As the mercury rises, keep things cool in the kitchen. Plan ahead and put that slow cooker to work for an easy and delicious summer meal.
One of the wonders of the slow cooker is that it never goes out of season. While it’s an obvious go-to during fall and winter when you crave soups and stews, it’s also a great helper in the summertime kitchen. Who else will cook all the live long day while you go play at the beach or pool?
The slow cooker does the job.
And if you want to keep the heat out of the kitchen, move your slow cooker to the laundry room, garage, or porch. Supper will simmer away and you won’t even notice it’s happening!
For summertime, focus on slow cooked meals that can be assembled into cooler serving items, like salads, sandwiches, tacos. While chili counts as a soup, if you serve it with cheese, sour cream, salsa, and a side of chips, it doesn’t feel so much so.
Can’t stand the heat? Check out some of our favorites for getting me outta the kitchen.
Chicken Recipes
- How to Cook a Chicken in the Slow Cooker
- Sweet and Sour Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
- Chicken Crockpot Enchiladas
Beef Recipes
- How to Cook a Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker
- Bean and Meat Crockpot Enchilada
- Shredded Beef
- Slow Cooker Beef Ragu with Mushrooms and Peppers
- Slow Cooked Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Pork Recipes
- Cumin Lime Pork Loin
- Sauerkraut & Spareribs
- Wild Boar Italian Sausage and Spicy Tomato Sauce
- Easy Slow Cooker Pork Tacos
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Deep dish pizzas, chocolate cake, and lasagne. We don’t eat a whole lot of meat and lean toward vegetarian most days. Any vegetarian slow cooker ideas would be welcome! I also like to do carmelized onions in the slow cooker during summer. Who wants to stand over a hot stove, stirring, for an hour? The flavor is a little more one-dimensional than the traditional version, but they are still really good.
I’d be curious what your favorite vegetarian meals are. That’s an area I need to explore more that isn’t full of beans and cheese.