Best tried & tested slow cooker meals for anyone who's on a budget in 2024

11 January 2024 , 19:00

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One of the many dishes I have cooked in my slowcooker (Image: Stacey Dutton)

As a family of four, we are always looking at saving money where we can on delicious, simple meals. The minute I had a Slowcooker in the post on it's way to our home, I got straight online looking for recipes to follow. While trying to cut our energy bills, weekly shop bill and just generally how much time I spend in the kitchen, a slowcooker seemed like a great investment.

I have the Ninja 8-1 Slowcooker to get me through meal times with ease and here I have pulled together a list of our favourite meals as a family you can throw together with as little effort as possible.

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Chicken thighs

Chicken thighs are one of our favourites as a family- and so versatile for different meal ideas. I can batch cook them and store them for my partner for work, my boys chicken sandwiches for school and we love them with a handful of potato wedges/rice and veggies.

I can pick up a pack of 6 boneless chicken thighs at my local Aldi store for just £2.85.

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• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 boneless chicken thigh
• 1/2 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon ketchup
• A squeeze of honey
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp freshly minced ginger

• Juice of 1 lime

• Cooked rice, for serving

Step 1

Heat oil in a medium-sized skillet. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and sear until golden, 3 minutes per side. Transfer to slow cooker.

Step 2

In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, ketchup, honey, garlic, ginger and lime juice. Pour sauce over chicken and toss until coated.

Step 3

Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours, or on high for 2 hours, until no longer pink.

Step 4

Serve over rice.

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Chilli Con Carne

Chilli Con Carne

Chilli will always be a staple meal in our house because again, we can mix up the ingredients for each family member. I love mine with less heat and more condiments while my partner will have more heat and just adds Jalapenos and mayonnaise before serving (yes, mayonnaise!)

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 500g beef mince
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• 1 large red pepper, thickly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2-3 tbsp chipotle chilli paste
• 3 tbsp tomato purée
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 400ml beef stock
• 2 x 400g can black beans, drained
• 4 small squares dark chocolate
• tortilla crisps, cooked rice and soured cream, to serve

Step 1

• Set the slow cooker to low. Heat 1½ tbsp oil in a large, non-stick pan over a high heat and fry the mince for 10-12 mins or until evenly browned then add into the slow cooker.

Step 2

Heat the remaining oil in the pan. Fry the onion, celery and pepper for 10 mins or until softened. Add the garlic, cumin and paprika and fry for 1 min then add into the slow cooker.

Step 3

Stir in the oregano, chipotle paste, tomato purée, tomatoes and stock. Season. Cover and cook for 6-8 hrs.

Step 4

Stir in the beans and chocolate during the final 30 mins of cooking. Serve with a bowl of rice or tortilla crisps and a dollop of soured cream.

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Spaghetti & Meatballs

This is without doubt the boys favourite. I think if they could they would eat spaghetti meatballs every night of the week. Serve up with plenty of garlic bread to mop it up with and bingo... they will eat every, last bit!

I can pick up a pack of 500g minced beef on my Amazon app at Morrisons for just £3.95.

For the meatballs

• 450g minced beef
• 15g bread crumbs
• 20g freshly grated Parmesan
• 5g freshly chopped parsley
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. kosher salt

For the sauce

• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 clove garlic, minced

• Kosher salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Red pepper flakes

• 180g water
• 2 beef, chicken or vegetable stock cubes
• 400g spaghetti

• Grated Parmesan, for garnish

• Freshly chopped parsley, for garnish

Step 1

Mix together minced beef, bread crumbs, parmesan, parsley, egg and salt into a large bowl (I like quite a lot of ground pepper in mine too). Form into 16 meatballs and place in the bottom of your slow cooker.

Step 2

In another large bowl, mix together chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, oregano, and garlic. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Pour sauce over meatballs. Cover slow cooker with lid and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5 hours.

Step 3

Add water, stock cubes and spaghetti to slow cooker, breaking the spaghetti in half to fit and stirring to coat. Replace lid and continue cooking on low for 1 1/2 hour more hours, stirring every 30 minutes and breaking up any clumps of spaghetti and adding more water as needed.

Step 4

Garnish with Parmesan and parsley before serving.

Mac & Cheese

Mac and cheese is the perfect winter warmer this January (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

This has a massive unfair disadvantage just because I am dairy free. I am yet to try and make a dairy free version as I am getting to grips with more vegan and dairy free alternative meals heading into the new year. We are not a huge fan of cheese in our house so this isn't one of our most popular dishes (it's just my partner that likes this one), but nevertheless I know it's popular amongst most cheese lovers so, this is my favourite way of making it.

