22 Easy Slow Cooker Recipes with Quick 10-Minute Prep

With a slow cooker, you can arrive home to a hot and ready-to-serve meal after a busy day at work or school. Simply prep the recipe in the morning before you head out the door, set the temperature, and let the small appliance take care of the rest for you. However, if you’re like many, getting out the door in the morning is enough of a challenge. Finding 20 or 30 minutes to cut meat and veggies, measure out ingredients, or do the other prep that is necessary to get everything ready for the slow cooker to do its thing is sometimes not feasible.

Fortunately, not all slow cooker recipes require so much prep time. We’ve put together a list of some filling and satisfying meals that you can get going in 10 minutes or less. Not only will your evening routine be simplified by coming home to a cooked meal, but you won’t have to give up hardly any of your time during your busy morning schedule to make it happen. Not only are there several recipes that you can prep in mere minutes, you’ll find options below to match different dietary needs and preferences, including chicken, beef, and vegetarian dishes, soups and stews, gluten-free options (or recipes that could easily be modified to be so), and more.

If Mongolian beef is your go-to order when dining out at a Chinese restaurant, why not try your hand at making it at home? It can’t get much easier than this slow cooker recipe, which takes only 10 minutes to prep. The combination of fresh ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, and red pepper flakes will help you mimic the sweet, yet spicy, flavor of Mongolian sauce. Once prepped and in your slow cooker, you can either cook it on high for about 4 hours or low for around 5 hours — you just want to let it go long enough to ensure the beef gets deliciously tender. Then, simply prepare some white rice to serve on the side, and dinner is ready to go.

Recipe: Easy Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

While it may seem like most slow cooker recipes feature chicken, beef, or other meats, there are some great vegetarian options out there, such as this vegetable curry. And, what’s more, this recipe is very hearty — featuring sweet potatoes, bell peppers, chickpeas, spinach, onions, and peas which are combined with a rich and flavorful curry sauce. It could be absolutely delicious by itself, or you could always pair it with some naan or white rice to better balance out the flavors. Possibly even better than the taste is how quick this recipe is to make. It takes only 10 minutes to prep and will be done within 2 ½ hours when cooked on high (or 4 to 5 hours when cooked on low).

Recipe: Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry

When you’re in need of some comfort food, try this rump roast slow cooker recipe from Christina Musgrave of Tasting with Tina. Prepping it is quick and easy — all you need to do is slice a few potatoes and carrots before adding them and some key seasonings to the slow cooker with the rump roast and some beef broth. Cook on low for about 8 hours to give the roast time to get nice and tender. If you have a long day planned at the office, walking into the aromatic combination of the cooked beef and veggies will be the perfect homecoming.

Recipe: Rump Roast Crock-Pot

Sesame chicken is flavorful and delicious. But, many recipes to make it are overly complicated and simply not something that will fit into a busy schedule. Well, with this slow cooker recipe, you can enjoy all those key flavors by committing less than 10 minutes to add a few ingredients to the crock. Ketchup, honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes combine to produce this tasty dish. For the chicken itself, there is no prep necessary. Simply place the full chicken breasts in the slow cooker and cover them with the other ingredients. After the meal is ready, the chicken will be fork-tender and easy to shred before serving over white rice or noodles.

Recipe: Easy Crock-Pot Sesame Chicken

If you want to be the star of the next potluck or backyard barbecue, then you’ll want to bring these slow cooker baked beans with you. They require only about 5 minutes of your time to prep, in which you’re basically dumping some kidney, black, and navy beans into your slow cooker along with brown sugar, molasses, barbecue sauce, apple cider vinegar, and gochujang to create that thick flavorful sauce that everyone loves. Oh, and don’t forget the bacon for added flavor — or leave it out if you’re looking for a vegan or vegetarian option. Within 2 hours (on high) or 4 hours (on low), your side dish will be ready to serve.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Baked Beans

On a cold winter’s day, this slow cooker chicken enchilada soup will warm you right up. Despite its relatively long ingredient list, it takes only a few minutes to assemble. The only true prep work is mincing some garlic, dicing an onion, and shaving a few ears of corn. Other than that, you’re simply measuring and dumping the other ingredients — such as enchilada sauce, black and pinto beans, chicken stock, boneless, skinless chicken thighs, and seasonings — into the slow cooker. After cooking for 4 hours (on high) to 6 hours (on low), the addition of some cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and pepper jack cheese about half an hour before serving will deliver a creamy and delicious soup. Pick up a bag of corn chips and a few avocados to finish off your masterpiece.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

Chicken and dumplings is another comfort dish that can warm the bones and ease the stresses of a tough day. This recipe is also the perfect fit for a slow cooker. When cooked low and slow, the chicken and veggies get soft, tender, and flavorful. This recipe keeps things as simple as can be by using refrigerated biscuits as the “dumplings.” Once you’re home and almost ready to eat, simply bake the biscuits for about 6 minutes before adding them into the slow cooker with the other ingredients to continue cooking for about another hour. Yum!

