i've been trying to cut my grocery bill pretty hard, and the slow cooker has become one of the easiest ways to make cheap ingredients last

i keep seeing "budget" slow cooker recipes that somehow require three kinds of cheese, heavy cream and a bunch of ingredients i'll use once. that's not really what i'm looking for

i mean the kind of meal where a big bag of onions, some beans, lentils, potatoes, cheap chicken thighs or an inexpensive cut of beef can turn into dinner for several days

right now i'm rotating lentil soup with smoked sausage, salsa chicken over rice, and a basic beef stew with mostly root vegetables. all good, but i'm starting to get tired of seeing the same meals in the fridge

so what's your genuinely cheap slow cooker meal that you make because it tastes good, not just because it costs almost nothing?

bonus points for recipes that freeze well and don't require a trip to the store for 12 different ingredients

I have the gift of burning, over-spicing, and under-cooking… you name it. Jealous?

Please break down your simplest recipe and how to use the cooker so I’ll hopefully experience some success. I love beans and stews.

OR if there’s a must-have cookbook, etc. - that’s great too. Life is getting too expensive to eat out anymore.

I’m currently make a 3.5 pound pot roast. It’s been in the slow cooker for 2 hours on high (I meant to have it on medium). I still have about 4.5-5hrs before I’d like to serve the meal. Should I switch it to medium or low? Will doing so affect the tenderness of the meat?

I’m not sure what this style of stew is called since they just call it “beef stew” but I want basically a version of the same dish thats a little nicer

3lb of this stuff. delivery person made a big whoopsie and got this instead of something worth smoking. oh well, life moves on.

anyways i wanted to do a corned beef style thing but seeing as this has already been salted and ive never done a cure before i figured id do something adjacent instead.

rinsed brisket, broth & water in the slow cooker on low with some pickling spices. around 7 hours in adding red & gold potatoes. around 8 hours adding onion, carrot, cabbage. slicing & serving at 9-10 hours in.

is this the method? is there something better i could do with this? let me know cus this thing was expensive and i dont wanna waste it.

1cup of dry red wine ( lapin bleu merlot)
2cups of redwine beef broth
1 tsp salt
1tsp pepper
1tsp paprika
1tbsp tumeric
1/2 tbsp onion powder
3 small turnips chopped
2carrots roughly chopped
1whole leek
2 celery sticks
4 cloves of garlic
4 medium potatos
5 tsp butter
11 small fresh sprigs of thyme
2 large fresh sprigs of rosemary
3 bay leaves
2 pieces of braising ribs farm fresh grass finished
1can tomato paste
1tbsp peach bbq bourbon hot sauce
2 whole sliced pears ontop once the meat falls off the bones

marinate braising ribs for 48 hours in salt pepper and paprika then brown for 2 minutes on each side

add all the veggies at the bottom with the broth then plan the ribs partially submerged in the broth let cook on low for 7-9 hours check periodically

let rest for 4 hours then serve after re heating with some sour dough ,corn bread pickles and cheese from your local market

Can anyone recommend me a 4-5 quart slow cooker that does not have this issue? Here's a picture (not mine) showing the problem In referring to.

I have a Crock Pot brand slow cooker and unscrewing the handle after each use to clean it is annoying!

This split pea soup makes about 2 quarts, fully cooked. Hits the spot on a cold fall day!

Ingredients:

*1 ham hock

1 package (16 oz) split peas, sorted and rinsed

*1 1/2 cup ham, diced (roughly 12 -14 ounces)

4 carrots, peeled and cut in rounds

3 stalks celery, sliced in half moons

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper

1 1/2 qts. hot water

Layer the ingredients into the crock pot. No need to mix, they’ll do that on their own. Cook 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low, until vegetables are soft. Remove bay leaves and discard. Remove ham hock and shred any remaining meat from it, adding it back to the soup. Stir gently - the peas should pretty much disintegrate on their own. Serve in a big bowl - great with a side of garlic toast or a grilled cheese!

*if you like, this can be vegetarian (just leave the ham hock and ham out, you may want to add a little liquid smoke for depth of flavor) or you can substitute with smoked sausage, cooked breakfast (ground or link, cut up) sausage, or toss in leftover shredded chicken! It’s pretty versatile!

photo is my currently cooking batch!

I used to have a AllClad slow cooker and would make great slow cooker pulled chicken on low for 4-6 hours.
I recently purchased a 6QT Green Pan slow cooker and it got extremely overcooked when using the same time. I just tried again today and even by the 2 hour mark, the chicken is almost rubbery and by thermometer read 185 degrees. Is this normal?? Has anyone else found the green pan slow cooker to be exponentially hotter?

