I thought I’d share some quick and easy crockpot recipes with you. The term may be a little misleading though. While they don’t necessarily cook very quickly (nothing in a crockpot does), they are fast and simple to put together. Then just leave the actual cooking to your slowcooker.
What I like about the recipes below is that I don’t have to think too much about them and there aren’t dozens of ingredients to hunt for to get the meal started. I was talking to my good friend Tracy yesterday and since I just finished my crockpot cooking guide, the topic of using a slowcooker came up. She mentioned that her biggest challenge is to plan ahead and actually get something cooking in this nifty little appliance. That’s what got me thinking about these recipes. You don’t have to do a lot of planning and shopping. You just add everything early in the day and cook it until it’s time for dinner.
Crockpot Chicken
This is my favorite way to cook a whole chicken. Just add it to your crockpot, along with some water and a few chicken bullion cubes. Cook on low for about 8 to 10 hours or on high for about 6 hours or until the meat starts to fall off the bone. Take out the meat and shred.
Simple Beef Roast
This beef recipe is just as simple. Pick up whatever beef roast is on sale that week, add it to your crockpot along with some beef broth (water and bullion is fine as well) and a package of dry onion soup mix. Cooking times vary depending on the size of the roast but are similar to the chicken ones. You’ll know it’d done when the roast falls appart.
Pinto Beans
When you’re not in a rush, but don’t want to babysit a pot of beans cooking on the stove, put the dry beans (no soaking needed) and plenty of water to cover them in your crockpot. If you’d like add a piece of ham or a few slices of bacon. Cook all day on low.
By the way, you can find more crockpot recipes here.
we do the beans in the crockpot then hubby throws them in the blender and smashes them pretty good…then…he refries them and cans them for later use….we find this is WAY cheaper than the bought kind…he loves to put just a dash of Tequilla in when frying up the beans …gives it a little different taste..maybe a squeeze of lime too….this way i pay maybe $1 for 4 quarts of beans!!!!
Heather I do the same method for refired beans, except I use a potato masher, simple and easy to clean!
How do you can them? I am definitely interestedin learning to can refried beans…
I am not Heather, but what I do is freeze them. One pound of dry beans equals about four can of cooked beans. So after my crockpot beans cool I divide them up into four freezer bags with a little bit of the juice and freeze. Then, when I have a recipe that calls for a can of beans I take one bag out to defrost the night before. Works just fine.
I just noticed she’s talking refried beans. I have not tried it with refried beans, but it might work with them too.
I cook pinto beans in the crock pot all of the time to use as re-fried beans. I put 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper flakes (the kind they have in pizza places) in when I start cooking. When the beans are thoroughly done I drain them in a colander and then put them in a big bowl with and add about 1/4 cup canola oil, about a half cup of water, and salt to taste (not too much), then I use a mixer to cream the mixture.
My family says I make the best re-fried beans they’ve ever had.
We’ve got a pretty big family so I wait a couple of days before I freeze the leftovers, if there are any. I find that if I leave the re-fried beans in the freezer to long they seem to dry out. If this happens I heat the re-fried beans back up in the microwave and then gradually stir in enough water to bring the re-fried beans back to the creamy texture that we like.
Im with Cindy, ….How do you can re-fried beans? And also, way faster and easier to do is use your hand mixer. Im mexican were beans are cooked weekly, so the old fashioned hand bean smashing takes to long. ;0
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Refried-Beans-Without-the-Refry/Detail.aspx
I use the above recipe and the flavor is wonderful.
When I crockpot my pinto beans, I add 1 medium onion, chopped, about 2 cloves garlic, chopped or a generous sprinkle of garlic powder, 1/2 to 1 pkg of the real bacon bits or I dice up some smoked hock (only about 69 cents/lb in my grocery store). This makes them sooo yummy. I reserve adding salt, just because they say it makes the beans tough, so I just wait till the last hour or so of cooking to add the salt.
You can add any seasonings: cajun seasons, Steak seasoning, season-all, or a roux, brown gravy, au jus, tabasco sauce, soy sauce, steak sauce, worchestershire sauce(look in a cookbook under any beef recipes)
Hi: My hubby doesn’t like the onion soup mixes either. What I’ve done is I use a box of beef broth and I throw in some chopped onion to taste. We like white onion the best. White onion gives better flavor and it doesn’t make you cry when you’re dicing them up either. Hope this helps!
I see a lot of crock pot recipes for roasts that call for dry onion soup mix, but my husband hates the taste when I use it. Is there possibly a homemade alternative?
