Traditionally utilized for cooking soups, stews, and roasts, the slow cooker has become more well-liked due to its ease of use and capacity to prepare meals with little effort. You can leave the slow cooker alone after preparing the ingredients and adjusting the cooking time.
Those with hectic schedules or wanting to come home to a prepared supper will find this helpful. But there are a lot more uses for this adaptable gadget than merely following the usual recipes. Let’s dig into these unconventional slow cooker hacks that transform your ordinary meals into mouthwatering, irresistible dishes.
Must Try Unconventional Slow Cooker Recipes
Homemade Yogurt
Making homemade yogurt in the slow cooker is a surprisingly helpful application. You can make creamy, tangy yogurt in your kitchen with simple ingredients and a little perseverance. The slow cooker provides steady, low heat, which is crucial for fermentation. You can leave the work to the slow cooker by adding yogurt culture and heating the milk to a particular temperature overnight. You’ll have some delicious homemade yogurt ready in the morning.
Ingredients
- 1 quart (4 cups) of milk (whole or 2% works best)
- Optional: 1-2 tablespoons of powdered milk (for thicker yogurt)
- Optional: Sweeteners or flavorings like honey or vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt
Directions
- Pour the milk into the slow cooker thoroughly.
- Cover the slow cooker with the lid. Set the slow cooker to low heat and boil the milk until it reaches about 180°F (82°C). This helps denature the proteins for a thicker yogurt.
- Once the slow cooker has been turned off, allow the milk to cool off to about 110°F (43°C). The living cultures flourish at this temperature.
- If you want thicker yogurt, you can whisk in 1-2 tablespoons of powdered milk at this point.
- Allow the yogurt to incubate for 6-8 hours or overnight. The longer it sets, the thicker and tangier it will become.
- Check regularly the yogurt’s consistency. Take it out of the slow cooker after the thickness is at the desired level. If not, give it more time to incubate. When it’s done, take the yogurt from the slow cooker and let it come to room temperature.
- Before eating, move the yogurt into jars or other containers and chill it for at least two to three hours.
Apple Cinnamon French Toast Casserole
French Toast Casserole is a delectable and simple breakfast or brunch dish for special events or a relaxing weekend morning.
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French bread (cut into cubes)
- 1 large apple (peeled and chopped)
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup maple syrup (plus additional for serving)
- 1/4 cup butter (melted)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg
Directions
- Apply cooking spray with a thin coat to your slow cooker.
- Add cubed bread, diced apples, and chopped pecans or walnuts to a slow cooker.
- Pour over bread in a large bowl after thoroughly blending eggs, heavy cream, butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Mix everything very gently.
- Once set, cook covered on low for four to five hours.
- Serve with sprinkled powdered sugar and a drizzle of warm maple syrup.
Peach Oatmeal
Oatmeal is an incredible source of protein, fiber, and other nutrients. It also contains vitamins and minerals such as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and B vitamins. This recipe for slow-cooker oats is ideal for breakfast or brunch because it combines hearty oatmeal with vibrant, sweet peaches. This is a great make-ahead meal to prepare ahead of time for hectic mornings.
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup steel-cut oats
- 1 cup vanilla soy milk/ vanilla almond milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
- 2 medium peaches, sliced or 2 cups frozen unsweetened sliced peaches, thawed
- Optional toppings: Sliced almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon and additional peaches
Directions
- Place the 4 cups water, 1 cup oats, 1 cup vanilla soy milk/ vanilla almond milk, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, a teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract in a slow cooker that has been well-greased.
- Cook for 7 to 8 hours on low, covered, or until oats are soft. Add peaches and stir just before serving.
- Optional: Reduce the water to three cups. Add to a cooking spray-coated 6-quart electric pressure cooker. Add the soy milk, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and oats and stir.
- Seal the cover and shut off the vent. Set the pressure cooker to cook for four minutes on high.
- Allow the pressure to drop naturally. Add peaches and stir just before serving. When oatmeal sits, it gets thicker. Add optional toppings on top if you’d like.
Bread
Store-bought bread is never quite as tasty as homemade slow cooker bread, and this recipe couldn’t be simpler. You probably already have the ingredients on hand for this easy-to-make white bread.
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups bread flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ cups (360 ml) warm water
Directions
- Mix the salt, yeast, and flour in a big bowl. Use a whisk to stir. Pour the water in gradually. Using a spoon (preferably a wooden one), stir until the dough comes together nicely and forms a ball.
- Place the bowl on the counter for eight to sixteen hours, covered with plastic wrap.
- Put parchment paper inside the slow cooker’s bowl.
- Transfer the dough to a surface that has been lightly floured. Flatten the dough into a 9-inch circle using well-floured hands, then fold it to form a ball.
- Spoon the dough into the slow cooker that has been ready. Put two paper towels underneath the cover to prevent moisture from dripping onto the rolls.
- After setting the slow cooker to high, cook the bread for two hours or until it is thoroughly cooked. An instant-read thermometer reading of 190°F should indicate the temperature.
- Using the parchment paper, take out the bread and remove it.
- The bread will have a soft, light crust when entirely cooked. If you want the bread to have a golden, crispy crust, broil it for five minutes. Before slicing, place the bread on a wire rack to cool entirely.
