Drag that slow cooker out of the cupboard and put it to work with the olive team’s favourite slow cooker recipes.
Wonderful, wonderful slow cookers… we love the whole bung-it-in approach, and it means you can get on with other bits while those ingredients transform into a delicious dinner. Whether you’re using a Crock-Pot or other brand of slow cooker, all the below slow cooker recipes should work in it (did you know that you can even make spaghetti bolognese in a slow cooker?)
Our slow cooker meals include slow-cooked chicken recipes, healthy slow-cooked recipes (try coconut dahl) as well as more indulgent options, perfect for a dinner party. How about an all-in-one fragrant lamb curry? Easy baked bolognese sauce? Or a posh ossobuco with gremolata?
Check out our expert guide to how to use a slow cooker here…
Ingredients
- We use sausages, beef shin, chicken thigh and more
Slow-cooker chilli with jalapeño cheddar cornbread
A bit of everything goes into this chilli to create the ultimate winter warmer – dark chocolate, lager and Worcestershire sauce along with plenty of herbs and spices. Throw all the ingredients into a slow-cooker and let the mince soak up the flavours for four hours.
Beef and red wine stew
Cook pieces of beef shin in herby red wine stock until meltingly tender, then serve with creamy mash for a crowd pleasing slow cooker recipe.
Pull-apart chipotle and coffee pork mole
Slow-cook this pork shoulder in chipotle, chillies and coffee for a deeper, warmer flavour, serve it with warm tortillas.
Kid goat stew
Got the family over at the weekend? Slow cook kid goat with peppers, paprika and sherry for tender, flavour-packed meat. Serve with a salad or crisp roast potatoes.
Brisket sandwiches with beer onions and blue cheese
Get your friends over and slow cook this beef brisket for a simple yet hearty way to feed a crowd. Serve with sweet onions and creamy blue cheese for a next-level weekend treat.
Slow-cooked pork and beans
Check out our melt-in-the-mouth pork shoulder casserole with mixed beans. This slow-cooker recipe is an easy one-pot to feed a crowd.
Oxtail with orange, szechuan peppercorns and star anise
Check out our meltingly tender slow-cooked oxtail with Szechuan peppercorns, aromatic orange and star anise - the perfect weekend warming recipe.
Lamb kleftiko
Check out these easy slow cooked lamb shanks with waxy potatoes. Kleftiko is a Greek dish of lamb and potatoes slow cooked with white wine, lemon and oregano. Serve with bread for mopping up juices, and a green salad dressed with red wine vinegar and olive oil.
Groundnut chicken stew
Check out our creamy chicken stew with peanut butter. Groundnut stew is a typically West African dish. Serve this slow-cooked chicken, with its mellow peanut butter and fiery ensemble of spices, alongside extra sliced red chilli for oomph.
Chickpeas with dates, turmeric, cinnamon and almonds
Check out our easy chickpea stew packed with dates, crunchy almonds and vibrant turmeric. Slow cooking chickpeas with a heady selection of spices really ramps up the flavour in this frugal dish. Try to get hold of the extra large, chubby chickpeas in jars for superior texture.
Black bean and chipotle chilli
Check out our chilli with black beans and fiery chipotle chilli paste. This veggie one-pot is an easy, low calorie recipe the whole family will love.
Pork shoulder with tarragon, borlotti beans and mini roasties
This Italian-style recipe is perfect for a family-style feast. Although this slow-cooked stew takes around four hours to make, the results are definitely worth the wait. Serve with creamy mash or mini roasties to pack in as much flavour as possible.
Beef shin rendang
A great excuse for some Saturday night feasting between friends, this aromatic, slow-cooked beef curry makes enough to serve 12. If you find yourself with some leftovers then waste not want not, because it's freezable too. This recipe is ideal to leave and slow-cook while you entertain your guests.
Slow-roast pulled pork hornado
Check out this melt-in-the-mouth pulled pork with super crispy crackling. Ideal for a summery social gathering.
Coconut dahl
Check out our healthy slow cooker recipe which uses lentils and split peas. This delicious slow cooker idea is sure to make a creamy dinner - it's a great weekend vegetarian warmer for those wintery months!
Barbacoa Lamb Carnitas
These gluten free, slow-cooked lamb tortillas are great for a feast between friends. Our healthy slow-cooked recipe is easy to make in just four steps: prepare the lamb, jalapeño salsa, red cabbage and guacamole. It's easy to make and everyone can help get stuck in.
