Name: Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Homemade “Onion Soup”
Prep time: 3 min
Cook time: 8 h 10 min
Yield: 8-10 servings
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil; 2 1/2 - 3 pound beef roast (shoulder roast, which is what I used, or chuck); salt and pepper; 1 tablespoon dehydrated onions; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon onion powder

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Homemade “Onion Soup”

April 11, 2016

Slow cooker pot roast is a dinner classic. It’s ready to slow cook in less then ten minutes, and it’s ready when you get home from work!

I love my slow cooker. These days, that sentiment has become, “I love my Instant Pot.” If you haven’t checked out the Instant Pot (??that’s an affiliate link) yet, you definitely should. It’s a slow cooker, a pressure cooker, a rice cooker, and a yogurt maker. Oh, and you can sauté in it. One of these days I’ll write a full review, but for now, just suffice it to say that it’s pretty much amazing.

Anyway, that’s not really the point of this post. There’s just something amazing about coming home from work and knowing that dinner is waiting for you. It’s even better when you can make a meal in the slow cooker that you know is going to stretch for a few days, which is why I love to cook a big batch of meat in the slow cooker to use in other dishes.

Slow cooker pot roast is definitely a classic. As many different types of slow cooker recipes that I’ve made over the years, slow cooker pot roast is still the thing that comes to mind first when I am trying to think of what to make in the slow cooker. Why wouldn’t it, though? It’s so amazingly tasty, and after hours in the slow cooker it’s absolutely fall-apart tender. Best of all, there’s usually enough left over for some tacos or an open-faced roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy (can you tell that I’ve been down this road a few times)? By the way, there’s a recipe coming on Friday that I made with the leftovers from this particular roast.

Back before my from-scratch days, I used to love to make my slow cooker pot roast with Lipton onion soup. Sprinkle that on a roast and you’ve got yourself a darn tasty roast. You know what’s in those packets, though? Salt and dehydrated onions, pretty much. I have that stuff in my kitchen, so there’s no need to buy a box of onion soup at the store. I like to brown my meat before I put it in the slow cooker, which takes less than ten minutes. A sprinkle here and there and eight hours on low, and you have yourself a perfect slow cooker pot roast!

What’s your favorite thing to make in the slow cooker?

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This will not affect the cost to you. For more information, read my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Mary

Yield: 8-10 servings

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Homemade “Onion Soup”

3 minPrep Time:

8 hr, 10 Cook Time:

8 hr, 13 Total Time:

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
2 1/2 - 3 pound beef roast (shoulder roast, which is what I used, or chuck)
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon dehydrated onions
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Instructions

Preheat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Generously sprinkle the roast with salt and pepper. Brown in the oil for 2-3 minutes per side.
Place the roast in the slow cooker. Sprinkle the dehydrated onions, garlic powder, and onion powder over the roast. Cover and cook on low for eight hours or high for 4 hours. Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, or egg noodles.

https://chattavore.com/slow-cooker-pot-roast-homemade-onion-soup/

Slow cooker pot roast is a dinner classic. It's ready to slow cook in less then ten minutes, and it's ready when you get home from work! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

March 13, 2016

Slow Cooker corned beef and cabbage is a great way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day…but it’s just as good any day of the year!

I generally make corned beef and cabbage one time a year-some time around St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t know why I only make it then; we both love corned beef and cabbage, but I guess since it’s on sale in March that’s when I think about it. At any rate, with it just being two of us in the house, we can stretch a single corned beef brisket for at least three and sometimes even four meals. Dishes like that are glorious. I really don’t understand people who never eat leftovers. Sure, there are some foods that are pretty gross the next day….but most foods are even better and minimal cooking, hello?!?!?!?! I like to repurpose my leftovers, so I have a couple of repurposed corned beef recipes to share with you over the next week.

Anyway, enough about leftovers. Let’s talk about corned beef. First off, let me clear something up. Corned beef is always brisket but brisket is not always corned beef. I have run into several people who, when I start talking about brisket, say, “I don’t like brisket!” to which I say, “WHO DOESN’T LIKE BRISKET???” and invariably they make a comment about corned beef. Then I have to set them straight. Brisket is a cut of beef. Corned beef is brisket that has been “corned”, which is a form of curing. The more you know….

