Slow Cooker Recipes That Are Frugal And Easy
Do you love slow cooker recipes that are frugal and easy as much as I do? If I put dinner in the slow cooker and set it and forget it, I’m a happy girl! My husband loves the smell of something cooking in the kitchen, so it’s a win-win for both of us!
Yesterday on the Food Storage Moms Facebook page, a reader asked if I had any slow cooker chicken recipes not using tomatoes. Yep, I sure do! It’s interesting, for the last few years the Instant Pot pressure cooker has been the kitchen appliance people have wanted to try. I bought one and gave it away because I preferred my Fagor pressure cooker. Pressure cookers started to be the rage because families could do so many things with them.
We can saute food, use it as a slow cooker, roaster, and more. The funny thing is, I still love my slow cooker for my dinners if I’m not in a hurry. If I want really tender meat fast, I use my pressure cooker. I can still remember watching my mom using a stove pressure cooker. They have been around for years.
It’s awesome to see families starting to cook in their homes again. There seem to be tons of families who got out of the habit for some reason or another.
I’m going to share a few different recipes my family has used for years. One of my readers mentioned she has several different-sized slow cookers for entertaining. I love that tip! She makes all the meals and lines up the slow cookers for her guests! This is a great idea for a party!
I must say, purple is my favorite color and if someone sold a purple slow cooker I would be very tempted to buy one. Just saying. I have a variety of slow cooker recipes today for you, so let’s get started.
Slow Cooker Recipes:
Corn Bread
- 3/4 cup cornmeal
- 1-1/4 cups flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-2 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1 cup milk
- 1/3 cup melted butter
-
Combine the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and make a “well” in the middle of the ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients in the center of the well and stir until just moistened. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square cake pan. Scoop the batter into the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Beef Stew
- 2 lbs. cubed stew meat
- 3 carrots, sliced
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 3 stalks of celery, sliced
- 10-3/4 ounce can tomato soup
- 1 soup can of water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- dash of pepper
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
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Get your slow cooker out and start adding the ingredients as shown above. Cover and cook on low 10-12 hours.
Quick & Easy Chili
- 2 lbs. ground beef
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 28 -ounce can of diced tomatoes
- 2-8 ounce cans tomato paste
- 2-16 ounce cans kidney beans (do not drain) or equal amount of freshly cooked beans
- 4 -ounce can of chopped green chilies
- 1 cup of water
- 2 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
-
Brown the ground beef with the onions and drain the grease. Get the slow cooker out and start adding the browned ground beef, onions, and the remaining ingredients. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
French Dip Shredded Beef
- 4 pounds of chuck roast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup of water
-
Combine the ingredients in your slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until tender. Shred the beef towards the end of the cooking time but keep it in the slow cooker to continue cooking. I buy French bread rolls and serve this meat with Au Jus to dip the sandwiches in.
Sweet & Tangy Cranberry Chicken
- 4 pounds of raw chicken
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup of diced celery
- 1/2 cup chopped onions
- 16 ounce can whole berry cranberry sauce
- 1 cup barbecue sauce
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Combine all of the ingredients in your slow cooker, cover and bake on low for 6-8 hours. This is fabulous with rice.
Creamy Chicken
- 4 boneless/skinless chicken breast halves or 8 chicken tenderloins
- 1 envelope dry Italian dressing mix
- 1/4 cup water
- 8- ounce package of cream cheese
- 10-3/4 ounce can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
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Combine the ingredients in your slow cooker, cover and cook on low for about 4-6 hours. Shred the chicken or cut into bite-size pieces and serve over rice or noodles.
Creamy Chicken & Mushrooms
- 4 boneless/skinless chicken breast halves
- 12- ounce jar mushroom gravy
- 1 cup milk
- 8- ounce package of cream cheese
- 4-1/2 ounces chopped green chilies
- 1 package of dry Italian seasoning mix
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Combine the ingredients in a slow cooker covered for about 6-8 hours on low. This has a bit of a kick to it and I love it!
