What is your favorite slow cooker/crockpot recipe?

I don’t remember where this came from originally but it is my friend Lizzy’s taco soup recipe:

* 1 Onion diced
* 16oz Can pinto beans
* 16oz Can Dark Red Kidney Beans
* 16oz Can White Beans/Northern Beans
* 11oz Can nibblet corn
* 28oz Can of diced tomatoes
* 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
* 2oz Can diced green chilies
* 8+ Dashes of Tabasco sauce
* 1 Envelope of taco season mix

Put everything in the crockpot in the morning. Turn it on. If salt is an issue for you, drain the veggies, but replace the drained stuff with water. Add some beer for a richer taste. Cook all day.

Eat with sour cream, tortilla chips, and cheddar cheese.

my favorite crockpot recipe is actually for pulled pork bbq, but it’s very “a handful of this, a pinch of that” and I wouldn’t know where to start piecing a recipe together out of it

When corn is crazy-cheap, I make Maque Chou (pronounced: mock shoo). It does take a little bit of prep in a fry pan first, though.

Chop up an onion, 5–6 strips of bacon, 3–4 cloves of garlic and 2–3 bell peppers into small pieces. I like to get one green, one red, one yellow or orange pepper for both the color and taste, but any combination works. Saute this starting with the bacon pieces so you get the pan oily. Then add the peppers, onions, and garlic. When the onions barely start to look clear, dump this whole mix in a crockpot.

Get 12–14 ears of corn and slice the kernels off right into the pot. Let all that juice go into your crockpot, too. Add a 15 oz can of stewed tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of your favorite Cajun seasoning mix. Stir it up. Cook on low for an hour or so.

Some people like maque chou more corny and less peppery than I do, but this is the way my family likes it. If you need to consider a vegetarian in your group, it works well with just oil instead of the bacon. I’ve also made it with more or less onion or tomato, and all these variations work well.

We’ve sometimes had this as a main dish, but usually it’s a great prepare-ahead side dish for BBQ. I hope you like it.

I like the pulled pork, too, but I’ve always used one of the flavor packets from the grocery store. (There are a wide variety of those, and it makes for creative ideas and less prep.)

Hi laureth. I’ve used the packets too. I also sometimes just make up my own thing – jar of orange marmalade, packet of Good Seasons dressing spices, etc. My family’s favorites are chicken soup or beef stew. I absolutely love the crockpot though….so easy to throw everything in and then it tastes SO great after.

I’m going apple picking this weekend. I’ll go on-line to see if there are any good apple crock pot deals.

Crockpot Chicken Brunswick Stew Always yummy.

Matter of fact I’ve been eying up the last of the short ribs in the freezer for this recipe.
Chinese Country Ribs

Then there’s the old classic. Caramelized-Onion Pot Roast

I can add more recipes to the blog if you wish. Weight Watcher Friendly recipes at that, and a few that are not.

Then there’s this great blog called A Year of CrockPotting. Check it out lots of great recipes there.

Wow, cooksalot! Thanks so much! Carmelized onion pot roast sounds so good!

Definitely will check the links out. Thanks again!

Please give size of crockpot. Mine is 3.5 quarts and so far, I have make only oatmeal in it.

You can use a 3.5qt. You may have to down size the recipe though if the recipe serves more than 4. But if I recall correctly the 3.5qt says it will make enough to serve 4. I have 2 boys and at times their friends. So you know that means 8yo and 12yo they eat enough to feed a small army. My 6qt just barely holds enough to feed them, and have some left for me and my husband. LOL!

Do you have crab apples? (Regular, like Dolgo or Centennial – not the kind from flowering crab apple trees) The crock pot method of apple butter is wonderful. Let me know if you would like that kind of crock pot recipe.

I’d be interested in a lazy black bean vegetarian soup for the 3.5. (No prep that requires other pots or pans either.)

How about this? For the crockpot I would just dump it all in set the crockpot for 8 hours and let’er rip!

MMMMM——- Now You’re Cooking! v5.84 [Meal-Master Export Format]

Title: Southwestern Black Bean Soup
Categories: soups
Yield: 21 servings

1 lb dried black beans; soaked
5 qt vegetable stock or water

SACHET:
2 bay leaves
1/2 ts dried thyme
10 peppercorns; cracked
1 tb canola oil
4 oz onion; diced
2 garlic cloves; minced
1 oz Anaheim chili pepper; diced
1 tb jalapeño or serrano chiles;
-minced
1 ts ground cumin
1 ts ground coriander
1 ts dried oregano
salt and pepper; to taste
lime wedges; as needed to
-garnish
cilantro; as needed to
-garnish

1. Combine the beans and stock or water and bring to a simmer. Add the
sachet.

2. Sauté the onions, garlic and chiles in the oil. Add to the saucepot.

3. Stir in the cumin, coriander and oregano.

4. Simmer the soup, uncovered, approximately 2–3 hours. The beans should be
very soft, just beginning to fall apart. Add additional water or stock if
necessary.

5. Purée about half of the soup, then stir it back into the remaining soup.
Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

6. Serve in warmed bowls garnished with lime wedges and chopped cilantro.

Yield: 4 quarts (4 liters)

Source:
“Chapter 12 – Soups”
Copyright:
”© 2003 by Prentice-Hall, Inc.”
Yield:
“4 quarts”
– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 97 Calories; 1g Fat (11.9% calories
from fat); 5g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol;
954mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0
Fat.

NOTES : Because MasterCook’s Ingredient List may not include all of the
ingredients listed in this recipe, we have displayed the recipe’s
nutritional analysis as it appears in the ON COOKING book.