Slow-cooked pork, apricot and tamarind stew
Slow cooked, low cal and packed full of the soul-warming flavours of Persia, this recipe from Sabrina Ghayour is the perfect solution to the chilly winter months.
Slow-braised Korean short ribs
This easy slow cooker recipe is worth the few hours of preparation it needs. Meaty beef ribs are cooked with gochuchang paste in a slow cooker to give a savoury, spicy umami rich dish. Looking for more inspiration? Check out our collection of best ever Korean recipes.
Best-ever spaghetti bolognese
Looking for a quick slow cooker meal? We've honed our favourite spag bol recipe to give perfect results every time. This easy recipe is great to get ahead with the night before in your slow cooker, a healthy, low-fat method of cooking which doesn't require much time or effort.
Slow-cooked lamb shoulder with garlic potatoes
Check out this succulent slow-roasted lamb dish with crispy garlic potatoes. Our easy recipe is perfect for an impressive Sunday lunch centrepiece.
Slow-cooked brisket with red wine, thyme and onions
Check out this simple slow cooker beef brisket recipe. This easy melt-in-the-mouth beef makes a perfect Sunday roast for when you have guests for dinner.
BBQ pulled pork
Fancy a slow-cooked pork meal? Pulled pork is a brilliant way to serve a crowd, and it's also pretty easy to make in your Crock-Pot. Cook the pork in your slow cooker for three hours, prepare the barbecue sauce and coleslaw and there you have it – a delicious slow-cooked meal for eight.
Sausages with blackberries, bay and juniper
Check out our slow-cooked sausages with juicy blackberries, bay leaves and fruity juniper berries. Perfect for a midweek dinner, served with buttery mashed potatoes and dijon mustard.
All-in-one fragrant lamb curry
This healthy slow-cooked recipe is totally fuss-free. Just bung all the ingredients in a slow cooker and it'll be ready to serve in only two hours - it's the perfect meal for a family night in.
Easy baked bolognese sauce
Our all-in-one baked bolognese is super simple and low in calories, requires very little preparation time, and tastes amazing! Perfect for feeding the whole family, and any leftovers from this easy slow-cooked recipe can be put in the freezer. This bolognese dish shouldn't cost you the earth either, slow-cooking really draws out a meaty flavour that will infuse the whole dish.
Chicken thighs and butternut curry with cumin and coriander rice recipe
One of our favourite slow cooker chicken recipes, this is an easy chicken curry that beats a takeaway any day. With butternut squash and fresh coriander as well as Indian spices it's a curry to serve to friends for a casual dinner-party main.
Guinea Fowl Tagine
Seasonal guinea fowl makes a delicious slow-cooked recipe. Plate up on a bowl of comforting buttery to bulk up this healthy slow-cooked dish. It serves up to six people, so it's a great alternative to a traditional Sunday roast.
Ossobuco with gremolata
Nothing beats a classic ossobuco with gremolata, the perfect midweek meal! If you're short on time in the mornings, why not prepare everything you need for this slow-cooked beef recipe the night before. You can easily freeze in portions too – serve with risotto, polenta or mash.
Slow-cooked pork, apricot and tamarind stew
Slow-cooked, low-cal and packed full of the soul-warming flavours of Persia, this recipe from Sabrina Ghayour is the perfect solution to the chilly winter months. No need to fuss around with this warming slow-cooked pork stew, slow cookers are designed to do the work themselves.
Cincinnati chilli five ways
This healthy slow cooker recipe from Felicity Cloake is chilli con carne, but not as we know it. Thought to owe its unusual Mediterranean spicing to a homesick Greek restaurateur, the finely ground meat is simmered low and slow until it melts in the mouth and served over spaghetti. Order it ‘five ways’ and you’ll get beans, cheese and onions on top, too.
Beef and Guinness stew
This slow-cooked beef stew is perfect to serve up on Sundays with some creamy mash. Follow our simple recipe before leaving the beef in the slow cooker for six hours to make the meat tender. This is the perfect weekend meal as you can get on with your day knowing that there's a succulent slow-cooked stew waiting for you.
Thinking about using your slow cooker in summer? We've got loads of great recipe ideas! Just click the image below:
