I recently got a slow cooker and I've never owned one before. Does anyone have any favorite recipes? I am overwhelmed by all of the recipe blogs online!
There are so many great ways to cook in a slow cooker! You are right to be overwhelmed, but rather keep in mind that you can do just about anything in a slow cooker that you can do in a conventional oven only differently. For example, you can bake a cake but will often need a mold to place in it. I have cooked meatloaf, bread, and a variety of stews. Probably the best recipe's I've made have been 'stews or casseroles' you want things that are better the longer they are cooked. Here is one I like from the book, 'The Everything Slow Cooker Cookbook' published by Margaret Kaeter. 2 C. Zucchini diced. 2 Cups squash diced, 1 large onion, 2 Cups mushrooms, sliced. 2 Cups cheddar cheese, 1 package onion soup mix. 1 quart (4 cups) fresh or canned spaghetti sauce. Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker; mix well. Cook uncovered on slow setting 5 to 6 hours. Remove the cover, stir well and cook 1 hour uncovered on low setting. Use as a complement to beef or pork roasts is the advice of the book however, I have enjoyed eating it over pasta as well.
The best piece of advice I can give you about your slow cooker is "don't be afraid". We use our slow cooker several times a week, and it's very hard to screw things up in there if you just keep it simple. If you're cooking a roast, it's literally as simple as adding a bit of water or broth and a few spices and walking away. There's no real fears of overcooking it, and as long as you don't let it dry out (pretty difficult), it's almost impossible to burn something. One of our favorite things to cook in a slow cooker is a pork loin. Simply put the pork loin in the cooker and add apple juice. That's literally all we do. Fantastic flavour transfer from the apple juice, and there's nothing to it. It's not fancy, but it's quick and easy to do before you leave for work in the morning and come home to a ready meal!
HC Heartland and Aresblade, thank you for the recipes and pointers! They have given me a pretty good foundation to go on. Hopefully these methods are a little foolproof I am excited to use my slow cooker this weekend and try out your recipes. I will report back to you and tell you how it went. Please cross your fingers for me!
I think you got some good advice- definitely don't be afraid to experiment and try out different things. You can also convert oven recipes by adjusting cooking time and temp and such. You can do so many things in your slow cooker- from desserts and candies to overnight cooking that will be ready for breakfast in the morning and everything in between , so convenient. Here are a few that I like...Log In Log In
I would suggest checking out America's Test Kitchen website. The offer a free two week trial and have a ton of slow cooker recipes on there. Plus their recipes are tested to ensure they work well. One of the trickiest things when cooking with a slow cooker is to anticipate how a meal is going to turn out after 8 hours or so of slow cooking. Many times, the ingredients you are putting into the pot will give off moisture of their own, which can dilute and change the flavor of any sauces or broths you've added to the pot. This is a common problem with a lot of pulled pork recipes imo. They just throw the pork roast in there with a bottle or two of their favorite sauce and slow cook it. But the problem is the roast will sweat out a ton of liquid which will dilute the BBQ sauce and make it taste bland and flavorless. Instead, I prefer to slow cook the roast by itself, then drain and shred the meat and toss it with the BBQ sauce last. This also helps avoid "scorching" the BBQ sauce which can also happen in a slow cooker. Most of the time I don't bother at all with a "recipe" when using my slow cooker, I just simply roast a piece of meat in it by itself, and prepare any sides or sauces to go along with it separately. A beef roast with veggies in your crock pot will leave you with really mushy vegetables by the time the roast is cooked through. Instead I would steam or roast the vegetables separately, and make a quick gravy on the stove to along with it.
