The slow cooker earns its place for one reason: it moves the work to a time of day when you actually have time. Ten minutes in the morning buys you a finished dinner at six, and cheap cuts that would be tough any other way come out tender.
These 32 recipes are the best of our slow cooker archive – creamy chicken dishes, three chilis, soups, slow-braised beef, party dips, and even mulled wine. Several need nothing more than putting everything in the pot and turning it on.
Every recipe links through to the full method and timings. A note on those timings: they are for the low setting unless the recipe says otherwise, and low almost always gives a better result than high.
Our Top Picks at a Glance
- Best overall: Crockpot Marry Me Chicken Recipe – the most popular chicken dish of the last few years, made hands-off.
- Fewest ingredients: Healthy Crockpot Chicken Tacos Recipe – five ingredients. Chicken, salsa, taco seasoning, onion.
- Fastest: Slow Cooker Creamy Tuscan Chicken Orzo Recipe – just over two hours, which is short for a slow cooker.
Five Rules for Better Slow Cooker Food
- Brown the meat first when you have five minutes. A slow cooker cannot brown anything, and browning is where a large part of the flavour comes from. It is optional, and it is always an improvement.
- Use less liquid than you think. Nothing evaporates under a sealed lid, and the ingredients release their own moisture. Recipes written for the stove need roughly a third less liquid in a slow cooker.
- Dairy goes in at the end. Cream, sour cream, and cheese added at the start will split over six hours. Stir them in during the last twenty minutes.
- Do not lift the lid. Every peek costs about twenty minutes of cooking time while the pot comes back up to temperature. Trust it.
- Low beats high, almost always. High cooks roughly twice as fast but gives tougher meat, because collagen needs time as well as heat to break down properly.
34 Easy Slow Cooker Recipes
1. Crockpot Marry Me Chicken Recipe
Nineteen ingredients, six and a half hours, serves four. Sun-dried tomatoes and cream around chicken breasts. The most popular chicken dish of recent years, and the slow cooker version is the least work by a distance.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, garlic powder, onion powder, butter, chicken broth, cornstarch
💡 Cook’s tip: Cornstarch – thickens the broth so your sauce becomes silky instead of watery.
Total time: 385 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 19
2. Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Basil Chicken Recipe
Nine ingredients, four hours, serves four. Tomato sauce, garlic, basil and cream, and the ingredient list is short enough to remember. Add the cream at the end rather than the start.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, Tomato pasta sauce, garlic, basil, Heavy cream or evaporated milk, Corn starch
💡 Cook’s tip: Tomato pasta sauce – opt for a marinara-style sauce with bold, rich flavors for the best results.
Total time: 250 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 9 | Calories: 210 kcal
3. Creamy Crock Pot Chicken Marsala Recipe
Nine ingredients, six and a quarter hours, serves four. Mushrooms and cream around chicken. A restaurant dish reduced to putting things in a pot, and it holds up remarkably well.
Key ingredients: baby bella mushrooms, garlic, low-sodium chicken broth, heavy cream, Italian herbs, salt, and pepper to taste
💡 Cook’s tip: In a mixing bowl, whisk together chicken broth, heavy cream, liquid aminos (or Marsala wine if you prefer), garlic, and dried herbs.
Total time: 375 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 9 | Calories: 480 kcal
4. Slow Cooker Creamy Tuscan Chicken Orzo Recipe
Twelve ingredients, just over two hours, serves six – the fastest recipe here. The orzo goes in near the end and thickens everything as it cooks. Good when you did not start in the morning.
Key ingredients: Chicken breasts, Italian seasoning, Red pepper flakes, Salt and pepper to taste, Garlic, Onion
💡 Cook’s tip: Chicken breasts. I prefer breasts for a lean, tender result, but thighs can work too.
Total time: 130 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 12
5. Crock Pot Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe
Eight ingredients, just over six hours, serves six. Cajun seasoning does almost all the flavouring work, which is why the ingredient list is so short. Cook the pasta separately and combine at the end.
Key ingredients: Chicken Breasts, Heavy Whipping Cream, Chicken Broth, Butter, Cajun Seasoning, Garlic Powder
💡 Cook’s tip: Whisk the sauce in the Crock Pot to make sure everything is smooth and well-mixed.
Total time: 370 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 8 | Calories: 465 kcal
6. Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice Recipe
Fourteen ingredients, just over four hours, serves six. Rice cooked in the pot with the chicken, which means one dish and no draining. Comfort food at a very low cost per portion.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts or thighs, long grain white rice, chicken broth, condensed cream of chicken soup, sour cream, cheddar cheese
💡 Cook’s tip: Long grain white rice – choose long grain rice for the perfect texture. Avoid instant rice—it turns mushy.
