Looking for slow cooker recipes that cook all day? You have come to the right place! Whether you're working, dealing with family matters, traveling, or carting around kids, these recipes were designed for crazy busy days.
Every recipe in this collection can cook for at least 8 hours and hold well on the warm setting afterward. No need to rush home or worry if dinner time gets delayed. From hearty roasts to comforting soups, these are recipes you will go to again and again on your longest, busiest days.
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Recipe at a glance (TL;DR)
- Recipe types: Roasts, soups, stews, chili, globally inspired meals and one-pot family dinners
- Cooking time: Every recipe can cook for at least 8 hours and holds well on the warm setting.
- Best for: Busy days, long work days, shift workers, caregivers, and anyone with an unpredicable schedule
- Why you'll love this list: These recipe are designed to fit your scheudle rather than the other way around.
Slow Cooker Pot Roasts & Comfort Classics
French Onion Brisket
This easy Slow Cooker Brisket practically cooks itself. Just toss in a few simple ingredients and let your slow cooker work its magic. You will have tender, juicy, addictingly delicious brisket with minimal effort.
Yankee Pot Roast
Slow Cooker Yankee Pot Roast is a delicious and easy one-pot meal. This simple recipe combines beef and root vegetables in a rich, savory sauce. It will quickly become one of your favorite easy comfort-food dishes.
Black Bean Tacos
Slow Cooker Black Bean Tacos check all the boxes - delicious, hands-off, and budget-friendly! Made with dried black beans, salsa, and simple pantry staples, this easy crockpot recipe requires zero soaking and delivers big flavor with minimal effort.
Balsamic Roast
Slow Cooker Balsamic Roast is the perfect dish to set up in the morning and allow to cook/marinate all day. Come home to a house that smells great and a dinner that is ready to be served!!
Shredded Beef Taco
This delicious Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Taco Recipe will forever change your TacoTuesday! Just imagine tender, flavorful beef simmering away while you go about your day. This beef dish is perfect served in taco shells, bowls, burritos, and more.
Horseradish Roast
Slow Cooker Horseradish Roast is an easy and tender dish. It is made with economical eye of round roast. Add in some spunky horseradish sauce, and you have the perfect meal!
Hearty Slow Cooker Soups, Stews & Chili
Chicken Sweet Potato Stew
This Slow Cooker Chicken and Sweet Potato Stew is a hearty, comforting, freezer-friendly dish that practically cooks itself. Bone-in chicken thighs, veggies, sweet potatoes, and warm spices cook into a rich, smoky-sweet one-pot meal.
Steak Chili
Slow Cooker Steak Chili is a delicious and hearty recipe that is so easy you will want to add it to your regular meal rotation. Tender pieces of pulled beef, beans, and tomatoes all slow-cooked together with just the right spices make for the perfect one-bowl meal.
Vegetable Alphabet Soup
This delicious and fun Slow Cooker Vegetable Alphabet Soup recipe made in your slow cooker is a yummy and healthy meal. Your whole gang will enjoy eating this flexible, tasty, vegetarian dish!
Cowboy Caviar Soup
Slow Cooker Cowboy Caviar Soup is a hearty and wholesome twist on the classic cowboy caviar recipe. This amazing dish brings together a colorful medley of ingredients, including black beans, corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions. All are slow-cooked to perfection in a fabulous Tex-Mex-flavored broth.
Mississippi Stew
Slow Cooker Mississippi Stew is everything you love about Mississippi roast but in stew form. Tender chunks of beef, slowly cooked with ranch, pepperoncini, and savory gravy, make the yummiest combo.
Classic Chili
This Slow Cooker Classic Chili recipe is the easiest way to make a traditional favorite. Just toss the ingredients into your slow cooker and let them simmer away all day to produce a thick and flavorful favorite meal.
Black Bean Soup
This Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup is a warm, filling, hearty one-pot meal. It is a vegan dish that is filled with protein, fiber, and flavor.
French Onion Soup
Slow Cooker Caramelized French Onion Soup is an easy, restaurant-level dish that will disappear as fast as you serve it. Use your crockpot to caramelize the onions. Then, add soup ingredients right in for a finished dish that is a winner - every time!
Flavor Packed Beef Favorites
Beef Lettuce Wraps
Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Lettuce Wraps are an easy, delicious, Asian-inspired treat. Stew beef is slow-cooked to tender perfection in a soy/honey sauce, then wrapped up in fresh lettuce leaves.
Pulled BBQ Brisket
Get ready to fall in love with this Pulled BBQ Brisket slow cooker recipe! Just imagine tender, juicy brisket infused with all the yummy BBQ flavors you love. But made with just a fraction of the work, thanks to your trusty crock-pot.
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Italian Roast
DeliciousCrockpot Italian Roast Beef has great flavor with just a little kick. This tender shredded beef, made with spices and peppers, is just perfect served as a sandwich or over mashed potatoes or cauliflower.
