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Five-Star Crockpot Recipes
Get out that old crockpot and save yourself time and money
by Allison Huller McAlister
by Allison Huller McAlister
t's 5:30 in the evening, you're tired, the kids are whining because they're hungry, and you have no clue what to make for dinner. If you had used your crockpot, dinner would already be ready and waiting for you--not that that's any consolation right this minute, but think about how nice it'll be next time! Chances are that you already own a slow cooker, but it's probably hidden away in a hard-to-access cabinet somewhere with all your other rarely used kitchen appliances, collecting dust. My small slow cooker suffered the same fate. But then I purchased a 5-1/2 quart oval stoneware slow cooker, and my opinion of crockpots was forever changed. Let me tell you--it was the best $30 I'd ever spent! [Editor's note: And you can pick really nice ones up for next to nothing at thrift stores and garage sales!]
My name is Allison and I am a crockpot addict (Hi, Allison!)
I've since become addicted to crockpot cooking. It's great being able to wake up in the morning and prepare that night's dinner when I'm wide awake and raring to go, instead of being exhausted at 6 pm and having to spend an hour making a meal for my family. Not only is the slow cooker convenient, it also makes your home smell good all day long with the wonderful aroma of a home-cooked meal. And once dinnertime does roll around, all you need to worry about is heating up a side dish or two to serve along with the main dish. How easy is that?Since getting hooked on using my slow cooker, I've found several recipes that my family considers to be absolutely delicious. If we were to rate them on a scale of one to five stars, these would all be five-star dishes. So hunt down your ol' crockpot, dust it off, and start putting it to good use with these recipes. You can thank me later.
CROCKPOT ENCHILADAS This first recipe is from a fellow colleague, Shellie Hurrle. My husband and I both enjoyed this dish, and my preschooler simply devoured it! Makes 4-6 servings
Brown ground beef and drain. Add onion and garlic; cook over medium heat until tender and transparent. Add salt and pepper. Place 2 tortillas in bottom of crockpot. Place a third of the following in layers over the tortillas: meat, corn, sauce, cheese and olives. Repeat tortillas and other layers two times. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours Serve with sour cream. |
CROCKPOT FLANK STEAK This steak is extremely tasty, tender and juicy. The chili powder gives the meat a slightly kicked-up flavor, but it's not really spicy at all. Serve it up with a baked potato and a vegetable to complete the dinner. Delicious! Makes 4-6 servings
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown steak in oil. Transfer to crockpot. In the same skillet, sauté onion for a minute or two. Gradually add the water. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Pour over the flank steak. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours or until the meat is tender. Slice meat and serve with the onion and pan juices. Enjoy! |
EASY CHILI This is a wonderful chili recipe that I found on the Web and adjusted to my liking. This one will surely warm you up on a chilly night. You can add more or less chili powder depending upon how mild or spicy you like your chili. My husband thought it was delicious and kept refilling his bowl. I like to garnish chili with a little shredded cheddar cheese on the top. Nice accompaniments are a garden salad and warm French bread. Enjoy! Makes 6 servings
Brown the ground beef with the onion. Drain if needed. Put ground beef and onion in a slow cooker, and add remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. |
HUNGARIAN GOULASH This dish was extremely delicious. My husband absolutely loved it. I served it along with a tossed salad and French bread. Scrumptious! Makes 8 servings
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook beef in oil about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown. Drain. Place beef and sliced onion in a slow cooker. Mix beef broth, tomato paste, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, salt, and pepper; stir into beef mixture. Cover and cook on low heat 8-10 hours (I always use the longer cook time) until beef is tender. Mix water and flour; gradually stir into beef mixture. Stir in green pepper. Cover and cook on high heat 30 minutes. Serve goulash over noodles. |
ITALIAN CHICKEN WITH CREAM SAUCE This chicken dish is rich, creamy, and very tasty. The chicken is cooked in the crockpot in a mixture of water and Italian salad dressing mix. The cream sauce consists of cream cheese, cream of chicken soup and mushrooms. It's delicious served over fettuccine with a garden salad on the side.
Place the chicken in the crockpot. Mix the salad dressing mix with the water and pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for about 3 [product] hours. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and soup until blended. Stir in the mushrooms and pour mixture over the chicken. Cook about 1 hour longer. Serve over the cooked fettuccine. |
SOUTHWESTERN TURKEY This dish gets its spice from diced tomatoes with green chilies, green peppers, chili powder, and lime juice. The flavor is quite scrumptious. It's not too spicy, but it has a pleasantly zesty taste to it. I recommend serving the turkey over rice, with perhaps a green veggie on the side. Makes 6 servings
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook turkey in oil about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Place turkey in a slow cooker. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over turkey. Cover and cook on low heat for about 6 hours or until turkey is no longer pink in center. |
BLUEBERRY DUMP CAKE You can even use your slow cooker to make desserts! This concoction is delicious by itself, but it's absolutely scrumptious served with vanilla ice cream over top. Instead of his usual carrot cake, my husband now wants this dessert for his birthday! Makes 8-10 servings
Place pie filling in a slow cooker. Combine dry cake mix and butter; sprinkle over filling. Sprinkle with walnuts. Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours. Serve warm in bowls. Great topped with vanilla ice cream. |
Allison Huller McAlister is a freelance writer and the Children's TV guide for About.com. She also writes a weekly recipe column, What's For Dinner? for Suite101.com.
Related links
- Crockpot Cookery forum here on TNH
- Cook-Ahead Holidays here on TNH
- Three-Day Recipe Blitz! here on TNH
- What's for Dinner? recipe book for busy moms
- Crock Pot Recipes
Comments
We just had the turkey dish!
We just had the turkey dish! Thanks so much!
These recipes sound so tasty
These recipes sound so tasty and different. I have my menu now planned for next week! Thanks!
Crockpot rec
Can't wait to try. Thanks. Jennifer
Crockpot Recipes
I'm afraid this is of no help to me. Not everyone has a husband and kids. Many of us these days are solo acts, and I'm one of them. I have a small slow cooker that I've yet to use because I've found it impossible to find recipes for crockpots smaller than, say, four or five quarts. I don't know why they even make crockpots smaller than that when they make so few recipes for cookers that small. It's very frustrating to say the least.
Eat what you like then try
Eat what you like then try freezing the rest in single serving portions; you should be able to thaw and heat in the microwave for most of the recipes. The smaller crock pots are good for hot dips, chocolate sauce and things like that - but they are very difficult to use for a normal meal. Good luck!
Wow - you are sound like a
Wow - you are sound like a bitter person! Why are you reading Crock Pot Rec ipes if you are going to complain about them??
I saw someone else's comment
I saw someone else's comment on freezing the leftovers, which is exactly what I do. I have some great crockpot cookbooks, and actually most of the recipes don't make large numbers of servings, usually 4 to 5. Stews, chili, casseroles, soups all freeze very well, and I personally love being able to pull something yummy out of the freezer when I don't feel like dealing with making dinner for myself.
You can cut any recipe into
You can cut any recipe into a fraction of the original.
It is not difficult at all
It is not difficult at all to get a few containers to store leftovers for freezing. Quite a money saver actually!
Solo acts w/ crock pots
I too was single with a dusty crock pot once. Another single friend put me onto a great idea: make those 5 & 6 qt recipes and freeze leftovers for later. I always has something great to eat that was easy to warm up and saved a ton of money on "single serving" meals.
well..
for somone with a smaller crockpot, just do a little bit of math and you'll be able to make any recipe in even the smallest crockpot. I should know. my crockpot is tiny. Good Luck!
Share with friends!!
I have a friend who I share meals with and she shares with me. I'll make a meal once a week and give her half and she does the same. We get to try new recipes and it's a time saver for us both.
I second that. At the very
I second that. At the very least they could have made a guide for us solo artists. I expected a book of recipes to come with my 4-qt. crock pot, instead I got a primer on how to clean the thing (this really comes in handy when I take it out for it's yearly dusting.
)
Recipes for Small Crockpots
I, too, live with just my partner and he never eats leftovers. I found a cookbook called "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two" (key words there, 'For Two'). It's the perfect amount of food for us, enough for me and him and sometimes some leftovers. It will also give you a good idea of how much food to use so you can eventually adapt most recipes. It's the only common cookbook I've seen that is especially for small crockpots, but it has a lot of really good recipes. Hope this helps!
cooking for one
I have a suggestion... have you tried cooking a family sized recipe and then freezing it in meal sized portions? Many casserole type dishes and fresh soups are good for this.
stop whining
this sounds like your upset about being single...and your whining/bad attitude is probably the sole reason you are single.