Really, though, I should follow with, “WHO DOESN’T LIKE CORNED BEEF?” I really don’t get it. My favorite deli sandwiches usually involved corned beef or pastrami (which is peppered corned beef). I mean, it’s salty and meaty and GAH. Plus you get to pair it with delicious things like potatoes and eggs and melted cheese. How could that be a bad thing? Is it a bad association with the vile cans of corned beef you can buy at the store (I recently saw a YouTube vlogger make sandwiches with canned corned beef and it was not pretty)? If you don’t like corned beef, please comment with your justification-inquiring minds want to know!

One of these days I’m going to corn my own beef. It’s pretty simple, just time consuming. I never think about it in time, though. Anyway, this slow cooker corned beef and cabbage could scarcely be considered a recipe, but I’m giving it to you anyway. Also, I don’t love cabbage, but I find that when prepared this way it doesn’t get über-soft, which equals stinky, and when cooked with the meat and then salted and buttered it absorbs a lot of those flavors. It’s quite good. If you just can’t do it, omit the cabbage and just have corned beef and potatoes!

Yield: 6 servings

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

10 minPrep Time:

8 hr, 20 Cook Time:

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Ingredients

one 2.5-3 pound corned beef
8-12 red potatoes, quartered
1/2-3/4 head cabbage, thinly sliced/shredded
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
salt

Instructions

Open the corned beef and drain away any liquid. Place the corned beef fat-side up into a 6-quart slow cook (cut in half if you need to in order to make it fit). Sprinkle the contents of the seasoning packet over the corned beef. Arrange the potatoes around the corned beef. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Pile the cabbage on top of the corned beef and potatoes in the slow cooker. Replace the lid. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until cabbage reaches desired tenderness.
Remove the cabbage from the slow cooker and place on a platter. Drizzle half of the butter over the cabbage and stir to coat. Add salt to taste.
Arrange the potatoes around the edges of the platter, mashing them up just slightly as you get them out of the cooker. Drizzle the remaining butter over the potatoes and salt to taste.
Thinly slice the corned beef and place on top of the cabbage. Serve immediately.

https://chattavore.com/slow-cooker-corned-beef-and-cabbage/

Click here to print the recipe for slow cooker corned beef and cabbage!

Slow Cooker Chicken and Artichoke Melts

January 4, 2016

Slow cooker chicken and artichoke melts are so simple but incredibly gooey, cheesy, and tasty. You can throw this meal in the slow cooker in minutes!

Really, the slow cooker is a useful appliance all year long, because it is so handy when you don’t want to heat your whole house up in the summer by turning on your oven. The thing is, winter is when I really crave the types of foods that you prepare in the slow cooker…foods like soups, chilis, and roasts. I’ve been a little bit obsessed with my slow cooker lately, but that’s just because (a) I recently got an Instant Pot (⬅️affiliate link) and I can’t stop using it to cook all the things (I’ll review it for you all eventually); and (b) because I’ve been working on an article for WHISK Magazine about slow cooking. It’s definitely gotten my slow cooker creative juices flowing.

There was a time when I thought that you could pretty much just throw whatever in the slow cooker, turn it on, and walk away. No matter how long you left it, it would be perfectly falling apart when you came back to it. I learned a couple of things. First of all, some things will burn in the slow cooker; baked goods are a good example-they need to be watched closely. Second, chicken breasts are not a super slow cooker friendly food. The fat content is so low that they will dry out if you overcook them by 1.2 seconds. Third? If you put vegetables in the slow cooker and leave them all day, there’s a good chance that they will be straight-up mush by the end of the day.

My advice to you? Use chicken thighs instead. They have more fat, so they are far less likely to dry out. And while, contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to add liquid to your slow cooker when cooking meat, it will create a juicy sauce that will help to keep your chicken from drying out. Adding delicate vegetables toward the end of cooking will keep them from completely disintegrating. You could add the cheese in this dish to the slow cooker and mix it all up with the chicken and vegetables, but I prefer the uniformness of the cheese melted over the top of the chicken and artichoke sandwich.