Sweet Potato and Pesto Slow-Cooker Bread
While making bread, without using the oven, one can make a soft, flawlessly baked loaf of bread using a slow cooker. It’s beneficial when the house gets too warm in the summer. It also saves time by avoiding the need for a second rise when done this way. One of my favorite dishes of many is this delicious braided loaf.
Ingredients
-
2/3 cup warm half-and-half cream (110° to 115°)
- 1 large egg
- 1 package active dry yeast, about 1/4 ounce
- 1 cup canned sweet potato puree/ canned pumpkin
- 1 container pesto (7 ounces)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 3-1/2 to 4 cups bread flour
Directions
- Mix the yeast with the heated cream. Egg, sugar, salt, nutmeg, sweet potato puree, yeast mixture, and two cups flour should all be combined in a big bowl and beaten on medium speed until smooth.
- Add enough of the leftover flour to create a soft dough, which will be sticky.
- Transfer to another board with flour and knead for about 8 minutes until you achieve the smooth and elastic dough.
- Transfer to a bowl and turn once to coat the top with oil. Once it has doubled in size, about an hour, cover it and let it rise in a warm area.
- Punch down dough. Transfer to another surface, lightly duster, and shape into an 18 by 9-inch rectangle.
- Brush pesto to the edges, then top with 1/2 cup of Parmesan. Start with a long side, roll up in a jelly-roll manner, pinching the seam and ends to seal.
- Cut the roll in half lengthwise using a sharp knife; carefully turn each half-cut side up. Strips should be loosely twisted around one another with the cut surfaces facing up.
- Place on parchment paper after shaping into a coil. Move to a 6-quart slow cooker and top with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Let rise for about an hour or until doubled.
- Cook on low, covered, for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes or until bread is lightly browned. Remove it from the slow cooker before slicing, and allow it to cool somewhat.
Breakfast Burritos
Making breakfast for a large group of people should not have to be complicated. A burrito is a Mexican dish typically consisting of a floured tortilla filled with various ingredients. Add this to your meal plan; your mornings will never change.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs breakfast sausage
- 10 oz frozen hash browns
- 2.5 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup milk
- 12 eggs
- salt to taste
Optional
- ½ white onion chopped
- sriracha
- 1 bell pepper
Directions
- Over medium heat, brown the breakfast sausage in a frying pan. If you want to add chopped onion, do so. Dice up peppers. Beat eggs with milk and add salt and paper to season.
- Apply cooking spray to the slow cooker’s interior. Arrange the hash browns from bottom to top. Stir together the cooked morning sausage, peppers, and cheese.
- Cover everything with the egg mixture.
- Cook for three hours on high or eight hours on low heat.
- Serve with warm tortillas, salsa, avocado, fresh pico de gallo, and sour cream.
Mulled Wine
Mulled wine is heated with sugar, citrus fruits, spices, and occasionally additional components to create mulled wine. The mixture is usually cooked and served warm to allow the flavors to mingle. This recipe for mulled wine is incredible; it has subtle notes of vanilla, star anise, and citrus.
Ingredients
- 6 cups (1.5L) light red wine
- 2 x 330ml bottles of apple cider
- 2 oranges, juiced
- 2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks or quills
- 2 whole star anise
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 orange, quartered, thinly sliced
- 1 small apple, thinly sliced
Directions
- Mix the wine, apple cider, and orange juice in a slow cooker.
- Add vanilla, sugar, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, and cinnamon.
- Cook for one hour on high, stirring often, or until mixture becomes fragrant and the sugar melts. Just before serving, add the apple and orange slices.
Kung Pao Chicken Noodles
The comforting texture of noodles combined with the traditional spices of Kung Pao Chicken makes for a tasty dish called Kung Pao Chicken Noodles. It is a Chinese stir-fry dish with noodles, peanuts, chicken chunks, veggies, and jalapeños, all cooked in a tasty sauce. The meal is renowned for tasting slightly sweet and spicy.
Ingredients
- 600g chicken thigh fillets, quartered
- 2 x 145g packets Lee Kum Kee Ready Sauce for Kung Pao Chicken
- 1 small fresh red chilli, finely chopped and deseeded
- 2 carrots, peeled, halved lengthways, thinly sliced diagonally
- 1 red capsicum, deseeded, thinly sliced
- 1 yellow capsicum, deseeded, thinly sliced
- 125g snow peas, trimmed, halved diagonally
- 500g packet chow mein noodles
- 3 green shallots, cut into 4cm pieces
Directions
- Combine the chicken, sauce, chili, and 160ml (2/3 cup) water in a slow cooker. Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked, cook it covered for two hours and thirty minutes on high.
- Put the capsicum and carrot. After the veggies are soft, cover them and simmer them on high for thirty minutes. Add the snow peas to the cooker during the last fifteen minutes of cooking.
- Next, prepare the noodles as directed on the package. Drain after.
- Combine the noodles and onions in the slow cooker, tossing to coat. Your Kung Pao Chicken Noodles are ready to be served!
Conclusion
Stop limiting the many possibilities your slow cooker can offer. Not only are slow cookers useful for traditional dishes, but because of their adaptability, they can be used in unusual ways to make bread, yogurt, and even sweets. You may make several delectable dishes with little effort by utilizing the moderate, even heat. Thus, the next time you’re looking for something to experiment with in the kitchen, think outside the box and let your slow cooker do the magic.