Any good crock pot recipes?

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LesliemarieAZ
LesliemarieAZ Posts: 352 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I work all day and also go to school full time which leaves me with hardly any free time. I'm trying to jump back onto the weight loss bandwagon but it's really hard for me not to stop for fast food because of convenience. Perhaps if I had good, healthy crock pot recipes, I could change my tune?

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  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
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    There are tons out there! I combine the crock pot with freezer meals also which means most days I get up, take the pre-measured/weighed bag out of the fridge, throw it in the crock pot, set my timer and go. I make meals for a few weeks at a time and just take a bag out every morning for dinner the next day. I get most of my recipes from Once a Month Meals https://onceamonthmeals.com/ they have tons of recipes and you don't have to be a member to use them ;)
  • mistikal13
    mistikal13 Posts: 1,457 Member
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    Some of my favorite things to make in the crockpot are:

    Minestrone Soup
    Shredded Salsa Chicken
    Pot Roast
    Beef and Broccoli
    Braised Turkey

    Tons of good recipes on Pinterest, Allrecipes, Skinnytaste, etc. You can also do a search in the Recipes forum. It's a very common question and there are lots of threads on it!
  • LesliemarieAZ
    LesliemarieAZ Posts: 352 Member
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    I actually didn't see the Recipes forum before I posted in this one lol. Thanks!
  • LesliemarieAZ
    LesliemarieAZ Posts: 352 Member
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    Koldnomore wrote: »
    There are tons out there! I combine the crock pot with freezer meals also which means most days I get up, take the pre-measured/weighed bag out of the fridge, throw it in the crock pot, set my timer and go. I make meals for a few weeks at a time and just take a bag out every morning for dinner the next day. I get most of my recipes from Once a Month Meals https://onceamonthmeals.com/ they have tons of recipes and you don't have to be a member to use them ;)

    Thank you! I will check that website out :smiley:
  • softblondechick
    softblondechick Posts: 1,276 Member
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    Put chicken in crock pot, cover with salsa. Turn on. Come back later and eat. I pretty much do that with any piece of meat, beef, pork, or just put a bunch of random vegetables in the crockpot, add salsa.
  • kristydi
    kristydi Posts: 781 Member
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    Made these Chipotle Orange Pork Tacos the other night. They were delicious and it made a ton so plenty of leftovers for lunches or to freeze for later.
  • ForeverSunshine09
    ForeverSunshine09 Posts: 966 Member
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    Crockpot porkchops between 260-309 cals also has a nice gravy for mashed potatoes or whatever side you eat.
  • SconnieCat
    SconnieCat Posts: 770 Member
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    I love crock pot meals! Be careful as chicken has a tendency to dry out (a self-timing crockpot is a Godsend for chicken)... but a few of my favorites in no particular order:

    - Crock Pot Chili (cook the ground turkey/chicken/lean beef ahead of time). 1 lb cooked meat + 1 medium yellow onion (diced) + 1 medium green bell pepper (diced) + 1 can rinsed black beans + 1 can rinsed red kidney beans + 1 can chili beans + 1 15 oz. can diced tomato + 1 can tomato sauce + 1 cup frozen corn. Add chili spices and cook on low for 8 hours.

    - Crock Pot Pulled Pork. Rub a pork loin down with whatever BBQ seasonings you prefer. I've found a blend of salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and a bit of brown sugar is amazing. Brown on all sides in a large saute pan in 2 T. olive oil. Set pork in bottom of the crock pot. Add 1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock to saute pan and whisk to remove sucs (the bits of gooness left at the bottom of the saute pan). Add liquid in the crock pot with 1/2 c. vinegar and about 3 T. tomato paste. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove pork from pan and drain liquid into a separate dish. Put pork back IN crock pot and shred with forks. Add in a mix of the cooking liquid and your choice of BBQ sauce until the pork is at your desired consistency. My boyfriend loves these on white buns... I'm happy with them topped with a yogurt cole-slaw I make.

