Healthy Crockpot Recipes
creativefrugalmom
Posts: 267 Member
in Recipes
I went back to work in April after staying home for 6 years. It has been an adjustment, even though it's been almost a year. I have recently bought a digital crockpot and have begun crockpot cooking, which I have never done before. I love the fact that I can come home and the hard part is pretty much done!!! However, some of the recipes I have ran across are not that healthy due to all the "cream of......"'s that are used for the moisture.
Does anyone have any healthy crockpot recipes that they are willing to share? They can be one-pot wanders, or simple a main dish.
Thanks!
Does anyone have any healthy crockpot recipes that they are willing to share? They can be one-pot wanders, or simple a main dish.
Thanks!
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Replies
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This one is so easy and so simple. I love it to make tacos...or you could put it over some brown rice for a salad bowl.
Just take how ever many chicken breast you have and put them in the crockpot. Layer some sliced onions on the chicken. Pour a can of low sodium petite diced tomatoes over the top. Then pour enough chicken broth in to cover the breasts. Sprinkle with cumin, garlic powder and crushed red pepper. Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours.
When you get home shred the chicken with a fork and let it sit in the juices for another 20-30 minutes. Use toppings like lettuce, cheese, avocado, sour cream etc. yummy!!
You can also do the same recipe with a lean cut of beef. Instead of chicken broth, use beef broth. It is SO good!
I also always use low sodium broths to help reduce the sodium. HTH!! :drinker:0 -
lean pork loin + bbq sauce on low for 6-8 hrs. Shred and boom pulled lean pork0
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A. I love this website for healthy recipes B. This is one of my favorites- http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/02/crock-pot-santa-fe-chicken-425-pts.html, I serve on brown rice, with lettuce, little cheese and dap of sour cream on top! Sooo good!0
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Mamafunky, would this work ok with frozen chicken? I can never seem to remember to take out and thaw, looking for the super easy and with frozen recipes.0
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Just posted this one
Crockpot Quinoa Chili
1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
1 15-ounce can (preferably no salt added) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can (preferably no salt added) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 14-ounce can (preferably no salt added) diced tomatoes
1 4-ounce can diced mild green chiles or 1 small can rotel
1 cup frozen corn
2-3 cups vegetable or chicken (low sodium) broth (use the higher amount if your crockpot runs hot or you'll be cooking it longer than about 6 hours)
1 medium onion, diced
1-3 garlic cloves minced
1 bell pepper (I used red), diced
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder or tex mex spice
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp+ hot pepper flakes (optional)
Combine all ingredients (except the toppings, obviously) in a crockpot. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Stir to combine, salt and pepper to taste, and serve with your choice of toppings.
Ingredients Calories Carbs Fat Protein Fiber
Per Serving: 274 49 3 13 11
I entered the recipe to serve 8 generous portions.
Optional For Garnish: Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Sour Cream, Chopped Cilantro, Avocado Cubes, Guacamole, Tortilla Chips0 -
CHICKEN
Put frozen chicken breast(s) in crock pot on low. If your day is long maybe put in a little bit of water.
Depending on your mood: sprinkle part of a packet of ranch dip seasoning, or taco seasoning etc....
These chicken breasts are easily shredded so after you could add buffalo sauce, bbq sauce, etc.
Ideas:
Fajitas
Nachos
BBQ Chicken
Quesadillas
Buffalo chicken
Chicken salad (options: light mayo, dill relish, hard boiled egg, celery, etc.)
Put on Salad, put in a wrap, etc.
PORK
Put pork loin in crockpot on low add sprinkle of ranch dressing packet, some water, etc.) Shred and top with BBQ sauce.
I love to put shredded pork, bbq sauce on tostitos baked chips and sprinkle with cheese. It tastes awesome!0 -
Mamafunky, would this work ok with frozen chicken? I can never seem to remember to take out and thaw, looking for the super easy and with frozen recipes.
Hey there! Yes, I have used frozen chicken breasts before and it worked just fine. If I am home I may turn the crockpot on high for the first few hours, then switch to low for the remaining time. But on low the entire time should be good too, especially for boneless chicken breasts.
