Lazy Slow Cooker Recipes

[sherrardk]

Looking for lazy, no (minimal) effort slow cooker recipes. I don’t want to spend ages faffing about, peeling and chopping stuff but I am willing to brown ‘stuff’. Can’t involve a whole chicken or joint (as girl will be dishing up). Doesn’t need to involve vegetables as I’ll get some ping and din ones. Thank you :)

[saintpeter48]

Sausage and bacon is a good combination.
I just put the sausages and bacon in my slow cooker, with chopped onion, carrots and potatoes, then cover with hot water, add a stock cube or two, depending on your taste buds, then let it cook for a few hours, at the end you can season to taste.
Never fails for me.

[Buenchico]

If any type of chicken is allowed at all (which isn't really clear from your post), such as diced chicken breast, just chuck some into the slow cooker with some dry cider. (Don't use sweet cider; it doesn't work). Add a few vegetables of your choice, with no great amount of 'peeling and chopping needed'. Leeks go well with it, as does celery, possibly with some carrots too. Lovely!

Sausage are cheap and easy to casserole in a slow cooker (and they come out beautifully) but it's easy to end up with a rather bland dish if you don't give the flavouring in the sauce you use a bit of clout. For me, the trick is to use some ordinary gravy granules but to make it with red wine instead of water (or, at least, a 50/50 mix). It only takes a few moments to chop some carrots to go in it (with no need to peel them). Adding some sliced onions, preferably browned in butter first (in a frying pan) can add to the flavour, as can throwing in some mushrooms.

Easy peasy!

[pastafreak]

How about a lamb hot pot. Onions and diced lamb( or leg steaks) into the slow cooker with seasoning...salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary. Garlic...because I add it to everything. You can brown the lamb if you want...I think it gives better flavour. You can also put carrots in. Cover with diced potatoes. I've found I can get away with no water. But if needed, just 1/4 cup with a lamb stock cube is sufficient. It will make plenty of its own liquid.

[pastafreak]

NOT diced potatoes....SLICED!! ;)

[Old_Geezer]

I think it was avoiding the carving up the final whole chicken, that was the issue, rather than chicken as an ingredient. Would have thought any stew type recipe is likely to work.

[bednobs]

I know you don't want chopping and peeling but if you have some time where you don't mind (weekend perhaps) thenyou could chop and peel then freeze the ingredients for meals in bags. Then the morning u want it just get it out the freezer and cut the bottom of the bag off put in sc and switch on. If it's the actual chopping and peeling per se then how about pre prepared veg from the supermarket? My all time fave recipe is campfire stew https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/recipes/campfire-stew-with-mustard-mash. I usually chop everything the night before and put all the wet ingredients and spices in a tub in the fridge meaning I just have to open a bag and a tub in the morning and turn it on

[bednobs]

Also, my sister is in a slow cooker club. The 4 members get together every month and while having a few glasses of wine and a gossip they chop and peel enough for 4 families meals for the month. Then they take them home and freeze

[pixie374]

A lot of my slow cooker ones are incredibly lazy lol. Even just lamb chops or lamb steaks in gravy, with a couple of teaspoons of mint sauce and some garlic. Up to you if you want to add onions, etc.
Or even just jars or mixes with mince, fish, chicken, beef, etc.

[bednobs]

also, why would you need to chop stuff up? Don't you have 5 kids at hom? :)

[zebo]

Chopping can be done in a food processor to save a lot of time, just as long as you don't leave it too long so that it pulps the vegetables.

[satprof]

The snag with using a food processor to chop small quantities is the amount of cleaning required. It's usually easier to chop by hand on a nylon chopping board. What about the dishwasher you might ask. The answer probably depends on whether you have a cheap food processor or not. Our Magimix (our 2nd) is built like a brick outhouse & does a wonderful job. However, we learnt, whilst living in France, that dishwashing the main container led to very early crazing. With a cheap processor you would probably just replace the whole thing but the cost of a replacement part for a Magimix is more than for a complete new cheap one.
The answer, for anyone who uses a Magimix frequently, is to remove the container before the drying process. It's the heat that causes the problem.

[sherrardk]

Thanks for all of your answers. I’m going to go with Bednob’s idea and chop the day before. Girl has been excellent at helping out whilst the schools have been shut but I don’t want her doing too much when they go back to school.