Good crock-pot recipes?

[stobes21]

Got a recipe for buffalo chicken a while back from Allrecipes that has become a favorite at my house.

4 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle buffalo wing sauce
1 packet ranch dressing mix

Dump the above into your slowcooker (reserving a few oz of the sauce) and set on low. Leave all day. When you come home pull the chicken out and shred it. For mild chicken mix in a couple of tablespoons of butter. For hot chicken put the pulled chicken back into the cooking liquid for a few minutes then drain. Either way serve on buns with ranch dressing and the reserved buffalo sauce.

 

[LewBleu]

Coq au vin in the slow cooker is wonderful. I get some of my ideas from the BBC food site... http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/slow_cooker_recipes

 

[langod]

You wouldn't think it possible, but you can do Mac and Cheese in a slow cooker. Basically add everything and turn it on. You can Stir it once in a while if you're around, but it works if you don't and just stir it vigorously at the end. (the pasta sometimes cooks together in a lump)
Takes 2 to 4 hours depending on your cooker and is about as no fuss as you can get.

The "trick" is the evaporated milk which keeps everything nice and creamy throughout the cooking time and well into "leftovers".

Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese
3 1/2 cups shredded cheddar, Jack, or Colby
1 pound elbow macaroni
2 cups 2% or whole milk
2 (12-ounce) cans evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard, or 1 teaspoon dijon or yellow mustard

Equipment
6-quart or larger slow cooker
Spatula

Instructions
Combine ingredients in the slow cooker: Set 1/2 cup of grated cheese aside, then combine the rest of the ingredients in the slow cooker. Stir to make sure that everything is evenly distributed and the pasta is evenly coated. Smooth the top so the pasta is submerged.
Cover and cook on LOW for 2 to 4 hours: Stir it once in a while after it starts absorbing the liquid. You don't HAVE to do this, but it keeps it from making a slab of mac and cheese (which can be easily broken up at the end if you are away from the slow cooker.)
The pasta is done when it has absorbed all of the liquid and the pasta is soft. It will look soupy up until the last half-hour of cooking, and then it will quickly finish cooking and absorb all the liquid. If this is your first time making this recipe, start checking the pasta after about 2 hours, then continue checking it every 20 to 30 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. Every slow cooker will be slightly different; once you've made this recipe once, make a note of the cooking time for future reference.
Sprinkle the reserved cheese over the pasta in the last 10 to 30 minutes of cooking. Cook until the cheese has melted or the rest of the liquid is absorbed into the pasta.
Serve: Serve this macaroni and cheese straight from the slow cooker. Leftovers will keep refrigerated for up to 5 days.

 

[ruckin]

Took a pork loin rubbed a bit of salt/pepper on it tossed it in the crock pot with some sauerkraut (don't drain it) and cook on low for 8-9 hours. It isn't fancy but the flavors work well together.

Ruckin

 

[emwolf]

we do pot roasts all the time in the crock pot. we just put a bunch of veggies in the bottom, a big hunk of meat on top, salt, pepper, 1 cup of water and turn it on low when we leave for work. Come home to dinner ready. Easy peasy. Ham and beans is another good one in the crock pot when you start with a ham bone and dried beans. Plan on starting that this weekend!

 

[DoctorShavegood]

Here's some great one's right from the Great B&B Wiki-recipe area:

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/recipes

Carne Guisada: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Carne_Guisada_-_Heaven_On_a_Tortilla_Recipe

Connie's Doctor (ed) Picadillo: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Connies_Doctor_ed_Picadillo

 

[Alacrity59]

I really liked this recipe I made a few weeks back.

Salisbury Steak

Beef Patties

• 1½ lbs lean ground beef
• 1 egg yolk
• ½ of an onion minced (if the onions are small use a whole one)
• ⅓ cup Panko bread crumbs
• 3 tablespoons milk (really? Who cares)
• 1 clove garlic minced
• salt & pepper to taste (as a kid I recall pepper being the best part. Give it a good crank. Easy on the salt. There is probably enough in the beef broth and brown gravy mix)

Mix well and form patties. It will give you 6 quarter pounders or 4 6oz patties. Easy to scale this up for more patties.
Slice 6oz of mushrooms and layer into the slow cooker with the patties

Sauce
• the other half of the onion sliced
• 1½ cups beef broth (low sodium)
• 1oz package brown gravy mix (dry)
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 teaspoon dijon
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley

Add to slow cooker and add extra water if necessary to cover.

Cook for 4 – 5 hours on low.

Finish
Take the meat out of the pot crank up the heat then in a separate bowl combine

• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 4 tablespoons water

Add the starch mixture to the cooker stir in and bring to a boil to form a thickened sauce.

Serve over mashed potatoes

 

[Rushman2112]

I have never used one, but friends in France have a couple and we have had a number of meals from them when staying in Autumn - generally Mrs. friend is a decent cook, but everything she turns out from them is almost flavourless, lacks any kind of seasoning and has a thin, watery sauce. She must be doing something way wrong and it puts me off the idea of ever getting one!

 

[kelbro]

I have never used one, but friends in France have a couple and we have had a number of meals from them when staying in Autumn - generally Mrs. friend is a decent cook, but everything she turns out from them is almost flavourless, lacks any kind of seasoning and has a thin, watery sauce. She must be doing something way wrong and it puts me off the idea of ever getting one!

Yep. Many people use way too much water in slow cookers. Bland and tasteless food is the result. I like to season and brown the meat in cast iron beofre it goes into the pot. Seems to help.

 

[joeyboy]

We make this at least once per month.

