Your favourite tried and tested slow cooker recipe

[Crazyoldmaurice]

Sent our slow cooker to charity last year as I was fed up with stuff coming out bland and watery and it took up so much room in our little kitchen. Lo and behold OH came home last week from aldi with yet another slow cooker. No receipt either or I would have sent him back with it.

Tried to do a beef stew last week and left it on low for 9 hours and the beef was as tough as old boots. Did a curry at the weekend which was really nice but last night did chicken teriyaki which was a watery mess. Tried thickening up a bit with cornflour but it was still a fail.

Can anyone give me their number 1, guaranteed to be tasty slow cooker meal ideas please before I send this slow cooker away again?

Put in a chicken. Switch it on. That's it.

It's all about coconut milk. Until I got my crockpot I had next ro no cooking abilities. I now do a fabulous coconut chicken and a pretty mram beef curry.

I make beef Adobe

https://jenieats.com/2015/04/recipe-adobo-style-beef-stew-in-the-slow-cooker.html

and coq au vin

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/slowcookerrcoqauuvin_42881

. Big success, I also batch prepare and freeze, so just pull out of freezer night before to defrost, next morning switch on before leaving.

Also, a whole chicken, upside down.
Jacket potatoes (they aren't crispy but do taste nutty). Rice pudding. Curries. Mince and dumplings.

Always half the liquids.

I also use it to keep vin chaud hot for winter parties.

I love my slow cooker!

Vin chaud? Like glühwein?

Yup! It's lovely and makes the apartment smell great

Chicken madras:
Chuck Chicken breasts in
Chuck a tin of chopped tomatoes in
Chuck a jar of madras sauce (usually use aldi)

Cook on low for however log you need to. Comes out better with diced beef but my god its delicious

@judithandholofernes sure...

It's basically this one; www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/a574738/slow-cooker-macaroni-cheese/

But I fry up the bacon separately so it's crispy, and add Gruyere cheese and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard too

My slow cooker is hiding in my cupboard I think it needs a revival! When I had my first two dc one after the other I relied on my sc for our main meal, I used to buy packs of meat and pre chopped veg and even on my most sleep deprived days I could just whack it all in the sc in the morning with a packet of relevant seasoning and that was it. Must admit it did get a bit all the samey but it was hot nutritious food with zero effort. I am going to try some of these suggestions!

I love our slow cooker. Remember it's great not just for meals but also other stuff like fudge, hot chocolate and mulled wine and cider.

This is one of my favourite fudge recipes:

www.northeastfamilyfun.co.uk/2016/10/chocolate-orange-slow-cooker-fudge-recipe.html

Any recipes for vegetarians.

I made this and it's delicious. It's actually vegan but if you put proper sour cream with it instead of the runny tofu (which I found tasted awful) and homemade guacamole it's gorgeous.
www.thefullhelping.com/slow-cooker-black-bean-butternut-squash-quinoa-chili/

@Smotheroffive tater tots is an American, comfort food dish that teenagers love;

Layer the bottom with potato croquettes, then a layer of uncooked diced chicken, top with seasoning- I use rosemary, layer of grated cheese, layer of croquettes, layer of diced bacon pieces, layer of cheese, pour a cup of milk over it all & cook on low for at least 5 hours

It’s divine

Hot chocolate I make at Christmas. 2 large bars of plain chocolate, 2 cups of milk, 2 cups of cream & leave on low. It’s very lush

I'll use some of the recipes here, thanks.

If the Beef is tough possibly needs cooking on a lower setting .

www.mumsnet.com/family-food/10-things-you-didnt-know-you-could-make-in-a-slow-cooker

Seemed relevent to post this link here to a whole area of MN with slow cookers, recipes hints and tips!

Pork butt or other really fatty cut. Do not use anything Lean
Dried beans
Tomato juice
Treacle or molasses
Chopped onion bacon and garlic
Brown sugar

Chop pork into cubes. Throw the lot in the slow cooker. Use enough tomato juice to cover everything. Molasses to taste. Takes quite a bit
Stick cover on slow cooker and do on low till beans are done. 10 hours ish
BBQ pork n beans

Two chicken breasts, one mini bottle of wine (I think it's equivalent to one glass?), chopped spring onions, grated ginger. Cook on low for seven hours and serve with noodles.

I call it chinese chicken. Lovely with some stir fried greens too.

www.slimmingworld.co.uk/recipes/barbecue-pulled-pork

Slimming world pulled pork - unreal and so tasty highly recommend this !

I’ve never got on with my slow cooker tbh. Thought it was going to be life changing (slightly exaggerating there) but like others I find everything watery and by the time you’ve faffed about browning meat and thickening the sauce at the end you might as well just have cooked it in a regular oven! A PP’s tip that you should only use as much water as you want to see at the end is a good plan. Maybe I’ll give it another chance to change my life!

Sell it.

Buy a pressure cooker.

My fav is a Spanish(ish?) chicken casserole -

Chicken thighs
Chorizo
Tinned tomatoes
Chickpeas
Garlic puree
Tomato puree
Paprika
Potatoes

Bung it all in first thing, and leave until home from work. Though if I'm going to be at home, I add the chicken a few hours after everything else.

I never add water. Almost everything I cook involves a tin of tomato instead.

Thurmanmurman - the point of them is that if you out for hours and hours and hours (like a day at work), you can leave the slow cooker on and the food cooking for when you get home. You can do the same with a cooker if you have a good and accurate timer on it, but then you'd need to leave the food at room temperature until the timer kicked in, and you'd have to be home by the time the timer kicked out again, so no flexibility.

I love my slow cooker, I live alone with nobody to put the oven on for me, and it's wonderful to get home late at night to a home cooked meal piping hot.

I tend not to cook stuff with loads of liquid, so there's no watery gravy and I never brown the meat first, it comes out just as good without.

www.southernliving.com/syndication/king-ranch-chicken

www.allrecipes.com/recipe/21205/all-day-apple-butter/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringId=253&referringContentType=Recipe%20Hub

www.eatingwell.com/recipe/251746/slow-cooker-black-bean-mushroom-chili/

Probably my most favourite is this one (tomatillo salsa is salsa verde here in the UK - Waitrose often stocks it and there are online Mexican grocers you can get it from too)

www.eatingwell.com/recipe/251748/slow-cooker-braised-pork-with-salsa/

This recipe for Cuban black beans is amazing. It has a couple of rashers of bacon in the recipe but I've made it without and it tasted just as good. Slow cookers are great for beans and lentils, there are loads of recipes out there.

www.culinaryhill.com/slow-cooker-cuban-black-beans/