    -Crock Pot Roast Chicken. To the bottom of your crock pot add a few largely chopped carrots, onions, and cloves of garlic. Rub whole chicken down with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. You can also rub it down with other herbs and spices you like, depending on what type of flavor you're going for. I stuff the bird with aromatics that pair nicely with whatever rub I'm putting on the bird. Whether it's sliced onions, oranges, lemons, garlic cloves...whatever. Pop it in the crock pot and cook for about 6 hours or until the temperature of the bird reaches 165 degrees. I don't use any additional cooking liquid for this and have found the roast is nice and tender.

    Soups are great for crock pots. I make a 16 Bean Soup recipe with smoked ham hocks and tons of veggies I'll be happy to share if anyone is interested.

    And I know another poster suggested the salsa chicken thing. I love that! I'll add chicken breasts, a jar of whatever salsa I'd like, and either my own taco seasoning or a low-sodium seasoning I can grab from the store. When the chicken is done, I shred it with forks and either make tacos or serve it over rice with the cooking liquid as well.

    I've found that a lot of times I can throw these thing together the night before, leave the crock pot insert into my refrigerator and place the insert in the crock pot the morning before I go to work.

    There are a ton of great websites with lots of good recipes. I've found a lot of other great ones on Pinterest. Good luck, OP!

  • LovingLife_Erin
    LovingLife_Erin Posts: 328 Member
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    Our favourite is salsa chicken wraps...

    Half bag of frozen corn, covered with a couple small jars of salsa, then throw in 2-3 chicken breasts and sprinkle a half pack of taco seasoning. Cook until chicken is done (3-4 hours on high usually). Shred chicken and cook 1 cup of rice. Mix rice and chicken back into pot and after letting it sit for a few minutes, spoon onto a wrap with cheese, and Greek yogurt (or sour cream). Enjoy! It is honestly so delicious and will give you lots of leftovers. I also like to eat leftovers without wraps, or you can scoop with nacho chips. :)
  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
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    I made chicken tikka masala in mine overnight and OH MAN my house smells wonderful right now. The contents of the pot look amazing too (fantastic texture and color to the sauce), so I have very high hopes.

    Bonus: this is the simplest chicken tikka masala recipe I have ever tried, too (and I've tried a lot of them!).

    http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-slow-cooker-chicken-tikka-masala-recipes-from-the-kitchn-211284
  • lynndot1
    lynndot1 Posts: 114 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Budget Bytes does quite a few slow cooker recipes, and bonus, they are good on a budget haha.

    http://www.budgetbytes.com/category/recipes/miscellaneous/slow-cooker/

    I have the black bean soup in the crockpot right now! But I've also done her chicken and dumplings, taco bowls, garlic/rosemary chicken, etc...actually looking at that page, I've done a LOT of her slow cooker recipes haha.

    I'm not a stickler for following recipes exactly so I deviate a little (I usually round up or down veggies, add more or less cheese to things, etc...and I usually season more than she does because my other half prefers very spicy food), but the recipes are all pretty solid. I also almost always add more chicken or whatever meat is called for in a recipe by her, I guess because it's budget meal planning she tends to use less than I would, but that's not a big deal.

    If you use the recipe maker in MFP you can easily calculate serving sizes. I usually split it into more servings than she calls for to save calories (8 instead of 6 is the usual), but to be honest they're all pretty good calorie wise.

    http://www.chow.com/recipes/30669-spicy-slow-cooker-beef-chili this is my favorite, easiest chili recipe for the crockpot. Chili is impossible to mess up anyway, hah.
  • SconnieCat
    SconnieCat Posts: 770 Member
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    LovingLife_Erin wrote: »
    Our favourite is salsa chicken wraps...

    Half bag of frozen corn, covered with a couple small jars of salsa, then throw in 2-3 chicken breasts and sprinkle a half pack of taco seasoning. Cook until chicken is done (3-4 hours on high usually). Shred chicken and cook 1 cup of rice. Mix rice and chicken back into pot and after letting it sit for a few minutes, spoon onto a wrap with cheese, and Greek yogurt (or sour cream). Enjoy! It is honestly so delicious and will give you lots of leftovers. I also like to eat leftovers without wraps, or you can scoop with nacho chips. :)

    This sounds amazing - I'll have to try adding in the corn the next time I make this dish. Thanks so much!

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