Chuck roast, 2.5 to 5 pounds
1/2 stick butter
8 whole pepperocinis (spelling)
One packet ranch dressing mix, not buttermilk ranch
One packet brown gravy

Brown the roast
Place in crock pot
Sprinkle ranch dressing and brown gravy packet on top
Place 8 pepperocinis on top and around roast
Place butter on top of roast.

Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours but my wife cooks on high for 1 hour then turns it to low for 5 to 6 hours depending on the size of the roast.

Remove from crock pot, shred and mix some if the juice left over with the roast. The roast is great any way...on a plate, in your hand, on sandwiches, doesn't matter.

Don't skimp on the pepperocinis.

Edit: Do NOT add any liquid to the crock pot.

 

[SlyMoose]

We like

Pot roast with carrots and potatoes

Taco soup

Chicken fajitas.

I'd like to try a Mississippi roast but the Mrs. doesn't like any kinda peppers

An appetizer/finger food we make. (Which could pine added to rice or something to make a meal) is Sausage meatballs and little smokies in grape jelly and chili sause

 

[joeyboy]

We like

Pot roast with carrots and potatoes

Taco soup

Chicken fajitas.

I'd like to try a Mississippi roast but the Mrs. doesn't like any kinda peppers

An appetizer/finger food we make. (Which could pine added to rice or something to make a meal) is Sausage meatballs and little smokies in grape jelly and chili sause

The peppers in the recipe I posted don't give a pepper taste. They add an acid that actentuates and brings out the beef flavor. I can't describe it but it works. The actual recipe calls for 5 pepperocinis but we have gradually increased the number. They go in whole and not cut up so the seeds are inside.

If she ate this and didn't know the recipe she would never know they in the crock pot. Don't forget the other ingredients add to the flavor and blending. I used to be in to vaping and making e juice so I understand mixing and know the spice cabinet pretty well.

Good luck.

 

[Rushman2112]

Yep. Many people use way too much water in slow cookers. Bland and tasteless food is the result. I like to season and brown the meat in cast iron beofre it goes into the pot. Seems to help.

Interesting and thanks for this - I suspect the lack of growing first and too much water is the issue given your comments.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I do a chicken and gravy to go over biscuits, or to have with dumplings, or just to eat like a stew with some good bread in mine. I don't really measure anything, so a recipe is always easy for me to pass on.

diced onion
celery if so inclined
couple cloves crushed garlic
carrots
potatoes
peas, green beans, whatever other veggies you want
couple boneless chicken breasts
chicken stock

Seasonings:
here's where things get very... dynamic. I usually just grab things I know work well for this.

some Old Bay
rubbed sage
bit of curry powder

Whatever else you want to sprinkle in, basically. Slow cook for 6-8 hours. Once it's done, I pull the chicken breasts, set them aside, thicken the rest with a corn starch and water slurry. I pull the breasts apart and add them back in, and bingo.

 

[VerbaVolant]

Cabbage rolls:

Outstanding dish, served with sour cream and polenta.

On the same theme, stuffed peppers (same stuffing, different envelope)

 

[Shave_Rat]

Cabbage rolls:

Outstanding dish, served with sour cream and polenta.

On the same theme, stuffed peppers (same stuffing, different envelope)

I just made my first stuffed cabbage rolls a few weeks ago, using the crockpot. They are indeed an outstanding dish!

 

[2Vu5_T]

Just got a 7 quart crock-pot specifically to make bone broth. Started with chicken. Used chuck short rib bones next batch. Below recipe is from The Carnivore Cookbook by Maria Emmerich, 2020. I checked a few recipes and made a few revisions:

1. added acv (apple cider vinegar) - guess you're suppose to let is sit in the water and bones before heating to extract nutrients or soemthing
2. added salt and pepper and some onions and garlic
3. on crock-pot low: chicken bone broth cooked for 24 hours, beef 48 hours.
4. haven't tried egg shells yet

Found this gem during a (re)search:

food takes seven to eight hours to reach a simmer point (around 210°) on low; versus three to four hours on high.

Oh and if you wonder about lead poisoning and ceramic cookware (crock-pots have a ceramic pot insert):

Can Your Ceramic Cookware Give You Lead Poisoning? 12-8-17

excerpt:

But consumers need not fret in the dark. The FDA maintains a list of products it has tested that have revealed lead contamination. The good news: Not a single crockpot is listed. Many ceramics makers have switched to lead-free glazes. For example, Crock-Pot (the brand name that inspired a host of similar ceramic slow cookers now generically known as crockpots), tells callers in an automated message that it uses no lead additive in its glazes.

 

[Buster]

Pinto beans, one onion, one smoked ham hock. Cover with water and cook for 8 hours.

 

[RobertJ]

Mississippi Pot Roast

4lb Chuck Roast
6-12 Pepperoncini Peppers plus 1/2 cup juice from peppers
1 packet of Au Jus mix
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
1 stick butter
Salt and Ground Black Pepper to taste

Place Chuck roast into Crock Pot and sprinkle Ranch and Au Jus mix over roast. Pour in 1/2 cup or more of the Pepperoncini juice around roast. Place 6-12 whole Pepperoncinis on and around the roast. Cut butter into 4 pieces and place on top of roast. Season with Salt and Pepper to your liking.

Set Crock Pot to low for 8 hours and enjoy.

 

[Atlantic59]

Thinks like chili or lentil soup work well. You can slow cook pork shoulder for Mexican dishes. Good for breakfast with overnight steel-cut oats or other whole-grain porridge dishes. Many good recipes online at sites such as allrecipes.com.