Tis’ the season for cold weather and the holidays are just around the corner. You know what this means? Time for tasty crockpot recipes! As the temperature drops, it becomes more infuriating to venture out of your warm home and scour the area for food. Why even leave the house if it’s below 40 degrees? Honestly. That’s why crockpot recipes are so ideal for colder weather. If you don’t have a crockpot, you should get one! They are inexpenive and conveinent. In fact, you can even buy a crock pot from Walmart for $17. What a steal! Throw food together before classes or work and come home to a ready-to-be-served meal! Here are a few of my “must-tries” when it comes to hearty, crockpot recipes:
Slow Cooked Chili
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. lean ground beef
- 2- 16oz cans of kidneys beans
- 2- 14 1/2oz cans of diced tomatoes (undrained)
- 1- 8oz can tomato sauce
- 2 medium onions (chopped)
- 1 green pepper (chopped)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 2 tablespoons of chili powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
Directions:
- In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.
- Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker. Add the next 9 ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. If desired, top individual servings with cheese and green onions.
Biscuits and Gravy
Ingredients:
- 1 lb of pork sausage
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- ¼ cup of flour
- 3 cups of milk
- 1 can refrigerator biscuits
- Salt and pepper
Directions:
- In a large skillet, take your brown pork sausage and break into crumbles.
- Remove sausage from skillet and into a bowl, leaving the fat in the skillet
- Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet and melt over medium heat.
- Stir in the flour to create roux and cook until golden brown.
- Whisk in the milk, salt, and pepper.
- Heat the milk mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly until it comes to a boil. The mixture will thicken. Remove from heat.
- In the large crockpot, pour in the gravy. Dump in the cooked sausage and stir.
- Open a can of refrigerator biscuits and place them one at a time on top of gravy to form a top crust.
- Cover and cook on high for 2 hours.
Beef Stew
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. beef chuck, cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- Salt and pepper
- 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 lb small white potatoes (halved)
- ½ lb mushrooms (halved)
- 3 medium carrots (cut into chunks)
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup red wine
- 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 1 teaspoon of thyme
- ½ cup parsley (chopped)
Directions:
- Toss beef with paprika, 1 ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper. Coat in flour and shake off excess.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the beef and cook until it begins to brown about 3 minutes.
- Continue to cook, turning the beef for about 3 more minutes.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer to a slow-cooker; add potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, and onions.
- Heat remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add tomato paste and stir for about 1 minute.
- Add wine, flour, beef broth, thyme, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper; continue simmering about 4 minutes.
- Pour gravy into slow-cooker, cover and cook on low for about 8 hours.
I also enjoy Mac N Cheese and Chicken Tortilla Soup in the crockpot as well. Check those out if you’re feeling even more ambitious.
If you want more wonderful places to find other yummy crockpot recipes, check out: