Edited by Isabel Ehlert
There is a specific kind of tired that happens around 4 p.m. on a Tuesday. The kids have practices. The dog has been outside three times and still wants to go again. I have been on my feet since 6 a.m. And somebody is going to want dinner in two hours, and that somebody is going to be everybody.
These are the dinners that save me on those days. You dump the ingredients in a crockpot or a casserole dish, you close the lid or the oven door, and you walk away. No standing at the stove. No babysitting the timer. By dinnertime, there is something hot and real on the table, and you did not have to find another reserve of energy to make it happen.
Mississippi Pot Roast▼
If I could only keep one slow cooker recipe, it would be this one. A chuck roast, a packet of ranch, a packet of au jus, a stick of butter, and some pepperoncini peppers. That is it. Five ingredients into the crockpot, lid on, eight hours later you have a beef roast that practically falls apart when you look at it.
I serve it over mashed potatoes, in sandwiches the next day, and sometimes I just eat it out of the bowl. There is nothing about this recipe that is hard, and there is nothing about the result that tastes like it came from five ingredients.
Get the recipe: Mississippi Pot Roast
Crockpot BBQ Chicken▼
Chicken breasts in the crockpot with barbecue sauce. That is the whole recipe. Six hours later you have shredded barbecue chicken that you can serve on buns, over rice, in tacos, on a salad, or honestly just by itself with a fork.
This is the recipe I make on weekends when I know the week is going to eat me alive. We eat it for two or three different meals, and I do not feel like I am serving leftovers because the format keeps changing.
Get the recipe: Crockpot BBQ Chicken
No Peek Chicken▼
This is the casserole my mom Carol used to make on Wednesday nights in the 90s. You dump rice, broth, soup, chicken, and onion soup mix into a casserole dish, cover it tight with foil, and you do not look at it for an hour and a half. That is where the name comes from. You really do not peek.
When you finally pull the foil off, the chicken is tender, the rice has soaked up everything good, and you have a real dinner that took you about four minutes to put together. Some recipes from the 90s should stay in the 90s. This is not one of them.
Get the recipe: No Peek Chicken
Angel Chicken Rice Casserole▼
The sweet name is because the casserole tastes a little heavenly, which sounds dramatic until you eat a bite. Tender chicken and rice in a creamy, dreamy sauce, baked together until the edges turn golden. It is somehow elegant and incredibly easy at the same time.
I serve this when I want a weeknight dinner that feels a little nicer than usual without me doing anything extra.
Get the recipe: Angel Chicken Rice Casserole
Crock Pot Shredded Beef Tacos▼
A chuck roast, some spices, a can of green chilies, into the crockpot. Eight hours later, the beef shreds with a fork. Pile it into warm tortillas with whatever toppings you have, and you have taco night without standing at the stove browning meat.
I make a big batch on Sundays. Taco Tuesday is suddenly the easiest night of the week.
Get the recipe: Crock Pot Shredded Beef Tacos
Pulled Beef Slow Cooker▼
Same idea as the shredded beef tacos but seasoned more for sandwiches and rice bowls. Tender, savory, falls apart when you so much as point a fork at it. I make this when I know I want a week of different dinners from one batch of meat.
Sandwiches on Monday. Rice bowls on Tuesday. Stuffed sweet potatoes on Wednesday. Pulled beef does a lot of heavy lifting in this house.
Get the recipe: Pulled Beef Slow Cooker
Crockpot Apple Dump Cake▼
Dessert counts. Sometimes the dump-and-go dinner needs a dump-and-go dessert to go with it. Apple pie filling, a box of yellow cake mix, a stick of butter, all in the crockpot. Three or four hours later you have a warm apple cake that tastes like fall in a bowl.
Serve it with ice cream. Eat it for breakfast the next day. Pretend you tried.
Get the recipe: Crockpot Apple Dump Cake
Crockpot Lava Cake▼
The chocolate version of the dump dessert situation. Chocolate cake mix, pudding mix, milk, eggs, chocolate chips. Dump it in the crockpot, set it, and a few hours later you have a warm gooey chocolate cake with a molten center that ruins you for boxed brownies.
This is the dessert I make when I want my kids to think I am magical. They do not need to know how easy it was.
Get the recipe: Crockpot Lava Cake
Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff▼
Tender beef in a creamy mushroom sauce, served over egg noodles. It is the food version of a really cozy blanket. I make this when the weather turns and we all need a little extra comfort at the dinner table.
The crockpot does the long, slow work that makes the beef so tender. You stir in the sour cream at the end and serve it. That is the whole job.
Get the recipe: Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
Pork Butt Roast▼
A pork butt is the most forgiving piece of meat there is. Rub it with spices, put it in the crockpot, walk away. Eight hours later you have pulled pork that tastes like you spent the day tending a smoker, except you spent the day at work or running errands or sitting on the porch.
I make this on the weekend and we eat it three different ways through the week. It is the gift that keeps on giving.
Get the recipe: Pork Butt Roast
Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak▼
Tender beef, peppers, onions, and provolone, slow-cooked until everything melts together. Serve it on hoagie rolls with extra cheese melted on top, and you have a dinner that feels like a treat without any of the standing-at-the-grill effort.
This is the recipe I make when my husband asks me what is for dinner and I want him to be impressed. It works every time.
Get the recipe: Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak
Crockpot Crack Chicken Pasta▼
The recipe got its name for a reason. Chicken, ranch seasoning, cream cheese, bacon, and pasta. It is creamy, salty, savory, and the kind of dinner the kids ask for again the next week.
This is one of those recipes that everybody seems to have an opinion about because everyone has tried a version of it somewhere. This version is the one I keep coming back to.
Get the recipe: Crockpot Crack Chicken Pasta
Crack Chicken▼
The base recipe that started the whole crack chicken empire. Cream cheese, ranch, bacon, cheddar, and chicken, all in the crockpot. You can use it as a dip, as a sandwich filling, over rice, over potatoes, or right out of the pot with a spoon.
This is the recipe I send to my friends who are new moms. Five ingredients. Zero standing. Endless ways to serve it.
Get the recipe: Crack Chicken
More set-it-and-forget-it reads: crockpot dump dinners | crockpot recipes lazy moms swear by | 78 dinners that cook themselves