When I make roasts in my crockpot (My mom used to use dry onion soup mix) but I like pouring over either a 28 oz. can of tomato sauce or a 2 Qt. bottle of V8 (or off-brand of Vegetable Juice) over my roast instead and try using about 1/4 c. of Worcestshire sauce and Mmmmmmmm…..I think he might like that! ;c) Don’t forget to add your onions, potatoes, carrots, celery and some minced garlic & salt & pepper to taste!
it’s not homemade – but I use a pkg of brown gravy mix with my roast in the crock pot and my family really like that.
I make a TDF Roast (To Die For) by mixing together 1 pack of brown gravy mix, 1 pack of italian dressing mix, and 1 pack of ranch dressing mix. Mix all three together and roll the roast on all sides and just throw the extra on top or around or wherever you like.
there is never any leftovers of this roast!!!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Dry-Onion-Soup-Mix/Detail.aspx
Make your own soup mix and make it even more economical. Takes just like the purchased packet.
Do not add salt to dry beans/beans while cooking, or they may get tough. No amount of cooking will make them soft, either! Add salt to taste before serving. For a Mexican flavor, look in the Latin American section for Goya brand “sofrito” sauce. Half a jar in with a pound of pintos or other beans makes them taste like your favoirte Mexican restaurant cooked them! Sofrito sauce is a sauce/paste blend of tomatoes, bellpeppers, onions, celery, and garlic.
I have been cooking beans in the crockpot for thirty years and adding everything I want to put in them at the start, including salt, and have never had a hard bean, not one.
I never use onion soup mix when I make a roast, I just add some red wine and a ton of veggies! The hubby has never liked roast but he eats mine! The leftover veggie/wine/roast juice mixture after the roast is done I toast on french bread for leftovers the next day!
We use a chuck roast, Campbell’s Double Beef Broth, 1 packet of brown gravy mix, and one diced onion. Put it all in the crockpot and cook 8-10 hours on low. We then shred the meat to use on po-boy buns.
I use some Candian Steak Seasoning sprinkled on the roast and a little water in the bottom of the pan. Wonderful. I also use salt and pepper and put a couple of onions celery, carrots and potatoes on it. A complete meal. I use the juices to make gravy on the stovetop if I feel like gravy.
My mother sticks a cheap potroast in the crockpot with a peeled and quartered onion and a packet of italian dressing mix. No added liquid is necessary because the onion cooks down into “juice” fairly quickly.
Cook all day on low and the shred the roast and serve on hardrolls with a little creamy horseradish. Apparently, its yummy. (I’m a vegetarian, so I wouldn’t know….but my husband says they’re delish.)
You don’t have to soak the beans if you cook them in the crockpot? This is why I always have beans and never fix them, I thought I had to soak them and then of course I would get busy and forget. You have just made me a very happy woman!
Thank you!
I use the To Die For pot roast recipe with chicken or roast. It is one package of Italian dressing seasonings, one package of brown gravy mix and one package of ranch. Mix all together and sprinkle on top of meat. Add 1-2 cups water and cook as normal. My family thinks it really is…To DIE FOR!!
I use a cheap, well-trimmed roast and I add one packet of brown gravy mix, one small can of cream of mushroom soup and maybe a 1/2 cup of water. Cook on low all day with potatoes, carrots and onions. Smells and tastes GREAT!
Onion soup mix, Italian dressing mix and ranch dressing mix all have TONS of sodium- I try to avoid high sodium foods as much as possible (there tasty but not good for me). What I do is put a roast in the crock with a little wine (I use those little mini bottles so that I don’t have to open a full one for just a cup-saves on waste), chopped onion/carrots/celery/potatoes, lots of garlic and some seasonings (oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary and a little salt and pepper- whatever I feel like/have in my pantry at the time). I let it cook all day and come home to a wonderful dinner.
I’m also I big fan of cooking a whole chicken in the crock pot- I remove the skin, rub it with some seasonings (garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, parsley, rosemary, a little salt and pepper) and a little olive oil, add some veggies(onions/carrots/celery/potatoes)and a little bit of water and let it cook all day. The best part is that I have meat for the next few meals (chicken salad, chicken pasta, chicken over rice ect). And when all the meat is gone I make chicken broth from the bones (use the crock pot and the peelings from all the veggies I’ve used that I’ve saved up in the freezer).
If you do get hard beans, a pinch of baking soda an hour before done will soften them, works with garbanzo beans too.
