It’s fall & for a lot of us, that means hot suppers & comfort foods. AND using the slow cooker more! I have a Pinterest board entitled “God Bless the Crockpot”. I really do! You can view it HERE. The crockpot really can be a wonderful thing. Now I haven’t tried those fancy recipes like making lasagna or even bread in a crockpot, but I do have 3 recipes that are my fav’s & we eat quite often on our menu.
Now I do think there are some crockpot recipes that should just be skipped. Like those ones that have you do a million steps & then throw it in the crockpot to cook for 4 hours. That’s not a real slow cooker recipe! That’s a “This could actually be made in the oven but we’re going to say put it in the crockpot to get your attention” recipe 😉 Am I right or am I right?
What I personally like about my 3 Favorite Crockpot recipes is that they all make a ton & can be used in a variety of ways afterwards or even frozen down. I’ll list mine below & then you comment & post yours, deal?
1.) POT ROAST
I know, I know it’s basic but SOOO good & easy!
RECIPE:
Roast
Package of baby carrots
(I use the already peeled & sliced up baby carrots because it makes the meal prep even more easier! And we use the whole bag because we LOVE carrots.) – Package of Onion Soup
A few potatoes (If we have mashed potatoes, I cook them separately)
I put everything in the pot & put it on for 4-6 hours & usually head to church since I make it often on Sundays 🙂 Now the benefit of making mashed potatoes instead of putting them in the crockpot, is we’ll mash a lot & then later in the week have Open Faced Roast Beef Sandwiches 🙂
2.) SLOW COOKER CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP
Now this recipe I base around Cooking Classy’s soup on her BLOG. I’ll make it exactly like she does & then add chopped up zucchini to give it more veggies. If you want to, you could add even more veggies!
I also shred some cheddar cheese & make sure we have tortilla chips when I serve the soup. We’ll put some of the shredded cheese at the bottom of our empty soup bowls, add soup on top the cheese, then layer with some tortilla chips on the soup & then top the chips off with more shredded cheese! So cheese, soup, chips, more cheese. The cheese melts all nice & is SUPER yummy! Some may want to top off with a bit of sour cream as well 🙂
The soup is very mild & makes PLENTY. I usually keep enough out for 2-3 meals & then freeze the rest down for a later date. Yummy, yummy!
3.) SLOW COOKER CILANTRO LIME CHICKEN
Now this recipe I found on Pinterest when we first got married. I would link back to the original source to give credit, but the main source has been blocked or something SOOO I’ll just copy what my printed recipe says! Thank goodness I did print it because we use it a TON!
RECIPE:
1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
1 (1.25 ounce) package dry taco seasoning mix
1 lime, juiced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Put in the slow cooker the chicken breasts and then add coat the salsa, taco seasoning, lime juice & cilantro. Cover the cooker, set to High, and cook until the chicken is very tender, about 4 hours. If you want too cook it slower, set it to Low and cook 6 to 8 hours. Shred chicken with forks to serve.
Just like with the soup, I keep out about 2-3 servings of the shredded chicken once it’s done in the fridge for the next few weeks to eat up & freeze the rest. We actually have some frozen right now! You can use the chicken with soft tortilla tacos (put sour cream on the tortilla before putting on the chicken-so yummy!), crunchy tacos, make a taco salad, make chicken tostada’s even!
So there you are! Our favorite crockpot recipes! Try them out sometime & let me know what you think! Hopefully they’ll help make your menu planning & dinners easier so that you have time to spend outside of the kitchen with those you love!
Feel free to comment below with YOUR favorite crockpot recipes!!!