Slow Cooker Simplicity: A Place for "Few" Ingredient Recipies

M3ltD0Vvn

I was born and raised with a slow cooker always going in the back ground. Grandma was always making soups and stocks. Using the slow cooker is a timing thing - prep the night before if need be, put it in the slow cooker in the a.m., come home from work and your house smells like heaven. EAT!

I would like the focus of this post to be simple, low ingredient recipes for the novice users - but please, post any and all slow cooker recipes. Maybe a rating system at the beginning of each; Easy, Medium Prep, Involved?

I want to share one of our house favorites that is ridiculously easy: Chicken Taco/Burrito Filling

We use 4-6 Chicken Breast
1-2 Jars of your favorite salsa (Bonus points for homemade Salsa!)
2-3 Bell Peppers, Jalepenos if you prefer a bit of heat, or both!
1-2 Onions

Optional: Cilantro

1) Saute Onions and Bell Peppers
I like to use 2 tbls of real butter for this part. I use 1 to start then add the second about the half way mark. I do normal saute of the onions first, then lower temp and add the bells and second spoon of butter. I prefer the onions "almost" caramelized, and the bells still snappy when they go in the slow cooker.

2) Add your finished Onion/Bell Pepper Saute to the slow cooker - I like it on the bottom of the cooker.

3) Pour Half a jar of Salsa on the Saute.

4) Layer Chicken Breast on top of Saute and Salsa.

5) Pour rest of Salsa on top of the Chicken Breast and Salsa/Saute mix. Depending on size of Salsa Jars you buy, this could be 1-2 jars total of salsa. You should basicly end up with the chicken just barely covered by salsa - the chicken will create moisture, so it doesnt need to be "floating".

6) At this point you need to figure out the timing if you are working, or serving this early, etc. I like to set the slow cooker on high for 4-6 hours, then have the wife turn it down to low depending on if the chicken is starting to pull apart with a fork. Our slow cooker is pretty accurate with chicken being done 8 hours on low, or done 4-6 hours on high.

7) Using two large forks, shred that chicken down! You know you did it right when the chicken just falls apart. Stir it into one big mixture. I also add Cilantro at this point. I like my cilantro fresh and leafy. Some like to add it early for a softer flavor profile.

8) Store or Eat! We like to use Lettuce and Cheese and flour tortillas, but it also makes a great taco salad, sammich filling, or just eat as is. It makes awesome party food too as nachos.



Notes: An alternate to this with not as healthy flair is to simply buy one of those Old El Paso taco or Burrito kits. Take the seasoning mix out of it, mix it with half a cup of water, put chicken in slow cooker, pour taco mix over chicken and slow cook as described. VERY EASY, and tends to taste more like fast food tacos. You get more sodium out of it this way, but you can still add as much veggie as you like to make it better. We do this a lot as well, because - lets face it - we all don't have time to saute in the morning!

Enjoy! Looking forward to other folks posting recipes too

\m/

ekelly60

4chicken breasts
3 peppers
1 onion
1 can pineapple - including the water

Shred chicken when done. Put on salads or in sandwiches

jemhh

This is extremely easy and I love it. Sadly, my husband does not so I never make it anymore

1 package chicken thighs (skinless but bones are fine)
1 jar pasta sauce

Put chicken in crockpot. Pour in sauce. Let cook all day on low. Chicken thighs have one good size bone in them. Before dinner, use tongs to remove each bone (try to remember how many thighs you put in that morning ) and then shred up the chicken. Serve over pasta (I like penne but YMMV.)

BethAnnieT

"Mississippi Whatever"

Add your choice of meat (I have tried beef roast, pork roast, whole chicken, and beef ribs... all wonderful) to the crock pot and then add the following:

1 packet ranch mix
1 packet au jus mix
12-15 pepperoncini peppers (the best part, IMO)

Cook however long you gotta cook the meat you picked. Pretty much ANYTHING I just turn it on low and cook it for 6-8 hours. I serve all of these with long-grain mixed-grain wild rice, which I cook separately that night, using a cup or so of the juices in the crockpot for flavor.

M3ltD0Vvn

Wow both sound great!

ekelly60, yours has a sweet and sour vibe to it. I bet it would be good on lettuce topped with cottage cheese, or on rice.

jemhh, your recipe is something we do too! If I don't tell my daughter that its chicken thighs she is ok with it - otherwise that kid of mine is picky and only eats chicken breast lol. I use spaghettini and chop mushrooms into it. Sometimes zuchinni too for a secret veggi.

Thanks for sharing!

