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Eight Easy Slow Cooker Recipes

Mac and cheese, roast lamb and smoky BBQ ribs - it's time to dust off the ol' slow cooker and get cooking

A slow cooker is a wonderful thing. You set it all up before you go out and come home to find dinner cooked for you. But slow cooker meals aren’t always fuss (and washing up) free, with all that browning, chopping and frying you need to do beforehand. Here are eight truly effortless slow cooker dishes for you to try. Mac and Cheese, anyone?

BBQ Ribs

[Jo Romero]
[Jo Romero]



One of the easiest slow cooker dishes to make and probably one of the most satisfying. And there’s hardly any preparation either. First, thickly slice an onion and scatter it all over the base of your slow cooker’s crockpot. Next, clatter in your pork ribs - they’re cheap, too - before rubbing over your favourite barbecue sauce and replacing the lid. Cook on high until the meat starts to fall off the bone - about 4-5 hours should do it. You can eat them as they are, or give them a quick blast in a hot oven to caramelise the sauce and crispen up the ribs. Beautiful with coleslaw.

Chicken Stew

[Sweet Peas and Saffron]
[Sweet Peas and Saffron]



You want to make a slow cooker chicken stew. But is all that browning and frying beforehand - and adding to the washing up - really necessary? According to Denise from the blog Sweet Peas and Saffron, no it isn’t. For her Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken Stew you just chop the veg and chuck it, with the chicken, into the slow cooker and leave to cook. Denise writes that her favourite part of the recipe is this: “Throw it all in the crockpot and hit start. Walk away for 4-6 hours. I lovvvvve this.” Yep, so do we.

Mac ‘n Cheese

[Pip and Ebby]
[Pip and Ebby]



“Seriously,” writes Megan of the blog Pip and Ebby, “does it get any easier than this? Throw only FIVE ingredients into your crockpot and set it on low heat.” And that’s how you cook Mac and Cheese in a slow cooker. She calls this dish “absurdly easy” and suggests that you’re around to give it the odd stir while it’s cooking, but that’s about it.

‘Roast’ Lamb

[Jo Romero]
[Jo Romero]



Pulled pork isn’t the only joint of meat you can cook in the slow cooker, you know. You can cook a whole chicken, a piece of beef brisket and also this wonderfully tender lamb. No grease, no hot ovens, no sticky roasting tins to wash up. All you need are a couple of lamb shanks and your slow cooker. Drop the shanks into the crockpot of the slow cooker and put on the lid, cooking on high for about five hours. Once the lamb is tender and falling apart, lift it out and shred with a couple of forks, removing the bones. Now that’s a really effortless Sunday lunch. Don’t forget the mint sauce.

Chicken Fajitas

[Table For Two]
[Table For Two]



“Do you want a super easy slow cooker dinner dish that you can basically set and forget? Of course you do! I mean, who doesn’t?” writes Julie, from the blog Table for Two. She takes fajita night up a notch with these Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas. You just pour in stock and add spices, veggies and chicken and leave to cook. “This literally involves….nothing,” writes Julie. Once it’s cooked, everything gets shredded together and spooned into tortilla wraps. Perfect.

Soup

[Chelsea's Messy Apron]
[Chelsea's Messy Apron]



Sometimes only soup will do, and to come home and smell it cooking as you turn the key in the lock after a long day just makes it extra soothing. Try this Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chicken and Quinoa Soup, from Chelsea’s Messy Apron. You just chop up the veg, tumble everything into the slow cooker and forget about it until you’re ready to eat.

Shrimp Rice Bowls

[Crock Pot Gourmet]
[Crock Pot Gourmet]



For something a bit different, have a look at these Crockpot Chilli Lime Shrimp and Rice Bowls, by Jennifer at Crockpot Gourmet. Fresh and zesty, with a bit of spice, the rice bowls take 3-4 hours to cook, and all you do is mix everything together and put on the lid. Easy.

Ham

[Mel's Kitchen Cafe]
[Mel's Kitchen Cafe]



Yes - you can cook ham in the slow cooker. And it’ll be miles better than any pre-packed, sliced stuff you buy in the shops. AND you don’t need to worry about roasting in the oven or making sticky glazes because this one cooks all by itself. Check out this Slow Cooker Maple Brown Sugar Ham recipe by Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. Fancy egg and chips with that? YEP.

What are your favourite fuss-free slow cooker recipes? Let us know on Twitter.

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