If you haven’t checked out parts 1 through 3 of my meal prep series, you might not know I love meal prepping. Even now, as a stay at home mother, I am still meal prepping. I still don’t have time to cook every night, and I refuse to eat take out every night, so I continue to meal prep using the same basic theories I used when I worked. A key to meal prepping is keeping it simple, which I do in two basic ways: 1. Don’t try to meal prep every single meal and 2. Use recipes that are simple. I love an elaborate meal every once and a while but I LOVE a slow cooker recipe that has only a few ingredients and no (or very few) measurements needed. Keep reading to find out how I meal prep using a slow cooker. (And don’t forget to read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this series).
Meal prepping dinner, especially for a family, can seem daunting. Which is why your slow cooker should be your favorite appliance. By using a slow cooker you can make a full meal with very little effort. Throw ingredients into the slow cooker, set the timer and dinner will be ready in 6 to 8 hours. Use your leftover for dinner for a few night (hopefully).
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Keep reading for my favorite slow cooker recipes.
I have spent a lot of time searching for recipes for my slow cooker. Below are recipes I have found through my internet hunting which are my absolute go-to recipes.
Chicken and dumplings. I found this recipe on Allrecipes years ago- Link here to Allrecipes: Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings and continue to make this dish all the time. The recipe calls for 6 ingredients, one of which is water. I don’t even add the water because honestly, I forgot to do once and it came out delicious. I love to add peas towards the end of the cooking time. This is also a one pot deal here- no side dish needed. I just love this recipe.
Chicken tacos. Put chicken breasts, taco seasoning and a jar of salsa in the slow cooker for 5 hours for amazing chicken tacos. That simple. But I do have a link to a recipe here from the blog Two Health Kitchen, here is the link. You could eat the shredded chicken on a tortilla, in a hard taco shell or even on a salad. The chicken from this dish can be used in many ways.
Barbecue pork tacos. When I absolutely do not want to cook anything or spend a ton of time in the grocery store buying ingredients- is my go to recipe. Here is a link to Allrecipes: Slow Cooker Pulled Pork. I put the meat when done in tortillas with red onion or purple cabbage. Again, you could do so much with this pulled pork- put on a roll, like they do in the All Recipes recipe or make a pulled pork bowl with rice, avocado and cabbage.
Chicken, artichokes and sun dried tomatoes. Here is the recipe from Diethood. Literally, chicken, artichokes, sun dried tomatoes and seasonings make a delicious dish with only 4 ingredients. I like to add potatoes when I put the chicken in the slow cooker for a nice one pot meal. I also love throwing in spinach right before I serve for a little green in the dish. I love the flavors in this dish and it is so simple.
Not convinced yet that you need to use a slow cooker to meal prep? Try adding one of these recipes to your next meal prep and see how easy it is to meal prep using a slow cooker.
A slow cooker is the easiest way to get dinner ready with very minimal work. There are so many slow cooker recipes online, which can actually be overwhelming. Some recipes I have found and tried over the years require a lot of prep, such as searing the meat before you place in the slow cooker. Those dishes are great, but take time to prep and you end up with dirty dishes (which is what I want to avoid when using my slow cooker). The dishes in this post are simple, throw in the slow cooker and go type dishes, which is exactly what you need when you are meal prepping.
One more hint about meal prepping with the slow cooker, I love to use slow cooker liners to make clean up even easier. Here is a link to Amazon for the liners I use. These liners line your slow cooker, so clean up is just removing the liner and throwing away. These liners make using a slow cooker mess free- which I love.
Disclaimer: Links in this post are Amazon affiliate links, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Recommended Reading on Levenshire Chronicles
Meal Prep for Beginners Part 1
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