Crockpot Meals You'll Want For Tonight's Dinner

Why do we love crockpot meals so much? Well, for one, they're incredibly easy to make and it doesn’t matter whether you are using fresh ingredients or whatever you have in the freezer. If you are a fan of slow food, here are three crockpot meals you'll love.

1. Apple Pie Oatmeal
There’s nothing like the smell of apple pie and oatmeal to wake up to in the morning. That’s one of the biggest advantages of crockpot cooking — you can leave things to cook overnight and wake up to a tasty and healthy crockpot meal. 

All you need is your regular oatmeal mix, an apple, some water, and a dish that fits the crockpot and is safe for use in ovens. Place the oatmeal mix in the dish, chop the apple and add it to the mix, and place the dish in the crockpot. Next, fill the crockpot with water until it’s up to the edge of the dish. Set to cook on low for eight hours and you’re done.  

2. Chicken with Beats and Brussels Sprouts
Want to make a great crockpot chicken meal? How about a delicious combination of chicken and two very healthy vegetables? This recipe is more challenging than the oatmeal, though, but it’s so delicious you won’t mind. 

First, you need to prepare the spices. Use a tablespoon of ground pepper, the same amount of salt, half as much dried thyme, and twice as much paprika. You use that mixture to sprinkle the chicken that you’ve previously cleaned of giblets. 

You should lightly grease the cooker before placing a chopped onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, and chopped celery on the bottom of the cooker. Put the chicken on top of the veggies breast side up, place a lemon in its cavity, and arrange beets, Brussels sprouts, and a couple of baby carrots around it. You cook it on low for eight hours. 

3. Crockpot Gumbo
If you want to enjoy the tastes of New Orleans, this gumbo is the perfect crockpot meal for you. Keep in mind though that it’s a crockpot meal you can’t just leave while it’s cooking — you will have to be more involved. 

Take a pound of chicken breast and cut it into small pieces. You’ll also need a pound of smoked sausage, a diced onion, a diced green pepper, a can of diced tomatoes, a hot pepper, and some minced garlic. You will need two cups of chicken broth, a tablespoon of thyme, and the same amount of oregano and Cajun spice. You will need a pound of raw shrimps and slightly more than a cup of cooked rice for later.

Mix all the ingredients except the shrimps and the rice in the crockpot and cook them on low for six to seven hours. Remember to stir occasionally. An hour before the meal is done, put the slightly salted shrimps into the crockpot. Half an hour later, add the rice and continue stirring for another half an hour. And that’s it — you have yourself an amazing crockpot meal.