Total time: 250 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 14 | Calories: 420 kcal
7. Slow Cooker Hoisin Chicken Recipe
Thirteen ingredients, just over five hours. Hoisin, soy and honey reduce into a sticky glaze around chicken thighs. Thighs rather than breasts here matters – they stay moist across five hours.
Key ingredients: chicken thighs, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil
💡 Cook’s tip: Chicken thighs — I prefer thighs over breasts because they stay juicy in the slow cooker.
Total time: 310 min | Ingredients: 13
8. Crockpot Coconut Chicken Curry with Crispy Shallot Basil Oil Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Thirteen ingredients, four hours, serves six. The crispy shallot basil oil made at the end is what lifts this above an ordinary curry – do not skip it, it takes five minutes.
Key ingredients: chicken, ground turmeric, ground ginger, cayenne pepper, shallots, garlic cloves
💡 Cook’s tip: Add sweet potatoes later if cooking longer than 4 hours to prevent them from overcooking and turning mushy.
Total time: 240 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 13 | Calories: 430 kcal
9. Healthy Crockpot Chicken Tacos Recipe
6 Ingredients or Fewer
Five ingredients, four hours, serves four. Chicken, salsa, taco seasoning and onion. The lowest-effort recipe on this page and it produces a genuinely useful base for tacos, bowls and salads all week.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, salsa, taco seasoning, onion
💡 Cook’s tip: Taco seasoning — homemade seasoning works best to control sodium and spice levels.
Total time: 245 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 5
10. Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Thirteen ingredients, just under five hours, serves six. The chicken cooks and shreds in the sauce, then gets rolled and briefly baked. Far less work than the conventional method for the same result.
Key ingredients: avocado oil, onion, garlic, ground cumin, enchilada sauce, corn tortillas
💡 Cook’s tip: Essential for seasoning properly so the flavours stand out.
Total time: 285 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 13
11. Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Eight ingredients, just over four hours, serves eight. Everything goes in raw and comes out layered and shreddable. One of the best effort-to-portions ratios on this list.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, enchilada sauce, green chilies, black beans, onion, Mexican cheese blend
💡 Cook’s tip: I usually test with a fork to make sure it’s tender.
Total time: 250 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 8
12. Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Twelve ingredients, just over six hours, serves six. The filling cooks all day; the pastry is baked separately and put on top at the end, which is the only sensible way to do pot pie in a slow cooker.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, cream of chicken soup, milk, onion, potatoes, mixed vegetables
💡 Cook’s tip: Potatoes — russet or Yukon Gold are excellent choices since they hold their shape well during cooking.
Total time: 370 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 12 | Calories: 450 kcal
13. Slow Cooker Spinach-Artichoke Chicken Stew Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Fourteen ingredients, seven hours, serves six. Spinach and artichoke dip turned into a proper dinner. Stir the cream cheese and yogurt in at the end so they melt rather than separate.
Key ingredients: low-sodium chicken broth, canned artichoke hearts, spinach, cream cheese, Greek yogurt or sour cream, onion
💡 Cook’s tip: Avoid opening the lid frequently as this slows down cooking.
Total time: 420 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 14
14. Crock pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Sixteen ingredients, six and a quarter hours, serves six. Cream cheese gives this a body that a standard chili does not have. Shred the chicken in the pot for the last half hour so it takes on the sauce.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, onion, garlic, green bell pepper, tomatoes, kidney beans
Total time: 375 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 16 | Calories: 350 kcal
15. Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Chili Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Fifteen ingredients, just over six hours, serves seven. Buffalo sauce and white beans, which is a much lighter chili than a beef one but no less flavourful. Good for feeding a mixed group.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, buffalo sauce, white beans, black beans, tomatoes, corn kernels
💡 Cook’s tip: Chicken breasts — cooks tender and shreds beautifully; thighs also work if you prefer richer meat.
Total time: 370 min | Serves: 7 | Ingredients: 15
16. Easy Crockpot Chili Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Twelve ingredients, just over eight hours, serves six. The classic beef and bean chili, given long enough for everything to merge properly. Better on the second day than the first.
Key ingredients: ground beef or turkey, onion, garlic, kidney beans, black beans, tomatoes
Total time: 490 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 12 | Calories: 310 kcal
17. Crockpot Potato Soup Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Twelve ingredients, just over five hours, serves six. Potatoes, cream and sour cream, and you can mash some of the potatoes against the side of the pot to thicken it without any flour.
Key ingredients: chicken broth, potatoes, heavy cream, sour cream, thyme, yellow onion
💡 Cook’s tip: Potatoes — russet potatoes work best as they’re starchy and help thicken the soup. Avoid waxy potatoes.