\m/

M3ltD0Vvn

BethAnnieT, That sounds amazing. High on my list of things to try. I love peppers of all types. And au jus. We are trying our best to cut our red meat down to 1-2 times a week (as country folk, we usually eat red meat 12x a week haha), so I think I will do it with chicken breast.

Thanks for the recipe!

\m/

ValerieMartini2Olives

BethAnnieT wrote: »

"Mississippi Whatever"

Add your choice of meat (I have tried beef roast, pork roast, whole chicken, and beef ribs... all wonderful) to the crock pot and then add the following:

1 packet ranch mix
1 packet au jus mix
12-15 pepperoncini peppers (the best part, IMO)

Cook however long you gotta cook the meat you picked. Pretty much ANYTHING I just turn it on low and cook it for 6-8 hours. I serve all of these with long-grain mixed-grain wild rice, which I cook separately that night, using a cup or so of the juices in the crockpot for flavor.

I make this often and it is oh so good. You are supposed to put a stick of butter in it. I like it better the next day. The gravy solidifies and when you reheat it, you can an amazing sauce. I like this recipe for sandwiches.

jemhh

BethAnnieT wrote: »

"Mississippi Whatever"

Add your choice of meat (I have tried beef roast, pork roast, whole chicken, and beef ribs... all wonderful) to the crock pot and then add the following:

1 packet ranch mix
1 packet au jus mix
12-15 pepperoncini peppers (the best part, IMO)

Cook however long you gotta cook the meat you picked. Pretty much ANYTHING I just turn it on low and cook it for 6-8 hours. I serve all of these with long-grain mixed-grain wild rice, which I cook separately that night, using a cup or so of the juices in the crockpot for flavor.

Something very similar--take out the pepperoncini and add a packet of brown gravy mix. Clearly not a low sodium meal but it is good. I usually put it in the crockpot after dinner one night, turn it on low, and eat the next night. I've always used beef for this (big red meat eaters here too.)

BethAnnieT

ValerieMartini2Olives wrote: »

I make this often and it is oh so good. You are supposed to put a stick of butter in it. I like it better the next day. The gravy solidifies and when you reheat it, you can an amazing sauce. I like this recipe for sandwiches.

Yeah, the first time we did it we used the butter, but after that stopped using it just to make it a little healthier. I think it's better without it! And with more pepperoncinis. And a little pepperoncini juice for spice. Somehow the spice cooks out of the peppers themselves, but if you add juice it makes the whole dish spicy.

M3ltD0Vvn wrote: »

BethAnnieT, That sounds amazing. High on my list of things to try. I love peppers of all types. And au jus. We are trying our best to cut our red meat down to 1-2 times a week (as country folk, we usually eat red meat 12x a week haha), so I think I will do it with chicken breast.

Thanks for the recipe!

\m/

Yeah, chicken breasts would totally work! I have also done a whole chicken this way and it was wonderful!

Also, you can prep this before hand and store in the freezer in a Ziploc bag. Well maybe not with the whole chicken, but I've done this with beef roast and it worked great. Just put the meat in the bag, dump the ranch/au jus mixes in, toss in the pepperoncinis, and freeze. Good for a rainy day.

Francl27

2 packages of sauerkraut, drained
1 kielbasa, cut in chunks
A few peeled potatoes
Half a beer

I just put it on high for 4 hours.


And of course, any pork chops/roast and barbecue sauce is my favorite.

M3ltD0Vvn

Hi Francil27, thanks for sharing. That sounds great too. Exactly what I was looking for, something different then our own personal recipes. The wife and I seem to have fallen into a patern of using the same recipes. Your recipe is another high on my list of using it soon. That sounds like the perfect football food to me!

\m/

glassyo

This is so easy not even *I* could screw it up (other than the whole it being too "zesty" for me thing):

However many skinless boneless chicken breasts
A packet of zesty (hah!) italian dressing
A cup of water
6-8 hours on low in crockpot

BekahC1980

Italian sausages, potatoes and green beans

10 red potatoes washed and quartered
16 oz french cut green beans
2 pks sweet italian sausages

Brown sausages in skillet
Layer in this order: potatoes, green beans then put in 2 cups water then lay sausages on top.

Juices of sausages cook down and marinade green beans and potatoes.. very delish.

jemhh

This thread is making me hungry. I would eat everything listed so far. This is one of the days when I wish I was a pickier eater because it would make it easier to turn down some foods.

