Convenience, taste and healthy ingredients – it’s impossible for the three to coexist, right? wrong. It’s possible in a Crock Pot!
A slow cooker is a beautiful thing. Give it a few hours and it will bring out flavors, blend spices and tenderize the most stubborn or cheap cuts of meat. Ahead is a collection of easy and healthy Crock Pot recipes that just might become your new favorites. From vegan lasagna and beef and broccoli, to pumpkin soup and steak fajitas, we’ve got you covered.
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This tasty fajitas recipe can provide a little excess moisture. You can avoid a messy mess by draining the tomatoes, serving the chicken with a slotted spoon, and perhaps enjoying the last bit of chicken on a bed of rice.
Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas † Buy this recipe
Whether you enjoy it as a snack or as a full meal, you can’t go wrong with this buffalo chicken dip that combines chicken with protein-rich Greek yogurt and two types of low-fat cheese. If you have some pita bread on hand, cut them into triangles and bake them in the oven at 425°F for five minutes to quickly dip pita chips.
Recipe: Healthy Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Dip † Buy this recipe
If you adore the church of sweet and savory, I don’t need to tell you why combining sugar, soy sauce, and beef stock is a surefire recipe for irresistible flavor. Sirloin steak and broccoli make this a meal, but let’s be real — essentially any protein or vegetable would go well with this sauce.
Recipe: Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli † Buy this recipe
I’m a huge fan of dairy, but I have to admit that this vegan butternut squash mac is absolute creamy perfection. You don’t have to look far in the ingredients list to find out what the literal secret sauce is: a teaspoon of mustard (along with some nutritional yeast and cashews).
Recipe: Slow Cooker Vegan Butternut Squash Mac † Buy this recipe
Tired of overnight oats or toast for breakfast? Try this breakfast dish, which combines eggs with the best vegetables, including sweet potatoes and mushrooms. It’s a hit with vegetarians and omnivores!
Recipe: Veggie Breakfast Casserole † Buy this recipe
Crock Pots are actually made for recipes like this one. Cooking the chicken thighs for a longer period of time brings out the flavor, tenderizes the meat and infuses everything with a rich blend of garlic and balsamic.
Recipe: Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken † Buy this recipe
Trying to cook a creamy soup on the stovetop can be a tedious process for anyone who doesn’t have the time to keep an eye on a pot. This pumpkin soup recipe lets the Crock Pot do the work for you (after roasting for 30 minutes) and results in a velvety soup you’ll want to taste.
Some of the best vegan recipes in the world aren’t just “meat-free” versions of their omnivorous counterparts, but completely reimagined iterations. Such is the case with this vegan bolognese, which harnesses the textural power of shredded carrots, aubergine pieces and cauliflower florets to impart both depth of flavor and satisfying chewability.
Recipe: Vegan Bolognese
Crock pots are great at cooking white meat, but excellent when cooking red meat until buttery tender and juicy. Give it a try with this steak fajitas recipe, which you can enjoy over corn or flour tortillas, or just a scoop of rice.
Recipe: Slow Cooker Steak Fajitas † Buy this recipe
The homemade tortilla bowl is perfect for this soup, but if you don’t have the oil — or the pain tolerance for frying a large tortilla in a bowl — you can just smash a bunch of tortilla chips into your bowl of soup, or bake a tortilla in between. two bowls in the oven.
Recipe: Chicken Tortilla Bowl Soup † Buy this recipe
To get that finger-licking, sticky texture, try adding a pinch of cornstarch to thicken your sauce. Garnish with some sesame seeds and sliced green onions and you have a restaurant-worthy meal!
Mild, nutty and creamy white beans are a versatile ingredient that integrates wonderfully with other flavors. Here the result is a rich chili with a slightly sweet, slightly spicy burn.
Recipe: Spicy White Bean Chili † Buy this recipe
Look, Crock Pots aren’t exclusive to lunch or dinner recipes — they’re great for breakfast, too. Take this oatmeal recipe: if you follow it right, you’ll get the world’s creamiest bowl of old-fashioned homemade oats. Top them with a handful of apple slices and you’re pretty much guaranteed the perfect day.
Recipe: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal cut from steel † Buy this recipe
Everyone knows that the best chilis take time to mix all the flavors together (otherwise you’d just be eating bean soup). Save this slow cooker recipe for a laid-back afternoon when you can dump all the ingredients in and spend the rest of the day fantasizing about your upcoming dinner party.
Recipe: Protein packed chili † Buy this recipe
On days when you need a vitamin boost (or just want to clear out the wilted vegetables in your fridge, ahem), try this recipe, which combines a bunch of chopped veggies — including pumpkin, celery, tomatoes, zucchini, and onion — into a light soup that you can finish with a loaf of crusty bread.
Recipe: Hearty Vegetable Soup † Buy this recipe
Craving Chinese American food? Try this recipe, which will slowly cook a deliciously sticky honey-soy chicken in under three hours — basically how long it would have taken you to pick your order and wait for your delivery anyway.
If you’re like me and always crave a variety of fajitas, you’ll love this freezer-friendly bulk recipe. When it’s almost dinner time, simply pour the contents into your Crock Pot and cook it on high for three hours or on low for six hours.
Recipe: Fajitas With Chicken † Buy this recipe
This easy slow cooker recipe is so simple, yet so flavorful, you’ll feel like your Crock Pot is like a magic cauldron. Just throw in some chicken thighs, herbs, lemon and garlic, and voilà — you have the centerpiece of a dinner that your family will be breathing in before you even get a chance to sit down.
Stuffed peppers are only as good as the ingredients they’re stuffed with. You could eat this cheesy combination of rice, corn, and beans from your friend’s discarded ramen cup, and it would still be irresistible. However, the peppers elevate the whole dining experience.
Recipe: Stuffed Peppers from the Slow Cooker † Buy this recipe
While the western world is still catching up to the culinary wonders of jackfruit, it has actually been a popular ingredient in South Asian cuisine for a long time. For those of you unaware, jackfruit is a real fruit that, when cooked, has a texture similar to pulled pork. It’s also mild enough to absorb the flavors of the other ingredients it’s cooked with – producing a tremendously rich and tasty dish, just like these carnitas.
A head of cauliflower + cream + potatoes = a velvety smooth soup that you can only make using your Crock Pot. Top with chunks of bacon, cheddar, green onion, or even some fried onion for an extra crunch.
Recipe: Creamy Cauliflower Soup
They’re crunchy, they’re green, and they’re versatile. Whatever the reason, there is something about green beans that makes them my favorite vegetable. Try them a la this Greek green beans recipe and maybe you’ll join the fan club.
Recipe: Greek green beans
Where has this vegan lasagna recipe been all my life?! The secret is in the pumpkin tofu ricotta, made with tofu, sun-dried tomatoes, nutritional yeast, and a whole lotta pumpkin. Don’t be mad if you finish it before assembling the lasagna.
Recipe: Pumpkin Lasagna
