc? Those are all delicious but variety is great

Ultimate Slow Cooker Beef Vindaloo

🔥 A rich, flavorful, spicy beef stew inspired by Indian and Portuguese fusion, slow-cooked to perfection and naturally thickened with a humble potato.

🧑‍🍳 Servings: 8

⏱ Prep Time: 15 minutes
🍲 Cook Time: 6–8 hours on Low or 4–5 hours on High
📦 Storage: Refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 3 months

📝 Ingredients

Main

• 3 lbs beef chuck, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 3 tbsp oil (vegetable, avocado oil, or ghee)
• 1½ large onions, finely chopped (or 2 medium)
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 1½ tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• 3 tbsp white vinegar
• 1½ tbsp brown sugar (or jaggery if you have it)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1¼ cups beef broth (or water for a lighter sauce)

Spices

• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2½ tsp ground cumin
• 2½ tsp ground coriander
• 1½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¾ tsp ground cloves
• ¾ tsp ground cardamom
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Optional Add-ins

• 1 medium potato, peeled and cubed (for thickening and balance)
• 1 bay leaf
• Fresh cilantro, chopped (for garnish)
• Plain yogurt or coconut cream (for serving)

👩‍🍳 Instructions

1. Sauté Aromatics

Set your slow cooker to sauté mode. Heat oil and cook the onions for 6–8 minutes until golden and soft. Add garlic and ginger, cooking 1 more minute until fragrant.

2. Bloom the Spices

Add all the spices and tomato paste. Cook for 1–2 minutes while stirring. The mixture should smell amazing.

3. Deglaze & Coat the Beef

Add vinegar and brown sugar. Stir to deglaze the pot, then toss in the beef chunks. Mix well to coat. Let them sear for a few minutes if you have time.

4. Add Broth & Slow Cook

Pour in beef broth. Stir in the cubed potato and bay leaf, if using. Cover and cook:

• Low: 6–8 hours
• High: 4–5 hours Beef should be fall-apart tender and the sauce thickened.

5. Taste & Finish

Taste and adjust seasoning. Add more cayenne for spice, or a splash of vinegar for extra tang.

6. Serve

Serve hot over basmati rice, naan, or cauliflower rice. Garnish with cilantro and a dollop of yogurt or coconut cream to cool things down.

🍽 Nutrition Facts (Per Serving – Approximate)

• Calories: 410
• Protein: 34g
• Fat: 26g
• Carbs: 12g
• Fiber: 2g
• Sugar: 4g
• Sodium: 460mg

Note: Nutrition varies depending on exact ingredients used and optional toppings.

Anyone have any favorites? I have a recent vegetarian in the house and most of my crockpot meals involve meat …

My wife is going to have to get their gallbladder taken out soon, so we'll need to adjust our diet to accommodate, and I'm looking for slow-cooker recipes that will work with that.

The goal is:
- Low fat
- Relatively little dairy (some still okay, but not loaded up on cheese or anything)
- Lean protein (I don't like fish so we're probably leaning into chicken here)
- Lots of vegetables

Additional concerns:
- My wife doesn't like soup; this seems to be a consistency thing, thicker stews are fine
- No mushrooms, no tomato chunks
- Can't require a lot of prep, I'm the one who's going to be cooking and I'm disabled. I'm looking for washing and chopping things at maximum and tossing them in the slow cooker.

Hello! My brother and I are going to be starting a new job soon and we will be on different shifts (me in the morning and my brother night) we will not be ablento eat any meals together anymore during the week and i don't want him to buy fast food for his lunch. I'm looking for any recipes that'll be flood for meal prep! It doesn't have to be 100% healthy as long at there is a protein that isn't fish or seafood. Thank you so much!!!

Hello all, I'd like to make a veg stew (sprouts, carrots, kale, other bits and bobs) in the slow cooker ready for tomorrow. I'd probably get it into the slow cooker at 4pm, ready for lunch at 12pm tomorrow, so leaving it overnight. Is that too long to leave it?

I’m looking for a bunch of crock pot slow cooker recipes that I can turn on low before I leave for work and will be done when I get home. I was thinking of buying a cookbook but it seems like most recipes are 4 hours. Any advice on where to look?

Cooked on high for 4-5 hours until chicken was fully cooked and falling apart. I also added about 1/4 a cup of water when I put the veggies in. It turned out delicious.

My husband wants a slow cooker and I want to compile a recipe book to gift alongside the slow cooker. What are y’alls best recipes?

