Hello and welcome to this thing we’re doing where we help you figure out what you’re gonna put in your mouth this week. Some of these are recipes we’ve tried, some of these are recipes we’re looking forward to trying, all of them are fucking delicious. Tell us what you want to put in your piehole or suggest your own recipes, and we’ll talk about which things we made, which things we loved, and which things have changed us irreversibly as people. Last week, we ate tomatoes.
It’s September! Some of us are headed back to school. Some of us are in charge of miniature humans who are going back to school. Some of us are both. Some of us just have grownup jobs and have to slog to and from work on grey wet days and then face the prospect of spending an hour cooking when we’re already starving or ordering soggy pizza again. It’s a rough life.
UNLESS — cue the shift from infomercial grayscale to full color — you just use a slow cooker instead. Hot, delicious meals ready and waiting for you, with very little of the effort of, you know, cooking food. Are you ready? You are. Let us begin.
1. Slow Cooker Pulled Pork: Island Style
2. Salsa Verde Turkey Chili
3. Vietnamese Slow Cooker Pho Beef

Via table.io
4. Slow Cooker Cheesy Southern Grits

Via cookistry.com
5. Overnight Crockpot Banana Bread Oatmeal

Via ihearteating.com
6. Crock Pot Coconut Chicken Curry
7. Crockpot Herbed Baby Potatoes
8. Rosemary Asiago Cheese in the Crockpot
WHAT IS THIS SORCERY. I have yet to venture into the territory of making bread in the crockpot, so if you try this or have tried it in the past PLEASE REPORT BACK.
9. BBQ Ribs Recipe for the Oven & Slow Cooker
10. Slow Cooker Black Bean Ragout

Via lynseylous.com
This is my favorite recipe for black beans ever, which is really saying something because I love black beans and have cooked them a LOT of ways. The seasoning somehow only serves to make the beans beanier, which is my only wish. Perfect in tacos, over rice, in a burrito bowl, or just off a spoon.
11. Hot Holiday Cider
12. Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Wild Rice Soup

Via rettybee.com
13. Restaurant Style Refried Beans

Via kleinworthco.com
14. Crock Pot Spaghetti Bolognese
15. Slow Cooker Chocolate Chicken Mole
16. Crock Pot Sausage Black Beans and Rice
I am going to make a version of this with soyrizo and no one can stop me.
17. Crock Pot Jambalaya
18. Miso Split Pea Soup
19. Crock-Pot Corn Chowder with Parmesan Rind and Pancetta
20. Spicy Black Bean Soup
21. Crockpot Enchilada Stuffed Peppers
22. Crockpot Hot Chocolate Brownies
23. Hawaiian Luau Meatballs

Via chewoutloud.com
24. Spiced Crock-pot Pearsauce

Via snixykitchen.com
25. Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana
26. Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup

Via kneadtocook.com
27. Slow Cooker Gingerbread Steel Cut Oats
28. Slow Cooker Pearl Couscous Soup
29. Slow Cooker Mushroom Farrotto with Gremolata
I made this and served it to a bunch of foodie meat-eaters and they LOVED IT. I felt like the king of the world. The gremolata isn’t technically required but it will make this 500% more amazing than it already is, and also the rest of the ‘cooking’ involved in this dish is so lowkey that you can spend five minutes grating some stuff and it’s just not a big deal.
30. Crock Pot Whole Chicken & Thanksgiving Menu
31. Slow Cooker Barley and Chickpea Risotto
32. Slow Cooker Maple Glazed Walnuts
These (and other spiced nuts) are the perfect last-minute Christmas gift because they seem way harder to make than they actually are. When you’re unexpectedly invited to a holiday event with your partner’s entire extended family and have to come up with panic gifts, this will come through for you in the clutch. Not that that’s happened to me.
33. Slow Cooker Thanksgiving Stuffing

Via thechicsite.com
34. Crock Pot Blackberry Jam Naturally Thickened
35. Slow Cooker Kale and Ham Hocks
36. Crockpot Sweet Potato Lentils

via pinchofyum.com
37. Slow Cooker Thai Chicken and Rice
38. Crock Pot Japanese Onion Soup
39. Amazing 3 Bean Sweet Potato Chili
40. Slow Cooker Baked Beans

via lmld.org
41. Slow Cooker Black Bean Burritos

via thriftybelow.com
42. Slow Cooker Mexican Casserole
43. Crock Pot Baked Ziti

via dinner-mom.com
44. Crock Pot Indian Food Chana Masala

via frugalbites.com
45. Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

via foodwellsaid.com
46. Butternut Squash Chickpea Coconut Curry
47. Slow Cooked Vegan Lentil Curry
48. Summer Slow Cooker Lasagna

