5 Easy and Tasty Slow Cooker Meal Ideas

I have five really easy slow cooker meals to share with you this week. They will all be easy to get on a table, with little to no effort, and they taste delicious. Let's get started in the kitchen.

1. Slow cooker chili

I'll start with one pound of ground beef, and I am going to add some onions. I am using an organic 85/15 ground beef from Aldi.

I use this regularly, so I know I won't have to drain any fat from this meat. That's why I'll season the beef now to give the meat a little more flavor.

I'll add a tablespoon of chili powder, paprika, and a teaspoon of salt.

If you have to drain your beef, skip this step, and you can add that seasoning after you have drained the meat or add it to the crock pot whenever you're making the chili.

While the hamburger is browning, I will add two large 28-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes. I'm also going to add a small can of green chilies.

I'm adding beans to my chili, so I regularly cook a large batch of beans in my Instant Pot, then put it in small sandwich bags and the portions in the freezer.

That way, I always have some beans on hand available for soups and recipes.

I will add another tablespoon of chili powder, two teaspoons of paprika, one teaspoon of garlic powder, and one teaspoon of salt. I'm going to go ahead and add in my ground beef. It's nice and browned.

I will let it cook on high for about four hours or low for 8 hours.

My family and I love chili any night of the week, especially on cold days and football Saturdays.

2. Sausage and pea stew

I have an abundance of purple hull peas in the freezer. This will be a sausage and pea stew, and it is delicious.

I'll start with a pound and a half of kielbasa sausage, browning it in olive oil.

To the skillet, I will add one chopped onion, two stalks of celery, two carrots, and a bell pepper that I have chopped.

I'll allow all of these to cook for eight to ten minutes. At the same time, I'm waiting for that to cook. I will add my one-quart bag of purple hull peas to the crock pot.

After about ten minutes, the vegetables and sausage are ready to go into the crock pot.

I'm adding four cups of vegetable broth and stir it all well.

I put this on high for about four hours. Adding homemade cornbread would have made this the perfect meal.

3. Potato soup

Potato soup is one of my all-time favorites, and this recipe was delicious.

I'll start by dicing up eight russet potatoes, and to that, I'm going to add two stalks of celery that I have diced, two carrots, and also half of an onion that I have diced.

I will add one teaspoon of Italian seasoning and two teaspoons of salt.

I will pour the vegetable broth into four cups or one large container. You can use whatever you have on hand. That wasn't enough to cover the potatoes, so I added two cups of water. Cook on high for four and a half hours.

I took two cups of whole milk and one-quarter cup of flour.

I whisked that so that there were no lumps and it was smooth. I set that to the side.

I chopped up one block of cream cheese, and added that to the crock pot and two cups of shredded cheddar cheese.

Once well incorporated, I'll pour in the flour and milk mixture. I'll stir all of this well and allow the crock pot to sit with the lid off for about 30 to 45 minutes.

4. Chicken and rice

For this recipe, I pour two cups of rice into the bottom of the crock pot.

I'll add four cups of broth and three chicken breasts.

Then, I'll slowly sprinkle in one teaspoon salt, two teaspoons parsley, one teaspoon garlic powder, one teaspoon onion powder, and two teaspoons dill weed. Mix that well.

Add one-quarter cup of dry milk powder.

Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook this on high for 4 hours.

After 4 hours of cooking, I will shred the chicken and fluff the rice.

Then, I will top the recipe with two cups of shredded cheddar cheese and one and a half pounds of cooked chopped bacon.

I will leave the lid off the crock pot for about 30 minutes and allow the cheese to melt to give it more of an oven-baked flavor. This recipe was super easy but also delicious.

5. Pineapple pork roast

I browned each side of the pork roast in some of the bacon grease leftover from last night's meal. This is optional.

You do not have to pre-brown the pork roast, but this step seals in the juices, ensuring a tender, juicy roast.

It takes a few minutes on each side but elevates the final taste.

While it's browning, I'll use a medium-sized bowl to mix one can of pineapple tidbits or crushed pineapple with one and a half cups of brown sugar and one-quarter cup of apple juice.

Stir it all together into a smooth sauce and thoroughly coat the pork roast.

Once I get the pork roast into the crock pot, I'll season it with some salt.

I’ll pour over that pineapple mixture, and I had one other can of pineapple, so I will pour it along with the juices around the pork roast to give it a little more flavor.

Put it on high for about four to five hours. You can also cook it on low for seven to eight hours.