There’s nothing like a long day, whether it’s a long day at work or a long day at the beach, and you come home and dinner now needs to be made. I love it when I’m with my kids at their sports practice and we get home and they ask me when dinner is going to be ready. I was literally with you just now, all day long I’ve been with you.
So having a crockpot is such a great thing, because you throw it in in the morning, forget about it, and it’s ready when you want it to be ready.
1) BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
Such a strong one to start off with. I put some chicken breasts right in the crockpot with the barbecue sauce, and when you get home and it’s done, you can shred that up and add a little more barbecue sauce. Let’s be honest, add a little bit more to make it nice and saucy. You can serve it with some coleslaw on a toasted bun of your choosing, and that’s a complete meal. Super good.
2) Pork Carnitas
This is the only way I will cook pork, I just love throwing it in the crockpot. It makes it so easy to put that pork shoulder in and let it cook all day, and then when it’s done and you get home, you’re going to shred that up and serve it right there in your tacos. You can use the hard shell tacos, corn tortillas, flour tortillas, or spinach tortillas if you like. With any leftovers, you can put them on top of a salad or in a quesadilla.
With my pork carnitas, I’m going to want some guacamole and salsa, and I’m still going to want some sort of veggies, so I might do a side salad, some carrot sticks, or something easy. Such a delicious, flavorful meal, and it always makes a lot, so it’s great to have those leftovers for night number two. You don’t even have to think about it.
3) Salsa Chicken
Yeah, that’s it, salsa and chicken. In the crockpot, it’s two ingredients, and the salsa is going to give your chicken so much flavor. Then your only problem is going to be, once you get home and it’s cooked, what are you going to do with it? Because there’s so much you can do with it.
The chicken is so delicious. You could put it inside tacos, in a salad, or a sandwich, you could do whatever you want with this chicken. I would serve it, of course, with some veggies, and the options are limitless with tacos, bowls, nachos, and salad.
4) Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs
Mmm, so good and so high in protein. Putting them in the slow cooker is such a great way because it makes it so much easier, and they’re going to be slow cooked, saucy, and delicious. Then you just have to figure out what your sides are going to be. You can do some potatoes, some beans like baked beans, a side salad, or some green beans. Super yummy.
5) Chicken and Dumplings
Such a delicious, yummy dinner. Reminds me of my childhood. You’re just going to put the chicken and all your flavorings right in the crockpot, and then you’re going to drop the dumplings in just at the end of the cooking time, because the dumplings don’t need as much time as the chicken to cook. Super good.
If you didn’t add some veggies to it, then I would just do some veggies on the side or a side salad. But such a warm, delicious meal. Who doesn’t love dumplings? My gosh.
6) Chicken Tortilla Soup
A favorite of mine. Making it in the crockpot is such a great way, although it doesn’t take long on the stove either, it’s just nice to have it done and ready. You put all of your ingredients right inside the crockpot, usually some sort of broth, and I like to use a little bit of refried beans in there to give a little creaminess, and then of course you’re going to have your chicken.
When it’s all done, you’re going to shred up that chicken, and I like to serve it with a number of different toppings so everyone can personalize their own bowl of soup. We like cheese, avocado, crushed up tortilla chips, and of course cilantro.
7) French Dip Sandwiches
Yes, the crockpot is my favorite way to make French dip sandwiches, it’s so good if you haven’t made it. You’re going to put the meat in the crockpot, of course, with plenty of broth because you want a lot of dipping sauce left over in the end.
I like to add veggies to mine when I make a sandwich, or you can serve some veggies on the side. You can serve this on your bread of choice, a sourdough would be okay too, and you could just dip that right there in the au jus. It’s so good.
8) Kalua Pork
Yes, it’s like the luau food, right? I just went to a luau recently and the kalua pork is my favorite part. It just feels so special and delicious, and making it in the crockpot is a whole lot easier than digging a hole in the ground, am I right? That kalua pork will cook so nicely in your crockpot, and you can shred it up and serve it on sliders. We like Hawaiian sweet rolls to lean into that Hawaiian theme.
You can serve it with some other Hawaiian sides if you’d like. Of course, making sure to try to get some veggies in, or you could do some mango slices or pineapple. There’s nothing special about veggies, you could do fruit easily as well if you’d like.
9) Beef Stroganoff
A great thing to cook in your crockpot. The beef is going to be so tender after cooking all day, and then when you’re done, you’re going to serve it over some egg noodles and have that delicious sauce poured right on top. I would serve it with some veggies, like some chopped up carrots would be really great, or if you steam some carrots, a side salad would go well too. Such a delicious, balanced meal.
10) Loaded Baked Potatoes
Super easy to make in the oven or in the crockpot. You just take your potatoes and make sure to poke holes in them, I like to put some oil on them, and then when they’re done, just slice them open. Then you have all of your toppings out for everyone to personalize their baked potatoes.
Some of our favorites are sour cream, bacon bits, and shredded cheddar cheese. You can have some green onions, or even do tiny pieces of broccoli if you like. You could add ground meat to this if you want to add a little meat to it. So delicious.
11) Honey Garlic Chicken
Such a great flavor with the honey and garlic together, and it will cook so nicely all day long. I would serve this over some rice, white, brown, or wild rice, and then you can serve it with some veggies of your choice, such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, or asparagus, to make it a complete meal.
