Blogger Tips: How To Make Amazing Recipes in a Slow Cooker!

If there’s one thing that screams “convenience” it’s a slow cooker. It’s essential for the set-it-and-forget-it lifestyle. A slow cooker enables you to prepare things hours in advance, or even overnight if you want! The result is waking up to deliciously warm and flavorful food.

For example, on a typical weekday, I like to prepare a delicious slow cooker soup. (I particularly enjoy this Tomato and Chickpea Curry) In the morning, I’ll add all the ingredients, head to work and by the time I come home, I’ll have piping hot soup ready and waiting! However, there’s so much more you can do with a slow cooker, and our bloggers are here to show some fun ways to utilize this awesome kitchen tool.

You can also find all the recipes mentioned here on the Food Monster App!

1. Overnight Oatmeal: Reinvented

Oatmeal? Easy in a slow cooker. Try making this delicious Coconut Banana Coffee Cake Oatmeal with a slow cooker. Kathy Hester ensures that the wait will be worth it in the morning. Made with unsweetened coconut milk, vanilla extract, banana, and crunchy pecans on top, this oatmeal will smell (and taste!) just like dessert.

2. Be Fully Prepared For Your Next Snack Attack

Maggie Jones shows you how to make yourself a high protein snack by tossing in some Crispy Chickpeas! They’re similar in texture to corn nuts but with all natural ingredients. This flavoring is spicy lemon cumin, but they’d be great with finely ground dried Harissa, Creole seasoning, or even cinnamon and sugar.

3. Make Freezer Meals!

Crissy Cavanaugh makes weeknight meals easy with a slow cooker. Here we have some slow cooked Spiced Lentils, cooked and frozen for later. These little freezer packs of cooked spiced lentils are great because all you have to do is thaw them out and serve with rice, potatoes, or naan bread for a complete meal with plenty of protein! With delicious aromatic spices and comforting taste, these will be a winner for sure.

4. A Vegan Pot Roast?! Yes!

This Seitan Pot Roast by Dawn Kriss isn’t exactly like a traditional meat pot roast your mom would have prepared for dinner, but if you make this plant-based version for her, she’ll probably beg you for the recipe! Who wouldn’t want to know all the secrets to preparing tender homemade seitan in a lip-smacking vegetable stew? Plus, the pot roast is made in a slow cooker, so you can just throw everything in, go about your day, and come home to a warm, comforting meal.

Speaking of comfort food, you can even make Sloppy Joes in your slow cooker! Jennifer Harmon creates a mixture, which is composed primarily of tomato paste, garlic, Medjool dates, and onion, that simply needs to be blended before left in the slow-cooker. So, go on! Go about your day and look forward to the scrumptious sloppy joes you’ll enjoy later!

5. Get Saucy

Larice Feuerstein shows you how to make delicious Apple Butter in your slow cooker. Yes, apple butter! This slow-cooked, spiced butter is both wonderfully aromatic, and lick the spoon, well… jar, clean. It’s perfect for spreading on toast, topping oatmeal, dolloping on warm pancakes, smearing on fresh baked biscuits or muffins, in recipes, etc. Are you more of a savory fan?

How about some delicious BBQ Sauce? Nora Schlesinger of A Clean Bake shows you how it’s done. Unlike conventional, store-bought BBQ sauces that use sugar or high fructose corn syrup, this crockpot BBQ sauce utilizes the natural sweetness of tomatoes and a touch of molasses. It can also be given a smoky flavor using either liquid smoke or a hefty amount of chili powder and smoky paprika. This recipe is great because you literally throw everything in the crockpot, give it a quick stir, and leave it to percolate into thick, saucy goodness.

What are you waiting for? Plan yourself a delicious meal, throw it all in the slow cooker, and do more important things besides standing over a stove.

With the Food Monster App, you can take these recipes on the go with you. With over 10,000 recipes right in the palm of your hand, you’ll always have something delicious and new to try. It’s available for both Android and iPhone, and can also be found on Instagram and Facebook. Full of allergy-friendly recipes, subscribers gain access to new recipes every day. Check it out!

Lead Image Source: Seitan Pot Roast