Easy slow cooker recipes (UK recipes)

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I’m a BIG fan of using my slow cooker. I love the ease of loading it up in the morning, leaving it cooking for the day and then serving up a delicious and cheap meal.

Easy slow cooker recipes, UK ones, are my absolute favourite. Anything that takes 10 minutes or less to prepare and then cooks all day is great for me!

If slow cooker recipes aren’t your thing then be sure to check out my mealtime inspiration post for other recipes.

I personally love coming home to a nice warm dinner waiting in the slow cooker. When I’m working from home I can’t wait for the timer to go off so I can enjoy my latest creation! Be sure to check out my slow cooker tips while you’re here too.

My favourite easy slow cooker recipes (UK recipes)

Slow cooker chicken recipes:

Slow cooker hunters chicken

Hunters Chicken is traditionally the same as chicken cacciatore, a dish served ‘hunters style’. In the UK this dish is often a chicken breast wrapped in bacon, covered with BBQ sauce and topped with grated cheese.

This is my own recipe and it is the same as the hunters chicken you will find in pubs. I’ve tested it a few times, in a few ways, and this is my favourite way of cooking it.

You can prepare this in advance, and leave it in the fridge, or you could even cook it from frozen if you prefer. This has to be one of my favourite slow cooker chicken breast recipes!

Slow cooker chicken and prawn paella recipe

This slow cooker chicken and prawn paella is ready in around 2.5 hours and tastes almost as good as a paella that has been slaved over for hours!

There is minimal effort and it tastes absolutely delicious! It requires a fairly small amount of ingredients, for a paella, and tastes absolutely delicious with the addition of the chorizo.

Slow cooker Chicken Tikka Masala 

I love making fakeaways. This is a great way to enjoy those takeaway classics you love with fewer calories, for less money and without having to wait for a stranger to knock on the door!

It takes just a few minutes to put the ingredients for this chicken tikka masala together, and then it cooks itself over the day. You can serve with microwave rice if you’re looking to save some time or you can portion off your slow cooker and make slow cooker rice instead.

Slow cooker chicken saag curry (AD)

I decided to cook a slow cooker chicken saag curry recently after picking a huge crop of spinach that we grew down our allotment.

I was really proud of the spinach that we grew and wanted to use it up before it went to waste in the bottom of the fridge.

Sometimes I’m great at growing fruit & vegetables but not so great at remembering to use up the produce that we harvest and bring home!

Making a chicken saag slow cooker dinner is SUPER simple and you can have it all ready to go in just a few minutes!

Spinach is a really versatile vegetable, in my opinion, as you can add a handful to many different slow cooker recipe and it will give you a boost of vitamins and add a bit of vibrancy to the dish too!

Slow cooker chicken nachos

We love to make family style meals, where people can just serve up the amount that they want to eat. This nachos recipe is ideal for that and is great with nacho cheese sauce too.

You make the filling in the slow cooker, which is soft and delicious, and then you add to crispy tortilla chips and you can either eat as it is, for convenience, or you can give it a little grill/broil, or even a microwave.

It is crispy, yet soft and delicious and if you grill the cheese it will make it a little more special too!

Slow cooker chicken curry – Quick and simple!

A curry is a real hearty meal, that brings a load of flavour to your dinner table.

This particular curry is quick to prepare, simple too and the ingredients are cheap. Also, despite the appearance it is quite healthy, especially when compared to buying a takeaway.

You need minimal ingredients for this recipe and many of the herbs and spices are just ones that most people have in already, especially if you cook frequently like I do.

I love to serve this with my 3 ingredient flatbreads, that don’t even require yeast!

Easy slow cooker chicken casserole recipe

This easy slow cooker chicken casserole recipe is ALWAYS a winner. It is a great way to enjoy lots of vegetables, is frugal and takes just minutes to prepare too.

You can spend just 5-10 minutes getting this ready and in your slow cooker pot and then leave it to cook for the whole day.

It smells absolutely incredible and goes great with soft white flour rolls, bread and butter or even dumplings!

Slow cooker chicken mushroom pie filling recipe

This slow cooker chicken and mushroom pie filling is PERFECT for winter days! Today I want to share with you one of my easiest recipes ever! You need just a couple of minutes to throw all of the ingredients together and you can use some canned items too, to help you save money further.