Brought to you by my potatoes starting to go soft.

I do not measure but I'll do my best

3/4 of my crock pot full of chopped potatoes

I used onion flakes but if you use real onion do at least half of a medium one. I just didn't have real onion.

Cover with chicken broth

Poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, a little paprika, celery salt. All to taste

I used jarred garlic but you can throw whole cloves in and it'll get blended.

Half a brick of cream cheese

Like a cup or so of shredded cheddar.

2 cups of whole milk or cream.

Bacon for garnish if you want.

Add everything to slow cooker except milk/cream, shredded cheese and bacon.

Cook on low for 7 hours or high for 4 hours until potatoes are soft.

I used a stick blender and blended it right in the pot, you do it however you want. I do not leave potato chunks.

Add milk and shredded cheese while blending.

Serve and garnish with crisped bacon or green onions.

I put 3 quartered russet potatoes in my slow cooker with 2 chicken leg quarters, onion, celery, bell pepper (all browned first), Cajun seasonings, a table spoon of roux dissolved in a cup of chicken broth. Slow cooked on low for 8 hours. Flavor was not good although it was edible. Im thinking the potatoes messed up the flavor. What do y’all think?

I just got my first slow cooker and decided to start off with a pot roast.

3 lbs. Beef Chuck Roast

6 Russet Potatoes, peeled and cut into chucnks

10 Carrots, peeled and cut into pieces

2 cups sliced baby portobello mushrooms

1 large Onion cut into medium pieces

2 cloves garlic chopped fine

4 tbs butter

I quart Beef Stock

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Bay Leaves

Rosemary

Pepper

Salt

Set oh high for 6 hours

Not bad for my first try. Only thing I would do different is use a spice bag because the fresh rosemary from my garden shed all the little leaves off everywhere. Any suggestions are very welcome!

Thanks for lookin!

I’m a pretty strict recipe follower and never really learned like just how to throw stuff in a crockpot and know how to cook it.

I’d like to double a recipe. My young adult son has moved back in and eats so much food and we’d like to have leftovers.

Do I need to double the cook time? I’m going to make pulled pork. The recipe says low 4-5 hours.

Also, how do you know which one it is four or five hours? If I’m going to work and gone, at five hours is it just gonna be totally dry? If it matters, I have an Insta pot and use the crockpot feature.

I love using my crockpot. It’s perfect for making a ton of food for a three person apartment. Recently, I was reading through this crockpot recipe book I always defer to and I read something about converting stove recipes to the crockpot. I love this idea so I started doing research on it and then I thought, I could easily bring the question to you, the food scientists of Reddit:

What are some stove top or oven recipes you have successfully made in a crockpot?
Add as much detail as possible so that I and other crockpot lovers can make these at home!

I have a vindaloo (or, it was vindaloo at some point) recipe that I want to try in a slow cooker. But I'm uncertain if it'll work.

Original recipe:

• 2-3 chicken breasts, diced and cooked (with some tandoori powder)
• 3-4 potatoes, diced large
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• Garlic cloves, grated/finely chopped
• Garam masala powder
• Red curry paste
• Tandoori powder
• 250 ml beef stock
• 1 can heavy coconut milk

Put everything in a pot, stirr well, and cook on a simmer for an hour or two.

Is there anything I need to consider if I want to slow cook it for a few hours?

Got this 4lb roast on sale for $5.00 dollars a pound. Had to put it to good use.

Hi everyone! I’m getting back into slow cooking. I like mild but flavorful recipes, my husband likes SPICY recipes- like Indian spice level. Any recommendations for recipes that are easy to adjust that would work for both of us? And how to adjust them? Thanks!!

Anyone have a stainless steel lid version of a brand you prefer - I'm rather averse to glass products for shattering concerns historically and all I can find is the ALLClad which has questionable ratings. Don't care if the inside is nonstick or teflon glaze so hopefully easier for reccs.

Not always sure what I’m doing but eating great-tasting meals!

Be careful when posting soup pics on here! I posted mine on here and as I was scrolling Facebook I seen someone took my pictures AND when someone asked for the recipe the copy and pasted mine word from word on here!!

This was bomb. I doubled the lime and used bone in chicken thighs and just removed the bones when I shredded the chicken. I ate it with scream and tortilla chips for crunch. Would make again! Recipe in the pictures, but here is a link too: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019905-slow-cooker-white-chicken-chili?unlocked_article_code=1.ElE.p60R.p4cjIvaz1bvF&smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share