4 Crockpot Recipes You Need To Try This Month
The clocks have fallen back, “evening” seems to creep up on us in the middle of the afternoon, and the thermometer is taking a nosedive. You know what that means?
It’s crockpot time!
We’re not quite sure if there’s anything better than coming home from a long day at work to the smell of dinner prepared. And whether you call the awesome kitchen appliance that cooks your dinner for you a crockpot, slow cooker or your “best-friend,” the following recipes are definitely worth a try this winter.
CROCK POT BAKED POTATOES
It’s true! You can bake your potatoes in the slow cooker. That means you can free your oven up for whatever else you have in the works with the added bonus of knowing these come out fluffy and perfectly loadable.
What You Need
- Enough large russet potatoes for the whole family
What You Do
- Stab potatoes with a fork, then wrap them individually in foil.
- Fill crock pot with potatoes and cook on high for 2 1/2 – 4 hours
- You can even cook 5-6 larger potoatoes on low for 8-10 hours
- Load ‘em up with your favorite toppings.
Now that was simple, wasn’t it?!
BEEF STEW
It seems slow cookers were made for beef stew, so we couldn’t create a list without this all-time favorite in it. The magic comes in the time it takes to cook the meat, as it softens with each hour that goes by. There are so many different varieties of beef stew, so feel free to play around with the vegetables, but the following recipe is a classic.
What You Need
- 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups LonoLife Beef Broth
- 3 potatoes, diced
- 4 carrots, sliced
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
What You Do
Place the meat in the slow cooker first. Then mix the flour, salt, and pepper together and pour over the meat. The goal is to cover the meat with the flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.
This one cooks best on a low setting for 10-12 hours (or high for 4-6), so try setting it up when you first wake up in the morning for a perfectly timed “just-home-from-the-office” dinner.
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com
CHICKEN BONE BROTH
Bone broth recipe? From a bone broth company? Sure, why not! It’s fun to make it at home once in a while. Especially if you have a few spare bones you don’t want to waste. Let the slow cooker do the hard work with this one, rather than slaving over a hot stove.
What You Need
- 2 carrots chopped medium
- 2 celery stalks chopped medium
- 1 medium onion chopped medium
- 2 cloves garlic
- 5 lb of chicken bones
- Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- Water
- (In addition to the above ingredients, keep a freezer bag in your freezer that you keep adding to with all your leftover vegetable cuttings, bones, and rinsed eggshells. This can all be added to the pot!)
What You Do
Add your bones to the slow cooker first (they should fill up about ¾ of the pot)
Add all the vegetables and any other scraps you have.
Pour water in until almost full, add a couple of teaspoons of apple cider vinegear (this helps pull the collagen out of the bones) and salt to taste.
Cook on low heat for 18-72 hours. When done, strain the broth through cheese cloth or a strainer.
Once cooled, if you freeze the broth in ice cube trays and then transfer to a freezer bag, you’ll have easy-to-use frozen broth for all your recipes.
Recipe adapted from platingsandpairings.com
PALEO CHICKEN SOUP
Ahhh, chicken soup. That staple that practically everyone loves and that seems to get us through the winter and all its ills. This one is fully paleo-friendly for those paying attention to their caveman cravings.
What You Need
- 1 small whole chicken 4-5 pounds
- 1 white onion peeled and diced
- 8 crushed cloves of garlic
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 4 large carrots peeled and diced
- 5 large sprigs of thyme
- 1 golf ball size knob of ginger
- 1-2 tablespoons sea salt
- 6 cups LonoLife Chicken Bone Broth
What You Do
Place your onion, garlic, celery, carrots, thyme, and ginger to the bottom of a 6 quart or larger crock pot, then place your whole chicken on top of the vegetables, and add your water and salt
Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 7-8 hours (until the chicken is cooked through and falling off the bone) then remove the chicken from the crock pot to a large plate or baking sheet, let cool slightly and then all of the meat with your hands (discard cartilage, bones, etc)
Add the meat back to the broth and serve warm
Recipe adapted from civilizedcaveman.com
How about you? Do you have any crockpot recipes that get you through the winter? Share away!
