Slow cooker / pressure cooker recipes

[Rocky]

I've got a slow cooker and one of those fancy pressure cooker things, both of which were purchased with the vague notion that I'd be able to just lob a bunch of stuff in them and a meal would miraculously appear. However looking around the internet there's hunners of sites with all manner of pop ups and videos and nonsense before you even get to a recipe. Then when you get to the actual recipe it's all saute this and brown that and add such and such half an hour before the end. Has anybody got any suggestions for stuff I can just chuck in a slow cooker in the morning then stick on a plate at dinner time? Ideally with tatties or pasta or something already in it so I don't need to mess about with that either.

Thanks in advance for encouraging my laziness.

[HibbyAndy]

Iv'e had a slow cooker a wee while now , You can chuck absolutely anything in it and it will be ready for Dinner time , Sausages , Mince ,Chicken you name it ...You will hear quite a lot about browning it in the frying pan before slow cookering it but iv'e never bothered browning stuff and it's absolutely tasty as **** !

[Mibbes Aye]

I've got a slow cooker and one of those fancy pressure cooker things, both of which were purchased with the vague notion that I'd be able to just lob a bunch of stuff in them and a meal would miraculously appear. However looking around the internet there's hunners of sites with all manner of pop ups and videos and nonsense before you even get to a recipe. Then when you get to the actual recipe it's all saute this and brown that and add such and such half an hour before the end. Has anybody got any suggestions for stuff I can just chuck in a slow cooker in the morning then stick on a plate at dinner time? Ideally with tatties or pasta or something already in it so I don't need to mess about with that either.

Thanks in advance for encouraging my laziness.

Slow cooker-wise, generally with chicken you don’t need to brown it, just lump it in. This is one we like

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/slow-cooker-spanish-chicken

What I would say is don’t use the thighs as the recipe suggests but dice breasts. Thighs are more flavoursome but the breasts will definitely safely cook, just going straight in.

For potatoes, slicing new potatoes or even Maris Pipers into rounds about the thickness of a pound coin or even slightly bigger will be fine.

If you like Indian or the like then stuff like dhals come out really well. This is another go-to recipe for us

https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/slow_cooker_split_pea_93320

You can adjust the seasonings to taste. You can also make it in bigger quantities and freeze batches for a ready meal.

The BBC or BBC Good Food has a section that is slow cooker recipes. Taste.au is also quite good, Australian and tends to be a little bit different but quite healthy though not all the ingredients are readily available. I would also suggest popping into a Dobbies or the like. They usually have recipe books that are cheap and there’s usually a a slow cooker one.

Never used a pressure cooker so can’t help there :greengrin

[Rocky]

Slow cooker-wise, generally with chicken you don’t need to brown it, just lump it in. This is one we like

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/slow-cooker-spanish-chicken

What I would say is don’t use the thighs as the recipe suggests but dice breasts. Thighs are more flavoursome but the breasts will definitely safely cook, just going straight in.

For potatoes, slicing new potatoes or even Maris Pipers into rounds about the thickness of a pound coin or even slightly bigger will be fine.

If you like Indian or the like then stuff like dhals come out really well. This is another go-to recipe for us

https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/slow_cooker_split_pea_93320

You can adjust the seasonings to taste. You can also make it in bigger quantities and freeze batches for a ready meal.

The BBC or BBC Good Food has a section that is slow cooker recipes. Taste.au is also quite good, Australian and tends to be a little bit different but quite healthy though not all the ingredients are readily available. I would also suggest popping into a Dobbies or the like. They usually have recipe books that are cheap and there’s usually a a slow cooker one.

Never used a pressure cooker so can’t help there :greengrin

Nice one, thanks. I was looking for a dhal type recipe so I'll give that a go - I guess you can do loads and freeze it and reheat.

Spanish chicken one sounds braw too. I read a thing that says onions are a bit bitter if you don't fry them first and it suggested using onion powder instead. Might give that a try.

[Mibbes Aye]

Nice one, thanks. I was looking for a dhal type recipe so I'll give that a go - I guess you can do loads and freeze it and reheat.

Spanish chicken one sounds braw too. I read a thing that says onions are a bit bitter if you don't fry them first and it suggested using onion powder instead. Might give that a try.

Yeah, you can get away without browning the chicken (or indeed other meat as Hibbyandy suggests) but it is worth softening the onions. If you are using garlic then I would soften that with the onions too.

Or like you say, onion powder - easy short cut, slightly different taste but saves you washing a pan.

For the dhal recipe I’ve often used powdered cumin instead of grinding the seeds, again a short cut.

And I’ve only ever used curry leaves in it once, they’re great but not readily available when you don’t live in the city. A couple of bay leaves removed at the end and a squeeze of half a lemon or lime seems to do the trick. I’ve read that basil leaves with the citrus also work but haven’t tried it to date.

[Rocky]

Yeah, you can get away without browning the chicken (or indeed other meat as Hibbyandy suggests) but it is worth softening the onions. If you are using garlic then I would soften that with the onions too.

Or like you say, onion powder - easy short cut, slightly different taste but saves you washing a pan.

For the dhal recipe I’ve often used powdered cumin instead of grinding the seeds, again a short cut.

And I’ve only ever used curry leaves in it once, they’re great but not readily available when you don’t live in the city. A couple of bay leaves removed at the end and a squeeze of half a lemon or lime seems to do the trick. I’ve read that basil leaves with the citrus also work but haven’t tried it to date.

Thanks, good tips. I'm not a complete lazy bassa so I'm happy to mess about with extra pans and all at the weekend, I'm just thinking of being able to tip a bunch of stuff in before work when I realistically won't have time to do much more so these wee hints are really handy.

