The slow cooker has come up a lot recently, and January seems like a good time for a follow-up post. I Tweet a lot about my slow cooker adventures, but not everyone can catch all those Tweets. They disappear, like tears… in rain…
Wait, where was I? Oh right: Things I have learned about the slow cooker since I bought it for myself last January.
First of all, I have learned to always call it a “slow cooker” never a “Crock Pot” because that is a brand name and people looooove to jump all over an error like that.
The slow cooker thing can be daunting at first. Everyone is so eager to dump their favorite recipes on you (including me). Just pick something simple to start with, and you’ll get the hang of it. It’s not rocket science, and it’s really hard to screw it up.
The slow cooker is a great way to make an otherwise-crappy cut of meat not just edible but downright delicious. Fork tender, even. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.
Start with a big ol’ piece of pork or beef. Look for the words butt, shoulder, or roast in the name of the cut. It will probably be on sale, and probably be 2-4lbs large. Add a cup or two of liquid, and set that baby on Low for 8-10 hours.
The longer you cook these cuts, the better. In fact, my favorite roast beef recipe calls for you to cook it for 22 hours, and it sounds preposterous, but the results are AMAZING.
I have also learned to always use boneless skinless chicken. Otherwise, gross. And although I prefer thigh meat, it’s too juicy and results in a watery sauce. Breast meat is best for chicken recipes.
The other thing I have learned is that “Sauce + Meat = Recipe.” These “recipes” remind me of the Jelly Belly recipes, where you eat one cherry Jelly Belly and two chocolate Jelly Bellys and that’s the recipe for a “chocolate covered cherry.”
For all of these, add one jar of sauce and 1-2lbs of meat, then cook on low for 6-10 hours.
More along the line of real recipes, here are some others I have tried and liked this year. As you can see, my true “secret weapon” here is the Allrecipes.com website. Just search for “slow cooker [whatever]” or browse their slow cooker section for more delicious things.
(By the way, when choosing between recipes, I always go for a lower-reviewed recipe with more reviews versus a recipe with more stars but fewer reviews. Say Recipe A has only 4 stars but 1,890 reviews, and Recipe B has 5 stars but only 2 reviews. Go with Recipe A.)
Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup (I drained the liquid from the cans and made more of a chili.)
THOSE MEATBALLS. (By the way, I pre-cooked the meatballs and they turned out great.)
Two recipes on my list to try soon are:
Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken
This is all I can think of at the moment… That’s your cue to leave your favorite recipes in the comments!
I just made lasagna in the slow cooker (though as mine is a legit Crock Pot, I could probably call it that), and it was delicious! Before that I tried a beef stew recipe that I want to tweak. Trying to get in the Crock Pot habit!
The husband does all the slow cooking, but everything he makes is FABULOUS.
Thanks! I need to use my slow cooker more. Slow cooker = less work in late afternoon when I NEVER feel like doing anything.
The honey lentils recipe from this site is amazeballs. crockpot365.blogspot.com/
Curious if you’ve ever done anything vegetarian in a slow cooker? They seem like they’re really for ALL THE MEAT. I was given one for xmas, but as we don’t eat meat (and live in a caravan) it’s been (probably permanently) rehomed.
A note about making chicken stock – You don’t have to use whole fresh carrots and celery and onions and whatnot. Whenever I’m chopping up these types of veggies, I save the tops and the skins and whatnot and put them in a baggie in the freezer. When I have a full baggie, I make chicken stock with them. The resulting taste is just as good (and even healthier – 80% of the vitamin C, potassium and iron in an onion is in the skin and the layers closest to the skin!). This ensures that your chicken stock is vitually free. You’ve got a leftover chicken carcass from other recipes, and you’ve got leftover veggie scraps from other recipes…put them together with water and you’ve got free stock!
My one tip is to use canned potato for stew. They never lose their consistency no matter how long they stay in.
I lovelovelovelove my slow cooker. I use it HEAPS, but I never use pre-made sauces. We are all about the fresh produce here. It isn’t that much more work and it tastes (I think) so much better, without all the funny flavours and preservatives.
I make a killer bolognese style sauce in industrial quantities. It’s usually enough for one big lasagne and then at least one more spaghetti (I freeze the leftovers).
Please pardon the metric measurements – I don’t know what they are in US terms.
1kg fresh ground animal of your choice (I often use just beef, but my mother-in-law loves half and half of pork and veal)
2 x 750ml bottles of passata (tomato puree), 1 x 440g can of crushed tomatoes
1 carrot, grated; 1 zucchini grated, 1 onion, finely chopped, how about a bell pepper, finely chopped, chuck some finely chopped celery in there if you like – Ninja Veggies
season with salt and pepper, add fresh or dried herbs such as basil, oregano, a couple of garlic
Cook for the whole day. The end.
I also always make my own chicken stock (brilliant tip, JoanneNicole! – if I wasn’t already feeding all the celery/carrot ends to the bunnies, I would totally do that!). Here you can get the carcasses of the chickens, left from when the chicken shop has removed all the usual meat cuts. There’s enough bits and pieces still on them to make a really good stock. I think I only pay a couple of dollars for a bag of 4 carcasses, and 2 is enough for a stock; freeze the other two for the next time. Having slow-cooked the stock, I can also freeze that in 250ml (1 cup) increments, or 1 litre for when we want soup.
I’m a vegetarian too– any veg recipes out there??
Bad things happen to vegetables in a slow cooker. I have had several vegetarians ask if they should get one, and I would say no. Use the money to buy a rice cooker instead if you don’t have one, they are the best!
Once upon a time, I was without a stove for over 6 months. A hot plate and a slow cooker were my only way to cook. (For a family of three, no less!) I got my hands on a really good slow cooker cookbook, which even included recipes for baking coffee cakes in it. (And very tasty they were, with the added advantage that you could overbake by 20 minutes because you were busy in the garden and totally lost track of the time, and the coffee cake was still perfect.)
I throw chicken ( a couple breasts, thighs, whatever you have or can buy cheap), a packet of taco seasoning (we make our own and guesstimate the amount to throw in ), and a can of salsa in our Crock Pot. Cook it for a few hours until the chicken is cooked all the way through, then shred the chicken with a fork.
You can make enchiladas, burritos, quesadillas, tacos…pretty much whatever floats your boat. If you’re having a party, you can do ‘make your own’ nachos and they’re always a hit
Yes, Gayle! I make desserts in the slow cooker too! Canned peaches (or fresh if I’ve got an abundance) topped with a cake mix…easy peasy peach cobbler! mmmm…
Hey, don’t forget how terrific a slow cooker is for making split pea soup, lentils, chili, navy bean soup or any other kind of legume (except peanuts, peanuts would be gross). I use mine mostly for stuff that needs to cook forever and with beans, you don’t have to pre-soak, just expect about twelve hours, so vegans/vegetarians, don’t rule out a slow cooker!
That’s true! Although it seems like a person would have to make a lot of chili to justify having such a huge thing hanging around the kitchen. I guess I’m biased because I don’t really like beans, I always forget about that aspect of it.