30 Easy Slow Cooker Recipes For Crocktober
Are you looking for some slow cooker inspiration? Well, let me introduce you to our easy slow cooker recipes for Crocktober. Each of these 30 recipes will make you want to get your Crockpot out more and try new things and take the boring out of your slow cooking.
What Is Crocktober?
Crocktober is when the two greats of autumn meet. Crockpots and October and they become Crocktober. An excuse to use your slow cooker more and a theme celebrated in October for many years now.
The idea that you try out lots of new slow cooker recipes for the month and then at the end of the month, you can decide which ones you liked the most and then have them as part of your go-to meals.
What To Expect From Our Crocktober?
We spent a long time, recipe testing, deciding on which recipes to include and making sure we had a good variety of recipes. Then photographing them and featuring them over on our YouTube Channel (you can subscribe here).
We have divided the recipes into:
- Soups
- Chicken
- Beef
- All In One Meals
- Vegetarian
- Sides
- Desserts
That way there is something for everyone, though of course you can scroll below for the full list and click through to each of the recipes.
Make The Most Out Of Your Slow Cooker
✅ Downloads
- Free Download – Get our freezer friendly souper cubes list and know exactly what you can freeze.
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30 Best Ever Crocktober Recipes
#1 Slow Cooker Butternut Squash & Chilli Soup
This is a smaller portion butternut squash soup. Perfect if you are single or a 2-person household. I also add the extra ingredients into the slow cooker to save on washing up. This recipe has some amazing hacks for speeding up your time in the kitchen and reducing your prep time.
#2 Slow Cooker Lentil Soup
Whilst the butternut squash soup is small portion this is the opposite. Originally made as a get well soon soup that you can give to friends and family, this freezes well and makes good portions. This is perfect for batching so that you have a healthy soup sat in the freezer whenever you need a boost.
#3 Slow Cooker Cream Of Mushroom Soup
A healthier plan B to the cream of mushroom canned soups that sell in the supermarket. Perfect for freezing and adding to stews and casseroles for that creamy flavoursome texture.
#4 Slow Cooker Chicken & Sweetcorn Noodle Soup
Noodle soup meets chowder. That is the best way to describe this high protein chicken noodle soup. Creamy, loaded with fresh noodles, then the perfect balance of chicken and sweetcorn. Plus, you will love our frozen hack in the video.
#5 Slow Cooker Cream Of Chicken Soup
Similar to cream of mushroom but a great vegetable stock base and using up leftover shredded chicken. This creamy chicken soup is perfect for adding to your next chicken casserole.
#6 Slow Cooker Paprika Chicken
This starts our slow cooker chicken recipes. All of which are perfect for a high protein lifestyle. This creamy paprika chicken is a family favourite and loaded with all your favourite flavours. Freeze for another day and its asking to be made into tacos, used in a pie or even for a chicken bowl for a healthy dinner.
#7 Slow Cooker Chicken & Gravy
Have you made gravy before in the slow cooker as part of your main meal? The idea is that you do your gravy base first in the slow cooker, then add your other ingredients. You can see it in action when making this one pot chicken and gravy. You will love how flavoursome the gravy is and how moist the chicken becomes.
#8 Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken
Chipotle chicken in the slow cooker. An easy recipe and so rich in flavour too. Perfect for your Mexican fix and your next Taco Tuesday. Though I love this recipe most for making Mexican chicken bowls with.
#9 Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
Not heard of salsa chicken before? It became a thing through Weight Watchers & Slimming World many years ago and the idea was a low-calorie chicken idea with lots of flavour.
Salsa is very low calorie so perfect for cooking with some chicken which is what we show you how to do in this recipe great.
#10 Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala
The mother of all curry recipes, in the Crockpot. You will love this slow cooker chicken tikka masala. But not just for the taste but also for how easy it is to prep and dump the ingredients into the slow cooker, forget about it and come back when your kitchen smells of curry.
#11 Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
After chicken tikka masala comes butter chicken. This is how to do butter chicken using your slow cooker. You can then batch it for the freezer. Or why not batch some chicken tikka masala one day and then butter chicken the next. Then you can avoid the takeaway with your own freezer supply.
#12 Slow Cooker Roast Chicken With Potatoes & Carrots
We used our Ninja Speedi for this slow cooker great. The Ninja Speedi (more about it here) is a slow cooker and an air fryer and grill in one. This means we can use it to crisp up the chicken skin.
In this slow cooker recipe, it’s all about making it a meal. Cooking the chicken, potatoes and carrots at the same time. To make dinner times easier.
#13 Slow Cooker Sausage & Cannellini Bean Casserole
This was our road trip most cooked slow cooker dinner. Mainly because we could make it whilst travelling and with limited fridge options and could load it with some of our favourite pantry staples too. We used the Ninja Speedi slow cooker function in this recipe because then we could brown the sausages first, but you can of course just throw them straight in.
#14 Slow Cooker Beef Ragu
Another great for the Ninja Speedi. If you have not made your own slow cooked beef ragu yet, then you are missing out. The slow cooker creates the tender beef, its full of great flavours and we also cook the pasta in the slow cooker to serve with it.
