5 Easy Slow Cooker Meals
Slow cooking is sometimes the easiest way to get a meal on the table fast. Prep just a bit in the morning, throw ingredients in the pot, set the timer and let the slow cooker do the hard work of making your home-cooked, nutrient-dense dinner. You know when you get home from work, soccer practice, PTA meetings and the gym, a healthy dinner is waiting for you.
But, slow cooker meals are “only as nutritious as the ingredients chosen to prepare it,” explains Victoria Winn, Precision Nutrition Certified Level 2 Master Coach. She suggests using high-quality lean proteins along with organic vegetables, herbs and spices, even when whipping something up quickly.
The following recipes help you feed your family right, without compromising your schedule.
Salsa Chicken
Winn’s favorite slow cooker meal is this salsa chicken recipe.
She browns cubed breast of chicken in olive oil over high heat and then puts it into the cooker. Top with fresh bell peppers, a jar of organic salsa and a pinch of spices – such as cumin and garlic powder. She sets the cooker for 4 to 6 hours on low and comes home to a slightly spicy, delicious concoction to serve on top of brown rice.
Turkey and White Bean Chili
Ground turkey stands in for beef in this pale-colored, but full-flavored crowd-pleaser.
Brown ground turkey and chopped onions and garlic in olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add to the slow cooker along with a tablespoon of chili powder and a dash of cumin; season to taste. Top with one to two 14.5-ounce cans of diced tomatoes and a 15-ounce can of drained white beans. Cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours. Serve topped with chopped cilantro, sour cream and grated jack cheese.
Italian Chicken Thighs
Chicken thighs fall apart after a long braise in a slow cooker. This recipe requires no pre-browning, so it’s super quick to throw together on a busy morning.
Place boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a slow cooker. Top with a 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes, a few teaspoons of Italian herbs, a bay leaf, sliced zucchini and a splash of chicken broth. Set on low heat for 5 to 7 hours. Serve the finished ragu over rigatoni or penne pasta.
Barbecued Pork
Plan this meal to cap a long day; it benefits from an extended cook time.
Rub a boneless Boston pork butt with a bit of brown sugar, garlic powder, salt, paprika and dry mustard, then brown all sides in a hot pain coated with olive oil. Place the pork in the slow cooker and top with chopped onion and garlic, one 14.5-ounce can of tomato sauce, additional garlic powder, a splash of cider vinegar and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Cook on low for 10 to 12 hours.
When it’s finished, the pork should pull apart easily with a fork and may be served on buns or in a tortilla with extra barbecue sauce and alongside a green salad.
Spanish-Style Chick Pea Stew
Winn favors hearty vegetables and legumes for an easy vegetarian slow cooker meal. Use canned chickpeas for the quickest prep.
Drain two 15-ounce cans of chickpeas and place the beans in a slow cooker with peeled and diced potatoes, diced onion, chopped garlic, a 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes, a few teaspoons of smoked paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low for 4 hours, or until the potatoes are tender.
In the five minutes before serving, add a few handfuls of baby spinach to the stew and stir it in until the leaves wilt. Serve over cooked quinoa.
With more than 20 years of experience in the fitness industry, Andrea Cespedes coaches cycling and running and teaches various group fitness classes. She’s also an American Council on Exercise-certified personal trainer, ERYT-200 hour yoga instructor/teacher trainer and has degrees from Princeton and Columbia Universities. Andrea is a professionally trained chef, a Precision Nutrition coach and a certified nutrition therapy practitioner, educated at the Nutrition Therapy Institute in Denver. She’s also mom to two happy grade-school age kids.