• 350g macaroni pasta
• 600ml whole milk
• 50g butter, cubed
• 50g soft cheese
• 100g mature cheddar, grated, plus extra to serve
• 20g parmesan or vegetarian alternative, plus extra to serve
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Step 1

Combine macaroni, butter, cheddar cheese, Parmesan, milk, garlic powder, and paprika in a slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 2

Cook on high until the pasta is cooked through and the sauce has thickened, 2 to 3 hours, checking after 2 hours, then every 20 minutes after.

Step 3

Garnish with extra cheese before serving.

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Sausage Casserole

Family favourite sausage casserole- add in different ingredients to suit your family- mushrooms, bell peppers and peas..... it's really simple!

It's a given that a good, filling sausage casserole is the perfect winter warmer dish to warm us all up this season. The kids LOVE sausage casserole and it's a good one to get them to eat their veggies hidden in the sauce, too.

• 8 good quality pork sausages
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 red onions, sliced
• 2 tbsp. plain flour
• 3 parsnips, peeled and cut into batons
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 400 ml (14 fl oz) beef stock
• 3 tbsp. Branston pickle
  

Step 1

Brown sausages on medium-high heat for about 10 minutes in half the oil. Tip into slow cooker.

Step 2

Cook the onion until soft for approx 10 minutes with remaining oil, increasing the heat for the last 3 minutes to caramelise. Stir in the flour and stock and stir to mix. Add to slow cooker.

Step 3

Add parsnip, garlic and pickle to the slow cooker and stir everything together to combine. Cover with lid and cook on high for 4 hours.

Pot Roast

For the simplicity and affordability of this dish, it's a great one that all can love and enjoy. I have a love/hate relationship with braising steak BUT, this recipe celebrates it in all of it's glory as it literally falls apart in your mouth and just melts like butter. Preparing braising steak any other way tends to end with a chewy, not very appetising steak so making the most of this slow cooker recipe will really make this cheap dish well worth the wait.

I can pick up 1.5kg of braising steak from my local Morrisons butcher counter for around £10.52 per kg.

• 1.5kg braising steak
• 30g dried onion soup mix
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 Maris Piper potatoes, diced
• 3 large carrots, chopped
• 120ml water

Place the braising steak in a 6 ½ litre slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the onion soup pack and top with vegetables and water.

Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4-5 hours.

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Chicken Pot Pie

I wing it with this one every time I make it- I love just throwing anything in and the outcome is the same every time... absolutely delicious. Sometimes it's nice to throw in some leftover peas, sweetcorn, drained cabbage. Whatever leftovers you have got of veggies will work, just throw them in.

I can pick up 4x XL chicken breast halves for just £5 at my local Iceland.

• 5 Maris Piper potatoes, quartered
• 4 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into cubes
• 2 cans of chicken soup
• handful of baby carrots
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 6 cubes chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 450g frozen mixed vegetables

Step 1

Combine potatoes, chicken, chicken soup, carrots, celery, stock, garlic salt, and celery salt in a slow cooker; cover and cook on High for 5 hours (I like to add lots of ground pepper here).

Step 2

Stir in frozen mixed vegetables; continue to cook on High for 1 hour more.

Step 3

Add the chicken pot pie filling into greased large ramekins and cover with puff pastry. Brush lightly with an egg wash. Bake in an oven at 200°C (390°F) or until golden brown.

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Lamb Curry

(Getty Images)

This is our favourite when the kids want a once a week beige plate of food straight from the freezer.

We tend to only really make curry if the kids are out or we know we can make them something else (sometimes you just choose your battles wisely as a parent). This curry is fool proof AND if you don't want to buy in all the flavour ingredients, simply swap for a curry paste of your choice and it will still give you a lovely, fresh taste.

For £11.25 for two x 300g of diced lamb leg, I can batch cook this recipe and we can put it in the freezer and prep it for a rainy day (or when I just don't want to cook).

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 x 300g packs diced lamb leg
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 carrots, thickly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 5cm piece ginger, grated
• 2 green chillies, deseeded, 1 finely chopped, 1 finely sliced
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 15g fresh coriander, leaves picked and stalks finely chopped
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 100ml lamb stock
• 400ml light coconut milk
• 125g spinach

Step 1

Brown the lamb in batches over medium heat with a little oil (without overcrowding the pan) for 5-8 mins. Season and add to the slow cooker.

Step 2

Add the remaining oil to the pan and cook the onions and carrots for 10 mins over a medium heat until nice and soft. Add the garlic, ginger, chopped green chilli, spices and coriander stalks. Stir well and cook for a further 1 min. Transfer everything to the slow cooker.

Step 3

Add the chopped tomatoes and lamb stock to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cook on a low heat for 6hrs.

Step 4

Stir through the coconut milk and cook for a further 30 mins. Add the spinach to wilt through 5 mins before serving. Scatter with sliced chilli and coriander leaves.

Stacey Dutton