#15 Slow Cooker Beef Goulash
Cooked in my big slow cooker, this beef goulash makes a big pot of Hungarian deliciousness that you can then batch for the freezer. The beef just falls apart and that familiar smoky paprika flavour will want you coming back for seconds.
#16 Slow Cooker Beef Rendang Curry
Your favourite Indonesian beef curry – just cooked in the slow cooker. This is so easy to prep and then come back later, to slow cooker greatness. If you are looking for a simple beef curry that will hit the spot then it is this one.
#17 Slow Cooker Steak Diane
This is our favourite Crocktober recipe from all the ones featured. I know you are not supposed to have favourites but this one breaks all the rules. Imagine your favourite steak recipe with the mushroom sauce but slow cooked beef with a mushroom sauce. You must try this recipe and like us serve it with some mashed potatoes.
#18 Slow Cooker Chorizo & Pea Risotto
Take your risotto to the slow cooker. Slow cookers are also very good at your baked style rice dishes. In this recipe we use the Ninja Foodi on slow cook to bring you a chorizo and pea risotto.
#19 Slow Cooker Gammon In Apple Juice
Slow cooker gammon in coke most people have heard of, but have you tried it before with apple juice? Just as delicious and apples and gammon just go so well together. You can then come back later and slice into your lovely gammon.
#20 Slow Cooker Mince Recipe
Slow cooker mince, or ground beef to our friends across the pond, is one of those mealtime staples. But did you know you can use this base recipe for so many different meals. Your next lasagne, your next cottage pie, your next taco night, or even for sloppy joes. We will teach you the master base recipe, then you can use it however you wish.
#21 Slow Cooker Keema Curry
This can of course become one of the greats you do with a master mince recipe. Slow cooked keema curry is so flavoursome and just asking to be loaded onto jacket potatoes or used to make homemade samosas or to go into little keema pies.
#22 Slow Cooker Golden Vegetable Rice
Forget buying those packets of golden vegetable rice, make your own with a little help from the slow cooker. We used our mini slow cooker for this recipe, and we show you how to cook the rice and the vegetables and use it as your dream side dish.
#23 Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Orzotto
Orzotto – when orzo pasta meets the flavours of a risotto. All the ingredients you would add into a risotto just swapping rice for this amazing pasta. This is a simple slow cooker butternut squash orzotto but you can easily swap the squash for mushrooms or asparagus depending on which one is your favourite. We made this in our Ninja Foodi slow cooker but you could make it in any.
#24 Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Dal
Another butternut squash great and perfect for a healthy vegan curry in the slow cooker. We used our mini slow cooker for this recipe just because the ingredients don’t take up that much room.
The ingredients for a homemade dal are very simple, and you can mix and match with your favourite curry flavours.
If you are looking for that ultimate dump and start slow cooker recipe, then this is it.
#25 Slow Cooker Caribbean Vegetable Stew
The flavours of the Caribbean in a delicious vegan casserole. Loaded with carrots, sweet potatoes, kidney beans and the flavours of Jamaica. A must make in your slow cooker.
#26 Slow Cooker Mirepoix
Mirepoix a French stock is perfect for taking some prep out of your daily cooking routine. We make a big batch of it for the freezer and then whenever a recipe calls for celery, carrots and onion, you know you already took care of it earlier.
I make these slow cooker mirepoix cubes whenever I have some spare veg in and then have a good freezer supply for later.
#27 Slow Cooker Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie
Love warm chocolate chip cookies? Then you must try this slow cooker giant chocolate chip cookie. Using our master cookie dough recipe, this is so easy to prep, bake and of course eat.
#28 Slow Cooker Vanilla Sponge Cake
Take the main ingredients of a Victoria sandwich to the slow cooker. Make the sponge mixture and slow cook then top with that lovely jam. Sprinkle with coconut and you have your own crockpot take of a coconut and jam sponge cake.
#29 Slow Cooker White Hot Chocolate
This is the ultimate dump and start slow cooker hot chocolate using Milky Bar buttons. This needs to be part of your winter routine and is perfect for your next movie marathon in your sweats.
#30 Slow Cooker Chicken Meal Prep
This is how to prep and freeze lots of chicken for the freezer – perfect for slow cooking later. Focusing on cheap chicken legs and then showing you how to do barbecue chicken, teriyaki chicken and some red thai chicken. We will also show you how to prep chicken if you just want some for future Sunday roasts.
My Favourite Freezer Containers
Dom asked me when I first got my first Souper Cubes and I honestly couldn’t remember. I was thinking….I had them when we lived in Portugal and left Portugal in the summer of 2021. So, five years plus since I became obsessed with these silicone freezer meal containers.
Before that I was messing about with different types of foil trays, getting cross when a freezer bag leaked and just feeling like I hadn’t found the ONE.
But since silicone freezer containers came along I haven’t looked back. I still use freezer bags but more limited to freezing some chicken drumsticks or blanching veg.
