Slow Cooker Love

If you watch my instagram stories then you’ll know what an avid fan of the slow cooker I am. After receiving one for Christmas 2 years ago from my mother-in-law, it’s been used pretty much constantly (mainly when the weather starts changing – it’s ideal for stodgy comfort food like stews, casseroles, chilli & so on) ever since.

I’ve had so many messages from people who have either recreated my cooks & loved them or wanted to but couldn’t remember them SO here’s this blog post. As one lady said to me, the search for recipe’s which are super easy, quick & don’t require 50 ingredients including unicorn tears & dragon blood, is always appreciated.

I have a Morphy Richards 3.5L sear & stew which you can find from John Lewis by clicking here. I purposefully went for that one as traditional slow cookers have bowls which cannot withstand high temps so would crack if you popped on the hob/oven – something I find I usually have to do for 5/10 mins at the end as everything can become quite liquidy. You can also sear meat in it because of this before popping the rest of the ingredients in, which saves on the washing up by not using another pan.

The slow cooker has completely changed my way of cooking & I love that you can just bung all the raw ingredients in first thing in the morning, leave it on to cook all day without the worry of your house burning down & then enjoy a delicious, hearty home cooked meal when you get home. I’d say it’s a must have for anyone working or with a young family.

Now I’m back on Slimming World, it becomes even more important as so many of the dishes can be done ‘syn-free’ & because you’re cooking for a long time on a low temperature, all meat (even cheap cuts) come out moist tender.

So this post is going to give you my quick & easy favourite family friendly recipes (which are also packed full of veg & slimming world friendly) –

Sausage casserole –

Super simple, all you do is bung your choice of sausages, onion, mushrooms, 2x cans of baked beans, 1x can of tinned chopped tomatoes & seasoning. Leave on low for 8 hours+ then serve (usually we have it with mash).

Chicken fajita –

For chicken that literally melts in the mouth I layer 1 whole chopped onion, 3x half chopped peppers, 2x chicken breast, seasoning (make your own spice mix or use a pouch like you’d get in the fajita kits), a can of chopped tinned tomatoes, another 1 whole chopped onion & the other half of the 3x peppers. Leave on low for 8 hours+ then use two forks to gently pull apart the chicken. This can be quite watery from the chicken (lots of supermarkets inject chicken with water to make them bigger/heavier!) so sometimes I drain excess fluid then pop on the hob for 5 mins to thicken. Enjoy with rice or wraps.

Spag bol –

PEPPERS OPTIONAL GUYS! (5% fat if you’re being healthy) mince, onions, mushrooms & peppers (plus whatever other veg you want to hide in there like carrot, celery, courgette, spinach etc), 500g passata, 1x tablespoon of tomato puree, seasoning. Leave on low for 8 hours+ then serve with spaghetti.

Chilli –

As above but add in a tin of red kidney beans & spice it up with some chilli & curry powder to your preference.

Pulled pork – 

1.5-2KG pork shoulder (remove fat if doing slimming world). Add 500g passata, 200ml of diet coke, 1 table spoon of sweetener, 3 tablespoons vinegar, 1sp mustard (0.5 syns) then season with salt/pepper & garlic powder (or fresh). Again leave on low for 8 hours+ then use 2 forks to pull apart the pork & if needed whack on the hob to thicken.

Love,

22 Comments

  1. Linda
    November 18, 2017 / 7:12 pm

    These are great thank you so much xx

  2. Liz
    November 18, 2017 / 9:14 pm

    Thanks for these.
    Do you need to brown the mince first for the spag bol?

    • Charlotte Amor Valentine
      November 18, 2017 / 9:53 pm

      I never brown or sear any meat – just chuck it in raw but apparently searing helps with the flavour. I just see it as extra unnecessary work x

      • Liz
        November 18, 2017 / 10:22 pm

        Fab, thanks x

  3. Olivia
    November 18, 2017 / 9:26 pm

    I am trying to convince my husband that we should get a slow cooker but he says it’s no different to leaving the oven on low. Are there any benefits to having a slow cooker over using the oven?
    Love all of the recipes by the way!
    Olivia x

    • Charlotte Amor Valentine
      November 18, 2017 / 9:54 pm

      Your electricity bill must be crazy! Pretty sure a slow cooker costs next to nothing to run as it’s such a low temp. Also the safety aspect….I’d never ever leave my oven on unattended whereas slow cookers are fine. They cost about £30 so it’s not like it’s a bit investment that wouldn’t make sense x

      • Olivia
        November 18, 2017 / 10:37 pm

        We haven’t tried leaving the oven on low, it’s just his suggestion but I can now let him know there are definite advantages to the slow cooker!
        Thank you!

  4. Jude
    November 19, 2017 / 1:43 am

    Thanks for sharing. I got a slow cooker about two years ago and love it. I only really make stews and bol in it. I must try pork sometime. I love your posts by the way (all the way in New York!). xxx

  5. Lisa
    November 19, 2017 / 4:50 pm

    Thank you for these – I’m now inspired to actually make use of the slow cooker that is currently lonely and abandoned on the kitchen shelf!

  6. Emma
    November 20, 2017 / 9:29 am

    Love these recipes, you have inspired me!?

  7. Kirsten
    November 21, 2017 / 7:09 am

    Thank you Charlotte, we have the spag bowl tonight (with peppers) ? and going to try the fajitas Friday night ?? X

  8. Suzie
    November 21, 2017 / 11:57 am

    I’ve just thrown in all the ingredients for fajitas! They’re a big fav in our house but I don’t have the time (or energy!) to cook it at the end of the day. Looking forward to having a delicious meal without having to lift a pan! Thank you x

  9. Alison Green
    November 21, 2017 / 3:11 pm

    Thank you for sharing these recipes, Charlotte. I am using the slow-cooker for the first time since we bought it years’ ago thanks to you! Trying your fajita chicken recipe for dinner tonight! Many thanks.x

  10. Jo B
    November 21, 2017 / 8:16 pm

    It’s such a no brainer – bung everything in, forget about it, get on with your day and voila – home-cooked warm meal done. I make a mean beef stew in mine too! I also swapped beef mince for a beef brisket for an amazing slow cooked chilli (the same texture as pulled pork). Amazing! x

  11. Lucy
    November 28, 2017 / 10:17 am

    I have just been given one as an early Christmas present and i am very excited to try the Chicken Fajita!

  12. Jenny
    November 30, 2017 / 2:32 pm

    Here goes…. my first attempt at your lovely looking sausage casserole….Slow cooker ready looking forward to tucking into it before my night shift this evening (may have to sneak some left overs with me to work) , can’t wait to try your other homely recipes too!! Thank you for the ideas! Xx

  13. Elisha
    November 30, 2017 / 6:18 pm

    Thank you ! you inspired me to buy slow cooker now my kids think it’s the best thing ever thank you so much never thought about buying one before thought they were for grannies maybe there a bit of granny’ in us all ???

  14. Elizabeth
    December 2, 2017 / 6:09 pm

    Do you know if the pot can be used on an induction hob? You’ve done a good job in convincing me that we need one!!

    • Charlotte Amor Valentine
      December 3, 2017 / 11:00 am

      I have no idea I’m afraid lovely! x

  15. Fern
    December 28, 2017 / 2:52 pm

    Can you share your slow cooker hot chocolate recipe please ??

  16. Jemma Criddle
    December 30, 2017 / 12:57 pm

    I asked Santa for your slow cooker for Christmas and it arrived! Yippee. ? The chicken fajitas we done first which were amazing! Thank you for the amazing blog post Charlotte! X

    • Charlotte Amor Valentine
      December 30, 2017 / 1:56 pm

      Oh Jemma, it’s going to change your life! Happy slow cooking x