20+ Best Slow Cooker Recipes

Browse our collection of the very best slow cooker recipes... including 20+ delicious family favourites, easy midweek dinners, simple soups and more!

From lamb shanks to beef stroganoff, chilli con carne to pulled pork, chicken korma curry to risotto and plenty of other kid-friendly recipes!

Slow cooker recipes are the ultimate comfort food! Whether it's a bowl of nourishing healthy soup, a 'takeaway' pulled pork burger, a one-pot family roast or a creamy beef and pasta dinner... you just can't beat a slow cooker meal!

Browse our budget-friendly, flavour-packed slow cooker recipes that the whole family will love. And most recipes can be frozen as well, for easy meal planning in advance.

Slow Cooker Family Dinner Recipes

When it comes to fuss-free family dinners, it doesn't get any easier than a slow cooked meal. Simply throw everything into your slow cooker in the morning and have dinner ready and waiting that night.

And if you're wondering about the cost of running a slow cooker for hours, here's the facts....

• When it comes to energy consumption, no other electrical appliance can beat a slow cooker in terms of efficiency.
• The reason behind a slow cookers use of very little energy is that they cook at such a low temperature.
• Research has shown that 6-8 hours on low in a slow cooker uses similar power to 35-45 minutes in the oven.

Slow Cooker Creamy Tuscan Chicken

This is the ULTIMATE winter comfort food. It's creamy, it's FULL of flavour and it's an absolute hit with the whole family (including kids!) It takes only 15 minutes to prepare, then let the slow cooker do the rest!

Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken

Grab your slow cooker and start with this simple honey mustard chicken dish that takes only 10 minutes to prepare with almost zero effort! Budget friendly, and you can double the recipe for leftovers or to freeze extra.

Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks

With mouthwatering tender meat that literally falls off the bone, this classic dish takes just 10 minutes to prepare. Served with the rich sauce it's cooked in over a bed of mash - you have the best home cooked and satisfying winter meal!

Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

Served with rice, green vegetables and warm naan or roti bread, this mildly spiced butter chicken cooked in the slow cooker makes a simple and tasty meal.

Slow Cooker Roast Beef

Just imagine how AMAZING a roast beef that's been slowly cooking away all day is going to taste! This is the easiest way to achieve beautifully tender and melt-in-your-mouth beef. You can cook the beef on it's own, or add vegetables for an easy one pot dinner. 

Slow Cooker Satay Chicken

Perfect for busy weeknights or lazy weekends, this slow cooker satay chicken just needs some rice cooking and a few crunchy veggies chopped to serve with. The peanut satay is always popular with the kids too.

Slow Cooker Chilli Con Carne

The flavours in this classic dinner intensify as it simmers away in the slow cooker all day. Serve with all your favourite toppings - including sour cream, grated cheese, spring onions, corn chips or rice!

Slow Cooker Roast Chicken Dinner

Talk about a 'winner winner, chicken dinner'! This one pot slow cooked roast dinner is an absolute family favourite. There's no need to sear the chicken - simply place it straight into the slow cooker, add your vegetables and turn that baby on. 

Slow Cooker Chicken And Mushroom Risotto

Traditionally risotto can be a little labour intensive, but not so with a slow cooker! Just 'set and forget', and come back to a perfectly cooked creamy risotto, loaded with flavour. Great for fussy eaters and little ones, this risotto is smooth and creamy.

Slow Cooker Italian Beef Ragu Pasta

When it comes to comfort food, it doesn't get any better than a big bowl of pasta served with rich beef ragu that's slowly cooked away for hours. Serve with parmesan cheese and a side of garlic bread. Alternatively, skip the pasta and serve with mashed potato or polenta. 

Slow Cooker Honey Soy Garlic Chicken

Slow cooker honey soy garlic chicken is simply packed with sweet and savoury flavours! Serve with rice for a no-fuss and economical family meal that takes just 20 minutes to prepare... then 'set and forget' in the slow cooker!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

One of our all-time favourite slow cooker recipes! The sweet and rich pulled pork is perfect for burgers, tacos, pizzas or enchiladas. This makes a big batch so freeze any leftovers for up to 3 months, it's handy to use in so many ways.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

Tender, juicy chicken, shredded with spicy buffalo sauce, and ready to be enjoyed in your choice of burgers, sliders, pasta, sandwiches, cob loaf, dip or salad... the options are simply endless!

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Everyone's favourite creamy pasta is taken to a whole new level with slow cooked tender beef. This is the ultimate mid-winter dinner! Serve with pasta (always my choice!), mashed potato, rice or creamy polenta. 

Slow Cooker Apricot Chicken

This recipe is an absolute classic! It's been around forever, and the combination of chicken, apricot and french onion soup gives this dish the perfect sweet and savoury flavours that appeal to all. Guaranteed kid-friendly!

Slow Cooker Lamb Shoulder

While this slow cooker lamb shoulder makes an AMAZING roast dinner, you can also mix things up! A few of my favourite options are using the soft fall-apart meat to make pulled lamb burgers or souvlaki's, or use the leftovers to make yummy Greek lamb pizzas.

