Slow Cooker Week: Five Slow-Cooker Big-Batch Stews

Posted by Caroline Wright

Stews are the perfect meal for a slow-cooker: They cook beautifully, and can give you multiple meals from one hands-off batch. What’s not to love? I found a handful of recipes in our archives -- and had a blogger buddy send in a few, too -- that you and your family will love for just how good (and easy) they are.

1. Beef Stroganoff: A classic made easier. Creamy, stewed beef with a fresh hint of dill: What's not to love?

2. Slow-Cooked Tex-Mex Chicken and Beans: If you're a fan of weeknight Mexican fare, this recipe is sure to become a favorite. We're talking the comfort of a traditional chili crossed with the flavors of spicy, braised-chicken taco meat.

3. Soy-Ginger Chicken: With its bold, Asian flavor and tender meat, no one will know that this recipe took you only 30 minutes to prep.

4. Chicken Curry: With a can of coconut milk, a box of frozen peas, and some staple veggies like onions and garlic, this exotic meal emerges from your kitchen with little effort (and shopping).

5. Slow-Cooker Black-Bean Soup with Five Peppers and Ham & Slow-Cooker Beef Barley Soup: Andrea Meyers of Andrea's Recipes is a slow-cooking goddess! Try her black-bean soup filled with an all-star list of peppers (and flavor, no doubt) or her beef barley soup for a classic.

What are your favorite slow-cooker stews? Let us know!

This post is part of our "Slow Cooker Week" series. See Day 1: Slow Cooker Basics, Day 3: Braised Meat, Day 4: From the Test Kitchen, and Day 5: Slow-Cooker Entertaining.

Comments

[Andrea]

Caroline, thanks for the mention! That chicken curry in the slow cooker is a brilliant idea. Adding to the menu for this weekend.

[maris]

Hi Caroline - I have a 1.5 quart slow cooker. Can I pare down these recipes to make one or two servings?

[Caroline Wright]

Maris, absolutely you can. Just pay particular attention to the over 1/2 but not over 2/3 full rule in slow-cooking-- that way your food will be at food-safe temperatures during their whole cooking time. My guess would be to 1/4 most of these recipes-- for example, for the curry, you could use a smaller can (5 ounces) of coconut milk to finish it. Let me know how it goes.

[JR]

I tried the beef stew recipe and substituted lamb for beef, added some other veggies and rosemary, and it was the very best lamb stew I've ever had or made.

[Wendy]

Your posts this week inspired me to pull my slow cooker out of the cupboard. I made both the soy ginger chicken and the beef barley soup and they were excellent. I think both will be part of my regular crock pot repetoire now.

[Mtgqueen]

In your recipe for Beef Stroganoff, it does not call for any additional water which after the cooking process there was no juice to mix the cornstarch slurry.
The sour cream and dijon mixed in nicely but their wasnt much "juice" to pour over the noodles.

[Kara]

Can anyone suggest a mild vegetable to use in place of mushrooms? Sadly, my family won't touch it if they see anything that resembles a mushroom...