I make the Stroganoff in the crockpot using 1 pkt onion soup mix, 1 can mushroom soup, 1 cup water, and 1/2 hour before it is done add an 8 oz cream cheese. It is creamy and delicious.
I have used a tried & true “Beef Stroganoff” recipe for the crockpot for years ! 1 can french onion soup(do not dilute) & 1 can mushroom soup. combine & pour over stew beef ( you can use ANY beef cubed) in crock pot. High-4hrs or low 6-8hrs. Serve w/ noodles & veg. I know this is NOT a LOW SODIUM choice, but low sodium soups can be used as well. My hubbie HATES mushrooms, but he will eat this !
I use a bottom round or top round roast well trimmed. 2-3 lb. size. Season with Montreal Stk.seasoning on all sides and quick brown on top of stove with some olive oil. Transfer browned roast to lrg. crock with 1 can of golden mushroom soup (undiluted) 1/2 cup or more of your favorite red wine and onions and carrots all around. Cover and cook on LOW…all day….10-12 hrs. to your liking. Slice or shred and serve with thickened juices alongside your mashed pototoes, rice or noodles.
Our crockpot roast we do by putting the roast in with a can of chicken broth, one small onion chopped up and fresh mushrooms either chopped or whole. We cook on low all day and it is melt in your mouth delicious at dinner time.
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I learned this while standing in the meat section of our grocery store and a sweet southern lady came up and asked about the meat. I told her that I wanted to cook a roast in the crockpot but wasn’t sure how. She said, “This is what I do…” The above came from that.
Enjoy
Our favorate was pork chops and sour kraute until we tried country ribs. Country ribs pour the sour kraute over and go, you can add carrots, potatoes, onions if you like. The house smells incredible and nothing is ever left.
A cheap chuck roast is my favorite crockpot go to meal. I’ve had it with all the options others have shared – and all are great. But I always come back to just plain old roast. Roast, salt & pepper and toss in the crockpot – no liquid. The fat from the roast renders out into a wonderful au jus gravy (sometimes to be thickened with flour but more than likely not). This comes out more like my mama’s Sunday oven roast cooked under a tent of foil. I won’t recommend it to others due to food safety, but I often use a frozen roast with no additional cook time and it turns out fine. 8-10hrs low.
I just put a can of “cream of —” soup in with my roast, and my hubby loves it. Makes my life so much easier.
My favorite beef or venison recipe in CrockPot is 1 can cola, 1 env. onion soup mix & 1 bottle of sweet chili sauce. Shred when done for sandwiches or serve in chunks for main dish.
Our favorite CP meal right now is frozen chicken breasts and BBQ sauce with a little liquid, cook 6 hours on low ,shred when done and serve in a nice crusty toasted hoagie roll.
We took this with us on vacation last week to cook the first night in the hotel room. Everybody loved it!!
For a great taco meat do as above except omit added liquid and put in some strawberry preserves (1-2 T) serve with some shells and all the fixins, another go-to meal
I have never, never, never made a good meal in a crock pot. The meat always tastes “boiled” to me and the potatoes never seem to get done while the other veggies are mushy soft. When I tried doing beans in the crockpot, I cooked them for 10 hours and they were still hard, so I ended up putting them on the stove to finish them…
Is it me or my crockpot?
Denise, try cooking your meat without adding any liquids – I dont add any water,, broths etc to mine. Just use your favorite seasonings – mine are garlic salt and oregano – I also like to add fresh garlic – sometimes I slice it and stick it in the meat – add small potatoes cut in quarters at the beginning and maybe the carrots too since they take a long time to cook add the other veggies an hour before you are ready to eat – cook on low – the meat makes its own delicous juice. When cooking the beans use hot water to start and be sure to add alot of water as the beans will expand and you want to be sure they will still be completely covered with water.
Just my 2 cents! I hope this works for you.
I brown my meat (roast, round steak, pork roast) before putting it in the crockpot – otherwise I think it tastes boiled too.
I throw a chuck roast or frozen chicken breast in the crock pot before I leave for work in the morning, with some taco seasoning and water, on high and by the time I get home My chicken or beef taco meat is done. All I have to do is shred the meat. I also threw some ground beef in one day just to try it, let it cook 6-8 hrs on low, drain fat off, add taco seasoning and water and it turned out to be the best ground beef tacos I have ever made!
I use onion soup mix and a can of cream of mushroom soup…very tasty.
