10 Slow Cooker Recipes you Need to Try

Nothing beats the convenience of a slow cooker recipe. Being able to throw all your ingredients into the pot and set them to simmer while you go about your day is a total game changer. By the time you get home, you know there’ll be a delicious, piping hot meal that’s ready to dish up. 

We believe in making your slow cooker work as hard as possible (so you don’t have to!). Slow cooker recipes can be more versatile than you might think, so there’s no reason not to stick a few of them into your meal plan each week. 

If you’re new to slow cooking, we have a few handy articles that’ll help you to get started:

• The Best Slow Cookers to Buy
• What Can I Cook in a Slow Cooker?
• How to Convert Recipes to a Slow Cooker

So, grab your Family Meal Planner and get ready to plan a week of slimming-friendly food, including these 10 slow cooker recipes that you need to try!

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Slow Cooker Beef Stew

A hearty stew is a slow cooker classic for good reason. Left to simmer low and slow all day, whatever meat you choose to use becomes velvety soft and fall-off-the-fork tender. Even a lean cut of stewing steak, like we use in this Slow Cooker Beef Stew recipe, turns into something really special. 

Bulked out with root vegetables, this is a filling stew that’s brimming with flavour. We don’t scrimp on seasonings here, so it’s rich with paprika, garlic and even has a bay leaf thrown in for good measure. 

Each portion is a whole meal in itself, with that melt-in-the-mouth beef, potatoes and vegetables in a deep, savoury gravy. It’s 513 calories-worth of proper, family-friendly comfort food!

We wouldn’t recommend trying to make any of our slow cooker recipes in a slow cooker with less than 3.5 litre capacity. This Daewoo SDA1364 Stainless Steel model will do the job nicely, plus the lid and pot are both dishwasher safe. 

Slow Cooker Oats with Two Toppings

You might not think to get the slow cooker going for breakfast, but you can leave these Slow Cooker Oats with Two Toppings bubbling away overnight. Ideal if you need to wolf down your brekkie and get out the door in a flash, there’s nothing better than waking up to a warm bowl of porridge. 

You can top your creamy oats with just about anything you fancy (we’ve got loads of toppings inspiration right here!), but we’ve included two fruity flavours to get you started. Are you team peanut butter and banana, or tempted by blueberry and apple compote?

The full recipe for this one can be found on pages 26 and 27 of Pinch of Nom Comfort Food. Grab a copy here if you don’t have one yet!

Slow Cooker Beef Madras

Planning an Indian-inspired fakeaway night doesn’t have to mean spending hours in the kitchen. The best curries need time to bubble away, gently tempting all those lovely flavours from the spices. That’s precisely why we come back to this Slow Cooker Beef Madras time and time again. 

The perfect combination of tender beef and fiery heat, it cooks for over 4 hours, until the fruity tomato sauce has turned rich and intense. At 288 calories per portion, this slow cooker recipe really gives the takeaway a run for its money! 

Slow Cooker Vegetable Stew with Cheesy Dumplings

Proving that slow cooking isn’t all about the meat, this Slow Cooker Vegetable Stew with Cheesy Dumplings is a vegetarian crowd-pleaser. Hearty and homely, the creamy casserole guarantees a warming bowlful of meat-free comfort food. 

Made with simple root vegetables and cannellini beans for extra protein, the herby, savoury sauce is thickened with reduced-fat cream cheese right before serving, turning it into a silky, rich gravy. You’ll be glad we included the fluffy, light, cheesy dumplings to help you mop up every last drop! 

Slow Cooker Steak and Stilton Pie

Imagine tucking into this Slow Cooker Steak and Stilton Pie and experiencing the first bite of succulent steak that melts in your mouth. Unlike most other slow cooker recipes, this one does require you to carry out a couple of steps when you get home, but it’s well worth the effort. 

Leave the pie filling to simmer all day, then add in the Stilton cheese right before transferring it into an ovenproof pie dish. We like to top our pie with light filo pastry – it gives the best possible golden crunch. Scrunch the filo over the top, brush with egg and get it into the oven for just 15 minutes. 