What’s your favorite slow cooker tip?

This post contains an affiliate link. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, read my disclosures.

Yield: 4 sandwiches

Slow Cooker Chicken and Artichoke Melts

15 minPrep Time:

8 hr, 5 Cook Time:

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Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds) - trimmed
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion - thinly sliced
1 9-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts - thawed OR 1 can quartered artichoke hearts - well drained
4 hoagie rolls - split
mayonnaise and/or mustard (optional)
4 slices Provolone cheese

Instructions

Sprinkle the chicken thighs with salt and pepper on both sides. Place into the slow cooker and sprinkle the Worcestershire sauce over the top. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
Place the onions and the artichoke hearts into the slow cooker. Cover and continue to cook on low for another two hours.
Turn off the slow cooker and use two forks to shred the chicken.
Turn on the broiler. Place the split hoagie rolls onto a baking sheet and spread with mayo and/or mustard if desired. Divide the chicken among the rolls and top each with a slice of Provolone (I break the cheese slices in half to get better coverage).
Melt the cheese under the broiler. Top with the top half of the hoagie roll and serve immediately.

https://chattavore.com/slow-cooker-chicken-and-artichoke-melts/

Click here to print the recipe for slow cooker chicken and artichoke melts!

Slow cooker chicken and artichoke melts are so simple but incredibly gooey, cheesy, and tasty! | recipe from chattavore.com

Slow Cooker Turkey Thighs with Sage Butter

November 9, 2015

Slow cooker turkey thighs with sage butter are everything that you want from turkey-flavorful, moist, and fall-off-the-bone tender-without the worry of heating up the house or having to constantly check a thermometer.

What’s your Thanksgiving meat of choice? In our house, it is 100% undoubtedly ham. Ham, ham, and more ham. Specifically, ham cooked in cola, which honestly just seems so basic that I have never bothered to write about it. To be honest, Philip doesn’t even touch the turkey on Thanksgiving, but he’ll tear write into that big ol’ hunk of ham. The problem with turkey, in his opinion, is that it is (a) dry; and (b) not very flavorful.

That’s a problem with cooking a gigantic bird all in one piece in the oven. It’s the existential problem with turkey…that big domed breast of white meat dries out well before the dark meat thighs have reached a safe temperature. Now, we’re all about dark meat turkey, but that’s a whole lotta white meat to be wastin’ so that’s probably not the road we want to go down.

Here’s the thing, though…unless you are planning to have a Normal Rockwell Thanksgiving, you don’t really have to cook a whole bird. These slow cooker turkey thighs with sage butter take all of 10 minutes of active prep time and, no lie, they’re going to be the most tender and flavorful turkey you’ve ever eaten in your life. And if you’re a white meat lover, don’t worry…I’ve done this with a turkey breast and it was just as delicious. You don’t even need a carving knife-just use a fork to pull the meat off of the bones…it won’t take much effort! Two of these slow cooker turkey thighs give us enough meat for two dinners for two, but you can easily multiply it to meet the needs of your family. No oven (or thermometer) required!

How will you cook your Thanksgiving turkey?

Yield: 4 servings

Slow Cooker Sage Butter Turkey Thighs

10 minPrep Time:

8 hrCook Time:

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1/2 teaspoon salt plus more for sprinkling
1/4 teaspoon pepper plus more for sprinkling
2 turkey thighs

Instructions

In a small bowl, stir together the butter, sage, salt, and pepper until well combined.
Carefully loosen the skin of the turkey thighs, taking care not to pull it off. Use your fingers to spread half of the butter mixture under the skin of each turkey thigh. If not cooking the turkey thighs immediately, place them in a baking dish, cover with foil, and refrigerate until ready to cook.
To cook, sprinkle the tops of the turkey thighs with salt and pepper. Place into a slow cooker and set to low for 8-10 hours.
When ready to serve, remove the turkey thighs from the slow cooker and use a fork to remove the meat from the bones. Serve immediately or refrigerate for leftovers.

