You'll Want to Make Our Best Slow-Cooker Recipes All Year Long
From classic pot roast to triple chocolate brownies, these are our go-to recipes when we want to use the slow cooker.
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Slow cookers are great for preparing warming comfort food. From helping to break down and tenderize tough cuts of meat, such as flank steak and chuck, to letting home cooks get a head start on dinner prep, slow-cookers truly work wonders. Prep a recipe, like the Garlic Chicken with Barley pictured here, in the morning and it will be cooked through and delicious by dinnertime.
One of the most popular slow-cooker recipes is pulled pork. We have a recipe for Easy Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork that is delicious as a sandwich or served on its own. Another classic? Classic Pot Roast for the Slow Cooker—it's a fabulous recipe for a special Sunday night dinner. The carrots and potatoes cook with the beef roast so everything absorbs the savory, rich flavors of garlic, tomato paste, red wine, chicken stock, and Worcestershire sauce.
Hosting a party? One of our favorite appetizers is our Slow-Cooker Queso recipe. It's made with two varieties of cheese, cornstarch, evaporated milk, and diced tomatoes with chiles. The slow cooker keeps the queso warm and creamy and prevents it from breaking, so your guests get a luscious cheese pull every time they dip.
We even have a couple of sweet slow-cooker recipes. You can start your morning with Slow-Cooker Cinnamon Buns; the pot not only thoroughly cooks the dough but keeps it super moist, too. If you're usually in the mood for something sweet after dinner, try prepping our fudgy and rich Slow-Cooker Triple Chocolate Brownies, which cook on low for about four hours.
As this collection shows, slow-cooker recipes are flavorful, fabulous, and completely foolproof. And, perhaps best of all, you really can use them all year long.
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Classic Pot Roast for the Slow Cooker
A tried-and-true slow cooker meal, all of the ingredients for this pot roast—including the carrots and potatoes—cook together, which makes for easy clean-up and builds so much flavor.
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Slow-Cooker Queso
The ultimate party starter, queso stays warm and creamy when cooked in a slow cooker. The combination of ooey-gooey American cheese and sharp pepper Jack cheese is irresistible.
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Slow-Cooker Chicken with 20 Cloves of Garlic
A twist on the classic recipe of chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, this version is a bit milder but still fragrant and flavorful. We're using whole chicken legs here, which are less likely to dry out than chicken breasts.
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Easy Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork
Don't just enjoy pulled pork on game day. It's a sweet, tangy main that's so satisfying any day of the week. Instead of barbecue sauce, we've created our sauce made with crushed and whole tomatoes, chipotle in adobo sauce, dried oregano, and dried bay leaves.
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Slow-Cooker Persian Lamb Stew
This recipes uses two techniques to turn lamb shoulder into a juicy, succulent cut of meat; first, it's seared in a Dutch oven until golden brown, then transferred to a slow cooker to braise with mirepoix, garlic, thyme, white wine, orange juice, lime, and saffron.
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Slow-Cooker Ribollita
Craving soup for dinner but looking for something a little heartier? This Tuscan bread soup, which also happens to be vegetarian, should satisfy; leave off the Parmigiano-Reggiano and it's vegan, too.
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Slow-Cooker Cinnamon Buns
If you're hosting a brunch and want to prep one of the main dishes in advance, this is sweet recipe is for you. Individual rolls are arranged in a slow cooker, then "baked" until they're fluffy and moist.
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Slow-Cooker Indian-Style Fish Curry
Plenty of spices like coriander seeds, turmeric, ginger, garlic, tamarind paste, cumin, and fenugreek seeds (an Indian spice similar to clover) flavor this coconut milk-based curry.
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Slow-Cooker Ropa Vieja
We're making this popular braise with flank steak, an inexpensive cut of meat that becomes super tender when cooked low and slow. Serve over white rice and top with plantain chips.
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Slow-Cooker Root-Vegetable Confit
Confit refers to any food cooked for a long time in fat (like oil) at low heat; here, we're cooking carrots, parsnips, beets, cipollini onions, and fennel in extra-virgin olive oil for five hours on low. Serve with homemade pistachio pesto.
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Slow-Cooker Sicilian-Style Beef Stew
Beef chuck is an economical cut of meat that becomes absolutely delicious when cooked with aromatic orange zest, rosemary, and luscious green olives.
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Slow-Cooker Vietnamese Baby Back Ribs
It's all in the sauce here. Spareribs cook with shallots, fish sauce, and honey for seven hours until the meat is fork-tender and falls off the bone. A colorful, crisp slaw made with carrots and cabbage is a stunning accouterment.
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Slow-Cooker White-Bean Soup
When you want healthy comfort food, this recipe is the answer. Make this big-batch of soup—loaded with beans, leeks, butternut squash, and spinach—on a weekend and enjoy it for lunch or dinner all week long.
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Slow-Cooker Cilantro-Chutney Chicken
Looking for a main course to serve at a dinner party? Try this dish, where boneless, skinless chicken thighs shine. They get infused with tons of flavor from garlic cloves, one jalapeño, cilantro, roasted peanuts, brown sugar, and lime juice.
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Slow-Cooker Marmalade-and-Vinegar Pork
Upgrade your go-to pulled pork recipe with our sweet-and-sour sauce. It cooks on low for eight hours, so you can make it in the morning before you leave for work or on a weekend—either way, it's an extra special dinner.
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Slow-Cooker Pork Chop
Pork shoulder chops become knee-wobblingly tender after a couple of hours in the slow cooker and spectacularly flavorful with the addition of bacon, cabbage, and onions. Serve with applesauce and sour cream and shower with fresh herbs.
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Slow-Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
Lucky you: We have a recipe for corned beef and cabbage that takes only a fraction of the prep work and keeps all the traditional taste.
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Slow-Cooker Beef Ragu
Slow cook beef, garlic, onion, and tomato paste come together as a robust ragu with fewer ingredients than there are ways to serve it.
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Slow-Cooker Garlic Chicken with Couscous
Enjoy this dish that's sure to become a family favorite by combining a cut-up whole chicken with onion, thyme, and white wine. Serve over couscous so it can sop up the delicious sauce.
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Slow-Cooker Triple-Chocolate Brownies
Talk about magic. You don't need to fire up your oven to make a batch of gooey, fudgy brownies because the slow cooker does the job just fine.
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Slow-Cooked Tex-Mex Chicken and Beans
Jarred salsa plus chopped chipotles in abode sauce are fast shortcuts to prepping this hearty entrée. They impart plenty of deep smoky flavor to boneless, skinless chicken thighs while they cook low and slow.
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Slow-Cooker Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
Use your favorite hot sauce to flavor this slow-cooked, sports-bar favorite. Whether you pile the pulled chicken atop a bun or a salad, it's a delicious, spicy bite.