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    Home » Slow Cooker

    Cheap Crock Pot Meals You’ll Actually Love

    Published: Oct 19, 2021 by Jessica Fisher

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    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more details, please see our disclosure policy.
    collage of delicious and cheap crock pot meals.

    Cheap Crock Pot Meals are a dime a dozen. The interwebs is full of them, but not all of them deliver. Follow these tips and tricks so that your slow cooker recipes are worth your time and effort — every time.

    From Slow Cooker Chocolate Cheesecake (yes, it’s a meal) to Crockpot Enchiladas, set yourself up for success with these foolproof strategies.

    Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

    table set with casserole crock pot of enchiladas with toppings, rice, and salad. this …
    Jump to:
    • Benefits
    • Tips for Success
    • Recommended Recipes

    Do you have a love-hate relationship with the slow cooker? It can be nice to fix it and forget it, but often cheap crock pot meals end up tasting the same with a rather homogeneous appearance. As my friend Kay puts it, “Hey look! Brown.”

    Unfortunate true story.

    Many recipes do simmer down their ingredients to look the same, but they don’t have to. In fact, you can make quite a few dishes in the slow cooker that can actually be better than their oven or stovetop counterparts.

    Benefits

    There are innumerable benefits to using your crock pot to prep meals. Consider what takes a long time to cook? What does your family like? Which recipes can you make in bulk? What is designed for slow cooking or braising?

    Not only does the slow cooker prep food when you’re busy doing other things, it also allows you the freedom to make many commercial pantry staples for just pennies.

    Consider chicken stock or dry beans. Happily, the slow cooker does a fantastic job at prepping these so you can enjoy great meals for low cost without having to buy pricier convenience items.

    Due to their large size, slow cookers make it easy to prep large batches of food and freeze extra for later. Soup, stews, chilis, beans, and sauces are cheap crock pot meals that can be made in bulk easily so that you can stash the extra away for another time.

    Slow cookers also do well braising, which means you can load up on inexpensive, though tough cuts of meat, knowing that you’ll make them delicious in the slow cooker.

    Tips for Success

    Avoid dump and go. While dump dinners may sound nice, they don’t often deliver in terms of taste and texture. A quick sauté can give your slow cooker meat dishes a lot more flavor and better texture.

    Don’t fill the pot more than ⅔ full. You want the machine to operate at its best. Over- or under filling it doesn’t allow it to do that. Use the size machine that matches the recipe.

    Double check that you’ve plugged in the machine and set to the right temperature. No one wants to come home to a rotten, uncooked dinner. No one.

    Don’t overcook it. Check it for doneness at the lower cook time. Use a meat thermometer to see how hot it really is.

    Keep track. When you find a cheap crock pot meal that your family loves, take notes. Keep a catalog of recipes you love, noting where to find the recipe, how long it takes to cook, and if you can freeze it. Bonus points for taking a picture and tracking what your family likes best about the dish.

    slice of cheesecake on plate in front of slow cooker.

    Recommended Recipes

    Here on Good Cheap Eats, we care about the good, but we also care about the cheap. Slow cookers can help us do both.

    Today I’ve rounded up these Good Cheap Crock Pot Meals to save you money: 

    • Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce
    • Crock Pot Hot Chocolate
    • Slow Cooker Potatoes
    • Turkey and Rice Soup
    • Spicy Pork Chili with Pumpkin (91 cents/serving)
    • Shredded Beef Tacos
    • Hot Turkey Pesto Sandwiches
    • Slow Cooker Chocolate Cheesecake
    • Mushroom Beef Stew with Kalamata Olives
    • How to Make Stock From Turkey
    • Shredded Beef Recipe (Crock Pot or Instant Pot)
    • How to Prepare Freezer Crockpot Meals
    • Are you ready for Crocktoberfest?
    • Instant Pot French Dip Sandwiches
    • Instant Pot Refried Beans (17 cents/cup)
    • Instant Pot Italian Beef Sandwich Recipe ($2.14 each)

    This post was originally published on September 21, 2011. It has been updated for content and clarity.

    « Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins (19 cents each!)
    Easy Chicken Stir Fry »
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. robbie @ going green mama

      September 27, 2011 at 4:02 am

      Fabulous! I am a bit behind on my reading this week, but I’ve been on the hunt for good crock pot recipes. Will be bookmarking these!

      Reply
    2. Kristi

      September 22, 2011 at 2:19 pm

      I’m not sure this is my favorite crock pot meal, but it is plain and simple. I put potatoes (whatever variety you prefer and for however many people you are serving) quartered in the bottom of the crock pot. Next, I add sliced onion, salt and pepper, sliced carrots, and boneless, skinless chicken pieces on top. Pour approximately 1 cup of chicken broth over all and cook on high for 4 hours. I like to put Italian seasoning on the chicken and sometimes I add green beans the last hour or so. We like to mash up the potatoes on our plate and put butter and salt on them. Nothing fancy, but it’s quick, economical, and my family loves it.

      Reply
    3. Christine A

      September 22, 2011 at 2:18 pm

      The Crockpot is one of my favorite things!!!! Here is a real easy recipe I go to about once a week:
      Crockpot Chicken Tacos:
      1 – 16 oz jar of salsa (your choice)
      2lbs chicken frozen
      Cook for 6 – 8 hours.
      You can experiment with the amount of salsa and chicken. The chicken just falls apart and shreds easily. I always make enough for tacos one night and save the left overs to make enchiladas.

      Reply
    4. Rivki Locker

      September 22, 2011 at 11:53 am

      thanks for sharing these recipes. I just increased my hours out of the house and I need to make more crock pot dinners. What a treat to come home to dinner bubbling and ready to serve!

      Reply
    5. Ellen

      September 22, 2011 at 8:35 am

      I’m waiting with great excitement for those slow cooker freezer packet recipes!

      Signed,
      Postpartum with a 5 week old and 2 boys under the age of 5 in N.C. =)

      Reply
    6. Courtney

      September 22, 2011 at 8:14 am

      Thanks for this! I just pulled my crock pot out this week – am craving fall food and can’t wait to try some of these.

      Reply
    7. Patti

      September 22, 2011 at 7:40 am

      I love crock pot cooking! Yesterday I cooked Lasagna in the crock pot for the first time. I am cleaning out my freezer so I used cut up meatballs with spaghetti sauce and spices in one mixture, mozzarella and ricotta cheese in another mixture, and the lasagna noodles (uncooked). I layered it all the night before, adding Parmesan cheese in the layers. I cooked it for about 4 hours on low. YUM!! I also love to make rotisserie chickens in the crock pot. And I cook up dried beans so I have packages of black beans and red beans in the freezer. I can’t wait to see the other recipes as I am in the mood for some slow cooking!!!

      Reply
    8. Tammy @ Skinny Mom's Kitchen

      September 22, 2011 at 7:28 am

      This is perfect timing…as usual!! I just bought a slow cooker and looking for a bunch of recipes to start crocking this month 🙂

      Reply
    9. Queen of the House

      September 22, 2011 at 5:51 am

      LOVE using my crock pot! 🙂 Thanks for simple recipes!

      Reply
    10. Aimee @ ShugarySweets

      September 22, 2011 at 4:36 am

      Yum, my favorite subject, crockpots. I love new ideas, thanks!!

      Reply
    11. Susie's Homemade

      September 22, 2011 at 4:35 am

      I love slow cooking! My Girl Scout service area made me their food editor for their newsletter and I publish all slow cooker meals. I called it “What to Cook on Meeting Nights”. At the end of the year, I put all the recipes in a cookbook and handed it out to the leaders. I get the same job this year too!

      Reply
    12. Jen Blacker

      September 22, 2011 at 4:32 am

      Mmm thank you for sharing. I love using my slow cooker!

      Reply
    13. Micha

      September 21, 2011 at 9:03 pm

      Sometimes simple is best, especially when they are family favorites.

      Reply
      • Debbie

        September 22, 2011 at 4:29 am

        These recipes look great!
        I have noticed that stews taste MUCH better if you dredge the meat first in a salt/flour mixture, then brown it on all sides before adding it to the crockpot. I know this doesn’t help with the stew packet concept, but I think the difference will be worth it!

        Reply

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