You can use leftover wine, if you’re the type of person who has leftover wine, or stock, if you’re not. This is a really easy recipe, that can be adapted, and you can make it super frugal too. If you make my easy shortcrust pastry that is an even better way to make this a cheap dinner.

While I have you here, and before I share some more recipes, these are my favourite slow cooker recipe books:

Slow cooker beef recipes:

Slow cooker beef stroganoff

I’m a real lover of a rich, creamy dish, and I rarely make these in the slow cooker as I find that they need more care and attention than just throwing everything in to the crockpot and getting going. However, this slow cooker beef stroganoff has to be the exception for me!

I love that you just spend a few minutes 30 minutes before serving preparing the mushrooms and making the creamy sauce and then it is good to go!

Slow cooker beef chilli

Slow cooker beef chilli is a real Winter warming dish and it is very straightforward to prepare.

I personally let this cook for around 8 hours on low. You could cook this in 4 hours on high or leave it even longer on low if you are going to be busy. It is a really forgiving dish that needs no attention.

This chilli is ideal for freezing. You can prepare it in advance, and freeze it from fresh, or you can cook it and then freeze it for re-heating. I love to prepare this for the freezer and freeze from fresh, as then I can just defrost overnight in the fridge and tip it right into the slow cooker.

Slow cooker spaghetti bolognese

When I want to make something super simple, but packed full of vegetables, then I love to make this spaghetti bolognese. You can cook the spaghetti in the slow cooker, though personally I feel it is nicer when you cook it separately and then add the bolognese upon serving.

What I love about this meal is that it can be used in a favourite of ways once there are leftovers. I can turn it into a slow cooker beef chilli with some leftovers, or just something like this mince pasta bake.

Slow cooker beef enchilada mix

I make lots of slow cooker beef dishes, and beef mince recipes in particular, but this is a pretty new one for me!

This enchilada mix is ideal for using from fresh, or even for portioning up and freezing. If you’re super organised you can batch make the enchiladas and then freeze them individually for a super simple lunch at work, or on the go.

It takes just a few minutes to throw together the ingredients for this and then it cooks itself and you just need to put the enchiladas together and finish off in the oven for 10-15 minutes to get a crispy top.

Slow cooker beef keema curry – it tastes SO authentic!

My husband is a real fan of keema curry so I decided to make a slow cooker beef keema as a nice treat for him. This is such a flavoursome curry that I think works really well with quite plain sides.

We love to enjoy this with Ninja Foodi white rice and 3 ingredient flatbreads (no yeast version!),

It’s super simple, and you can use beef or lamb and keep the rest of the ingredients the same. You could even use a Quorn, or similar, vegetarian or vegan mince and still experience the wonderful flavours.

Slow cooker beef casserole – super lazy version!

his slow cooker beef casserole takes just 5 minutes to get ready and you can even cook dumplings directly in the pot too.

You can make this for under £5, serving 3-4 hungry people. Obviously, this depends on the appetite and the quality of the ingredients that you buy. If your budget is small then you do what you can.

I love to cook this on slow all day, as it makes my home smell amazing. Then, near the end of the cooking time, I will place dumplings in for the final hour. I usually make them on the smaller side, so they don’t take too long to cook, and this is a real Winter warming dinner!

Slow cooker cottage pie

This cottage pie filling takes just over 5 minutes to get into the slow cooker. Once there cook for 4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.

30-45 minutes before topping the slow cooker cottage pie add the flour, mixed with a little water, and let it cook further.

You can either top this with mash and let it cook further in the slow cooker or you can top with mash, score some lines into the top and then finish off in the oven for that perfect crispy top.

Other slow cooker dinners:

Slow cooker BBQ Ribs

I’ve been testing out lots of takeaway style recipes in my slow cooker recently and this slow cooker BBQ ribs recipe has become a new family favourite!

This is perfect served with slow cooker rice and goes great as either a side dish, appetiser or as part of a main course.

Slow cooker pulled pork or Ninja Foodi pulled pork

We managed to pick up a pork joint at just £2.99 a kilo in Aldi recently, which was a fantastic price!

To celebrate I decided to finally have a go at making pulled pork in the slow cooker. It’s a super simple recipe, requiring minimal ingredients, and you just leave it to cook and do it’s own thing for most of the day.