12) Beef and Rice Bowls
Cooking the beef in the crockpot is such a great way, because it’s going to be tender by the time you get home and the house is going to smell amazing. You can serve this over rice, and then I would add some additional vegetables, whatever you like. I feel like some broccoli or asparagus would go really well with this.
13) Cube Steak and Gravy
This is such a budget-friendly food to cook. The steak will be cooking slowly all day long and is so great with that gravy, especially if you serve it with some mashed potatoes. It’s going to hit the spot. Then just add some veggies, maybe some green beans would go really well with this one to round it out and get a little more color.
14) Slow Cooker Chicken Fried Rice
This is such a fun way to make fried rice, right there in the slow cooker with your chicken, rice, and veggies, and of course lots of soy sauce and a scrambled egg. This is going to be a high protein meal. I like to add carrots and peas to mine, but you can add any veggies you like, and of course you’ve got the rice in there, so it’s a balanced meal.
15) Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Yum! This is perfect because we love tacos, and sometimes you just don’t have the time to cook the meat and shred it all up. So if you cook it right there in the crock pot, it’s ready. You get home, shred it up, and then just grab those tortillas or taco shells, pile that on with some cheese, lettuce, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.
Or you can turn this into a taco salad if you want, adding lots of lettuce. I love spinach lettuce because it’s nice and dark. You could do some tortilla chips in there, or some black olives. So good!
16) White Wine Chicken Thighs
Chicken thighs in the crock pot stay so juicy, they don’t dry out as easily as other parts of the chicken might. Adding some white wine, garlic, and herbs is going to give you so much flavor. Then you just have to figure out which carb and veggie you’re going to serve with this. You could easily do some potatoes or sweet potato, some pasta or rice, and then some asparagus or broccoli. Some sort of colorful veggie would be super yummy.
17) Beef Stew
A winter must-have in our house. I love beef stew because the house smells so amazing, and it’s just a complete meal all together, I don’t need to cook anything else with it, it’s done. You’ve got the beef for your protein, of course the halved small potatoes in there, and your onions, I’ll use the pearled onions.
Chopped up carrots, and you could add celery to it, and you’ve got everything you need. It’s so good. You could serve it with some bread on the side if you’d like to dip.
18) Mississippi Pot Roast
Super flavorful and literally just five things. The chuck roast will cook all day, making it so shreddable and delicious, and you can serve this over mashed potatoes with some asparagus, Brussels sprouts, or broccoli. Some sort of veggie with that would be so good and balanced.
19) Buffalo Chicken
If you like buffalo chicken, this one is a great way to switch it up. When your chicken is all cooked, you can shred it up and add it into a buffalo chicken sandwich with whatever bun you have. You could wrap it up in a tortilla with some lettuce or shaved carrots and make it a wrap. You could even make a buffalo chicken dip, have you had it? Oh my gosh, it’s so good.
You could just take the chicken itself and serve it over rice with a side of celery and carrots, I feel like that always goes, and you can have a little side of ranch there if you’d like. So good.
20) Swedish Meatballs
Love Swedish meatballs, so yummy. I always have frozen meatballs in my freezer because it’s such an easy and fast source of protein, and there are a lot of ways you can cook them. You can put them in pasta or a sandwich, so many ways. This is another way, the Swedish meatballs, and you’re going to use a creamy gravy with them.
Then you can serve this over egg noodles if you’d like, or mashed potatoes, whatever carb you have lying around, I feel like it would go with either one. Then just add some veggies on the side, like a side salad would be really good.
21) Creamy Chicken and Rice
Such a great high-protein soup with some rice in there for your carb. You could easily chop up some veggies and add them in here, or add them on the side, or a side salad.
22) Pulled Pork
The crock-pot is the only way I make my pulled pork, and it’s so delicious and flavorful, falls right apart, and shreds up so easily. I like to serve it with some yummy barbecue sauce and some coleslaw, and you can serve it on a bun, making a pulled pork sandwich.
You can also serve it over tacos, or use leftover pulled pork for tacos the next night. You could throw it on top of a salad, heck, you could even scramble it up in your eggs and make breakfast with it the next morning. There’s so much you can do with it, and it’s so delicious and high in protein. Just making sure to add in your veggies of choice.
23) Classic Pot Roast
Such a delicious meal. I feel like everyone loves pot roast. You’re going to take the roast and the veggies in a delicious gravy and cook that right there in the crock-pot. You can easily add potatoes in there for your carb, and it is a one pot meal.
24) White Chicken Chili
So yummy. You’re going to get protein from that chicken, and then you’re going to add some beans in there, typically white beans, which will give you plenty of fiber. Then the delicious chilies are going to add so much flavor. You could make this spicy if you’d like, and then top it off with some cheese. Such a delicious, protein and fiber packed chili.
25) Teriyaki Chicken
Oh yes, a crowd pleaser. Love teriyaki chicken, and you can just cook this in the crock-pot, adding some delicious teriyaki sauce. The question is what are you going to do with it when it’s done, because there are so many things. You could serve it with some broccoli and edamame, or with some rice.
Usually we’ll make teriyaki chicken bowls, with rice, teriyaki chicken, and then some broccoli and carrots on top, and it’s such a balanced, quick meal. If you don’t have a rice cooker, I swear it’s like the crock-pot’s cousin, you’ve got to have it.