Francl27

Yeah it all sounds good. I guess what's saving me is that I don't really like the texture of chicken in the crockpot.

jemhh

Francl27 wrote: »

Yeah it all sounds good. I guess what's saving me is that I don't really like the texture of chicken in the crockpot.

I'm not a big fan of chicken breasts in the crock pot because the tend to turn out dry. I usually opt for thighs. But I like dark meat better in general.

OyGeeBiv

Any cut of pork roast, or boneless pork ribs. Bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce. Cook all day on low. Shred the meat, and mix it all up really well. Good over rice, on buns for a sandwich.

OyGeeBiv

Oops, I forgot, also a chopped onion in with the pork and BBQ sauce.

M3ltD0Vvn

Used the crock pot twice this week.

1 Bag of Asian Style Veggie (frozen) layered into slow cooker.
2.5 Chicken Breast, Halved (5 pieces)
1 Box of Chicken Stock
Spices (Garlic Powder, Paprika, Pepper, Celery Salt)

Slow cooked on High 4.5 Hours.

Using two forks, shred chicken down as small as possible. Stir.

2 Cups of Rice (depending on how much Chicken Stock you used, you may need to add water) Stir.

1 Bottle of Chicken & Ribs BBQ Sauce, 2 tbls of Dry Mustard. Stir.

Cook on Low for 1 more hour.

We ate it as is, but in hindsight, this would have been far better in a wrap with a lot of lettuce. It tasted a LOT like chicken noodle soup - but the BBQ sauce gave it a tangy zest.

enterdanger

In my slow cooker today

1 bag of holiday soup bean mix (It's just like 50 kinds of dried beans mixed together, I got it at the farmers market) that has been soaked overnight
1 12 oz can of diced tomatos
1 medium diced onion
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 big old smoked turkey wings (on sale right now for like $0.99 a lb)
salt & pepper
1 quart of water

Cooking on low all day. Will remove the skin and bones from the wings, shred the meat and return to the pot. Tastes just like bean and ham soup but with smoked turkey. I'll serve it with a lemon wedge to squeeze on top for freshness.

enterdanger

Recipe #2.

Prepare a chicken like you would for roasting. I like to shove half a lemon in it's cavity and rub the skin with a little olive oil, paprika, salt, and pepper. Take 4 big pieces of tin foil and roll into 2" balls. Rest chicken on tin foil balls so it doesn't sit in it's own juice. Cook on low all day. Use the meat for a million different things all week.

M3ltD0Vvn

enterdanger - that sounds great! I never thought about turkey wings, good call. I have Red Kidney beans soaking right now too for tomorrow.

enterdanger

Recipe #3. Baked Potato Bar

Take 4 big potatoes and wrap them in tin foil. Cook on low all day in the crockpot. Top with whatever you like.

I like this one because it has almost no clean up. I'm lazy.

enterdanger

I got that swapping out the ham for smoked turkey thing from my mom. I like ham too, but not as much as I like a sale on pre-cooked meat. lol.

danarandallreed

Great thread.

danarandallreed

Pork Chops (thin)
Sliced potatoes, carrots onions
Can tomato sauce

Layer above ingredients, sprinkling each layer with salt and pepper, cook on low 6-8 hours. (technically more than three ingredients, but it is delish.

enterdanger

um, and I own a 2nd slow cooker because sometime you need dessert.

http://www.crazyforcrust.com/2014/11/slow-cooker-cinnamon-roll-monkey-bread/

M3ltD0Vvn

danarandallreed - oh yea, we do that with pork chops too! Instead of the tomato sauce we use mushroom soup - will definitly give it a try with tomato sauce next time!

enterdanger - we have been thinking about a second slow cooker as well. mmmm dessert....

kshama2001

I made the Latin version of this yesterday. It's from a cookbook; can't find it online. It was AMAZING! I didn't bother with the tying up the pork step. http://www.food.com/recipe/slow-cooker-pork-pot-roast-cook-s-country-515744

kshama2001

Last week I made turkey stock in my big crockpot, which cooks a little high. I covered the carcass in water, added some peppercorns, and cooked on low for 5 hours. When I do this with a chicken carcass in my smaller crockpot, which doesn't cook as hot, I do it overnight.

enterdanger

I use a lot of the crockpot recipes on www.skinnytaste.com except I do switch out any boneless, skinless chicken breasts for boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Breasts are fine if you are only going to have your stuff in the crockpot for 3-4 hours. My meals, by necessity, are in there 8-10 hours. A chicken breast cooked for 8-10 hours is a horrible thing. I particularly like her pernil recipe for pork shoulder. So good with some beans and rice (which only take 30 minutes stove top).