18 Easy Crock-Pot Recipes (10 Minutes or Less in Prep Time) (2024)

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Crockpot lovers know why using a slow cooker can save you many hours in the kitchen. If this is your first time looking at slow cooker recipes, you’ll understand why crockpot recipes are so popular and will agree that having a crockpot in your kitchen is a must after your first meal! This is especially true if you’re busy and want to come home to a ready-to-eat meal without all the hassle of cooking.

With easy crockpot recipes, you can prep all of your ingredients the night before and toss them into your slow cooker in the morning. By the time evening arrives, you’ll have a delicious dinner waiting for you!

Whether you’re trying to save time with healthy meal prep ideas and Instant Pot recipes or looking to save money with cheap healthy meals, adding crockpot recipes to your cookbook will save you both time and money.

The best way to cook with slow cookers is to use low-temperate cooking and give your ingredients some quality time together. This method of cooking helps tenderize tough meat and bring out the wonderful flavors of your ingredients, which makes your food super tasty.

Cooking with a crockpot is so convenient and easy you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner!

You seriously have to try all these amazing chicken, beef, pulled pork, and soup recipes this week. They’re perfect for weeknight dinners and group gatherings too!

More Must-Try Delicious Recipes:

• 15 Healthy and Easy Chicken Crockpot Recipes
• 20 Best Easy and Healthy Weeknight Dinners That Are Mouthwatering Delicious
• 20 Tasty Vegetarian Meals That Are Just As Good As Meat

What can you make fast on a Crockpot?

A Crockpot, or slow cooker, is a handy kitchen tool that simplifies cooking a wide range of dishes with little active involvement. Although the cooking is slow, the prep work is fast and straightforward.

You can quickly whip up dishes like soups, stews, and chili. It’s also great for slowly cooking meats such as beef, chicken, or pork until they’re perfectly tender. Just add your ingredients, set the timer and temperature, and the Crockpot does the rest.

It’s even possible to create desserts like puddings and cobblers in it. The beauty of using a Crockpot is its ability to cook your meal to perfection while you carry on with your day, thanks to its set-and-forget functionality.

What can be cooked in a Crockpot?

In a Crockpot, you can effortlessly prepare a multitude of dishes:

• Meats: pot roast, meatballs, teriyaki chicken, and turkey breast.
• Vegetarian options: quinoa chili, broccoli cheese soup, stuffed peppers, and mushroom stroganoff.
• Seafood specialties: shrimp scampi, clam chowder, and fish stew.
• Desserts: peach cobbler, rice pudding, and caramel flan.
• Sides: herbed bread, cinnamon apples, and creamed spinach.

Given its ease of use and flexibility, a Crockpot offers endless culinary opportunities, enabling both beginners and experienced cooks to produce diverse and satisfying meals.

What is a cheap alternative to a slow cooker?

A cheap alternative to a slow cooker is using a combination of a stovetop and a heavy-bottomed pot, like a Dutch oven.

The Dutch oven, made of cast iron, retains heat exceptionally well, simulating the slow and even cooking process of a slow cooker.

By setting your stove to its lowest heat setting, you can achieve a gentle simmer. Covering the pot with a tight-fitting lid traps in moisture and heat. This method allows you to prepare dishes that would typically be made in a slow cooker, such as stews, soups, and braised meats.

It offers the advantage of being cost-effective, especially if you already own a suitable pot, and gives you direct control over the cooking temperature.

1. Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

Need a break from your regular chicken recipe? Try this mouth-watering honey garlic chicken recipe for dinner. It’s very easy to put together.

All you need is 10 minutes to prep the ingredients and let your slow cooker work its magic. It’s that simple!

The honey and garlic combo adds a full-packed flavor to this dish.You can serve this with rice or mashed potatoes and vegetables!

Trust me, the entire family will love this recipe and ask for more!

2. Southwestern Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Tuesdays are typically taco nights for us. Whether it’s crunchy beef tacos, fish tacos, or soft chicken tacos, we just gotta have tacos once a week!

So if you or your family is also a big fan of tacos, then you have to try making the chicken with a slow cooker.

When you use a slow cooker, it saves so much time and the chicken turns out great every time – none of that dry chicken business!

If you like a little bit of heat with your tacos, you can add some hot chili powder and crushed red pepper flakes to your seasonings.

