27 Slow Cooker Recipes to Set and Forget for Busy Days

If there’s one kitchen appliance I rely on over and over again, it’s my slow cooker. I love being able to toss everything in, turn it on, and come back a few hours later with dinner basically done. That’s exactly why I put together this collection of my favorite dump-and-go crockpot recipes. They’ve made busy days a whole lot easier for me, and I hope they do the same for you.

(If you love slow cooker meals, I bet you also love easy sheet pan dinners and baked casseroles. I think we have that in common lol.)

Slow Cooker Cheesy BBQ Bacon Chicken Tortellini

This Slow Cooker Cheesy Bacon BBQ Chicken Tortellini is made with tender chicken that slowly cooks in a smoky barbecue sauce until it’s fall-apart soft, then gets mixed with cheesy tortellini, crispy bacon, and a rich, creamy cheddar sauce.

Slow Cooker Creamy Queso Chicken Pasta

This Slow Cooker Creamy Queso Chicken Pasta is made with tender chicken that slowly cooks in a rich, cheesy queso-style sauce made with cream cheese, heavy cream, and melted Monterey Jack and pepperjack cheese, creating a bold and creamy base that’s full of Tex-Mex flavor. Tossed with perfectly cooked rotini pasta.

Slow Cooker Cheesy Taco Potato Casserole

This Slow Cooker Cheesy Taco Potato Casserole is made with layers of seasoned ground beef, tender potatoes, creamy sour cream, zesty Rotel tomatoes, and plenty of melted cheddar cheese. This hearty casserole is perfect for a cozy weeknight dinner, casual gathering, or meal prep for the week.

Slow Cooker Chicken Paprikas

This Slow Cooker Chicken Paprikas is a comforting, creamy chicken dinner that’s packed with rich paprika flavor and tender bites of chicken. Everything cooks low and slow until perfectly juicy, then sour cream is stirred in for a smooth, velvety sauce. Serve it over egg noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes for an easy family meal that’s cozy, satisfying, and perfect for busy weeknights.

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Stew

This Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Stew is the comfort food made with tender chicken, hearty potatoes, carrots, celery, and a rich, creamy broth. It’s an easy set-it-and-forget-it dinner that’s perfect for busy weeknights, cozy fall and winter evenings, or whenever you need a warm meal the whole family will enjoy. Serve it with crusty bread or dinner rolls to soak up every spoonful.

Slow Cooker Garlic Parmesan Chicken and Potatoes

This Slow Cooker Garlic Parmesan Chicken and Potatoes is an easy, comforting dinner made with juicy chicken thighs, tender red potatoes, fresh garlic, Italian seasoning, butter, and Parmesan cheese. A one-pot meal that’s perfect for busy weeknights or cozy family dinners.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

This Crockpot Beef Stroganoff is an easy slow cooker dinner made with tender beef stew meat simmered in a rich and creamy mushroom sauce. Finished with cream cheese and sour cream, and served over egg noodles. Perfect for busy weeknights or cozy family dinners.

Slow Cooker Chicken Wild Rice Soup

This Slow Cooker Chicken Wild Rice Soup is a hearty, creamy soup loaded with tender shredded chicken, wild rice, fresh vegetables, and mushrooms in a rich homemade broth. It is an easy family dinner that is filling, comforting, and perfect for cold weather.

Crockpot Mississippi Pot Roast

This Crockpot Mississippi Pot Roast is a classic slow cooker comfort food recipe made with chuck roast, ranch seasoning, au jus gravy mix, butter, and pepperoncini peppers. Serve it over mashed potatoes, rice, or egg noodles for an easy family dinner that’s perfect for busy weeknights or cozy Sunday meals.

Slow Cooker Pizza Ravioli

This Slow Cooker Pizza Ravioli is made with layers of tender cheese ravioli, savory Italian sausage, pepperoni, rich marinara sauce, and gooey melted mozzarella, all cooked together in the slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Beef Fried Rice

This Slow Cooker Beef Fried Rice is an easy, family-friendly dinner made with tender slow-cooked beef, fluffy rice, colorful vegetables, scrambled eggs, and a savory garlic soy sauce. Perfect for busy weeknights, meal prep, or feeding a hungry family.

Slow Cooker Beer Cheese Sausage Pasta

This Slow Cooker Beer Cheese Sausage Pasta is made with smoky sausage, tender campanelle pasta, and a rich, creamy beer cheese sauce. Perfect for cozy weeknights, game day gatherings, or potluck dinners.

Slow Cooker Glazed Carrots

This Slow Cooker Glazed Carrots is a simple and delicious side dish made with tender carrots, butter, honey, brown sugar, and warm spices. Perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Sunday dinners.

