Crock Pot Recipes for Cold Winter Nights

Coming home on a cold night is easier to take if you have a hot meal ready to warm your bones with. If you don’t already own a crock pot, it’s time to get one. This handy little piece of equipment lets you toss in a bunch of ingredients and walk away. Come back several hours later, and you have a meal ready to be served and eaten. With such easy preparation and clean up, who wouldn’t want to build a cache of crock pot recipes to rotate during the cold winter months?

Your choices when it comes to ingredients for crock pot recipes is so limitless that you can probably open your refrigerator or freezer and throw together a full meal in minutes. For meat eaters, a roast, a whole chicken, or a pork tenderloin are great starters. Place the meat in the crock pot with a bit of water to keep it from drying out. Season with your favorite spices and herbs. Thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, red paprika, and onion powder work well with chicken. A roast tastes great sprinkled with garlic, salt, and cracked black pepper and a pork tenderloin is delicious when topped with a bit of soy sauce and powdered ginger. Surround the meat with vegetable chunks. Potatoes, onions, celery, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and carrots are good choices. Use cubed beef for stew and add red bell pepper and pineapple to make sweet and sour chicken.

If you don’t eat meat, many options work well without it. Throw in potatoes, carrots, and celery and top with a can of crushed tomatoes with their juices. Season with oregano, salt, and pepper for a yummy vegetable soup. Or make vegetarian chile with beans, tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos topped with water, chili powder, and salt. Or try putting macaroni and water in the crock pot, according to the stove top directions. Add cheese, chopped onion, salt, and pepper for a delicious and cheesy meal.

The great thing about a crock pot meal is that you don’t have to put in much effort and you can even leave home while your meal cooks. The specific cooking times vary depending on what your making, but many crock pots have a timer so you can set it to turn on even if you’re out shopping or at the office. In general, though, most meat meals cook in four to six hours on low and vegetable soup or pasta meals will be ready to eat in just two or three hours on high.

A crock pot meal stands alone, but if you want to bulk it up, many side dishes work well. Serve vegetable soup with crusty bread or serve macaroni and cheese with a tossed vegetable salad. Pot roast tastes great with a roll and roasted chicken pairs well with gravy and sauteed spinach.