5 Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

Slow cookers are awesome! You literally just fling everything in the pot, turn it on, let it cook away all day and come home to a ready made dinner.

With the darker nights coming in and the weather changing you cannot beat a nice big pot of something yummy done in the slow cooker.

You can pick up a Slow Cooker for around £20, well worth it especially if you have limited time to cook and prep meals.

Here are 5 healthy Slow Cooker recipes for you to try this Autumn:

Slow Cooker Chicken Curry and Rice 

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 Chicken breasts cut into cubes

1 red pepper cut into chunks

1 green pepper cut into chunks

1 large onion diced

400g potatoes peeled and cut into small chunks

2 handfuls of green beans

1 packet of Schwartz Slow Cookers Chicken Curry Recipe Mix

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

175g spinach

1 chicken oxo stock cube mixed with 1 tin (use the empty tin of tomatoes tin) of boiling water

half a packet of brown microwave rice per person

Method

1. Put the onion, peppers, potatoes and chicken in the slow cooker.
2. Mix the Schwartz curry mix with the tomatoes and add to the slow cooker, add the 1 tin of stock/water and mix well.
3. Cook for 7-8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Add the spinach for the last 5 minutes and stir through.
4. Serve with the rice.

Slow Cooker Dahl

Serves 4

Ingredients

300g split yellow peas – rinsed and washed

1 onion chopped

1 tin chopped tomatoes

3cm piece of fresh ginger grated

3tsp turmeric

1tsp cumin seeds

1tsp ground cumin

1 garlic clove crushed

1 garlic clove thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

200ml veg stock *Plus more for during cooking

1 hot green chilli

2tsp olive oil

*This goes well served with a wholemeal pitta or some brown rice/grains or a wholemeal flatbread/chapathi.

Method

1. Add the peas, onion, tomatoes, ginger, ground cumin, crushed garlic, bay leaves and stock and 3/4 of the chilli into the slow cooker, mix well and cook on high for 4 hours. *Keep an eye on it as you may need to add more stock, the peas do soak up the moisture!
2. Season well. Heat the oil in a non stick frying pan and add the whole cumin seeds and sliced garlic, fry until the garlic is golden and the cumin smells toasty.
3. Add the garlic/cumin seeds to the top of the dahl and serve.

Savoury Mince and Veggies

Serves 2

Ingredients

half tsp olive oil

250g of minced lean beef *Swap for Quorn mince for veggie option

1 large onion chopped

half a small swede or 2 turnips cut into small chunks

2 medium potatoes cut into 3cm chunks

4 carrots cut into 2cm chunks

1 leek chopped

2 beef oxo cubes

Enough boiling water to cover veg

2-3tbsp bisto gravy granules

****You can add any other veggies you have in the fridge to this too if you want too.

Method

1. Heat a large pan and add the beef mince, cook until all pink colour gone and the fat has all come out, drain in a colander and press out any excess fat. Leave to one side
2. In the same pan add the olive oil then the onion and cook for a few mins until softened
3. Put the mince in the slow cooker add the onion and the potato, carrots and leek, stir well, crumble in the oxo cubes and mix well.
4. Pour over the water and mix well, leave to cook on LOW for around 6-7 hours, mix the bisto with a little boiling water to make a paste and add it to the mince, mix well this should thicken it up a bit. Serve!

Pasta Bolognaise Slow Cooker Style

Serves 4

Ingredients

400g lean beef mince

2 crushed garlic cloves

half tspoon oregano

2 onions chopped

1 red pepper chopped

1 green pepper chopped

tin chopped tomatoes

1 carton passatta

2 beef oxo cubes

tablespoon tomato puree

1 carrot grated thinly

75g of dry wholemeal pasta per person

1tsp per person of parmesan

Method

5. put the slow cooker on low.

1. in a pan, put the mince and cook until browned, drain and drain any excess fat/water. Leave to one side.
2. Put the mince and all the other ingredients (except the pasta and parmesan) in the slow cooker, stir well, season and cook for 6-7 hours.
3. Cook the pasta and serve with the bolognaise and parmesan.

Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Stew

Serves 4

Ingredients

1tsp olive oil

2 onions chopped

1 red pepper sliced

1 green pepper sliced

2 garlic cloves crushed

2 medium potatoes peeled and chopped

4 chicken breasts around 125g per portion keep them whole or in big pieces

1 tin kidney beans drained and rinsed

1 tin sweetcorn drained

1 packet of fajita seasoning

1 veg/chicken stock cube made up with 500ml water

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1tsp chilli/chilli flakes – more or less depending on taste

Method

1. put everything in the slow cooker, mix well and cook on low for 6-7 hours. Serve!

Hope you enjoy these recipes and let me know how you get on when you try them!