If you’re trying to feed your family healthfully and your last name isn’t Hilton, you ought to get friendly with your slow cooker. Here are 10 of our favourite healthy slow cooker recipes!
Eating healthy means planning ahead and nothing beats walking in at the end of a long day to the aromas of a hearty, slow-cooked dinner. When dinner is prepped earlier in the day your time is freed up for play, relaxation and connecting with your family. Trust us, the before-dinner “witching hour” with babies & toddlers is much, much easier when you’re not trying to wield a chef’s knife and juggle hot pans.
Plus, the cheapest cuts of meat often make the best slow-cooker fodder, which frees up your budget for a great grass-fed steak on the weekend. Or, you know, a bottle of wine to go with that witching hour.
HERE ARE 10 OF OUR FAVE, TESTED & TRUE SLOW-COOKER RECIPES.
Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken Chili
This one is right here on the BB site! Contributed by one of our favourite bloggers and former Belly Bootcamper Sarah Huggins of Cooking for Kiwi & Bean, this chili is scrumptious and lower-calorie than a typical beef chili.
Slow Cooker Beef Shanks + Cabbage Stew
Beef shanks are one of the cheapest grass-fed cuts you can get, and they’re worth every penny since the rich bone marrow in the shanks packs a serious nutrition punch. This stew is surprisingly rich but still gluten-free.
Slow Cooker “Eat All Week” Pork Carnitas
Another go-to around our house, this carnitas recipe is about as simple as dinner can get (aside from calling for pizza) but so versatile. The tender pork is perfect for sandwiches, lettuce wraps, or just a hearty bowl of brown rice and veggies. Make a batch and eat all week!
It’s hard to believe a roast chicken could get any better than, well, roasted. The slow cooker makes an incredibly moist and tender chicken that pulls apart. Leftovers make perfect sandwiches. If you have leftovers.
Slow Cooker Butter Chicken Sliders
Kiwi & Bean gets a second mention on this list for her amazing, top-rated butter chicken recipe. She calls it “the California roll of Indian food” for good reason. Anyone — and we do mean anyone — will be happy to find this waiting for them at the end of a long day.
If you’re staying gluten-free or just want that hearty, lasagna feeling without all the white carbohydrates, this “lasagna” hack from the BB site is for you. Sweet potato layers with a delicious spiced meat filling, topped with savoury tomato sauce. Need we say more?
New Zealand lamb is 100% grass-fed and packed with healthy fats, plus it’s available in most grocery stores in the frozen meat section. This recipe is sweet and savoury, and an awesome way to impress your health-conscious friends at your next dinner party.
Slow Cooker Breakfast Meatloaf
Make meatloaf more meatloafy by slow cooking it, so it takes on an unctuous, moist quality that defies most ground-meat recipes. This breakfast meatloaf melts in the mouth & has all that breakfast sausage taste you’re craving…at dinner…and then, again, at breakfast as leftovers.
Crock Pot Maple Dijon Drumsticks
This is a super simple weeknight dinner that makes great next-day lunch leftovers. Sweet and sticky, so it’s a hit with the littles. Plus, inexpensive drumsticks allow you to splurge on pastured or organic chicken for the same price as more expensive cuts.
Slow Cooker Chicken Corn Chowder
You’ll find yourself craving this simple, creamy soup all winter. With just milk + chicken broth (and a little olive oil for sautéing), this chunky chowder is light on calories but so, so comforting. Try making a double batch because everyone will want the leftovers for lunch!
