Coming at you today with a Monday night blog post with 5 crock pot meals that have become my go-to choices for dining in! If you’ve been following along on Insta, you know I’ve been traveling … a lot. And I have 6 more trips planned between now and May to three other countries and 4 other states! Some people ask how I can afford all this travel, and the only thing I can say is something’s gotta give. In my case, this is needless eating out.
I’m not a big fan of cooking – I actually downright dislike it – and have become accustomed to buying most of my food from Starbucks and the bar across the street from my house. As plane tickets started adding up, I knew I had to watch my spending.
Since I’m not much into cooking, I usually default to the crock pot. I have a few recipes I’ve been making for years, and a couple new ones I love that I’ve discovered as I’ve been cooking more in the past couple of months.
5 Crock Pot Meals: The Old Favorites
Slow-Cooker Chili
This has been my chili recipe for years and has a perfect flavor without being too spicy! I like to cut the sugar and add a dash of cinnamon to mine. I don’t like sour cream in my chili, but always add some shredded cheese on top and some oyster crackers or crushed up tortilla chips if I have them on hand. I also like to freeze this recipe in individual bags so I can heat this up easily for lunch at the office or when I get in from a trip and don’t have groceries in the fridge.
White Chicken Chili
Recipe from Like Mother Like Daughter
Whenever I get bored with regular chili, I’ll heat up a pot of this white chicken chili for a new flavor. Sometimes I’ll even make both pots just days apart and alternate which one I eat. In this recipe, I use way less chicken broth than the recipe calls for and if I don’t have something else I’m making with chicken broth that week, I’ll sub in some Better Than Bouillon I keep on hand.
Mississippi Roast
This is one of my all-time favorite recipes – the best roast that’s perfectly seasoned. It honestly could not be easier to make this and I love using the shredded meat in a variety of ways. Sometimes I’ll eat it with a side of asparagus and a piece of bread, sometimes I’ll put it in a quesadilla, and sometimes over chips with shredded cheese, guacamole, and salsa for nachos. On this one, I cut the recommended amount of butter as I find it way too greasy with the amount the recipe calls for.
5 Crock Pot Meals: New Additions
Crock Pot Baby Back Ribs
Recipe from A Cork, Fork, and Passport
I made these ribs for the first time last week when, to be honest, I was just totally bored with chicken-based recipes. I love ribs and barbecue, so this was a fun way to try my hand at them even though I don’t have a grill. Perhaps because my crock pot is pretty ancient, the ribs cooked unevenly and I had to take some sections out before others. I might try rotating them next time to avoid this. I’ve also been enjoying in different ways – one night with mashed cauliflower and asparagus, another with a lean-cuisine of mac-n-cheese. Next, I’m going to throw a piece of bread in the toaster and eat on an open faced sandwich (off the bone, of course).
Tuscan Chicken
This is hands down my favorite of the recipes I’ve been making lately because it’s so flavorful and satisfying! The biggest tip I can give here is to definitely make the cream sauce stove top before transferring to the crock pot. I made this mistake the first time and while it still tasted fine, it was clumpy and not very pretty. I like eating this with veggies or a side salad.
So those are currently my favorite 5 crock pot meals! I have a Pinterest board for my “tried and true recipes” that I keep updated as I try new things. I’d love to hear what crock-pot recipes you love in the comments below.
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