How to Save Time and Space on Christmas Day With Your Slow Cooker/Instant Pot®

Finding enough space in your oven on Christmas Day can often feel like a bit of a stressful juggling act.

By putting your slow cooker and Instant Pot to good use, you’ll free up some space in your oven, and you’ll save on precious family time too!

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Slow cookers and Instant Pots are so handy and can really help you to cut down the amount of time that you spend in the kitchen.

They’re not only perfect for holidays like Christmas, but they’re also fantastic for those days when you don’t have time to spend hours making dinner.

You can pick up slow cookers in supermarkets, on plenty of online stores or on Amazon for a fairly reasonable price.

If you’re not sure which one to go for, then check out our round up of The Best Slow Cookers to Buy here.

Instant Pots are a little bit more of an investment, but we think that they’re well worth it, as they’re not only able to pressure and slow cook, but can do a variety of other things too! If you’re not sure which one to buy, you can check out our list of The Best Pressure Cookers to Buy.

Turkey

Usually, the thing that takes up the most space in your oven is the Christmas turkey, but did you know that you can actually cook a turkey in the slow cooker?

Our Slow Cooker Christmas Turkey Joint is super quick and simple to prepare. All you need to do is throw all of the ingredients in and then leave it to cook for around 3 hours!

As if that wasn’t good enough, our recipe also makes a delicious gravy so that’s one less thing to worry about on the big day.

Do bear in mind that the 3 hour cooking time listed in the recipe is a general guide only and that this will vary based on how big your turkey is.

The best way to make sure that your turkey is cooked through is by using a meat thermometer.

We’ve got you covered with our top tips for cooking a turkey in a slow cooker here. 

Ham

If you fancy a bit of a change from the traditional turkey, then our Ginger and Orange Glazed Ham can also be cooked in a slow cooker.

Although this recipe was always a Boxing Day staple in our house, we think that you could definitely enjoy it on Christmas Day as well – and the leftovers work really well in a sandwich the next day!

This ham takes 5 ½ hours in a slow cooker (which is a lot of time that you’ll be freeing up to get on with enjoying your day!).

Make sure that you have some containers with lids handy to store any leftovers!

Chicken

Some people enjoy chicken instead of turkey on Christmas Day and our 20 Minute Whole Chicken recipe is ready in, well, 20 minutes!

Now, we know what you’re thinking: there’s no way that you can cook an entire chicken in 20 minutes.

But with the Instant Pot you absolutely can! Simply place all your ingredients into the pot and then cook for around 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your chicken.

Don’t have an Instant Pot? You can also cook this recipe in the slow cooker which should take approximately 4-6 hours.

Mulled Wine

Nothing says Christmas more than a glass of really flavourful, indulgent Mulled Wine; and this is something else that you can make in the slow cooker!

Simply pop all of your ingredients (apart from the amaretto!) into the slow cooker and then leave it to bubble away for a couple of hours before adding the alcohol – it couldn’t be easier.

Serve in a tall latte glass mug and enjoy in front of your favourite Christmas movie or while you’re wrapping presents!

Bread Sauce

Although you can’t cook our Christmas Bread Sauce recipe in the slow cooker or an Instant Pot, we just had to mention it.

It takes less than 5 minutes to cook in the microwave which means that you’ll free up some space on your hob for other tasty additions to your Christmas feast.

You can serve this sauce in a serving bowl if you want, but we think that a gravy boat is an absolute must have as this way everyone can pour themselves as much sauce as they want!

You can find our full range of Christmas recipes in our Christmas category here – they’re guaranteed to get you inspired for the big day! 

Make sure you share pictures of your Christmas food over on our Facebook Group! It’s the place to be for all of the best slimming advice and support this festive season.