[removed]

Where are you?

I'm in Canada too. I either make my own at home or buy the 1kg can of chicken stock powder for $10 and it lasts me ages.

Can confirm this $7 for a pack of pork is more like $10+12%tax in my province.

Look for chicken and beef broth powders. I think they cost like 4 maybe five bucks for like a cup of powder. Mix 1 tsp per cup of water and boom super cheap broth.

Make bone broth! Its super friggen delicious, MUCH healthier, and you make it in your slow cooker. Freeze the extra. You just save all of your bones from things like roasted chicken in the freezer or you can usually get them super cheap from most groceries, butchers, or farmers at farmers markets.

Food is cheap, electronics is cheap. Everything except medical expenses is cheap in the US.

Source: I'm from Europe who has visited America.

I buy bullion cubes. Takes an extra five minutes or so to heat the water and all but they don't expire for a long time and its cheaper.

No kidding -- a can of beef broth for 50 cents? It's still the 70s where OP lives... I can't get a pack of gum for 50 cents.

how??? How do I stop eating out??? Fast food is soooo good! And cooking is soooo

well just buy powdered stock then, or make your own from the basics. Helps sharpen up those knife skills too. Although this effort is only viable if you are cooking for a larger group or multiple days.

Look at everything you buy, consider how much effort you would have to go through to make it instead, and look at the premium.

Best example: legumes, prices sourced locally

Dry: 2.5€/kg

Canned, ready to eat: 3.5€/kg, with about 66% of the weight being added water compared to the dried ones. i.e., actual comparable price for the nutrition is 10€/kg.

effort: literally add water and heat and come back in an hour.

You can make a ridiculously good chicken stock with a few pieces of chicken and a slow cooker. Throw the chicken in some water, add some carrots and an onion for flavor, then just let it cook overnight. I've also used a pressure cooker for the same recipe and it's done in thirty minutes. The flavor is so much better than store bought stock.

It's amazing what time and automated cooking can do.

That's what I was thinking. Most of that stuff is near twice as expensive here. I've done the math, unless I manage to not let ingredients and leftovers go bad, it's cheaper to replace lunches with things like frozen meals and buy cheap takeout or large portions and make multiple meals out of it.

I recently cut a huge portion of my budget by not buying lunch daily, which was good because soon after that my work moved offices to a trendy part of town where the food is significantly more expensive.

Man, you guys have some really good prices on food. Just a can of broth is $1.75 where I am.

Most of this was doable for me in Florida, but our ground beef is close to seven dollars a pound, and we're supposed to be a big cattle production state. If it's a chili, though, they might be using a fatter grind, like 85/15, so it's less meat and maybe less healthy but probably binds the flavors better.

Or it's still lean and they just have awesome prices. I haven't seen four dollar ground beef here in ten years.

I buy the "better than bouillon" - you mix a teaspoon with a cup of boiling water and bam, you have a good stock. It's $5 here but makes 38 servings and keeps for a long time, it's worth it (especially if you have an electric kettle to boil your water!)

Luckily, Store bought broths are a worse option than just water in 99% of uses. If we're gonna do cooking advice on this sub, mine is to make your own broth. It costs literally nothing if you use scraps, which you should. I collect all scraps in my freezer until I have enough then bam, stock.

I can usually get free or almost free (like under a buck for a big bag) chicken bones from the store if i call ahead and am willing to wake up extra early to get them. Especially if the store does their own rotisserie and takes them apart.

Invest in a big soup pot. Add bones, crap ends of vegetables (carrot butts, celery tops, onions and stems) and chop a bad of garlic in half (if that is expensive, buy a sleeve and sprout the rest. Will be worth it to grow. Bring to a boil and then turn down and simmer (no bubbles!) For like 3 hours. Then strain liquid into another container and voila! Best stock/broth ever. I freeze mine. Neighbor jars hers

I think that most of the stuff you make in a slow cooker, will not need broth, as you are essentially making one.

Is this still cheaper than eating at a restaurant though?

Ya was gonna say the same. I can get 2 thick cut pork chops for 7 dollars not 4 and that's at Wal-Mart. Pretty much double the prices on everything that was listed.

broth

I use bone marrow that is about the same price, could u also call it broth? I use it to replace bouillon, the French sounding cube thingies..

Yeah, for real. I'm in the US as well and a 4 pack of porkchops would be $10+ unless you want half of them to be nothing but fat and gristle.

[deleted]

I just paid 58 cents for cans of Swanson's beef and chicken broth at Winco today

Just get bullion and make your own!

I always have ridiculous amounts of no name broth, chickpeas, and rice. It's so cheap and so versatile. Then I just add veggies and make all my own sauces. If you skip meat you can get way more bang for your buck too.