3. Classic Crockpot Beef Chili

Simplify your kitchen tasks with a crockpot meal prep approach by diving into the hearty comfort of Classic Beef Chili.

Using frozen ground beef, canned kidney beans, diced tomatoes, and a blend of spices like chili powder and cumin, this recipe is the epitome of ease and flavor.

Just layer in your ingredients and let the crockpot work its magic, infusing every bite with rich, robust flavors. The melding of beef, beans, and spices over hours ensures depth in taste, making it a favorite for many.

Perfect for busy weekdays or lazy weekends, this chili showcases the brilliance of hassle-free crockpot cooking.

4. Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

Having chicken in your diet is essential to healthy eating. Chicken has no carbs, very low in fat, and is packed with protein, vitamins, and minerals.

This delicious pot of sticky and sweet chicken is a fantastic dump meal that will help you through weeknights. How much time does it take to prepare? Only 5 minutes!

Put your raw chicken into your slow cooker. Add salt, pepper, and pepper to the pot. Give it a good mix and top it with some brown sugar.

Let it cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low and you’ll have a yummy dinner to look forward to! The taste will absolutely blow your mind away!

5. Crockpot Whole Chicken

Didn’t think you could make a whole chicken with a crockpot? Well, you can!

And the result is a juicy and tender chicken that you can enjoy with mash potatoes, broccoli, and carrots, or salads.

You can use fresh chicken or frozen chicken for this recipe. If you choose to use frozen chicken, let your chicken thaw before cooking it in your crockpot.

The cooking instructions are easy to follow. Simply season your chicken with spices and let it cook in your crockpot for 4 hours. Make sure the internal temperate of your chicken is at least 165 degrees so it’s fully cooked and safe to eat.

If you want your chicken to have a layer of crispy skin, pop your finished chicken into the oven and broil it for a few minutes.

Slow cooking an entire chicken with a crockpot is very easy to make, it’s healthy for you and DELICIOUS!

6. Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Stop wasting your time standing by the stove waiting for your dinner to cook. You have better things to do!

Free up your time with this wonderful beef stroganoff recipe so you can catch up on your favorite shows!

This recipe is straightforward to prepare. It uses fresh ingredients so you can skip all the preservatives found in canned soup.

The dish is super creamy, filled with juicy and tender beef, and loaded with flavors! Sounds delicious, doesn’t it?

Serve it over noddles, mashed potatoes, or rice, and your dinner is ready! Easy-peas!

7. Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa

Are you stressing about what to make this week because you’ve got a bunch of food critics at home?

Have no fear, beef barbacoa is here to save the day! This Mexican dish will satisfy all crowds.

It’s amazingly tasty, cooking instructions are very easy to follow and you can find all the ingredients at your local grocery store.

The trick to cooking tough cuts of meat is to allow the slow cooker to do all the work. Let it cook real low, real slow and you’ll get real tender meat!

You can use the yummy beef barbacoa for your tacos or serve it with a bowl of veggies and some rice. Just like Chipotle!

8. Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli

Beef and broccoli stir-fry is a classic dish you’ll find on all Chinese takeout menus. But, I bet you can’t find the slow-cooked version anywhere on their menus!

This simple recipe requires very little effort to prepare. You can prep all the ingredients in 10 minutes so it’s perfect for days when you don’t have time to cook all day in the kitchen.

The beef and broccoli are covered in a rich and savory sauce, which you can easily serve over a plate of rice. The kids will love this and won’t complain about eating their vegetables!

This is a much healthier and cheaper option than your local Chinese takeout.

9. Slow Cooker Ribs

Summer may be short, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a delicious plate of ribs once summer is over.

Don’t worry, making ribs with your slow cooker takes fairly simple and makes cleaning an easy task. You won’t need to clean the grill afterward! *wink*

Whether your favorite is the classic barbecue baby back ribs, sweet honey garlic ribs, or tasty sweet and spicy ribs, you can make any of these styles with a crockpot!

This quick recipe only requires 10 minutes of prep time. Mainly to prepare the dry rub and sauce. The ribs will take 4 to 8 hours to cook, depending on the setting you use to cook. 4 hours if you cook it on high or 8 hours for slow cooking.

Once it’s done cooking, you’ll have the perfect fall off the bone ribs that the family will love!

10. Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Are you a fan of pulled porked, but you never have time to make them?