[adhibs]

https://www.seriouseats.com/roundups/pressure-cooker-recipes?fbclid=IwAR3IP_W6i-IJoI4rk6blLRevopjgdjUNPTxdpazsWhrDb32WCXnUTbcIXuU

A lot of these seem more weekend orientated as its not a matter of dumping things in, but even then none have been overly time consuming. All I've tried so far have turned out very well.

My favourite has been the smoky BBQ beans, really simple but taste unreal. I replaced the bbq meat with smoked ribs and diced chorizo. Goes brilliantly on toasted sourdough topped with a fried egg.

[Bangkok Hibby]

Thanks, good tips. I'm not a complete lazy bassa so I'm happy to mess about with extra pans and all at the weekend, I'm just thinking of being able to tip a bunch of stuff in before work when I realistically won't have time to do much more so these wee hints are really handy.

Just do it. I lived out a slow cooker for about a year before I emigrated. Its trial and error but the worst thing that can happen is softer items can disappear a bit. Not the end of the world as all the flavour is there. Bung it in, switch it to low and enjoy when you come home

[danhibees1875]

I've not used it for an actual meal so I'll look into some of the links above. I tend to use it for chunks of meat. You can slow cook a whole chicken and it just falls off the bone (almost to the level of being impractical to remove from the cooker) and great for sandwiches/salads throughout the week. Same with gammon joints. Sometimes I throw in a large pack of chicken breasts and a good helping of BBQ sauce, then with a couple forks you can tear it up and have a big pot of BBQ pulled chicken to use. :aok:

[Smartie]

I've not used it for an actual meal so I'll look into some of the links above. I tend to use it for chunks of meat. You can slow cook a whole chicken and it just falls off the bone (almost to the level of being impractical to remove from the cooker) and great for sandwiches/salads throughout the week. Same with gammon joints. Sometimes I throw in a large pack of chicken breasts and a good helping of BBQ sauce, then with a couple forks you can tear it up and have a big pot of BBQ pulled chicken to use. :aok:

Do the chicken breasts work out ok?

I'd have thought they would dry out in a slow cooker as they are low in fat.

I like a slow cooker to do donkey work for stuff like stews but I often find they lack something and end up finishing them off on the hob.

Mrs Smartie made a Mexican pulled pork thing a few weeks ago that we stuck on burritos with some rice, beans and homemade guacamole. Magnificent, but I'm yet to really get to grips with it.

[Rocky]

Slow cooker-wise, generally with chicken you don’t need to brown it, just lump it in. This is one we like

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/slow-cooker-spanish-chicken

What I would say is don’t use the thighs as the recipe suggests but dice breasts. Thighs are more flavoursome but the breasts will definitely safely cook, just going straight in.

For potatoes, slicing new potatoes or even Maris Pipers into rounds about the thickness of a pound coin or even slightly bigger will be fine.

If you like Indian or the like then stuff like dhals come out really well. This is another go-to recipe for us

https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/slow_cooker_split_pea_93320

You can adjust the seasonings to taste. You can also make it in bigger quantities and freeze batches for a ready meal.

The BBC or BBC Good Food has a section that is slow cooker recipes. Taste.au is also quite good, Australian and tends to be a little bit different but quite healthy though not all the ingredients are readily available. I would also suggest popping into a Dobbies or the like. They usually have recipe books that are cheap and there’s usually a a slow cooker one.

Never used a pressure cooker so can’t help there :greengrin

Made the dhal yesterday and it was braw. Got a few portions left that'll cover lunches too. Cheers

[Mibbes Aye]

Made the dhal yesterday and it was braw. Got a few portions left that'll cover lunches too. Cheers

:aok:

[LancashireHibby]

I must admit I only have a small range of slow cooker meals but I do tend to use it maybe once a week. I find it's great for using cheap cuts of meat and just leaving in there for hours on hour, beef especially with just some carrots, leek, mushrooms and beef stock. Similarly frozen lamb chunks with a rogan josh curry sauce or whatever. So easy.


Do the chicken breasts work out ok?

I'd have thought they would dry out in a slow cooker as they are low in fat.

I like a slow cooker to do donkey work for stuff like stews but I often find they lack something and end up finishing them off on the hob.

Mrs Smartie made a Mexican pulled pork thing a few weeks ago that we stuck on burritos with some rice, beans and homemade guacamole. Magnificent, but I'm yet to really get to grips with it.
As long as there's some sort of liquid in there to keep it moist (in this case the BBQ sauce) then it should be fine.

Dice two chicken breasts, chop up a butternut squash and stick enough chicken stock just to cover it. Leave in the slow cooker for as long as you want and just stir in some creme fraiche half an hour before you want to serve it. Lovely.

[beensaidbefore]

I must admit I only have a small range of slow cooker meals but I do tend to use it maybe once a week. I find it's great for using cheap cuts of meat and just leaving in there for hours on hour, beef especially with just some carrots, leek, mushrooms and beef stock. Similarly frozen lamb chunks with a rogan josh curry sauce or whatever. So easy.


As long as there's some sort of liquid in there to keep it moist (in this case the BBQ sauce) then it should be fine.

Dice two chicken breasts, chop up a butternut squash and stick enough chicken stock just to cover it. Leave in the slow cooker for as long as you want and just stir in some creme fraiche half an hour before you want to serve it. Lovely.

That last one sound delish. Will try that at the weekend.

I got a decent slow cooker cook book from the charity shop for £1. Yet to use any of the recipes!