This pie tastes so special, we’ve been known to dish it up for Sunday lunch. Add a spoonful of Creamy Mashed Potatoes and some extra veggies on the side and you can’t go wrong!

You’ll need a medium sized pie dish to make this recipe. We’d recommend a 28cm enamel pie dish like this one that you can pick up from Amazon. 

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Lasagne

Once you’ve tried pulled pork inside a lasagne, you might never go back to beef mince. This Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Lasagne was a cracking idea inspired by one of the members of our Facebook group. We’ve slow-cooked a joint of gammon in a rich, BBQ sauce, before shredding it to make the meat layer for our slimming-friendly lasagne. 

Just like with the Steak and Stilton Pie recipe, there’s a little bit of extra work to do after the slow cooker has worked its magic with this one. Assemble the lasagne with our low-calorie white sauce and sheets of pasta, top it with cheese and oven-bake it for half an hour, until it’s golden and bubbling on the top. 

Slow Cooker Stroganoff

We love that slow cooking can save you money in the kitchen. A traditional Stroganoff uses a prime cut of steak, which is fried quickly in a pan. With this Slow Cooker Stroganoff recipe, you can pick up a much cheaper cut of steak, and cook it low and slow until it falls apart. 

Delivering all the flavour for far less effort – and less money – it’s well worth finding a spot for this recipe on your meal plan this week. Dished up over rice, pasta or potatoes, it becomes such a comforting dinner (you’ll understand why you’ll find the full recipe in our Comfort Food cookbook!).

Ham, Leek and Potato Soup

What do you get when you pop 4 simple ingredients in your slow cooker for 4 hours? This Ham, Leek and Potato Soup of course! Armed with some spuds, leeks, a couple of stock cubes and a joint of gammon, you can make yourself a healthy soup for lunch or a light dinner this week.

This recipe is up there with one of the easiest dishes to make in your slow cooker, but that doesn’t mean it’s stingy with flavour. Sweet leeks and salty ham bring out the best in each other, and the potatoes make this soup really filling. Keep it nice and chunky, or mash the spuds into the broth a little bit if you like a thicker consistency. 

Grab yourself a soup flask and ladle in a portion to take on-the-go with you. It’s so much tastier and far more slimming friendly than a supermarket sandwich! This leak-proof 600ml flask even comes with a handy foldable spoon that tucks inside the lid. 

Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole

If you haven’t already tried our Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole recipe, this is your sign to give it a go. One of our most popular dishes, it’s surprisingly low on effort, considering how impressive the results are. All the ingredients are familiar, family-friendly vegetables, and then you can add in any type of sausages that you prefer (just remember to keep an eye on the nutritional values if you’re counting calories). 

Once everything has cooked for between 5 and 8 hours – depending on if you set the slow cooker to low or medium/high – there’s nothing left to do but plate it up and get stuck in. 

Chai Rice Pudding

Did we mention how versatile your slow cooker is? You can even use it to whip up a dessert, like this creamy, indulgent-tasting Chai Rice Pudding. Inspired by the warming, delicately-spiced flavour of Masla chai, we’ve infused our milk with chai teabags before adding it to the slow cooker. We like to use unsweetened almond milk for this recipe, to keep the calories lower and add a little hint of nuttiness to the flavours. 

The rice will simmer in the slow cooker for around 3 hours, soaking up the chai-flavoured milk until you’re left with a thick, luxurious pudding. Serve with sweetener and a dusting of cinnamon for the most comforting (and easiest) slimming-friendly treat you can try!

Which slow cooker recipe will you be trying first?

Nothing makes us happier than seeing you rustling up our dishes! Share which of our slimming-friendly slow cooker recipes has caught your eye over in our Facebook group, where we have almost 1 million members waiting to support you on your slimming journey.

Did you know that you can share your hints, tips, quotes and photos in our PON Gallery too? We highly recommend going for a scroll through the submissions we’ve had so far if you’re not sure what to make for dinner tonight.

If you liked this article, you’ll love exploring the rest of our blog. Browse any time you need a little bit of inspiration for recipe ideas, kitchen equipment, money-saving tips and LOADS more!