Beef Stew

With the help of a crockpot, you can put in minimal effort to create a thrifty and delicious meal for the whole family. The best crockpot recipes are hardly recipes at all; simply throw in as little as two ingredients and let them cook away while you are at work or attending to other responsibilities. These five quick and easy ideas are the most popular crockpot entrees. With as few as two-or-three ingredients, these ideas are economical but the slow-cooked meals will still taste impressive.

Three Ingredient Crockpot Soup

Beef Stew

Some of the best crockpot recipes only have three ingredients! Soups are a great example of three ingredient crockpot recipes. Why buy canned tomato soup when you can make your own in the crockpot? Simply take a pound or two of fresh chopped tomatoes, 1 chopped onion and combine with a pint of chicken or vegetable stock. Simmer for 2-3 hours on low heat. Then puree with a hand blender or blend in batches. You can leave out the onion and/or add fresh chopped basil while cooking. If you like a creamy tomato soup, simply stir in some milk before serving. For more three ingredient crockpot recipes, give French Onion soup a try.

Whole Crockpot Chicken

Slow-cooking chicken in the crockpot with most crockpot chicken recipes has the added benefit of creating delicious, homemade chicken broth. Anyone who makes broth will tell you that store-bought broth just cannot compare to homemade. You can use the chicken for a number of crockpot chicken recipes, while freezing the broth in 1 cup batches for future use. To cook chicken and make broth, Cut a 3 ½ lb. chicken into pieces (including giblets) and cover with water in crockpot (about 4-5 cups). Add celery, garlic, onion, carrot, and fresh parsley. Season with salt and pepper and cook on low overnight or for 10-12 hours. Skim fat off the top of the broth, remove chicken and separate broth into 1 cup batches.

Crockpot Pulled Pork

Pulled pork is a classic dish for picnics and family dinners. With the help of the crockpot, you can make easily make a large amount of meat to serve on burger buns or rolls. For the easiest pulled pork crockpot recipe, simply combine two cups of your favorite BBQ sauce and 4 pounds of pork butt in your crockpot. Make sure meat is coated on all sides, cover and cook on high for 5 ½ hours. 

Crockpot White Chicken Chili

White chili, made with chicken instead of beef, is a delicious, healthy and economical dish to make in the crockpot. For the cheapest crockpot chili, use dry beans as they are perfectly suited to slow-simmering in the crockpot. Cover a pound of northern beans and chopped onion with chicken broth and simmer in the crockpot for 3 hours on low heat. Once soft, add chicken, chopped vegetables and herbs and simmer for another hour. 

Heart Crockpot Beef Stew

Heart crockpot beef stew is another easy way to feed the family with minimal effort and great taste. Simply cover a pound of stew beef and chopped vegetables (carrot, onion and potato) with beef broth (water and beef bouillon cubes) and cook on low for 6-8 hours. You can also add garlic and/or herbs such as bay leaves, thyme, or rosemary. Experiment with what works best for your favorite hearty crockpot beef stew.

5 Quick and Easy Ways to Cook With Your Crockpot

Caley Walsh is an editor for the recipe and cooking website, http://www.RecipeLion.com Find tens of thousands of free recipes, cooking tips, weekly meal planners and more. Reader favorites include Crockpot Recipes, Pork Chop recipes, Budget Friendly Recipes and Chicken Casserole Recipes.

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