Total time: 315 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 12 | Calories: 320 kcal
18. Crockpot Corn Chowder Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Eleven ingredients, just over six hours, serves six. Sweet corn and Yukon Gold potatoes. Cheap, filling, and it freezes well in portions, which not every cream-based soup does.
Key ingredients: corn, Yukon gold potatoes, yellow onion, garlic powder, ground black pepper, low-sodium chicken broth
💡 Cook’s tip: Yukon gold potatoes — these hold their shape and turn creamy without disintegrating.
Total time: 375 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 11
19. Crockpot French Onion Soup Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Ten ingredients, six and a half hours, serves eight. Onions caramelising slowly is exactly what a slow cooker is for. This is one of the few dishes where the appliance genuinely improves on the stove.
Key ingredients: white onions, butter, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, dry sherry
💡 Cook’s tip: I like to toast the bread lightly before topping it with cheese—this prevents it from becoming too soggy when broiled.
Total time: 380 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 10
20. Crockpot Zuppa Toscana Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Ten ingredients, just over four hours, serves four. Italian sausage, potatoes and kale in a creamy broth. The sausage brings enough fat and seasoning that very little else is needed.
Key ingredients: Italian sausage, Onion, Garlic, Chicken broth, Potatoes, Salt & black pepper
💡 Cook’s tip: Kale — i chop it finely so it blends well but still has bite. Avoid frozen; it can get mushy.
Total time: 255 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 10
21. Crockpot Lasagna Soup Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Sixteen ingredients, just over five hours, serves eight. All the flavour of lasagna without layering anything. Add the pasta in the final half hour or it turns to mush.
Key ingredients: % lean ground beef, yellow onion, green bell pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes
Total time: 315 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 16
22. Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Nine ingredients, just over four hours, serves four. Flank steak in a soy, garlic and ginger sauce that thickens with cornstarch at the end. Cheaper and better than the takeaway version.
Key ingredients: flank steak, cornstarch, toasted sesame oil, garlic, ginger, brown sugar
💡 Cook’s tip: Garlic — fresh garlic gives better flavor than garlic powder. Use a garlic press for best results.
Total time: 250 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 9 | Calories: 380 kcal
23. Slow Cooked Scottish Beef Stew Recipe
Sixteen ingredients, just over four hours, serves six. Stewing beef with a spoonful of redcurrant jelly, which is the traditional trick for balancing a long-cooked beef stew. Proper cold-weather food.
Key ingredients: stewing beef, flour with a pinch of salt and pepper, onions, garlic, red currant jelly or cranberry sauce, red wine
Total time: 250 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 16
24. Slow-Cooked Coconut Beef Curry Recipe
Seventeen ingredients, eight hours, serves six. Beef chuck cooked until it falls apart in a coconut curry base. The long cook is doing real work here – chuck needs every one of those hours.
Key ingredients: beef chuck, onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder, turmeric powder
💡 Cook’s tip: Avoid overcrowding the pan so each piece gets a proper sear.
Total time: 480 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 17 | Calories: 550 kcal
25. Slow Cooker Curry Ramen Beef Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Eighteen ingredients, just under seven hours, serves six. Chuck roast in a coconut and red curry broth served over ramen. An unusual combination that works far better than it sounds.
Key ingredients: chuck roast, chicken stock, coconut milk, red curry paste, lime juice, ginger
💡 Cook’s tip: Once the mixture is smooth, add the seared beef and make sure it’s fully submerged.
Total time: 405 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 18
26. Crock Pot Birria Tacos Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Twenty-one ingredients, eight and a half hours, serves eight. Dried guajillo chiles and beef stock cooked down into a consomme for dipping. The most impressive thing on this list, and almost all of the time is unattended.
Key ingredients: avocado oil, guajillo chiles, red onion, garlic cloves, beef stock, tomato paste
Total time: 510 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 21
27. Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Thirteen ingredients, just over seven hours, serves six. Beef, peppers and a tomato base cooked down until thick. Ideal for a party because it holds on warm without deteriorating.
Key ingredients: ground beef, onion, bell pepper, tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar
Total time: 430 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 13 | Calories: 330 kcal
28. Slow Cooker Creamy Garlic Beef Pasta Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Eleven ingredients, just over four hours. Ground beef in a creamy garlic sauce for pasta. Straightforward, cheap, and the kind of thing that disappears without anyone commenting on it.
Key ingredients: ground beef, onion, garlic, basil, oregano, beef broth
💡 Cook’s tip: Ground beef — i use fresh beef for the best texture and flavor.
Total time: 255 min | Ingredients: 11
29. Crockpot Taco Spaghetti Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Twelve ingredients, just under three hours. Taco seasoning and spaghetti, which is not a combination with any tradition behind it and is extremely popular with children. Add the pasta late.