Soda Pot Roast Dinner
- 3-4 pound chuck roast
- 10-3/4 ounce can of cream of mushroom soup
- 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
- 16 ounces of soda: Coca-Cola/Pepsi Cola/Dr. Pepper
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Combine the ingredients in your slow cooker, cover and cook on high for 6 hours.
Harry’s Texas Chili
- Ingredients
- 3 lbs. coarse ground beef
- 1 large onion chopped
- 28- ounce can of diced tomatoes
- 2-8 ounce cans tomato paste
- 4 ounce can of chopped green chilies
- 1 cup of water
- 2 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1-8 oz can tomato sauce
-
Instructions
1. Brown the ground beef with the onions and drain the grease. Get the slow cooker out and start adding the browned ground beef, onions, and the remaining ingredients. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
Final Word
Let me know how often you use your slow cookers and what you like to make, I would love to hear! I love slow cooker recipes so I can set and forget my meals! Thanks for keeping your pantry full for your family. May God bless this world. Linda
Linda,
As I have told you before, here in Texas we make real chili that is NOT ruined by containing beans. LOL!!! So, I fixed the chili recipe for you below. Added an extra pound of beef instead of those beans, but also we use coarse ground beef. Of course, I removed the beans from the recipe and added a can of tomato sauce to compensate for the liquid in the can of (ugh) beans. Just making sure that you don’t insult any Texans who might visit you by making chili with beans. We Texans can be an ornery lot at times. Ha, ha, ha!!!
Ingredients
• 3 lbs. coarse ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 2-8 ounce cans tomato paste
• 4 ounce can of chopped green chilies
• 1 cup of water
• 2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1-8 oz can tomato sauce
Instructions
1. Brown the ground beef with the onions and drain the grease. Get the slow cooker out and start adding the browned ground beef, onions, and the remaining ingredients. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
Hi Harry, oh my gosh, I forgot the TEXAS chili!! I’m adding your recipe with your name to my post. I hope that’s okay. I want this recipe!!!!! My readers would love a printable recipe!!! Thank you so much! Linda
Happy to have it out there for everyone to see how to do it in Texas. LOL!!! I love your work and hope you know that we Texans like to tease folks from other states. That’s why I sent this. Keep up the good work and maybe we will all make it through the next disaster. And, hope it is a small disaster. God bless you.
Hi Harry, thanks so much for sharing the recipe! My sister lives in Austin, I love Texas! Linda
Hi, Linda. One thing you should include is crock pot liners. I LOVE using these. Makes clean-up so much easier. Love this post. You always do such a great job with your blog.
Hi Joanne, what??? Do they have crock pot liners?? Oh my gosh, I have got to look into trying some of those!! Thanks for the tip!! I love it!! Linda
Made the Sweet & Tangy Cranberry Chicken today and it was delicious!!! I served it over brown rice and what a meal with a vegetable. This was so easy to make and very inexpensive too. Thanks for the recipes and information that I always learn something new. Learning something new is always exciting for me even though I have been cooking from scratch for over 50 years!!! I try many of your recipes. I will be trying more of the recipes in this post, that’s for sure.
Hi Carol, thank you so much! Sometimes we need a new recipe, right? I miss the potlucks we used to have at church. We would all exchange recipes. It’s sad, people need social as much as spiritual, just my humble opinion. Linda
I still LOVE to make the Sweet & Tangy Cranberry Chicken recipe. This morning my husband who has Alzheimer’s helped me. I got the hand cranked Salsa Master out and he helped me with the celery and onions; he loves to turn the handle and feels that he helped a bit. This is one of my go to recipes for sure. And that Salsa Master is such a winner too. Often, I get it out instead of the food processer.
Hi Carol, thank you for the 5 stars, my sweet friend. I love hearing you love the Salsa Master as much as I do! That Sweet & Tangy Cranberry Chicken recipe is so good!!! What a blessing that your husband feels helpful by turning the crank. May God bless you and your sweet hubby! Linda