Summer Crockpot Recipes

mominwestlake

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
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731
I love to use my crockpot and it will be a moneysaver during this busy season of baseball games. The only problem is that my dh thinks that the type of meal cooked in the crockpot is for winter- like stew or chili. So, does anyone have any easy crockpot recipes for the summertime? Or any type of meal that can be made ahead or made quickly. I don't want to resort to picking up dinner.
 
I have made a whole chicken in it - I take the skin off & place the whole chicken in my crockpot - no liquid & cook it on low for 6-8 hours - very moist chicken that we can either eat as is or I can add it to other stuff. Yesterday I tried it with an italian dressing marinade, & it came out quite tasty.

Stephanie O'Dea has a great cookbook out, as well as a great blog - she's from CA so alot of her recipes are not heavy chili, etc. She makes some mean Mexican too... Google her to find her blog...

I love coming home to dinner already made, expecially with sports a couple of nights a week...
 
I like chicken with BBQ sauce. I put potatoes on top of the chicken and let them bake all day. Then just add a salad.

We also like the chicken with Italian dressing. I use left overs of that to put in a salad for day 2.
 
Check out this lady's blog, as she decided a few years back to use her slow cooker for 365 days in a row. She has some great recipes and even reviews of the one's that didn't work. I did our Easter Ham in the slow cooker, and this weekend I'm making a Peanut Butter Cup Cake in the crock pot, so you can see the diversity in her recipes. Great site, and my DW has gotten hooked on it as well.

We're in the same boat as well with summer sports, and can always find something good and seasonal to cook on those busy days. Good luck with it!
 

We have the same problem. We do tons of soups, but summer, when it would be most useful not to heat up the kitchen I aven't found many. We do the chicken with barbeque, but that is about it. I will check those blogs.
 
Subbing popcorn::

But, I have one to throw out there too....chicken fajitas. I toss in a few frozen boneless chicken breasts, add a sliced onion, sliced green & red peppers and a pour a jar of salsa over it. Cook on low all day. Fill up the flour tortillas and we just have with chips & salsa or cheese dip!
 
I just tried a recipe that I found on a Facebook crockpot fan page.

Here ya go...

Take on packet of taco seasoning and put it in the bottom of the crock pot. Then throw in 3-4 broken chicken breast. Put in 2 cans of rotel, 1/4 cup of water, and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Don't mix it! Cook for 4 hours high and 6 hours on low.

The chicken literally broke apart. We added some cheese and placed on warm tortilla's ... it was delish and will be added to the rotation.
 
I like to cook ham, I buy sliced ham and put it in the crock pot with some brown sugar and pineapple, it is great and I fry leftovers the next day!

The people who make hambuger helper make Crock Pot Helper too and all you have to do is add meat!

Also buy a roast and put it, potatoes, and carrots in the crock pot and pour a can of cream of chicken soup and a can of water on it, top with salt, pepper and onion.


Be sure to use the crock pot lines for quick clean up.
 
Check out this lady's blog, as she decided a few years back to use her slow cooker for 365 days in a row. She has some great recipes and even reviews of the one's that didn't work. I did our Easter Ham in the slow cooker, and this weekend I'm making a Peanut Butter Cup Cake in the crock pot, so you can see the diversity in her recipes. Great site, and my DW has gotten hooked on it as well.

We're in the same boat as well with summer sports, and can always find something good and seasonal to cook on those busy days. Good luck with it!

Thanks for the link! My husband wants more slow cooker receipes and this site sounds great!
 
one of my go to summer recipes is....

pulled bbq pork sandwiches made in crockpot.....

add homemade coleslaw and corn on the cob as sides..... just screams summer
 
another one - I am making it today! Italian beef. Put a beef roast, 2 packages of Italian dressing mix (at least one spicy), jar of banana peppers, water to cover . We pile it on a hoogie roll with pepper cheese. Make some good left overs too!
 
one of my go to summer recipes is....

pulled bbq pork sandwiches made in crockpot.....

add homemade coleslaw and corn on the cob as sides..... just screams summer

can you post the recipe for the bbq pork? I've never bought it before and would like to try this. Thank you :)
 
We do a lot of pork in the crock pot. I do pulled pork every other week - when the boneless pork loin roasts are on sale I stock up. Just put the whole roast in with 1/2 cup of water, then put dry BBQ seasoning on, pepper & bbq sauce. I cook & then shred, then add more BBQ sauce.

Or we love country style pork ribs - cooked the same way, served over white rice.
 
I tried the ribs once, and they came out nasty greasy. Do you do somethng to allow the grease to drain?
 
I tried the ribs once, and they came out nasty greasy. Do you do somethng to allow the grease to drain?

I agree, the ribs to tend to be fatty...I just scoop them out (carefully because they fall apart they're so tender!) with a slotted spoon & then lay them on a plate of paper towels to absorb as much grease as I can. I've found the boneless ribs are less greasy, however, they're often not as tender either. The leftover liquid in the crock pot I pour into a glass jar & throw out after cooling - it's way too thick to put down the drain!

Unfortunately our family likes greasy food (bad bad bad I know!) so it doesn't bother us.
 
Another good tip (and budget related) for the pulled pork - it freezes VERY well - I have a large crock pot & can fit up to 4 boneless pork loin roasts in at a time - and I often do....then shred it all (takes awhile using 4 roasts!) and freeze it for later use when we need something super quick. I always keep a pack of hamburger rolls in the freezer too, to go along with this. In the summer I make this from the freezer along with cut up fresh veggies & dip. Very quick & easy.

This is my go-to recipe when I need to cook for a large group. Everyone loves it and it's sooooo easy. I'm the Queen of Pulled Pork in my family! Our grocery store often has the boneless pork loin end roasts BOGO free, so I pay about $6 a roast. I get 4-6 at a time on sale & freeze them.
 
We do a lot of pork in the crock pot. I do pulled pork every other week - when the boneless pork loin roasts are on sale I stock up. Just put the whole roast in with 1/2 cup of water, then put dry BBQ seasoning on, pepper & bbq sauce. I cook & then shred, then add more BBQ sauce.

Or we love country style pork ribs - cooked the same way, served over white rice.
I do that every week too. It is one of the few things DS will actually eat. I do it the same way.

Thanks for all the links on this thread. My slow cooker has chicken fajita stuff it in right now because of the this thread!

I am so making that peanut butter cup cake this week!
 
can you post the recipe for the bbq pork? I've never bought it before and would like to try this. Thank you :)


i just throw a pork loin in.... add a jar of any BBQ sauce... a little water ... and cook till the meat falls apart... and shred....
 
another great recipe .. is Russian chicken ... your can serve with potato salad and pasta salad..


the way I make it is throw
boneless chicken breasts..... envelope of onion soup mix... and small bottle of catalina or French salad dressing.... into crock pot ...cook till chicken is cooked and tender...
 











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