Using your slow cooker is the perfect lazy way to cook pulled pork. In fact, it’ll turn out amazing because the pork will be cooked with low heat and real slow.

This recipe teaches you how to make your own spice rub to season the meat, but you can always use your go-to spice mix that you bought from the store.

When you simmer the pork in your crockpot with low heat for 8 hours, you’ll end up with tender and juicy pulled pork.

After the meat is ready, place it on a lightly toasted bun and add some coleslaw to it. Top it off with your favorite sauce and you’ve got yourself some amazing pulled pork sandwiches!

11. Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops and Potatoes

I love recipes that are straightforward and don’t need a lot of work. Whenever I come across recipes that have a shortlist of ingredients, I bookmark it right away!

This appetizing crockpot pork chop is one of the recipes that I saved and find myself making it over and over again. It’s so tasty and effortless to make.

This recipe calls for light ranch dressing for the seasoning so if you want more flavor to your chops, try doubling the recommended amounts of ranch dressing.

Also, if you prefer your pork chops to be extra juicy, sear it before you place it in your slow cooker. Searing your pork chops beforehand will seal the juice and flavor in the meat.

You’re on a keto low-carb diet? Not a problem. Swap the potatoes with mushrooms, cauliflower, or broccoli and you got a balanced and healthy dinner.

12. Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

When it’s cold outside, warm yourself up with a bowl of healthy chicken noodle soup. It’s the best comfort food forcold weather or when you’re fighting a cold.

This recipe uses chicken breast and lots of hearty vegetables so it’s very light, healthy, and is full of nutrients, which are essential to maintaining good health.

Yes, you can use raw chicken! No need to pre-cook the chicken breast! However, if you’re using frozen chicken, make sure you thaw the chicken before you cook in your slow cooker.

Just let it cook on its own for 6 to 8 hours and come back to a healthy pot of chicken noodle soup!

13. Coconut Curry Lentil Soup with Charred Pineapple

Among easy Crockpot meals for beginners, this dish shines with its tantalizing fusion of flavors.

The creamy richness of coconut curry envelopes hearty lentils, providing a base that’s both nourishing and indulgent. To elevate this already delectable soup, charred pineapple is introduced, offering a smoky sweetness that contrasts beautifully with the spiciness of the curry.

Perfect for those chilly evenings or when craving something truly unique, this soup is a delightful blend of tropical warmth and comforting textures.

14. Chipotle Mango BBQ Chicken Salad

The smoky touch of chipotle beautifully complements the tropical allure of mango in this enticing dish. Succulent chicken, marinated in this unique BBQ fusion, sits atop crisp greens, delivering a harmonious blend of flavors.

Fresh vegetables enhance the salad’s appeal, and a hint of tangy feta introduces an added depth.

This salad, with its enticing blend of heat, sweetness, and zest, promises an unforgettable dining experience.

15. Korean BBQ Beef Short Ribs (Galbi)

Venture into the heart of Seoul with succulent beef short ribs marinated in a tantalizing Korean BBQ sauce.

The interplay of sweet, savory, and umami promises a gastronomic journey that beckons the palate with every tantalizing bite.

16. Saffron and Lemon Infused Risotto with Scallops

In this Crockpot recipe, the golden hues of saffron meld with the zesty undertones of lemon to craft a risotto that’s both aromatic and flavorful.

This creamy concoction provides a perfect canvas for the delicately seared scallops, introducing a hint of the ocean’s freshness.

Every bite harmoniously blends land and sea, presenting a meal that’s both comforting and luxurious. The nuanced flavors and rich textures make it a must-try for those seeking a unique culinary delight.

17. Bourbon Maple Balsamic-Glazed Brisket

Savor the bold union of rich bourbon and sweet maple, paired perfectly with a balsamic reduction that cascades over tender brisket.

Every mouthful is a dance of smoky, sweet, and tangy notes, promising a culinary sensation like no other.

18. Easy Crockpot Beef Stew

As the outdoor temperature starts it drop, our craving for comfort food suddenly increases.

What’s better to treat your tastebuds than with this awesome beef stew? It’s super quick to prepare and easy to make that even beginner cooks can’t mess up.

There’s plenty of flavors in this pot and it’s packed with healthy vegetables to keep you full for hours!

Your family will be able to instantly smell what you’re cooking as they step foot into the house.