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken And Dumplings

This slow cooker butter chicken recipe takes only 10 minutes to prep and about 4 hours to cook. But, it’s more than just easy to make. It’s delicious, combining spices, such as garam masala, ginger, garlic, cumin, and black pepper, to bring out the flavors of the traditional Indian dish. The seasonings, along with some crushed tomatoes and heavy cream, impart their flavors while tenderizing the boneless skinless thighs as they cook. Prepare some basmati rice or turmeric rice and dinner will be ready to enjoy.

Recipe: Crock-Pot Butter Chicken

The next time you have some leftover ham, consider putting it to good use — or leave it out for the vegetarians and vegans — with this slow cooker split pea soup recipe. As the dried split peas cook slowly with the broth, seasonings, and veggies (such as carrots, celery, and potatoes), they’ll soften and turn into a delicious, brothy treat. Depending on how quickly you want this meal to be ready to eat, you can either cook it on high for 4 to 5 hours, or set your slow cooker to low for 7 to 9 hours. A few minutes before you’re ready to dig in, add that diced ham along with some parsley and lemon juice.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Don’t wait for St. Patrick’s Day to try this simple Crock-Pot corned beef recipe. Because the corned beef is cooked in a slow cooker — at a low temperature for 9 or more hours — you’ll be amazed with how incredibly tender and flavorful it is. Plus, the gold potatoes, carrots, and onions that are cooked along with the beef will also have plenty of time to tenderize and pick up the flavors of the beef. Once cooked, serve on a plate with the veggies on the side, or craft your own Reubens with some sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and rye bread.

Recipe: Crock-Pot Corned Beef

You don’t have to wait until the next time you dine at an Italian restaurant to enjoy chicken Marsala. This slow cooker recipe makes preparing it a breeze. With just 10 minutes of prep time and a handful of ingredients, including Marsala wine, mushrooms, and chicken breasts, you can craft a restaurant-worthy meal at home. Beyond the short prep time, this recipe also cooks quickly — you can have a gourmet dinner on the table within 5 hours. Chicken Marsala pairs beautifully with pasta, but you can also consider serving it atop creamy mashed potatoes or alongside a healthy green salad.

Recipe: Creamy Crock-Pot Chicken Marsala

Minestrone soup is a traditional Italian soup that features beans, veggies, and pasta in a seasoned tomato broth. If your mouth is watering, then you’ll be happy to find out that whipping up a large batch of this soup will be a breeze with your slow cooker. It has a pretty lengthy ingredient list, but much of the list consists of seasonings that you’ll just need to measure out and canned beans, tomatoes, and vegetable broth that will simply need to be dumped into the crock. You’ll only need to take a few minutes to chop some carrots, an onion, and some celery stalks, before starting the slow cooker and moving on with the rest of your day. A few hours later, and you’ll be enjoying this rich and hearty soup.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup

You can’t beat the 5-minute prep time for this barbecue pulled pork recipe. Barbecue sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and a few other ingredients and seasonings infuse the pork with a sweet and smoky flavor. The tenderness of the pork butt itself is another reason you’ll want to try this recipe. When slow cooked for several hours, it will be fall-off-the-bone tender and juicy. After cooking, you’ll only need a fork or two to shred the pork, then you can top it with a little extra barbecue sauce, and it will be ready to add to a sandwich, pile on some nachos, or add to your famous mac and cheese.

Recipe: Easy Pulled Pork

This French onion soup slow cooker recipe will only require a few minutes of your time before you head off to work — though you will need to do a few things to finish it off before serving it later in the day. If you’ve had French onion soup before, then you know how rich and flavorful its beefy and onion-y broth is. That combined with the soft bread at the base of the soup and the warm and melty cheese creates absolute perfection. For this recipe, the onion soup itself will cook in the slow cooker. Then shortly before serving, you’ll toast baguette slices in the oven before adding them to an oven-safe bowl. Add the cooked soup over the bread, top it with some Gruyère cheese, and broil it for a few minutes until the cheese melts.