Slow Cooker Chicken Korma Curry

Tender chicken is slow cooked a lightly spiced sauce rich with coconut milk and almond meal. By serving chicken korma curry with a big bowl of rice, some steamed greens and plenty of naan bread, this dish can easily extend to feed a crowd!

Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Chicken

Fall-apart tender and loaded with flavour, use this for your favourite Mexican dishes like tacos, burritos, salads, nachos, soups, burgers and more. Slow cooking the chicken makes it moist, succulent and unbelievably tender!

Healthy Slow Cooker Soups

Mouthwatering, nutritious and flavour-packed soups are exactly what you get when you use your slow cooker. Plus, there's nothing more comforting than the smell of a fragrant soup cooking away all day!

Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Soup

There's classic traditional soups and then there's THIS amazing flavour-packed Mexican inspired soup. Serve with lots of corn chips and sour cream for a healthy, spicy Mexican feast! Leftovers make a satisfying lunch too.

Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

If you've got a cold, then you need this soup in your life! Packed full of nourishing vegetables and chicken, this is classic healthy comfort food is sure to make you feel a million times better in no time!

Slow Cooker Pea & Ham Soup

This rich and comforting soup is packed full of flavour and full of pull-apart tender ham. Cooking the ham hock with the veggies and split peas in the slow cooker gives the most amazing tasting soup!

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup

Such a simple, classic and popular soup, creamy pumpkin soup cooked in a slow cooker makes an easy mid-week meal or scrumptious lunch. Serve with plenty of buttered bread rolls, savoury muffins or warm crusty ciabatta to soak up all the delicious flavours!

Slow Cooker Leek And Potato Soup

Perfect for busy mid week dinners, and left overs for lunch, this potato and leek soup is a healthy and tasty meal. And when winter vegetables, such as leeks, are plentiful, it makes a nutritious, budget friendly option... it's a great soup to stock up the freezer with for meals in advance.

Slow Cooker Desserts

Slow Cooker Condensed Milk Caramel

For all those sweet tooths out there (including me!), there's just something irresistible about a smooth caramel..... Totally decadent, use this luscious caramel on your favourite desserts, over ice cream, sticky date pudding or apple pie. Drizzle this caramel over a warmed brownie, cheesecake or chocolate cake, the options are simply endless!

10 Tips For Cooking With A Slow Cooker (Crockpot)

Slow cookers (also known as crock pots) are an excellent item of cooking equipment. Not only are they relatively inexpensive to buy, they make the most incredibly delicious meals!

1. Use cheap cuts of meat - one of the best things about a slow cooker is that the cheaper the cut of meat, the better a slow cooker will cook it! Look for cheap cuts such as pork shoulder, lamb shoulder, chuck steak, beef short ribs, lamb shanks, chicken thighs or beef brisket.
2. Thickening liquid - when using a slow cooker to cook meat (with the exception on soups), you wont need to use very much liquid at all as the liquid doesn't evaporate like it does during stove-top or oven cooking. If you find that you have too much liquid at the end of cooking time, you can thicken the liquid using a mixture of cornflour and cold water (1-2 teaspoons of cornflour mixed with a little cold water and stirred until dissolved). 
3. Raw defrosted meat - as meat cooks so slowly in crockpot/slow cooker, it's important to use raw defrosted meat (do not place frozen meat directly into the slow cooker).
4. Searing meat - Some slow cooker recipes call for searing the meat before placing it into the slow cooker, whereas other recipes don't require any searing. While it's not essential to sear meat (even in the recipes that call for it), it does add flavour and locks in extra moisture. Some slow cookers now come with functions that allow you to sear in the slow cooker before switching over to slow cooker mode. 
5. High or low setting - for maximum flavour and tender meat, use the low setting on your slow cooker wherever possible. If you're pushed for time, choose the high setting.
6. Set and forget - most slow cooker recipes don't need to be stirred or checked at all. Simply pop everything in and leave it to do it's thing (i.e. slow cooker recipes are great for putting on before work and having dinner ready when you walk through the door). If you do want to check your slow cooker meal, do so only once or twice (as heat escapes overtime you open the lid!).
7. Leave dairy until the end - only add cream, milk, sour cream, greek yoghurt etc to the slow cooker in the last 15-20 minutes of cooking.
8. Don't overfill your slow cooker - many slow cookers have 'max' lines but a general rule is not to fill the slow cooker any more than two-thirds. 
9. Cooking vegetables - cooking vegetables for too long in the slow cooker can lead to mushy vegetables! Cook hard vegetables such as potatoes and carrots for longer than soft vegetables such as beans, capsicum etc.
10. Storing meals - once you've finished cooking your meal in the slow cooker, remove any leftovers and place into a separate plastic container in the fridge (do not leave leftovers in the ceramic pot as it keeps the food hot and doesn't allow it to cool quickly enough. 

More Easy Family Dinners

If you're looking for easy family dinners, then browse our collection of 30+ freezer meals! All are budget-friendly and made from basic ingredients… pastas, lasagne, soups, slow cooker meals, vegetarian options, quiches, tarts and more!

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