14 Slow Cooker Recipes That Aren’t Soup or Stew (2024)

FAQs

14 Slow Cooker Recipes That Aren’t Soup or Stew? ›

While a slow cooker offers convenience, it's not the only route to slow cooking. With alternative methods like Dutch ovens, stovetop simmering, oven baking, pressure cooking, and utilising crockery, you can still savour the joys of slow-cooked meals. The results will be worth the wait.

While a slow cooker offers convenience, it's not the only route to slow cooking. With alternative methods like Dutch ovens, stovetop simmering, oven baking, pressure cooking, and utilising crockery, you can still savour the joys of slow-cooked meals. The results will be worth the wait.

Choose the right cut: Chuck roasts, short ribs, pork shoulders and lamb shanks (think fatty and tougher meats) become meltingly tender with the moist, low heat of a slow cooker. Leaner cuts like pork tenderloin tend to dry out. Likewise, dark meat chicken — thighs, drumsticks, etc.

A safe slow cooker, cooks slow enough for unattended cooking, yet fast enough to keep food out of the bacterial danger zone. In the danger zone (above 40°F to below 140°F), bacteria grows very rapidly. Food left in the danger zone too long can cause food borne illness.

A slow cooker and a Crockpot are the same thing, essentially. A slow cooker is an appliance of which there are lots of brands. Crockpot is one brand of slow cooker. Crockpot popularized slow cookers when they launched their version in the 1970s.

The difference between "High" and "Low" on slow cookers seems to differ with every brand and model. One thing that is consistent, though, is that food takes seven to eight hours to reach a simmer point (around 210°) on low; versus three to four hours on high.

Yes, it's safe to leave a slow cooker on when you leave the house. The purpose of a slow cooker is to allow you to cook while you aren't home. Slow cookers simmer food slowly, killing bacteria and raising meat to the perfect internal temperature.

Foods that are OK to eat sometimes are "slow" foods. Foods like hamburgers or pancakes aren't off limits — but they shouldn't be eaten every day. At most, you'll want to eat these foods just a couple of times a week.

What is an example of a slow food? ›

While they may have some GO food qualities (e.g. veggie pizza has cheese and vegetables, ice cream has milk, apple juice is a fruit juice), they are considered SLOW foods because they can also be higher in fat and sugar. Examples: Veggie pizza, ice cream, and 100% fruit juice.

Can you put meat straight into a slow cooker? Meat can be added directly unseared and not browned.

PRESSURE COOKER OVERVIEW. Like slow cookers, pressure cookers can also be used to make excellent meals. Unlike slow cookers, pressure cookers work quickly for short cooking times.

Crock-Pots and slow cookers use moist heat to cook food over a long period of time. Both are used to cook the same types of foods, and both produce the same delicious results. These wonderful, small kitchen appliances even contain the same three components: a pot, glass lid, and heating element.

An Instant Pot can cook food much faster than a Crockpot—and even quicker than conventional cooking methods too (according to the Instant Pot manufacturers, it can cook a meal up to six times faster than a regular, stove-top cooking time).

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), slow cookers' max temperatures generally reach between 170 and 280 degrees F (77 and 138 degrees C). That's high enough to kill most bad bacteria, but the USDA still recommends thawing all foods completely before placing them in a slow cooker.

You certainly can add raw ground beef to the crockpot. As a matter of fact, many (if not most) slow-cooker chili recipes ask for the meat to be added raw.

Yes, you can put raw chicken in a slow cooker! Slow cookers and Crock-Pots are designed to cook raw meats. The direct heat from the pot, lengthy cooking time and steam created from the tightly covered container destroys bacteria, making slow cooking safe. You can put frozen chicken in a slow cooker, too!

Yes, this is a safe method of cooking, as long as everything in the pan is fully cooked before eating. Can you cook raw meat and frozen vegetables together in a slow cooker? You can but the vegetables will be over cooked by the time the meat is tender. Better to add them near the end of booking time.