Kielbasa (sliced) & sauerkraut (rinsed) add a can of beer and cook on low and it’s an easy tasty dinner

Chicken thighs (cut spine off)

Some salsa

Taco seasoning if you want.

And any kind of burrito or taco type stuff.

Put it over rice or on a tortilla

(Corn, black beans, tomato chunks, etc)

Tips: 

Yes, the meat goes in raw even if it's added with other vegetables.

No, you don't have to check on it periodically. It will be fine on low all day, provided there is enough liquid.

If it's not to your liking and/or the consistency you want, then it needs more time cooking.

The easiest thing to cook, like the absolute easiest is a Boston butt.

A couple cups of apple cider vinegar in the pot, then the butt, and some bar b que sauce on top, add some seasoning if you wish. Shred when you get home and add and stir more sauce to taste. 

Pick up a pack of hamburger buns and a family size bag of chips and you will feed everyone at game night and for under $20, and not as cumbersome as trying to feed them soup or a pot roast.

Chicken. Barbecue sauce. On. It can really be as simple as that. Protein + liquid is all you need. I’ve done the same method with a jar of salsa and served with rice, or with a jar of pasta sauce and stirred in pasta and cheese at the end

2lbs chicken breast placed on the bottom of crock pot.

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup dumped on top of chicken.

1/2 cup of sour cream dumped onto cream of chicken and gently stirred around.

Sprinkle 1/4c diced onions over the top of this

Sprinkle dried parsley over the onions

Last, 1 box of chicken or savory stuffing mix mixed with 4Tbsp of melted butter then dumped over everything.

Cover and cook on low for 6 -7 hours. You can take the lid off the last 45 minutes to dry out the stuffing a little but don't expect it to be crunchy.

Serve with your vegetable of choice.

Super easy, cheap and delicious.

For the first few recipes you make, especially those with chicken breast, I'd check after 4 hours. Slow cookers tend to run hotter now, and mine will cook a big chicken breast completely in 4-5 hours on low. Yours might be the same or need longer.

1 russet sized Potatoes, chopped (unless they're small ones then leave whole) 2 onions cut up anyway you want them, 1-2 cups carrots cut the size of baby carrots, chicken stock or water, thyme, oregano, parsley, rosemary, and 2-4 tablespoons butter, 2 chicken breasts. Cook for 6-8 hrs, I'll sometimes add bbq or Worcestershire sauce while cooking.

https://www.familyfoodonthetable.com/slow-cooker-honey-garlic-chicken/

https://www.eatwell101.com/crock-pot-tuscan-garlic-chicken#recipecardo

Pulled pork, basically impossible to mess up.

Rub whatever spices you want on a bit of pork shoulder (roughly 2kg). Plonk it in the slow cooker with a little bit of liquid (can basically be anything - water is fine, vinegar or cider or apple juice or even Dr Pepper work) and as many or as few add ins as you want (onions or a bit of apple or some garlic). Usually takes 8-9 hours on low in my experience.

Shred it with two forks, serve it on some burger rolls with a bit of barbecue sauce and coleslaw. Especially if you’re hosting for some friends, it’s a crowd pleaser and really not challenging at all.

Ham and Bean soup

• Bean mix (I like Hambeens Cajun 15 bean soup mix)
• Diced ham (I’ve also used leftover Thanksgiving turkey and smoked sausage)
• 1 diced yellow onion
• 2 diced carrots
• 2 diced celery stalks
• 8 to 10 cups of chicken broth
• 1 15oz can diced tomatoes
• Optional: 1 smoked ham hock or smoked turkey tails (adds a nice smokey depth of flavor)

Combine everything except the can of tomatoes and the seasoning packet in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8ish hours. Add the can of tomatoes, seasoning packet and any additional seasonings 1hr to 30min before serving. If using sausage I recommend browning it on the stove and adding it in before serving because the texture can get weird if slow cooked too long.

14 Ridiculously Easy Slow Cooker Dinner Recipes That Use No More Than 3 Ingredients

61 SLOW-COOKER CHICKEN RECIPES THAT WILL SAVE DINNER TONIGHT

25 Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes

chicken and dumplings

Pork chops and rice

Pork chops bone in or not usually 3-4

2 cans of Campbells Chicken and a rice Soup

2 cups cooked rice

In the morning line the pot with the chops. Pour soup over top and set low 6-8 hours

At evening, make rice. Remove chops and add rice to the pot, mix well. Super cheap and you get a main with a side.

Vegetable Barley Soup

1 qt chicken or veggie broth

1 large can of tomato juice

3/4 c barley

1/2 bag mixed frozen veggies

Throw everything into the pot in the morning, set low 6 hours.

Chicken Noodle Soup

3-4 chicken breast

2 qt chicken broth

Celery salt

Cooked noodles

Put chicken in pot, pour broth over them. You can add diced onion, carrot and celery if you want. Celery salt to taste. Set low 6-8 hours.