Beef Barbacoa
This Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa recipe transforms tough cuts of beef into tender, flavorful barbacoa with minimal effort. Simply toss the ingredients into your slow cooker and let it work its magic.
Sloppy Taco Joes
A Sloppy Taco Joe is a Crockpot creation that is part sloppy Joe and part taco. Drippy, gooey, and delicious beef filled with that distinctive taco flavoring served in a crusty brioche roll and topped with melted cheese!
Beef Back Ribs
Slow Cooker Beef Back Ribs are tender, juicy, amazingly delicious, and easy to make! So simple, in fact, that this may become your new go-to rib dish. It is made with an easy homemade dry rub and your favorite BBQ sauce. You then cook it low and slow for maximum tenderness and ultimate flavor.
Complete Slow Cooker Dinners
Texas Cowboy Stew
Slow Cooker Texas Cowboy Stew is a hearty, delicious one-pot meal. Tender ground meat and smoky sausage slow cooked together with potatoes and beans make this a stick-to-your-ribs recipe. The perfect dish to come home to after a long day.
Ground Beef & Cabbage
Slow Cooker Cabbage & Ground Beef is a delicious, super easy meal the whole family will love. It is a keto-friendly dish that is the perfect toss-and-go weeknight meal!
Beef Teriyaki With Sugar Snap Peas
Beef Teriyaki and Sugar Snap Peas is a perfect balance of savory beef, sweet honey, and aromatic spices. Enhanced with crisp sugar snap peas, this dish offers a burst of deliciousness in every bite.
Asian Steak & Potatoes
This one-pot Slow Cooker Asian Steak Bites and Potatoes is amazingly easy to make and even easier to eat. Tender, juicy, flavorful bites of beef cooked together with mini potatoes and asparagus is the perfect dinner - any night of the week.
Unstuffed Pepper Soup
Slow Cooker Unstuffed Pepper Soup is an easy, one-pot, tasty meal that you will want on your dinner table often! This wonderful dish is filled with savory ground beef, flavorful peppers, and tomato-y goodness.
Chili Lime Beef & Noodles
Slow Cooker Chili Lime Beef & Rice Noodles is a delicious dish made with stew meat. These less expensive beef pieces are slow cooked to tender perfection in a spicy and savory sauce. Rice noodles are cooked right in the crockpot towards the end of cooking for a true one-pot meal!
Globally Inspired Slow Cooker Favorites
Carne Guisada
Slow Cooker Carne Guisada is a Latin-flavored beef stew that is beyond delicious. It is filled with incredibly spiced, tender, slow-cooked beef and tomatoes in a delectable sauce.
Carne Picada
Slow Cooker Carne Picada is a delicious and easy way to make a fabulous weeknight meal. Juicy and tender diced beef slow cooked with roasted tomatoes and chili peppers. A tender and flavorful treat that can be served tons of ways.
Beef Bulgogi
This Slow Cooker Korean Beef Bulgogi dish is a dinnertime home run! Delicious, tender, flavorful chunks of saucy beef served over fluffy, textured quinoa (or rice) will easily win your heart.
Chipotle Beef
Slow Cooker Chipotle Shredded Beef recipe delivers tender, chipotle-marinated beef in the comfort of your own kitchen. Toss it over rice, add your favorite toppings, and enjoy a restaurant-worthy meal made easy!
Cajun Steak Bites
Tender and juicy Slow Cooker Cajun Steak Bites are amazingly delicious and super easy to make. Just toss some stew beef cubes, spices, and butter into your crock-pot and let the magic begin.
Spanish Beef Stew
Slow Cooker Spanish Beef Stew is a hearty, saucy dish that is full of flavor. This easy one-pot meal will quickly become a regular on your dinner menu rotation.
French Dip
Slow Cooker French Dip is a tasty and fun family meal. Shredded, flavorful, tender beef slow cooked to perfection and served sandwich style with au jus for dipping.
Recipes made with larger cuts of beef, root vegetables, dried beans, soups, and stews are generally the best choices. These ingredients become tender when cooked at a lower heat for a longer period of time. They are the most forgiving if dinner is delayed.
Yes! Many of these recipes make generous portions that taste even better the next day. Leftovers can be refridgerated or frozen for easy reheated meals later.
Not all slow cooker recipes are meant to cook all day. The best recipes for longer cooking times use ingredients that become more tender with extended cooking times. Ingredients such as roasts, briskets, dried beans, and root vegetables work best.
The low setting is specifically calibrated to cook food slowly but safely until ready to serve. The warm setting is intended to maintain that safe temperature after cooking is complete.
Yes. That is the biggest advantage of using a slow cooker. Recipes with longer cooking times make it easier to accommodate unpredictable schedules. Whether you are working late, caring for family, traveling, or just waiting for the whole crew to get home.
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Ellen says
Very nice presentation