Notes

Cook time is inactive slow cooker time. Recipe can easily be multiplied to make as many turkey thighs as you wish. If you prefer white meat, substitute one turkey breast half for every two turkey thighs.

https://chattavore.com/slow-cooker-turkey-thighs/

Click here to print the recipe for slow cooker sage butter turkey thighs!

Slow cooker turkey thighs with sage butter are everything that you want from turkey-flavorful, moist, and fall-off-the-bone tender! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Black Bean Tortilla Soup

March 30, 2015

Tortilla soup usually has chicken and lots of tomatoes, but black bean tortilla soup is full of black beans…and deliciousness. It’s topped with baked tortilla strips.

I try to do a few meatless meals a week for a lot of reasons. The most obvious? Meat is kind of expensive. The second is that a few years ago my doctor told me that my LDL (aka bad) cholesterol was borderline high and I freaked out a little bit. See, I’m the kind of person that likes to be good at everything, including cholesterol. Being 33 or however old I was at the time and having high(ish) cholesterol did not sit well with me. I love bacon and heavy cream and butter but I did not love having a cholesterol number that was almost too high (though my HDL was awesome, and that was a good thing). At that point I told Philip that I thought we should cut down on our meat intake and see what happened.
So, we jumped in feet-first. For a long time, we ate bacon on Saturday mornings and other meats when we went out to eat in a restaurant or at someone else’s house. I didn’t cut back one little bit on the amount of butter or heavy cream I used. The next time I had a physical? Cholesterol = normal. Now, I know that there are a lot of conflicting ideas about whether animal products actually contribute to high cholesterol, and I will admit that high cholesterol runs in my family…but I made one major dietary change and my numbers were well within ideal range. I’ll take it.

I love vegetarian cooking. It gets picked on a lot in the culinary world as being “less-than” cooking with meat, which is silly. I don’t buy all the stuff about meat being superior (though you guys know I love a burger). Vegetarian cooking takes creativity and skill, because vegetables don’t have the same flavor compounds as meat. Bringing out all the wonderful flavors in vegetables requires thought. And it’s totally worth it. I’ve found myself cooking more and more meat here lately and have realized that it’s because I’ve let myself get a little lazy about thinking of great ways to make vegetarian food the best it can be.
I probably won’t go back to the never-cooking-meat-except-Saturday-morning-bacon ways of my past, because I’ve realized that wasn’t the kind of balance that I want to have. This isn’t a vegetarian blog and I want to cook vegetables and meat and share them with you. However, I’m challenging myself to being a little more creative with my vegetarian cooking so I can share some great stuff with you and dispel the ridiculous myth that Southern food is meat-heavy.

It’s not Southern, but this black bean tortilla soup is absolutely delicious and your slow cooker and food processor do all of the heavy lifting for you. Enjoy!

Yield: 6 servings

Black Bean Tortilla Soup

20 minPrep Time:

8 hr, 20 Cook Time:

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Ingredients

1 pound black beans, picked through, rinsed, and soaked
8 cups low-sodium chicken stock (use vegetable stock to make this completely vegetarian)
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tomatoes, cored and quartered
1/2 jalapeño, seeded
1 chipotle and 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
2 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
8 corn tortillas, cut into strips 1/2 inch wide
salt
garnishes-shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, chopped cilantro

Instructions

Drain the black beans and place in a 4-5 quart slow cooker. Add the chicken stock, half of the onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove the onions and garlic cloves.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the tortilla strips in a bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until light brown. Sprinkle with salt and set aside.
While the tortilla strips are baking, place the remaining onion quarters, garlic cloves, tomatoes, jalapeño, chipotle, and 1 teaspoon of the adobo in a food processor or blender and puree.
Heat the remaining oil over high heat. Place the puree and 1/8 teaspoon of salt into the pan and sauté until dry and dark in color. Add to the black bean mixture and stir to combine. Cook for a few more minutes to heat through. Salt to taste. Add more adobo if you would like more heat.
Serve the soup with tortilla strips and other garnishes as desired.

https://chattavore.com/black-bean-tortilla-soup/

Click here to print the recipe for black bean tortilla soup!

Tortilla soup usually has chicken and lots of tomatoes, but black bean tortilla soup is full of black beans...and deliciousness. | recipe from Chattavore.com

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