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I use frozen chicken breasts all the time. Chicken is tricky in the slow cooker because it can really dry out if left in too long, and part of the beauty of a slow cooker is being able to have it go all day while I'm at work, but that is usually longer than the 4-5 hours or so that is ideal for chicken breasts. If you put things in frozen you can usually add at least an hour or two to the cooking time.
I second the recommendation for SkinnyTaste for crockpot recipes but you can also find a lot at crockingirls.com and they have a section of recipes which are lower cal.
A couple of the recipes we like best in the crockpot (not especially low cal) include:
Taco Chicken/Santa Fe Chicken/Salsa Verde chicken
4-6 chicken breasts
a jar of salsa, salsa verde or can of rotel (whatever I have on hand usually)
Assorted seasonings: chili powder, cumin, garlic, (or a packet of taco seasoning)
That's all you really need, cook on low for 5-6 hours, shred and then use in tacos, enchiladas, over rice, etc. A lot of times I will make a double batch of this and freeze, also I have been known to shred the chicken and use it for tacos one evening, then I add a box of chicken broth, a can of corn, a can of black beans, some diced onion, to the slow cooker and put it back in the fridge. The next day I heat all that up and it is a version of tortilla soup. We add cheese, tortilla strips, avocado and sour cream when we serve it.
Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
4 chicken breasts
1/2 a bottle of Franks Hot Sauce
1/2 a stick of butter cut into pats
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning (the dry packet)
Cook on low for 4ish hours, shred, and serve on sub rolls with provolone cheese if desired. Leftovers freeze well. It is spicy!
Italian Beef Sandwiches
Whatever size/style of beef roast you normally buy (I like chuck roast, about 2-3 lbs)
1 jar of whole pepperoncini peppers
1 beer
1 packet Good Season Italian Dressing (dry packet)
Put the roast in the slow cooker, pour the pepperoncini in with the juices, add the beer, sprinkle the Italian dressing over the top. Cook on low for 8-10 hours, shred the beef, return to the juices, serve with sub rolls and cheese, can add giardinera if you like.0 -
I love using the crock-pot also. Here's a fairly healthy, quick and easy recipe for a chicken tortilla soup that can cook for hours. I often don't even really measure all of the ingredients as it is very forgiving and you can doctor it up how you'd like.
Approximately 36-48 oz. of chicken broth (usually at least one large can and maybe an additional smaller can - I try to get lo1/wer sodium brand if possible)
1 can lower sodium black beans (drained and rinsed)
2-3 frozen chicken breasts
1 can petite diced tomatoes (approx 15 oz)
1 packet of taco seasoning (or approximately 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup to 1 cup taco sauce (or salsa, depending on your tastes...I usually use about 1/2 cup of the taco sauce)
1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp ground cumin
I dump everything into the crockpot the night before, stick the crock in the fridge, and then plug it in on low as I leave for work. It cooks probably 10 hours before I get home so the frozen breasts help keep it from getting way overcooked.
I then remove the breasts and shred the meat and return it to the crock pot. I add approximately 1/2 cup to 1 cup cooked brown rice and let it heat a few minutes more (you can also add some brown Minute rice, uncooked, turn it on high, and let that cook for about 15 minutes). I serve it with reduced fat cheese, fat free sour cream, and tortilla strips. Of course, if you don't have to let it sit for 10 hours like I do, you can use thawed chicken and reduce the cooking time. This makes a lot and you can adjust all of the ingredients as you wish.0 -
I looooooove using my crockpot! Did you get the slow cooker liners? They make clean up super fast and easy. These two are my favorite because they're super easy and have leftovers::
Pot Roast with 2 variations::
Frozen beef roast 2lb-4lbs
2-3 cups beef broth
1 bottle of Guinness or similar beer (12oz)
1 packet of Lipton's onion soup mix
Cook on low for 7-9 hours
French dip version: shred the beef, put shredded beef on bun with cheese, scoop out some broth into individual bowls, dip sandwich in broth. Yum!
Stew version: Add whatever chopped veggies you have laying around to toss in with the frozen roast. My favs are carrots and celery. Skip adding egg noodles for a healthier version. When finished cooking, fork off bits of roast and return to them to the stew mix. Serve in individual bowls.