Approximate values per 6-oz. (271-g) serving: Calories 70, Total fat 2 g,
Saturated fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 1010 mg, Total carbohydrates 9
g, Protein 4 g, Claims— low fat; no saturated fat; no cholesterol

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 5846 0 0 0 0 0 2130706543 0 0 0 3782 0 0 0 0 0 0

Preparation Time: 0:00

NYC Nutrilink: N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000
NYC Nutrilink: N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000
NYC Nutrilink: N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000
NYC Nutrilink: N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000
NYC Nutrilink: N0^00000,N0^00000

MMMMM

@cooksalot – I can’t wait to get “cooking”! I’m definitely going to check out more of your blog. And weight watcher’s recipes are always welcome.

@EmpressPixie – I know my husband and son will love that – just a little less spicy.

@cyndyh – Corn chowder is a favorite of mine. Do you ever make that with canned corned or creamed corn?

@greylady – apple butter is something I haven’t had for a long time. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to crabapples. Are there any other apples I could use?

Thanks to everyone. Happy Thursday!

I have made it before with canned corn, but I don’t think it comes out as good. It’s not really a chowder because you don’t want it to cream or be creamy. You want the consistency to be more that of cooked whole kernel corn with flecks of the other veggies throughout. It’s really good, though.

Also, I think if you were pressed to use one pot you could probably improvise the saute step in the pot itself, but I haven’t tried that.

You know you can make apple sauce with any apple. I use anything I can get a hold of, and another MFP that I know gets blue ribbons with sauce that she makes from apples that she gleans all over the Portland Oregon area.

@cyndy – Okay – no creamed then. It sounds so good!

@cooksalot – I have made applesauce before, and my daughter actually likes to make it when we get apples (which is nice! – but I have to do the peeling….) The apple butter is something I hadn’t had a chance to try yet. I should probably ask a question about apples this weekend.

oops sorry I meant to say apple butter. All apple butter is, is apple sauce that has lots of cinnamon, cloves, allspice added and cooked down. I kind of wing it when I make apple butter. Oh and I add a splash of apple cider vinegar to off set all the sweet. So when your done you end up with about half or a little less than half of the volume you started with.

autumn, you don’t have to peel the apples! But use Winesap or other “very flavorful” apples if you can. I just wash them, cut them into quarters, and cook them slowly in a stew pot that has about 2 cups apple cider in the bottom. When the apples are all cooked, mushy and the skins are falling off, run the slush through a colander or food mill (see below). You get all the apple flavor and color from the apples but then strain out the skins and seeds. What you end up with looks like thin applesauce. Measure it as you put it in a crock pot (or cook it down in another large kettle until it fits into your crock pot.) Add 1/3 cup sugar for each cup of apple pulp. You can use all white, or half brown if you like.
Add spices according to taste- like: for every 2 quarts (8 cups) add 1–2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp ginger. Or any combination of spice you like.
Cook uncovered on high for 4 hrs, then overnight on low. Can it in jelly jars or into sterilized containers and refrigerate if you don’t can it.
http://www.amazon.com/MIU-Stainless-Steel-Tomato-Vegetable-Mill/dp/B0000DZDFN
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Wear-Ever-Colander-Juicer-Strainer-Sieve-Pestle_W0QQitemZ150294726889QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item150294726889&_trkparms=72%3A1222%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ebayphotohosting

I just love throwing what I have in there….always turns out good. If you are looking for ideas, try this site:

http://www.crockpot.com

enjoy!!

@xraygirl I didn’t even know about that site. It has the answer to the how many servings question. 3qt serves 2–3! Another site for my cooking bookmark.

I love to cook “bean soups”. Dried beans that take so long to cook like pinto beans, black beans and navy beans. I eat a lot of beans and they taste so much better cooked in the crock pot. If you like beans, try them in the crock, they come out heartier than on the stove.

OH! That reminds me I need to get those black beans soaking.

MMMMM——- Now You’re Cooking! v5.84 [Meal-Master Export Format]

Title: Cuban Black Beans (7points)
Categories:
Yield: 1 serving

1 lb dried black beans; sorted
-and rinsed
1 c onion; chopped (1 large)
1 1/2 c bell pepper; chopped (1
-large)
5 cloves garlic; finely
-chopped
14 1/2 oz diced tomatoes; undrained (1
– can)
5 c water
2 tb olive oil; (or vegetable
-oil)
4 ts ground cumin
2 ts jalapeno chile pepper;
-finely chopped
1 ts salt
2 bay leaves; whole

Combine all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on high for 6–8 hours. Remove
bay leaves before serving. Serve over hot cooked rice. Garnish with diced
hard boiled egg, hot sauce, and/or diced red onion.

Per serving: 341 Calories; 6g Total Fat; 18g Protein; 57g Carbohydrate; 0mg
Cholesterol; 375mg Sodium

Recipe Busted by THE ORIGINAL COOKSALOT!!!

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 2048 Calories; 37g Fat (15.8%
calories from fat); 108g Protein; 339g Carbohydrate; 82g Dietary Fiber; 0mg
Cholesterol; 2252mg Sodium. Exchanges: 19 Grain(Starch); 5 1/2 Lean Meat;
9 1/2 Vegetable; 5 1/2 Fat.

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Preparation Time: 0:00

NYC Nutrilink: N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000
NYC Nutrilink: N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000
NYC Nutrilink: N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000

MMMMM

cooksalot, you can not tell me that is one serving!! But it sounds like a wonderful recipe, and I am going to try it. When I lived in FL, that was one of the thing I loved- the Cuban food.

LOL! I didn’t even look at that. But it’s making a full 6qt pot. I’m going to take the leftovers and make refried black beans.

Thank You! cooksalot, I was thinking maybe you were the giant from “Jack in the Beanstalk”. LOL
That is another good thing about beans. The more you reheat them the better they get.