I put chuck roast or what ever is cheapest in my crock pot and strinkle with BEEF BULLION, ONION POWDER, AND GARLIC POWDER. Cook 8 -10 hours on low or 4 – 6 hours on high
California eats a cut of beef called a TRI TIP. I cook it with just some beef bullion sprinkled over it and cook 8 – 10 hours on low. Then I shreed it and serve it on a roll with sauted onions and bell peppers (red, green, and yellow)then add a little of the juice on the sandwich. Or just use the meat and mayo on a roll.
My favorite recipe for beef roast is as follow: I buy whatever is on sale that week put it in crockpot with 1 can of Golden Mushroom soup and 1 can of water. Nothing else needed: cook for 8 hours. The roast will be so tender when touched with fork it falls apart. It is so good, I would like some right now. You may put veggies in it but we like them seperate.
Crock pot spaghetti sauce works out great. The long all day simmer on the stove is eliminated. I used a lean ground so not to have the puddle of fat floating on top, if I can’t get lean, I just scoop it off with a big spoon a bit before serving, I add all my sauce ingredients with the raw meat, and cook low all day. I have sped the process and cooked on high if I will home sooner. The meat will crumble as your stir it at the end, I have also just chopped some and its like meatballs or big chicnks of meat. I have also made a meatloaf mix rolled it in balls set in in crockpot, added the rest of the ingredients over them, and later you have meatballs in the sauce.
I make chili using uncooked beans, adding all the favorite chili ingredients, the meat, tomatoes, chilis, jalepenos, etc and letting it cook away. Just have to make sure there is enough liquid to cook the beans and not cook the whole thing dry.
If you buy potroast on sale, and freeze it – you don’t even have to thaw it out!!
I saw this recipe in an oooooold magazine. Take the frozen pot roast and drop one side onto a very hot, oiled skillet. Let it go for 5-6 minutes to give it a sear, then turn over. Move directly to the crockpot and dump 2 cans of Cream Of (whatever your favorite .. mushroom, chicken, asparagus..) atop it. Put the lid on, cook for 8 hours on low. Add some fresh quartered potatoes, baby carrots, peas, whatever you like, and cook for another hour or until everything is done. Trust me, its cheap, easy and always tastes great.
I make cakes in mine during the summer months. Keeps the house nice and cool, just set outside on a table. For a successful bake make your cake or use a mix, grease your crockpot (Spray), cover crockpot with dishtowel or 3 paper towels and then top with lid.(This keeps condensation drips from making a whole in your cake.) Bake on high 3-4 hrs. Sometimes a little less in extreme heat.
do you use the same amounts of liquids when you “bake” this way?
I just wish i could find a “cheap” beef roast.
If you wish to can beans, you need to use a pressure canner for low acid foods. I haven’t canned beans but I have canned meat, chicken, and I would process as meat, with the juice or sauce and process about an hour. I will recheck this and confirm.
I do not have luck freezing things so I pressure can or water bath can my produce and meats.
This topic sure is timely in my house! Yesterday morning my DH got a bug to make Crockpot Calico Beans. Here’s his “sort of recipe.”
In a big crockpot –
Dump in 8 cans of a variety of beans, all drained EXCEPT 2 cans, include the liquid from those 2 (your choice, but he chose one garbanzo undrained and one Great Northern undrained). He also used a couple “flavored” cans of beans (with chilies, garlic, etc.) (You could probably drain them all and then just add a can of chicken broth.)
In the big cast iron skillet, he fried up 1 lb pork sausage and 1 lb ground beef, then threw that in.
Drain off the fat in the pan, then put about 8 slices of bacon in (he used hickory smoked) and fry that up, then cut the bacon up or crush it and throw it in the crockpot.
He added about 3/4 to 1 cup (1/2 bottle) molasses in. (The old fashioned secret ingredient.)
Stir and turn crockpot on low. Cover and cook for about 5 or 6 hours. It doesn’t take long because everything really is already cooked, but the flavors blend.
He also fried up some kielbasa in the bacon grease and added that at the end of the cooking time (otherwise they get soggy.)
That was pretty simple. Now… I don’t think this is the healthiest dish of beans in the world BUT… they are very tasty. I enjoyed just a spoonful this morning alongside some scrambled eggs and it added a lot of flavor for sure!
Anyway, I thought you would enjoy this TRIPLE MEAT version of Calico Beans. It’s definitely meant for a meat-lover.
Beef roast and pinto beans is really easy crock pot meal. Rinse the beans and toss in the crock pot and place roast and cut up onion if desired and cook for 6 hrs. Tastes yummy imo.