20 Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

Your slow cooker is a life-saver, making make-ahead dishes that you can set up, forget and enjoy when you get home.

Such safe, family friendly recipes are easy to heat up so look and start cooking!

1. Chicken Sliders

Slow Cooker Chicken Sliders Replace chicken with pork for a slider that pleases the whole family. For a lighter take on butter chicken, this recipe uses Indian flavors such as turmeric, coconut milk and ginger. Serve the spiced chicken on top of brown or basmati rice, for a gluten-free option.

2. Bean and Barley soup

Combining beans and grains, they create a full vegetarian protein with all the essential amino acids found in meat.

3. Coconut Chicken Curry

An easy comfort, curry beautifully comes together in a slow cooker. This recipe is made without butter or milk, and works well for dairy-conscious diners.

4. Slow Cooker Barley and Mushroom Risotto

Replace whole grain barley in an earthy slow cooker risotto with the usual white arborio rice in. This hearty, elegant meal is a satisfying main course, serving just as well for entertainment on a busy weekday as it does at a weekend.

5. Vegetable Cider Stew

A hearty recipe that brings in one hearty dish your favorite cool-weather vegetables. Cider and plump golden raisins give the stew just the right amount of sweetness, spiced with garam masala.

6. White Chicken Chilli

Ree Drummond’s chicken chili recipe doesn’t have a tomato in sight, and uses whole chicken breasts, fried and then shredded to give the finished dish a heft. Whole milk and masa add creaminess but garnish with extra sour cream if you’re looking for more richness.

7. Healthy Oatmeal Porridge

Prepare the night before in a slow cooker this fibre-packed meal. Gradually, the porridge is mixed with scented nutmeg, orange peel, and cinnamon. In the morning, top with maple syrup, cranberries, and pecans in the hearty bowl.

8. Slow Cooker Baked Apples

In-season fruit turns seamlessly into a balanced yet decadent dessert. Your slow cooker, high in fibre and lower in sugar, is your ticket to an apple pie-like dessert that is good enough to eat every day.

9. Slow cooker cornbread

Slow cooker chili, of course, requires slow cooking cornbread. This recipe is soft, juicy and made with in-season, butternut squash rich in beta-carotene for a unique take in autumn. You’ll have a hard time eating only one slice of sweet and savory at once.

10. Pepper pork chops

What said it has to be a Christmas tradition? This delicious mixture of apples and pork chops is perfectly filled with flavour and plates topped with fresh thyme sprigs.

11. Italian Beef Sandwiches

When cooked in a slow cooker, a lean cut of beef turns melt-in-your-mouth tender and provides a crave-worthy foundation for a not-so-average sandwich. Enjoy the beef on top of a kale salad, romaine lettuce or quinoa to lighten it up further.

12. Slow Cooker Pea Soup

Finally, the soup season has arrived and nothing feels better than cozying up with this classic Canadian. Deliciously simple and satisfying, this soup will fill your home with a soothing scent of dropping cooking, providing a substantial amount of food, protein and iron at the same time.

13. Red Beans And Rice

Classic red beans and rice are made into a lean, easy-to-prepare meal. In a slow cooker, everything is thrown together and set to cook-that’s it! A hearty, fragrant meal awaits you when you get home from the job.

14. Slow Cooker Chilli Beans

Slow cookers were created for beans, making a side rich in protein and fibre, without even turning the oven on. To complete the meal, serve these slow cooker vegetarian chili beans with a refreshing salad and crusty whole grain bread, or enjoy a relaxing and nutritious feast on top of polenta.

15. Pork Tacos

Pulled pork tacos blend well with avocado oil, soft mango and yoghurt. It is far more nutritious than eating out and just as easy.

16. Slow Cooker Chilli

This recipe is all in the name. This flavor-packed chili mixes and mellows in your slow cooker after a quick sauté of the vegetables and ground beef for a low and slow cook. You’ll be eating well for days after whipping up a batch with beans, beef, tomatoes, peppers and more.

17. Turkey Stew

Turkey is having a Moroccan makeover with a slow cooker stew channeling the spice trail. This stew is a complete meal that includes root vegetables, squash and chickpeas, all working together for a savory, travel-inspiring feast.

18. Black Bean Soup

Slow cookers are perfect for lean meat cuts like turkey, trapping the moisture in the meat for a meal that tastes much richer than nutritionally it is. Black beans and turkey are both a source of tryptophan so if you have trouble sleeping, prepare for a deliciously soothing night ahead with this warm meal.

19. Brown Rice Pudding

Not too spicy, this whole grain pudding, begging for a little fresh fruit on top. The next day, enjoy some leftovers for breakfast or snack.