Someone mentioned a freezer for leftovers, do you own a freezer?
If so go that route.
LEFTOVERS!!
Use Your Head
To the person who said these recipes are too large for her small crock pot - cut the recipe in half! I use a small crock pot as I am 74 years old and live alone, and I always just cut down on the ingredients and my meals come out fine.
So, so good. Made the Chili
So, so good. Made the Chili last night, so good!
chicken enchiladas
has anyone tried the chicken enchiladas?
I have just found these
I have just found these recipes and have the flank steak on cooking now. I am going to try most of them, Thanks so much.
I don't understand these recipes
If you are going to be browing the beef and onions and using canned ingredients, I don't quite understand why you put the stuff in the crock pot, since you've already done all the work......
Does anybody have any recipes that involve doing no prep work? I thought the whole idea of a crock pot was to throw a bunch of stuff in before work and let it cook all day.
The reason they brown ground
The reason they brown ground beef(or any other ground meat) first is because otherwise, it will all stick together in a clump, might not cook properly, and will flood your food with grease (ew!). It's not really doing all the work either, stewing the meat with all the other ingredients for a long time is where the flavor and texture happens. Browning your ground meat won't take you very long anyway, and once you do it and see how much grease you're draining you'll be glad you did.
why pre-brown meat?? I'll tell you!
Also, a good reason to brown the outside of your meat before you throw it in the crock pot is that it gives your meat that lovely color and caramelization that adds a tastier, if subtle, flavor. I can't stand putting an un-browned piece of meat in the crock pot!
Prepwork - to do it or not to do it
I hve a recipe for pulled pork for the crock pot: 4 lbs of pork butt, 2 cans of coke, 1 onion (chopped) and some paprika, cumin, red curry, and cinnamon. I know it sounds weird, but it works! You let it cook overnight, and there is no prepwork, other than chopping the onions. Once it's done, you take out the pork, try to drain a little of the grease off (not too much or it will dry out) and pour as much of your favorite bbq sauce over it and enjoy. It stores really well, too!
smaller crock pots
i just got a 3 qut crock pot - and made some DELISH pulled pork in it - a 3 pound piece of pork fit perfectly in it...if you have a recipe - you can always cut the recipe in half...that's easy enough to do..i'm excited about cooking in a crock pot again. i'm a "new" widow and it's been difficult cooking for one - but now i can cook and freeze in small sizes...
that sure can give you some extra time..not having to cook something everyday..oh i can also eat cereal when iwant!! :^)
Is this cookbook still
Is this cookbook still available for purchase? I have been trying to purchase with the paypal link and it will not let me.
soon
I hope.
When I upgraded the site, all the ebook stuff broke. I want to upgrade it soon.
greatttttttttttttttt
Flank steak
Hi,
I just tried that recipe today... Awesome! I almost ate the whole thing! I threw in some extra onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes. It really turned out well, and I'm sure it'll be cooking up again before long! Thanks!
Recipe measurement QUESTION
What does this measurement mean in the Hungarian Goulash recipe?
[pi] tsp. pepper
[pi] cup cold water
pot size
Can I use these recipes as written in 6.5 slow cooker; or must I adjust? WHat changes are necessary? Thank you.
About browning meat. . . .
A trick that I have used for years is to buy a good sized package (usually 5 to 6 pounds) of low fat content ground beef (usually only 6-10% fat)and brown up the whole package at once. When done I pour the meat into a colander and run hot water over it to rinse even more fat off.
Then I freeze the cooked meat in half pound packages and I'm ready to roll. It provides an added quick start to fixing many recipes as you can put the amount you need right in. It's also helpful when you come home and decide that just some tacos or nachos will do!
I've been doing this since my kids were young and now have noticed that both their wives have 'borrowed' and use the same idea since it is so handy! Oh, and I LOVE these crockpot recipes and can't wait to try them - good luck!
try this
Allrecipes.com has a great portion feature. You type in how many servings you want and it reduces the ingredients needed to fit that amount. I use it all the time when cooking for just my wife and I. You might find similar recipes there. They have a huge selection of crock pot recipes. The pulled pork is amazing!
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