via ohmyveggies.com
Oh man I want to try basically all of these recipes!! I love fall!!
Bookmarked a bunch of these. It’s a busy fall, the slow-cooker can do the work for me.
So like, I’ve been sick and off my meds for a while and just generally having no spoons for weeks and surviving off of pizza and this is everything i was looking for. little effort, lots of leftovers, delicious meals. thanks autostraddle how do you always know what i need???
Wow, some really wonderful looking dishes…it actually makes me wish I ate better, but since I don’t, and being that I am too lazy to even go to the store to pick up the ingredients for any of these dishes, I will just stay on first name basis with the delivery boy from the deli across the way.
Good article though!
Come to think of it, I use my crock pot to mix the wax mixture for my line of waxed canvas bags. Boy I suck!
My proudest adult purchase thus far is my Crock Pot. I could get lost for days in the sea of wonderful Crock Pot recipes.
This legit made me consider whether I could take a slow cooker to Uni… I don’t even own one…
you probably can! a slow cooker and/or rice cooker are relatively cheap, convenient and safe ways to cook in a dorm that doesn’t have kitchen access, esp. since a lot of dorms don’t allow open flames/heat, which can make cooking hard.
slow cooker was a god send to me at university.
No, but really, how did you know exactly what I needed?
I got a slow cooker last year and have used it a grand total of one time so far. Looking forward to making a load of these recipes now!
word. I was just feeling super guilty like…yesterday over how little I’ve used my crockpot since I got it.
I want to make like 12 of these right now but I only have one slow cooker and I don’t think I could eat all that food and its kind of a bummer.
I use my crockpot more than I use my microwave, but admittedly, I use it to make the same things over and over (my specialties are chicken tacos, spaghetti meatballs, apple crisp, and various brothy soups).
This whole post is like a checklist of new things. Challenge accepted!
book.marking.
BUT WHERE DO I START
I only have one crock pot and one stomach :(
1. You invite friends for dinner! I never make chicken tacos or spaghetti meatballs for just myself, and my apple crisp has won over the love and affection of the people in my new office. For now.
2. You get containers and make single-portion leftovers!
Bam bam problems solved!
Do you have a freezer?
Proper storage containers for freezing and microwave defrosting food?
If so you now have a meal queue.
So, Im just gonna throw this out there: Making apple sauce is super easy in a crockpot and then making muffins with said sauce is probably the best decision you’ll ever make.
Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts
Thinking of buying a crock pot
Slow cooker garbage stock! It’s the easiest thing ever.
1) Put a gallon ziplock bag in your freezer.
2) Put the cuttings from the vegetables you use in other recipes in
3) If you eat meat, put the bones in (especially if they have a little bit of meat still attached)
4) When the bag is full, dump it in the crock pot. Put some more garlic in. Cover 2/3 of the way with water. Leave overnight.
5) Strain. Use broth in EVERYTHING. It makes rice more delicious, soups and braises amazing (and you can do those in the crock pot too!), etc.
It does make it a two-step process. First for the broth, then for the things you want to put in the broth. Like split pea and country-style rib soup last night (NOM!)
All of this looks SO delicious but I got distracted halfway through… Am I the only one who noticed the fork finger-fucking the olive in the background of 26?
So, now I know what to do with my time while I’m waiting for deliciousness to slowly cook in my crock pot… I’ll have a good appetite.
You made me go all the way up to check and OMG the fork really is finger fucking the olive. And the spoon says soup nazi. What other subliminal messages are hidden in this post?
I think it’s time I invest in a crock pot. Any recommendations for a good one/where to get one that won’t break the bank?
I just. WOW. THESE ALL LOOK AMAZING, and a lot of them seem simple to make vegetarian. Autostraddle, I love u.
Never doubt the power of the crock pot, after Katrina it was one of the few things my family could use to make meals. There’s only so far a microwave will take you and it’s gotta rain sometime.
And! A crock pot is what my grandmother uses to make red sauce and red gravy for serious stuff like manicottis. If an old world taught person like her can trust one of them so can you.
Once you have tried homemade baked beans you’ll never want to eat canned ones again! And don’t assume crock pots are only for winter – I use mine in summer to avoid heating up the kitchen when I cook.
Agree. Boston baked beans on the crockpot is an old standby of mine.
This list is amazing. I love my crockpot it’s a faithful friend especially when I’m super busy. Lazy but tasty cooking is awesome. Can’t wait to candy up some nuts. Winner!
I can put GRITS in my crock pot?!?! Why have I never been informed of this?? I feel so sheltered–what else haven’t I been told?!
Also, I definitely wrote that asiago bread recipe down. I will report back when I’m digesting it. ;]
oh wow! I have a tiny 2 qt crockpot that makes enough for two people + a little leftover, maybe I should upgrade to a bigger one.