But for real meals and food I want to reheat from frozen then freezer cubes are my go-to. Many of the recipes mentioned above use them.
But which ones are the best souper cubes to go with?
#1 Start With A Starter Pack
You can get an all-in-one pack that includes different sizes to get started. You get:
2 Tbsp – perfect for freezing herbs, purees, pastes, or even your instant pot yoghurt starter.
½ Cup – 120ml to us in the UK and ideal for a side of rice, pasta, beans etc for dinners. I also use this size if I just need some sauce freezing that I am going to be adding later to a meal.
1 Cup – 240ml to us in the UK and my most used souper cubes size and I have recently bought some more.
2 Cup – 480ml to us in the UK and a good portion size for an all in one dinner for one. Imagine making a cottage pie in this. Often at lunch time in the Milner house Dom and Kyle will share a portion of soup in this and have it with some bread each.
Then this starter kit will be perfect for getting you started with it. Then you can do what we do and buy individual sizes that you are going to use most.
Such as getting some of the 2 cup ones in kale, and some 1 cup ones in blueberry. I also recently got some of the ½ cup ones in cotton candy.
Yet, when we started out they only had them in aqua and I am loving all these different colours they have done.
Below is a selection of our freezer cubes that we have taken out of the silicone and are transferring into freezer bags.
Watch The Video >> you can also watch the video of us showing off all these freezer meal cubes from behind the scenes of making Crocktober for you.
Your FAQ Answered
Can I prepare slow cooker meals the night before? Yes, you can and some of these recipes we even encourage for prep the night before. Such as beef rendang curry, chicken tikka masala, beef goulash and even the cookie dough for the giant cookie.
Low or high on slow cooker recipes? Apart from one recipe in this list of slow cooker greats everything we have done is on high. Though of course you can do all the recipes on low if you want to its all about your meal arrangements such as putting the slow cooker on before a day out. Most slow cooker recipes cook on high for 3 hours so can be done on low for 6 hours.
Though this doesn’t apply to Ninja Speedi or Instant Pot slow cookers…This is because their low is a very low and will result in food still not being cooked 10 hours later.
How long with the slow cooker meals keep in the freezer? If you don’t have any freezer burn on them, then they will last 3-6 months.
Can you cook your slow cooker freezer meals from frozen? Absolutely and we recommend it. In the microwave most cubes take 6 minutes on full power to reheat. Then with instant pot you can also reheat them. Or another option is the air fryer. They can also be reheated from frozen in the slow cooker as long as they are meat free as frozen meat can’t go in the slow cooker.
Can you use any slow cooker in these recipes? Yes, you can. We used a variety of different slow cookers so that you can see the different options available to you. We used our ancient 70’s slow cooker, our black crockpot (this one and our go to), our silver/white smaller crockpot (this one). We also used our multicookers that come with a slow cooker function. Our Ninja Speedi and our Ninja Foodi.
Are these slow cooker recipes healthy? The majority are. We recommend balance and whilst we do have some desserts featured, we also have some amazing healthy dinners too. Such as making dal, lentil soup, your own cream of soup, casseroles you will want to eat and so much more.
Why is my slow cooker food not done? There are a few reasons for this. Some slow cookers work a lot slower than others. If you have too much food in it, if its too full, if it’s a slower functioning one, if you keep lifting the lid up, all these reasons cause it to slow down. Just put it back on for another hour and see how it is doing.
Don’t add too much liquid…. this is very important when it comes to slow cooking. Slow cookers are different to the oven and don’t reduce as much. So, you will notice with recipes such as our master mince recipe doesn’t use much liquid at all.
Why add ingredients later to your slow cooker? This is because certain ingredients cook too fast compared to the other ingredients added. Such as cooking the beef first then adding the pasta later in our slow cooker beef ragu. The same applies to cream too. Added too soon it will end up curdled.
Let Crocktober work for you
You now have our slow cooker recipes and below you can access all the printables, ebooks, crocktober recipes and our other KGC recipes.
It’s now your turn. Imagine making these recipes in your real life and making them work for you. As that’s what is best about slow cooking. The fact it fits around your schedule and later when you can’t be bothered to make dinner its there.
Plus, of course, many of these slow cooker recipes are perfect for the freezer so it doesn’t always feel like you are cooking.
Love Sam & Dom xx
Your Next Step: Get Your Copy Of The Crocktober Ebook
You can download it, read through it, print specific recipes and plan your slow cooker meals. You don’t have to follow this for a full month; you might make a week’s worth of slow cooker recipes this month.
It has all 30 slow cooker recipes that we have featured in this post along with metric and imperial throughout and every day ingredients that you regularly get from the supermarket/grocery store.
Get Sam & Dom’s Slow Cooker Recipes Here.
Your Plan B: Join Kitchen Gadgets Club + Get The Ebook For Free
Members of Kitchen Gadgets Club receive our Crocktober ebook for free as part of their membership. You can join KGC for as little as £1 a week and get this and our many other perks. Such as our meal prep course and over 1200 everyday kitchen gadget recipes.
