5-Ingredient Slow-Cooker Recipes That Make Cooking A Breeze
Shop, chop, drop in the pot, then kick up your feet and let the magic happen.
What's better than an easy slow-cooker recipe? The answer is a slow-cooker recipe that also has a short ingredient list. Plenty of our favorite slow-cooker recipes call for just five main ingredients—but that doesn't mean they skimp on flavor. Our Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken, for example, uses a jar of salsa to supercharge the chicken with big flavor. We've rounded up our best five-ingredient slow-cooker recipes that will make getting dinner on the table easier than ever before. Aside from pantry staples, butter, oil, and spices, these slow-cooker recipes call for just five ingredients—or less!
These easy recipes will make weeknight dinners and weekend entertaining quick, effortless, and delicious. From appetizers to mains, sides, and desserts, you can make any type of dish with just 5 ingredients in your slow cooker. Other than requiring a short ingredient list, we also love these 26 recipes for their short hands-on times. Simply get everything into the slow cooker quickly and go on with the rest of your busy day. Before you know it, dinner will be on the table.
Slow-Cooker Carnitas Tacos
The Mexican version of pulled pork, these carnitas make for a tender and tasty dinner. In addition to tacos, slow-cooked pork shoulder can be used for enchiladas, sliders, quesadillas, and more.
Slow-Cooker Chipotle Brisket Sliders
From game day meals to kid-friendly dinners, this brisket will be a new favorite. You can even make it up to two days ahead of time. Serve it with or without a bun plus your favorite toppings like pickles, slaw, and extra sauce.
Four-Ingredient Slow-Cooker Pot Roast
You're just four inexpensive ingredients away from a comforting, homemade meal. Prep this pot roast in the morning and it'll be fall-apart tender by dinnertime.
Slow-Cooker Buttermilk Grits
Whether you want to get a head start on weekday breakfasts or will be hosting a weekend brunch, these tangy buttermilk grits are an easy, no-fuss meal. Try one of our three tasty topping combinations for a few extra ingredients you won't regret.
Uncle Jack's Mac-and-Cheese
Whether you need a side to bring to your next potluck, or a dinner the whole family will love, you can never go wrong with mac and cheese. Just like Grandma used to make, this comfort food uses evaporated milk and cheddar to create cheesy goodness.
Slow-Cooked Barbecued Chicken Sandwiches
After five or more hours in your slow cooker, this chicken will be savory and mouth-watering. Chicken, a can of cola, ketchup, a couple of tablespoons of bourbon, and a variety of spices take this recipe into the stratosphere.
Chipotle-Barbecue Meatballs
Even though this easy party appetizer is only five ingredients, it's not short on flavor. Bottled sauce and cherry preserves are the key to unlocking big flavor in so few steps.
Slow-Cooker Green Beans
Cooking green beans low and slow will ensure they are tender and filled with flavor. Crispy bits of bacon make everything better, but especially this Southern comfort food classic.
Easy Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork
There's nothing easier than throwing the ingredients in a slow cooker and having dinner ready when you get home. This pulled pork is great as a main dish, or can be used for sandwiches, tacos, nachos, and more. The best part? This delicious dinner needs only 10 minutes of hands-on time.
Lemon Bar Cake Recipe
With a few pantry staples, it doesn't get any easier than this dump-and-go citrusy dessert.
Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
Perhaps our easiest slow-cooker recipe of all time, this dish is versatile and delicious. We recommend serving salsa chicken over rice for your first taste, but it also shines in potato dishes and topping off a taco salad.
Slow-Cooker Collard Greens With Ham Hocks
Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Ginny Branch Stelling; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall
Rather than hovering over your stove top to intermittently stir for hours on end, simply toss all the ingredients into your slow cooker and let it do all the work.
Spicy-Sweet Ribs and Beans
This slow-cooker dinner has all the flavor of you'd find at your favorite barbecue joint with the ease of a homemade one pot meal.
Slow Cooker Peach Cobbler
We aren't hurting for peach cobbler recipes, but this ridiculously easy slow cooker version is ideal for entertaining. Start it just before your guests arrive and two hours later it'll be perfectly golden, juicy, and crispy for serving with a scoop of ice cream.
Creamy Tarragon Chicken
Five base ingredients (chicken thighs, carrots, onions, sweet peas, and rice or egg noodles) are accompanied by a host of spices, chicken broth, and pantry staples to make a dinner party-worthy rendition of tarragon chicken.
Julie Yoste's Mississippi Roast
Say hello to the easiest, crowd-pleasing roast ever. Pepperoncini peppers and a packet of Italian dressing mix are the unexpected ingredients that make this dish sing.
Slow Cooker Barbecue Pork
This super easy pork barbecue can be paired with coleslaw, cheese grits, or cornbread for a delicious dinner that makes even better leftovers. A can of cola is the secret ingredient in this flavorful and juicy meat recipe.
Georgia-Style Boiled Peanuts
While these boiled peanuts might take 18 hours to come to perfection, they're as easy as tossing two ingredients in the pot and pressing start. Best of all, you'll have a fan-favorite snack that will last in the fridge for up to two weeks.
White Chicken Chili
Once you've gathered all the ingredients, you basically have dinner ready. Just five main ingredients plus some delicious spices get dumped into the pot. All you have to do i check back in 6 hours.
Mississippi Chicken
Fred Hardy II; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Stylist: Christine Keely
A handful of affordable and easy-to-find ingredients make up this simple weeknight dinner recipe. We recommend serving it over rice or mashed potatoes for a delicious meal.
Easy Apple Butter
Use this spread to top biscuits, toast, and sandwiches to jazz up your favorite sides and snacks. Once you make this easy recipe, you'll wish you had made it sooner. Plus, it makes a great host gift.
Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs With Carrots and Potatoes
Jennifer Davick
Don't fuss with wondering if your chicken is cooked properly when you turn to this no-fail, slow-cooker recipe. Bonus: The sides are built into the one pot dish.
Chocolate-Cinnamon Latte Cake
Toss together coffee, cake mix, and cocoa plus a few pantry staples and you'll have an impressive dessert that only requires 10 minutes of hands-on time.
Slow-Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole
Whether for a holiday meal or weeknight kid-friendly dish, you'll save oven space with this recipe. Simply peel and cube the potatoes then add them to the slow cooker with the other ingredients.
Red Bean Chili
This hands-off tomato-based chili recipe might just be the easiest one you can make. A few main ingredients plus a handful of spices make it a simple delight for dinnertime tonight.
Lemon Chicken Soup
Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling; Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall
Just over five base ingredients (but you can subtract to your taste, time, and availability) gets you to this delicious lemony chicken soup, which can be made at low temperatures in a slow cooker.
Slow-Cooker French Onion Soup
If you're a fan of onions, you'll no doubt be delighted by this recipe, which will allow you to slow-cook your way to sweet-savory French-onion-soup goodness. Already have the onions on hand? You're halfway to dinnertime.
Slow-Cooker Grits
Want grits for breakfast, but don't have the time to wait for them to cook during the early morning hours? We've solved that problem with this recipe that is ideal for overnight cooking.
Slow-Cooker Chicken Lettuce Cups
Onion, apple, bacon, and chicken gets jazzed up with garlic, apple cider vinegar, and mayo, then stuffed into lettuce cups to make the easiest lunchtime dish you've ever tasted in this winning slow-cooker recipe.
French Onion Pasta
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Once you've had your fill of French onion soup but aren't ready to retire the flavor profile just yet, try your hand at our French Onion Pasta, which takes the sweet-savory combo and applies it to a tender pasta base.
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Read the original article on Southern Living.