Everyone loves a good slow-cooked meal. These dishes are a pleasure to prepare and provide much needed heat when fall rolls around. Slow-cooker recipes are also a great way to use less expensive cuts of meat and deep-frozen veggies, a.k.a. they save you money. Also, putting legumes in the slow cooker is a fabulous first step towards a 100% vegetarian meal. Chickpeas, beans, and lentils will fly off your family’s plates after they’ve soaked up all the broth, herbs, spices, and other aromatics!
The perks of cooking with a crockpot
- All-in-one slow-cooked meals are so easy to make. You can cook all the ingredients together at once, saving precious time (and loads of dish washing).
- Prepared in large quantities, these comforting meals can feed the entire family for dinner . . . and lunch the next day! Or you can freeze any leftovers.
- Slow-cooker meals were made to feed a crowd.
- For uber tender meat, nothing rivals low-heat cooking. Meat that is slow-cooked is the most tender of meats. Opt for less expensive cuts for super delicious yet highly affordable dishes.
- Make the most out of your oven and prepare two slow-cooked meals at a time.
- The smell! That mouth-watering smell will fill your entire home!
The slow cooker: your stress-relieving home appliance
In addition to its low energy consumption, what’s great about the crockpot is that it allows you to cook your meal without having to constantly check up on it. Simply turn it on before leaving in the morning and come home to a warm dinner that’s ready to be served.
Get started with simple recipes that are designed for the crockpot. It will become easier for you to tweak basic recipes later on, as you gain more slow-cooker experience.
Three slow-cooking tips for your crockpot
Because there’s little to no evaporation, recipes cooked in the crockpot require about half the amount of liquid compared to their oven counterparts.
Avoid lifting the cover during cooking to maintain the slow-cooker’s internal temperature. Only do so when adding more tender vegetables, rice, milk, or a thickener at the end.
Although not essential, browning meat and veggies enhances their flavours. The low-temp setting also builds up the aromas for an out-of-this-world slow-cooked meal!
Veggie-forward and vitamin-rich slow-cooker ideas
The following root vegetables and other local winter veggies are slow-cooker mainstays: cabbage, carrots, potatoes, rutabaga (also known as turnip), as well as green and yellow beans.
You can also break from tradition and try adding sweet potatoes, fennel, squash, and parsnip to the crockpot. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the flavours!
And great news: the vitamins that would normally dissipate in water are preserved in the broth, so have as much as you like, as long as it’s not too fatty or salty!
Health hack: deep-frozen and frozen vegetables
Deep-frozen veggies (or one’s you’ve frozen during harvest season) can save you time with traditional slow-cooked meals made in the oven or crockpot. However, they should be added to the mix later in the game (about 30 to 45 minutes before your meal is done).
Beef and chicken crockpot recipes (and more!)
To help you get creative with slow-cooker flavours, we’ve prepared a series of chicken, beef, and lentil crockpot recipes. We also show you how to cook (low and slow) a Thai veal curry and Moroccan-inspired osso bucco.