When it is finished you just need to give it a shred, you can even just use two forks, and then you’ve got a wonderful pulled pork that is great as a main meal or even just as a sandwich filling if you want something a little different!

Sausage cassoulet – throw it in the slow cooker!

This lovely sausage cassoulet was prepared in my slow cooker on low for around 8 hours. The first 30 minutes I cooked it on high (as per the instructions on my particular slow cooker).

You can make this recipe with vegetarian or meat based sausages, and just about any sausage will work for this. You could even use sausage meat if you want something a little different, just roll them into meatball sized lumps first!

Slow cooker sausage casserole

When I want a super simple but hearty meal I love to throw this in my slow cooker. I love to use chunks of sausage, and sliced vegetables, to make it all quite straight forward. This also makes it easier to serve up the meal and make sure everyone gets a nice amount of sausage.

Slow cooker vegetarian lasagne recipe also my Slow cooker meat lasagne recipe [GF]

We love lasagne in our home. It is a fantastic way to batch cook, and save money.

I typically make up a huge load of mince, vegetarian or meat, and add to it multiple vegetables and anything that needs using up from the bottom of the fridge.

My favourite vegetables to add to a lasagne are onions, celery, peppers, mushrooms and grated carrots. When making up a large batch of vegetarian or meat mince we are able to then turn this into a 15 minute spaghetti bolognese, slow cooker spaghetti bolognese, a slow cooker chilli or this slow cooker vegetarian lasagne.

It is very easily adaptable, depending on dietary requirements, and you can even make a gluten-free slow cooker lasagne with ease.

Slow cooker roast dinner meats:

Slow cooker whole chicken

When we’re run down, busy with life or just want a hearty meal this slow cooker whole chicken is an absolute winner.

It helps us have a delicious roast dinner, we can cook some lovely soft veggies alongside it and the chicken even produces its own stock, which I love to use as a base for a good onion gravy.

We love to sit down to a family roast dinner but often don’t want the hassle of having to prepare everything in the same 2 hour window.

With this slow cooker whole chicken I’m able to prepare this in the morning, throw a load of veggies in and then we just prepare sage and onion stuffing, yorkshire mix and air fryer roast potatoes, OXO roast potatoes or Marmite roast potatoes and in 30 minutes from getting home from a family walk we’ve got a lovely dinner!

Slow cooker gammon joint with balsamic & orange glaze

This slow cooker gammon joint, with balsamic and orange juice glaze, is a delicious roast dinner accompaniment. I can pop it on in the morning and then we can enjoy a family day together before serving it up at dinnertime!

Cooking a roast joint in the slow cooker is the perfect way to enjoy a lazy family walk, or trip out together, and still avoid the lure of the takeaway once you get home!

Slow cooker roast beef

Now I know, I know, is it really a roast beef IF it’s not been cooked in the oven? Slow cooker pot roast, slow cooker beef joint, whatever you want to call it, this is the recipe for you!

It’s VERY simple to prepare, tastes delicious and makes a hearty Sunday roast for the whole family.

Best of all you can cook a variety of veg in the same pot as this beef pot roast and cut down the time you spend in the kitchen. Be sure to use the lovely stock for a roast beef gravy!

Slow cooker side dishes:

Slow cooker mashed potatoes

This creamy, delicious side dish is frugal, simple and absolutely packed full of flavour too. You can use this as a side dish or even as a topping for things like fish pie with leeks or cottage pie.

Jacket potatoes in the slow cooker – so simple!

Recently I decided that I would try making jacket potatoes in the slow cooker – and they were so straightforward! I’ve made these fresh, and I have also prepared a batch and froze them.

You only need to reheat these in the oven for around 25 minutes, or in the microwave for just a few minutes, and you’ve got a tasty lunch side dish to enjoy!

Slow cooker chorizo loaded potatoes

These slow cooker chorizo loaded potatoes take just a few minutes to prepare, and then they cook themselves in the slow cooker.

I love this as a hearty side, and the salt hit of this goes really well with just about any of my slow cooker dishes. We’ve also enjoyed this recently with slow cooker hunters chicken and absolutely loved it!

ALL of the slow cooker recipes on this website have been cooked using a Ninja Foodi OL750UK, or a previous Ninja multi-cooker model, but you can use ANY slow cooker, as timings should be very similar.

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