Slow Cooker Manhattan Clam Chowder

This Slow Cooker Manhattan Clam Chowder is a hearty and easy seafood soup made with tender potatoes, vegetables, baby clams, tomatoes, and crispy bacon. It’s a simple dinner for busy weeknights or cozy weekends.

Crockpot Ham and Potato Soup

This Crockpot Ham and Potato Soup is a creamy, hearty slow cooker dinner made with tender potatoes, savory ham, carrots, celery, and a rich, creamy broth. It’s an easy comfort food recipe that’s perfect for busy weeknights, chilly days, or using up leftover ham.

Slow Cooker Clam Chowder

This Slow Cooker Clam Chowder is a creamy, comforting soup made with tender potatoes, savory bacon, clams, celery, onion, and garlic. It’s an easy slow cooker dinner that cooks mostly hands-off and is finished with a rich, creamy half-and-half mixture.

Slow Cooker Southern Green Beans

This Slow Cooker Southern Green Beans is a comforting Southern-style side dish made with tender green beans, potatoes, crispy bacon, onions, garlic, and savory seasonings. This an easy side dish for Sunday dinners, family meals, potlucks, and holiday gatherings.

Slow Cooker Creamed Corn

This Slow Cooker Creamed Corn is a creamy and comforting side dish made with sweet corn, cream cheese, butter, and half and half. It is easy to prepare and cooks right in the slow cooker, making it a simple choice for Thanksgiving, Christmas, family dinners, and potlucks.

Slow Cooker Copycat Panda Express Mushroom Chicken

This Slow Cooker Copycat Panda Express Mushroom Chicken is an easy takeout-inspired dinner made with tender chicken, mushrooms, zucchini, and a savory soy garlic sauce. Served over steamed rice or chow mein noodles.

Slow Cooker Chicken Minestrone Soup

This Slow Cooker Chicken Minestrone Soup is a hearty, comforting soup made with tender chicken, fresh vegetables, kidney beans, cannellini beans, pasta, and a rich tomato broth. A warm, filling family dinner that’s easy to prepare and perfect for chilly nights or busy weeknights.

Crockpot Sweet and Sour Meatballs

These Crockpot Sweet and Sour Meatballs are tender meatballs cooked in a simple sweet and tangy sauce with pineapple, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce. Perfect for parties, potlucks, holidays, or family gatherings.

Slow Cooker Cheesy Caesar Chicken & Potatoes

This Slow Cooker Cheesy Caesar Chicken & Potatoes is a creamy chicken dinner made with tender chicken, baby potatoes, Caesar dressing, Parmesan, cream cheese, and melted provolone. It’s an easy one-pot meal for busy weeknights when you want a warm, filling dinner with little hands-on prep.

Slow Cooker Beef & Dumplings

This Slow Cooker Beef & Dumplings is a comforting slow cooker dinner made with tender beef, vegetables, rich brown gravy, and soft, fluffy biscuit dumplings. It’s an easy, filling meal for busy weeknights or cozy family dinners.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Gravy

This slow cooker chicken and gravy is a dinner recipe made with tender chicken that cooks low and slow in a creamy, seasoned gravy until it’s fall-apart soft and easy to shred. Perfect for soaking into mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.

Slow Cooker Creamy Meatballs

This Slow Cooker Creamy Meatballs recipe is a family-friendly dinner recipe made with tender meatballs, a rich mushroom sauce, and simple pantry ingredients. Perfect for meal prepping and leftovers reheat well.

Crockpot Angel Chicken

This Crockpot Angel Chicken is a creamy slow cooker chicken pasta recipe made with tender chicken, cream cheese, butter, and a savory Italian-style sauce that cooks all day and turns into a cozy, comforting meal. It’s basically a dump, cook, and serve kind of dinner that anyone can pull off with no stress.

Crockpot Swamp Potatoes

These Crockpot Swamp Potatoes are an easy slow-cooker potato and sausage dinner made with baby potatoes, smoked sausage, green beans, ranch seasoning, Cajun spice, butter, and chicken broth, all cooked together in one pot for a cozy, hearty meal that comes together with almost no effort at all.

Crockpot Ravioli Lasagna

This Crockpot Beef Ravioli Casserole is an easy crockpot pasta casserole made with ground beef, pasta sauce, ravioli, and melted cheese. It’s a hearty slow cooker recipe that is great for dinner or serves as a main dish at special gatherings.

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Chili

This Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Chili is a creamy, hearty slow cooker soup recipe made with ground chicken, white beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, corn, ranch seasoning, and buffalo wing sauce.

Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup

This crockpot chicken gnocchi soup is a creamy, comforting slow cooker meal made with tender chicken, soft gnocchi, and simple veggies. It’s an easy dinner that’s perfect for busy weeknights.

Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops

These Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops are a simple and comforting slow cooker dinner made with tender pork chops, creamy soups, and flavorful ranch seasoning. Perfect for busy days when you want a hearty homemade meal without a lot of effort.

Slow Cooker Turkey Pot Pie

This Slow Cooker Turkey Pot Pie is one of those easy comfort food recipes that makes dinner stress-free. You toss everything in the crockpot, let it do the work, and instead of a traditional crust, this pot pie is topped with buttery stuffing, making it extra hearty and perfect for weeknights or even when you’re working through Thanksgiving leftovers.

Crockpot Slow Cooker Rump Roast

This Crockpot Slow Cooker Rump Roast is an easy, comforting meal made with tender beef, baby potatoes, and carrots, all cooked low and slow in a flavorful broth. Ideal for busy weeknights or cozy family dinners!

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

This Slow Cooker Pepper Steak is an easy, hearty dinner made with tender beef, colorful bell peppers, and a flavorful sauce—all cooked low and slow for a stress-free meal the whole family will love.

Crockpot Soy Honey Garlic Chicken

This Crockpot Soy Honey Garlic Chicken is tender, juicy, and full of sweet and savory flavor—an easy, hands-off dinner the whole family will love!

Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

This Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef is rich, saucy, and a little sweet and savory. This version of my Mongolian beef uses flank steak, which gets super tender in the slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Crack Chicken

This Slow Cooker Crack Chicken is creamy, cheesy, and packed with ranch flavor and crispy bacon. It’s an easy, family-friendly meal that cooks low and slow—great for busy days. Serve it on buns, with chips, or over mashed potatoes for a comforting dinner everyone will love!

Crockpot Jambalaya

Easy Crockpot Jambalaya made with chicken, sausage, and shrimp. A flavorful slow cooker meal for busy weeknights or cozy fall dinners.

Crockpot Birria Tacos

These Crockpot Birria Tacos are one of my favorite slow cooker dinners when I know we’ll be busy all day. With just 20 minutes to prep and the crockpot doing the rest, it’s a great make-ahead meal for the whole family.

Crockpot Butter Chicken

This Crockpot Butter Chicken is a cozy, creamy dish made with tender chicken and warm spices. It’s an easy set-it-and-forget-it meal that’s great for busy weeknights.

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Soy Spareribs

These Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Soy Spareribs are fall-off-the-bone tender, sweet, and savory with just the right amount of sticky glaze—made with simple pantry ingredients and zero fuss!

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Pork Roast

This Tender Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Pork Roast is one of the lazy dinner ideas that you can just prepare in just 5 minutes and let the slow cooker do the rest. It’s great for family dinners and leftovers.

Crockpot Summer Vegetable Soup

This Crockpot Summer Vegetable Soup is fresh, light, and loaded with garden veggies. An easy dump-and-go recipe that’s perfect for a healthy lunch or dinner!

Slow Cooker Minestrone

This Slow Cooker Minestrone is a hearty slow cooker vegetable soup recipe made with simple pantry ingredients and fresh vegetables. It’s a dump-and-go crockpot soup recipe to enjoy on chilly days.

Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup

This Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup is a cozy slow cooker soup recipe made with tender meatballs, fresh vegetables, pasta, spinach, and flavorful chicken broth. Everything cooks together in one pot (which is what I love about a slow cooker), making it the perfect hands-off meal to serve for dinner.

Slow Cooker Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

This Slow Cooker Vegan Butternut Squash Soup is creamy, cozy, and full of flavor—with just a handful of wholesome ingredients and almost no effort. Great for fall dinners or holiday meals!

Crockpot Creamy and Cheesy Potatoes

Slow Cooker Cheesy Potatoes are creamy, cheesy, and comforting — the perfect side dish for holidays, potlucks, or busy weeknights. 

Crockpot BBQ Sausages

These Crockpot BBQ Sausage Bites are sweet, smoky, and tangy—made with just 4 simple ingredients! Perfect as an easy party appetizer or a side dish for a casual family dinner.

Crockpot Cranberry Cocktail Sausages

These Cranberry Cocktail Sausages are the perfect sweet and tangy appetizer! With just three ingredients—little smokies, cranberry sauce, and chili sauce—and minimal prep, this slow cooker recipe is a crowd-pleaser for any occasion.

Slow Cooker Spinach Artichoke Dip

This warm and gooey dip is ideal for sharing at parties, game days, or cozy nights in—serve it with crackers, bread, or veggies for a deliciously satisfying snack!