Recipe: French Onion Soup

If you’re looking to spice up your next meal, consider making this slow cooker bang bang chicken recipe. It differs slightly from the bang bang chicken that you’re likely to find in many restaurants, as the chicken isn’t breaded and fried, but that just means that it’s slightly healthier and still just as delicious. If you’ve never had bang bang chicken before, the meat is covered with a spicy, yet slightly sweet, sauce made with rice vinegar, soy sauce, chili oil, tahini, garlic, ginger, peppercorns, and 5-spice powder. It should only take you about 10 minutes to add the chicken and seasonings to your slow cooker, and then about 3 hours of cooking at high for this meal to be ready. Consider serving it atop rice to help cut the spice a bit and balance the flavors.

Recipe: Crock Pot Bang Bang Chicken

Conjure up feelings of New Orleans and Mardi Gras with this easy slow cooker chicken gumbo recipe. A signature Cajun recipe, gumbo can really excite your taste buds. This recipe gets its kick from andouille sausages, bell peppers, garlic, fire-roasted tomatoes, a medley of seasonings along with, of course, Cajun seasoning. After sautéing the vegetables for a few minutes, everything is added to the crock, where it will cook slowly for the next few hours, filling your home with a tantalizing aroma that will leave you eagerly awaiting dinner time.

Recipe: Crock-Pot Chicken Gumbo

If you’re looking for a recipe that you can throw together right before you run out the door, then you might want to try these slow cooker beer brats. With the pork bratwurst sausages, sauerkraut, and German lager, you’ll be transported to Oktoberfest with your first bite. The recipe also features some golden potatoes, which help make it into a complete and satisfying meal. After searing the bratwurst on the stovetop, simply add everything to the slow cooker, set it to low for 8 hours, and prepare yourself to be amazed.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Beer Brats

This slow cooked leg of lamb recipe pairs ease and elegance. There are less than 10 ingredients, including garlic, rosemary, lamb seasoning, and chicken stock (plus the lamb leg, of course), and all you really need to do is slice the veggies before adding everything to the slow cooker. With an 8-hour cook time on high heat, the lamb cooks slowly, ensuring that it turns out moist, tender, and delicious. Despite being “easy,” this recipe’s premium ingredients and incredible flavor could make it a good choice for a holiday meal or family get-together.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Leg Of Lamb

These shredded Italian beef sandwiches will have everyone begging for more. The seasoned chuck roast cooks in the slow cooker for several hours, until it is fork-tender and juicy. With oregano, thyme and Vienna Beef giardiniera, there’s no mistaking that this is a true Italian masterpiece — and when served on an Italian hoagie, the meal just can’t be beat.

Recipe: Slow-Cooker Italian Beef Sandwich

Despite only taking about 10 minutes of your time to prep, this 15 bean soup recipe will yield a hearty and filling meal. Plus, the recipe is meat-free, making it a great choice for those looking for vegan or vegetarian-friendly meals. In addition to a package of 15-bean soup mix, some of the other key ingredients that bring the flavor to this dish include the fire-roasted tomatoes, celery, carrots, garlic, and seasonings. You can cook it on high for about 4 hours or low for 7 to 8 hours before testing to make sure that the beans are soft and tender and tossing in a little spinach as the final touch.

Recipe: Vegetarian Slow Cooker 15 Bean Soup

You can cook more than main meals in your slow cooker. This chorizo and queso Rotel dip is one tasty option to consider the next time you’re looking to prepare an appetizer to serve to guests or bring to a potluck. The dip combines multiple types of cheese — cream cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, and Monterey jack cheese — with chorizo, Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies, cumin, and paprika for a little kick. Once the dip is prepared, you can take things up another notch by serving it with some diced jalapeño. With the keep warm feature on most slow cookers, you could easily leave this out for guests to sample throughout a party.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chorizo And Queso Rotel Dip

If you’ve ever had a Mississippi pot roast, then you’ll like this poultry-based take on the simple recipe. It calls for just six ingredients — boneless chicken thighs, ranch seasoning, chicken gravy mix, pepperoncini juice, butter, and whole pepperoncini. Prep is as simple as can be; there’s no slicing, dicing, or searing necessary. You simply need to add all the ingredients to the slow cooker, set it on high for 4 hours or low for 7 hours, and let all the ingredients combine while the chicken gets tender and juicy. You can serve the chicken over mashed potatoes, pasta, or roasted veggies. Just make sure you don’t forget to drizzle some of the delicious gravy from the bottom of the slow cooker over it!

Recipe: Easy Mississippi Chicken