When you get home make roughly half a pkg of noodles of your choice per direction on box/bag. Remove chicken and shred when cool enough to handle. Put back in pot, add noodles and stir well.

Biggest tip I have for a beginner is to leave the lid on as much as possible. Slow cookers heat up much slower than most other cooking elements so every time heat escapes from removing the lid, it takes a bit to get back to optimal temperature

Kelbasa, potatoes, and sourkrout.

2 lbs Kelbasa cut in 1" rounds 32 oz Sourkrout optional to drain and rinse 2 cans sliced Potatoes 3 hours on high And that's our traditional New Yea r s Eve supper with pumpernickle bread.

Salsa Chicken was my go to before my throat went bad. Cover the bottom in skinless thighs, taco seasoning on top and jar of salsa on top of that. Come back later to shred. Can of beans if you need fiber.

Chicken thighs are super beginner friendly. Throw them in with salt, garlic and some broth or salsa and let it go on low. Try not to open the lid while it cooks, that's the biggest rookie mistake.

Just an FYI, chicken doesnt need that long to cook. Only like 4-5 hours on low. 2-3 hours on high. Id recommend getting a slow cooker with a warm setting on it. Its not as hot as the low setting and its just ment to keep the food at perfect serving temperature after its done cooking. Mine switches automatically to warm after the cooking time is done.

Number one tip is DON'T OPEN IT WHILE IT'S COOKING unless the recipe specifically tells you to. Especially if you're cooking raw meat!! It will be tempting! It will start looking funny and you will want to mix it!! You may feel inclined to flip or move the meat for even coverage!! But you must resist.

Since you say you know almost nothing about slow cooking, I’ll add — make sure any meat is thawed (not frozen). It doesn’t come up to temp quick enough (versus the oven) with frozen meat, to keep it out of the temp danger zone

Throw in a bag of split peas, 4 cups of chicken broth, and some cut up onion.

You can really do this with just about any bean, though the hard ones are best soaked overnight first.

Whole chicken (remove the giblets). Elevate it on a silicone rack or you can just use rolled up balls of aluminum foil. Season how you like put on low cook it all day. Then you'll have to eat, chicken for recipes, bones to make stock in the future. Just put them in the freezer.

Chicken enchilada casserole: 3 chicken breasts A can of red enchilada sauce Cook on low for 6-8 hours, shred the chicken. Cut up 12ish corn (not flour!) tortillas into 2 inch squares and stir them in, sprinkle shredded cheddar on top, put lid on for 40-60 mins and it’s ready to go. Serve with sour cream

Once well seasoned* and oven-broiled for a minute or two, a rack pork ribs (split) with onions, garlic, a cup of juice (apple) and sweet baby rays BBQ sauce.

*salt/seasoning salt, fresh cracked pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, a Lil bit of cayenne

3-5 chicken breasts into bottom of crockpot

Add chunked up vegetables if desired (frozen peas or fresh carrots work well)

Whisk together 2 packets of chicken gravy mix and 1 can cream of chicken soup

Dump soup stuff over chicken

5hr on low.

Serve over rice.

Look up the budget bytes slow cooker black bean soup. It is a great meal paired with cornbread, salad and lots of topping options for the soup. Sour cream, shredded cheddar, green onions, etc.

A pork roast. Can of pineapple juice, a bottle of your favourite BBQ sauce.

Slow cooker chicken and dumplings!

Check out Allrecipes! Great website!

Favorite of mine is pork shoulder (boston butt).. toss it in with salt and pepper and whatever other seasoning you might like.. let it go... perfect pulled pork every time... (try a dash of liquid smoke)

Chili

Crockpot beef stew

I’ve got a couple here! They’re all basically dump and go recipes!

https://thewholesomespoon.com/2025/09/26/crockpot-creamy-chicken-and-rice-soup/

https://thewholesomespoon.com/2025/08/15/crockpot-white-chicken-chili/

https://thewholesomespoon.com/2025/06/30/crockpot-chicken-alfredo/

Chili is a great first meal and something that really benefits from using the slow cooker. I usually use onion, garlic, tomatoes, chili peppers (heat of choice), beans, spices, and you can add an additional protein of your choice. BudgetBytes.com has a lot of different chili recipes depending on your taste.

When you start to get the hang of it, here are a ton of recipes :) https://healthecooks.com/category/healthy-slow-cooker-recipes

Meatballs

Chilli

Soups

Pork chops

Chicken breasts, chicken thighs, chicken drumsticks

First meal… go chili, can or two of beans, tomatoes, peppers onions… whatever else u like, let it rip for a few hours, and enjoy

So I just started myself, I had some bone in chicken drumsticks. NEVER again. Those bones were brittle and soft and I was spitting out splinters of bones. May have done it wrong. Dunno. I've grilled plenty of times with bone in chicken and it taste wonderful!