Super Juicy Chicken:
1 whole frozen chicken (icky inside stuff removed)
Montreal chicken seasoning or whatever spices you like
cook on low 7-9 hours
Rub or sprinkle seasoning on frozen chicken. When finished cooking, use two large spatulas (flippers) to cradle chicken for removal. This chicken will fall apart if you don't use the spatulas. No broth or juice is needed for this recipe. The frozen chicken makes plenty water.0 -
1 lb frozen chicken breasts
2 cans reduced sodium black beans, not rinsed or drained
1 jar salsa of choice
Put the chicken in the slow cooker and cover it with the beans and salsa. Stir to combine beans and salsa, then cook on low for 8 hours. Shred the chicken and return to cooker to combine. Use to fill burritos, top a salad, make nachos, whatever. My husband and I usually shred some lettuce and add pico de gallo and half an avocado, then this chicken mix, in a large plastic container with a cover, then shake it to mix. The warm chicken kind of melts the avocado and mixes all together like a creamy salad dressing. It's awesome!0 -
ooh, some of these look good! Bumping for later!0
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Slow Cooker Fruited Chicken and Barley
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups pearl barley, uncooked
6 cups water
2 pounds skinned chicken thighs
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
8 ounces of dried mixed fruit (or any dried fruit of your choice)
1 tablespoon Caribbean Spice Rub
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
Combine all ingredients into the slow cooker; stir well. Cook on high for 4 hours or on high for an hour then turned down and cooked on low for an additional 7 hours.
I made this last week and loved it. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs and just cooked on low all day. Delicious and plenty for leftovers!0 -
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I just recently tried this and it worked quite well.
Aluminum foil
Whole chicken
Seasonings
Ball up 4 large squares of aluminum foil and set in the bottom of your slow cooker. Rinse, pat dry and season chicken. Place on top of foil. Let cook on high 4 hours or low for about 6. (Chicken was thawed, not frozen)0 -
Here is another chicken recipe from a site that has a lot of low cal options: skinnyms.com
http://skinnyms.com/slow-cooker-balsamic-chicken/
That site also includes calorie counts, other nutritional info and WW point info.0 -
I just recently tried this and it worked quite well.
Aluminum foil
Whole chicken
Seasonings
Ball up 4 large squares of aluminum foil and set in the bottom of your slow cooker. Rinse, pat dry and season chicken. Place on top of foil. Let cook on high 4 hours or low for about 6. (Chicken was thawed, not frozen)
Thank you for posting this! I am going to cook this soon! We love getting a rostisserie chicken at Sam's, so this would be great to do our own version at home! Thanks again! :drinker:0 -
If you google vegetarian slow cooker recipes, that usually works for me. I found a delicious corn chowder. When you omit meat, it instantly reduces the calories in most cases. Just make sure the recipe has beans, lentils, etc. for protein.0
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One of my staples for the crockpot is Three Bean and Pork Slower Cooker Chili by WW. I love it! We always had more jalapenos for more heat. Very filling and so good for you.
http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeid=95051
Going to try some of the recipes posted here. Thanks everyone.0 -
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My favorite quick crockpot recipe:
Slice up one medium Granny Smith apple and line bottom of crockpot
Top with 1-2 turkey breasts
Cover with another layer of apple slices
Add 1 can of cranberry jelly
Cook on low 8-10 hours
I serve mine with steamed vegetables. It's like a turkey dinner without all the fuss!0 -
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Cilantro-Lime Chicken
*16 oz of chicken (or more and yes, this can be put in frozen)
* 2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained (no salt added)
* 1 red onion, chopped
* 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
* 3 T. lime juice
* 3 garlic cloves (or 1 t. garlic powder)
* 1 t. cumin
Low for 8 hours. If you go silly and forget to drain the beans, it turns into chili. :ohwell:
Salsa Chicken
*16 oz. of chicken
* 1 jar salsa (I prefer Newman's Own, because nom and low cal).
Low for 4-6 hours. Shred, serve over whatever you want. I like it over brown rice or quinoa.0 -
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