Key ingredients: ground beef, yellow onion, taco seasoning, cans, spaghetti noodles, beef broth
💡 Cook’s tip: Stir gently to make sure they’re evenly coated in the liquid and not clumped together.
Total time: 160 min | Ingredients: 12
30. Slow Cooker Cuban Sandwich Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Fifteen ingredients, just over eight hours, serves six. Pork shoulder cooked in orange and lime until it shreds, then pressed into sandwiches with mustard and pickles. The pork is worth making on its own.
Key ingredients: pork shoulder, orange juice, lime juice, garlic cloves, onion, oregano
💡 Cook’s tip: Garlic cloves — fresh garlic adds deep, savory notes; avoid pre-minced for best flavor.
Total time: 495 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 15
31. Slow Cooker Jambalaya Recipe
One-Pan Make-Ahead
Fourteen ingredients, just over four hours. Sausage, chicken and shrimp with rice. Add the shrimp in the last fifteen minutes only – anything longer and they turn to rubber.
Key ingredients: smoked sausage, chicken, shrimp, white onion, celery, green bell pepper
Total time: 260 min | Ingredients: 14
32. Cowboy Queso Crock Pot Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Thirteen ingredients, just over two hours, serves ten. Beef, sausage and cheese, and the slow cooker keeps it molten on the table for hours, which is the actual reason to make queso this way.
Key ingredients: Velveeta cheese, Sharp cheddar cheese, Ground beef, Breakfast sausage, Onion, Garlic
💡 Cook’s tip: I avoid stirring at this stage to prevent sticking.
Total time: 135 min | Serves: 10 | Ingredients: 13
33. Crockpot Jalapeno Corn Dip Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Eight ingredients, just over two hours, serves eight. Fire-roasted corn, jalapenos and sour cream. Load it in and forget about it while you deal with everything else for the party.
Key ingredients: fire-roasted corn, jalapeños, sour cream, Mexican cheese blend, Salt and pepper to taste, block cream cheese
💡 Cook’s tip: Do not stir yet — leave the cream cheese cubes on top so they melt slowly.
Total time: 130 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 8
34. Slow Cooker Mulled Wine Recipe
Meat-Free Feeds a Crowd
Twelve ingredients, just over two hours, serves eight. Not a dinner, but the best possible use of a slow cooker at Christmas – it warms the wine gently without ever boiling off the alcohol.
Key ingredients: bottle red wine, ~ warm and aromatic, nutmeg ~ adds warmth and complexity, vanilla bean, clementines or small oranges, cranberries or raisins
💡 Cook’s tip: Avoid boiling, as it can make the wine taste bitter.
Total time: 130 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 12
On adapting your own recipes: reduce the liquid by about a third, since nothing evaporates under the lid. Root vegetables go in at the bottom where the heat is highest, delicate vegetables and pasta go in during the last thirty to sixty minutes, and dairy goes in at the very end. Six to eight hours on low is roughly equivalent to three to four hours on high, but low gives noticeably better meat.
On food safety: fill the pot between half and three-quarters full. Less than half and things scorch at the edges; more than three-quarters and the contents may take too long to reach a safe temperature. Do not use the slow cooker to thaw frozen meat – thaw it in the fridge first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I use the low or high setting?
Low, in almost every case. Both settings reach a similar final temperature, but low takes roughly twice as long to get there, and that extra time is what breaks down connective tissue in cheap cuts.
High is fine for soups and things that are already tender, but a chuck roast cooked on high will be noticeably tougher than the same roast cooked on low.
Do I need to brown meat before it goes in the slow cooker?
You do not have to, and every recipe here works without it. But browning creates flavour compounds that a slow cooker cannot produce on its own, and five minutes in a hot pan makes a real difference to the finished dish, particularly with beef. If you are short of time, skip it and season more generously instead.
Why did my slow cooker sauce come out watery?
Because nothing evaporates under a sealed lid, and the meat and vegetables release their own liquid on top of whatever you added.
Use about a third less liquid than a stovetop recipe calls for. To fix it at the end, take the lid off and cook on high for the last thirty minutes, or stir in a cornstarch slurry.
Can I put frozen meat in a slow cooker?
No. Frozen meat takes too long to pass through the temperature range where bacteria multiply, which makes it a genuine food safety risk rather than a technicality.
Thaw it in the fridge overnight first. This is the one rule on this page worth being strict about.
When should I add cream, cheese or pasta?
At the end. Dairy added at the start will curdle and separate over several hours – stir cream, sour cream, cream cheese or grated cheese in during the last twenty minutes.
Pasta and rice go in for the final thirty to sixty minutes depending on the shape; otherwise they absorb all the liquid and turn to paste.