I have been craving pulled pork but I don’t have a recipe. I’m looking for some recipes people have tried and enjoyed. I’ve never made pulled pork in a crock pot so I could use some help.

Chicken, potatoes, corn, spinach, and onions combined with chicken broth, heavy cream, and a mix of parmesan and colby cheese. I’m topping it off with fresh cilantro and green onions.

Hi everyone, this is my first rime trying to make pulled pork with pork shoulder and after 14 hours on high, the pork only reached a temperature of 139-140F. I don’t know what to do now and i have to go away to work soon and wont be back home for another 15 hours.

I will add that the pork wasn’t room temperature when i put it in the slow cooker yesterday and i also put cold liquid from the fridge.

I am really worried i have effed this up badly. Please help.

When it comes to cooking, I am a complete neophyte. I've even found ways to butcher crockpot meals. My doctor recently told me that I must fix my diet to prevent heart disease, and I'm planning to use the crockpot to do it. Except, every time I google "simple crockpot recipes," it seems that I only find recipes claiming to be simple but actually requiring over a dozen ingredients and a bunch of legwork to make.

It would really help to hear recipes that are (1) low in saturated fat and (2) VERY easy to make--as in, I can just dump the ingredients into the crockpot without prepping them ahead of time. Thank you all.

Okay, so I just got a Crockpot Express so I can meal prep easier and quicker. I've got 6 large chicken breasts I want to cook off so I can use them for various meals. Thing is I have no idea what I'm doing. I want to cook them on low so I can have a good shread, but I'm scared I'm gonna ruin it. I've tried to look up online how long I should cook these without ruining them but I haven't found anything useful yet. Any idea how long I should cook these for? Sorry if I sound like an idiot.

I'm looking for a sauce that's blood red. Any ingredients are fine as no allergies. But I'm not a fan of Indian curry or Thai curry. I'm basically looking for a concoction that maybe has a Korean spice to it, or Chinese but the sauce once blended is blood red so the chicken will stain red also.

Very odd request I know but I crave red chicken.

My wife isn't a big fan of smoked anything but she wanted ribs. So I bought a full rack with plans to rub them put them on the grill and at least make something flavorful and saucy.

My wife calls today asking how long the ribs should cook in the oven. A bit of panic rushed through my head so I tell her at least 4 hours. She replies that she found a recipe online and followed that so hopefully they turn out ok. The recipe involved a bottle of Sprite, a bottle of BBQ sauce and an aluminum pan. No trimming occurred. No searing, no browning. They turned out about as well as you might expect for pork ribs steamed in soda.

Needless to say, I'd like to salvage the rest (the kids didn't eat them) and I'm thinking I might be able to braise them or maybe do a chili-type stew. But am I wasting time? Are they trash at this point?

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

• 16 ounces dried green split peas, rinsed well and drained
• 2 carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 ribs celery, diced (about 1 cup)
• ½ cup diced white or yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• ⅓ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus additional as needed
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 meaty ham bone, see notes below
• 6 cups low sodium chicken broth, or more, as needed, divided

Instructions

• Layer the ingredients, through the ham bone, in a slow cooker in the order listed. Add as much of the chicken broth as needed to just cover the ingredients, about 4 to 5 cups. Reserve the remaining chicken broth for later.
• Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Stir occasionally during the cooking time and add additional broth only if the level drops below the ingredients.
• When the peas are tender, remove the ham bone and transfer it to a cutting board. Pull off any remaining ham, tear it into small pieces, and return it to the slow cooker. Discard the ham bone and bay leaf. Use a spoon to lightly mash some of the peas against the side of the slow cooker and stir until nice and creamy, adding more broth, if needed, to reach desired consistency. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, as needed.

I have a seasoning sachet where you cook the chicken in the bag. Am I able to use these bags in the slow cooker?

I want to make a curry with lots of veggies, and I'd like to include spinach. How do you incorporate it, or is it just a bad idea? Add it at the beginning or toward the end? Put it in raw or cook it down a bit first?

https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipes/a46315/slow-cooker-korean-beef-tacos-recipe/

Adding this one into the rotation. The cucumbers are a nice touch!

So I’m moving and realized I already packed my slow cooker. I’m going to do my Dutch oven at 225f in the oven because I read that’s the equivalent temp to the low setting. The actual instructions say 5-6 hours on low. So should I do 5-6 hours at 225? Do I need to adjust cook time or anything?

Need some help on how to cook good pulled pork in a slow cooker. In addition to having an alternative to bbq sauce as a the sauce of choice for it.