Never buy canned broth!! Make your own with bullion cubes or powder. I’ve been cooking deliciousness for 33 years and never use canned.

I'm a UK student, I've learnt to eat for a £1 most nights. Pasta, miscellaneous sauce + frozen veg, meat is for when I've got a lot of cash spare. Oven pizza is 70p if you go to the cheapest supermarkets. Baked beans 30p etc.

If you really try to eat cheap it's really not that hard.

Try broth base or making your own with chicken on the bone........in a crockpot. Much cheaper than buying straight broth.

I'm in the midwest where prices are pretty cheap comparatively, and broth is ridiculously expensive here too. Most pre-made shortcuts are, even though they taste awful and don't really save all that much in the way of time or money. We have a big (blended) family of 7 kids and both work, so I keep our budget at around $700/m. We're consistently short on time and I'm no Betty Crocker, so I do cut corners where I can.

Cooking (especially crock pot cooking) is still a ton cheaper and really not all that complicated though. With a crockpot you can slow cook a chicken (dry) for the day, pull the meat, and put the "extras" back in. Cover with water, add a bay leaf or three, the leftover juices from the chicken, some salt, pepper, and leave overnight. You'll have an awesome broth for pennies on the dollar. You can also take the lid off and cook it down, then freeze it in ice cube trays for later use.

Just a can of broth is $1.75 where I am.

No problemo. Use your crockpot to make chicken stock.

5 pound chicken carcasses (ask your butcher)
Two large onions, two large carrots, a few celery stalks, a few garlic cloves, all roughly chopped
Some bay leaves and/or thyme if you're into that
About 6 quarts water

Start your crockpot on low when you go to sleep. It will be ready in the morning and will make your house smell like you got your shit together. Run the stock through a sieve and freeze it, it will keep for a few months.

Try the "Better than Bouillon" Brand concentrate. Tastes very good, most varieties use salt instead of MSG and it works out to around 75 cents "per can".

Stock prices go down if you buy in quantity (the bigger containers) and also, if you invest in bouillon cubs or a jar of it, stock gets really, really cheap.

Make your own? I made pork in the crock pot. Big hunk of pork cooked all day so I could shred it to make pulled pork. Normally I dump the liquid so I can put the BBQ sauce right on the meat. Recently I started pouring the liquid into ice cube trays and freezing. Then I threw the cubes in a ziplock bag in freezer. When it is time to add broth or bouillon , I just toss a couple of cubes instead. Super yummy! And free!

You can make your own broth! Save bones from meat, or you can get cheapo bones at the supermarket - pig's feet, chicken backs, turkey necks, etc. Put them in the crock pot with some garlic, half an onion and some celery and herbs, simmer on low for 8 hours - makes a couple quarts of great bone broth.

Don't buy cans of broth, buy Better Than Bouillon. It's basically a broth paste but much tastier and much cheaper than buying cans. Serious Eats recommends it if you can't make your own broth or stock (not the same thing but close). The hard or powdered Bouillon products are a decent alternative though.

I thought that was quite expensive.

For 30p (~45c) you can get a pack of 10 stock cubes that’ll make 4.5L of stock.

Now I know stock=/=broth bit at this price point it doesn’t really matter.

Getting meat with bones is a great way to get broth for cheap, but you could get large jars of "better than bouillon" if you're just looking for broth. ~$7 for 16oz at Costco in California. 1tsp = one cube or one 8oz can of broth. 76 tsp by weight (6g paste, 5cc).

I personally like using vegetable broth with meat and some other stuff like beans, onions, and carrots. Add rice (~$20 for 50lbs of short grain rice at Costco, 1 cup gets 4 servings) and a small thing of salad to whatever you've made, and you got yourself a pre-cooked meal that takes 3 minutes to heat in the microwave.

I'd recommend doing parts in different containers then. Recipe call for meat and veggies? Split and just cook the meat in the Crock-Pot and either cook the veggies separately and add at the end or leave it as a side. Obviously you can't do this with all recipes but it helps with certain ones where you can get away with making it separately

Part of what you're experiencing with this is that a crock pot does not brown meat (or anything else.) Odds are, if you've had a "good" version (good restaurant, good home cook) version of something like a stew, and then you make a "typical" crock pot version, the crock pot version is bland and mushy. The "good" version browns the meat before it's put in the stew (and may only add it at the last minute). Browning creates a lot of flavor and in many cases some more texture by "crisping" the meat, in contrast to the "mushiness" of a typical long/slow cooked stew.

Look for recipes that brown the meat before adding it to the pot. (In your $14 cast iron skillet. See if your grandmother has your great grandmother's cast iron in the attic or something to give you.)

Yeah crockpot is good for some things, chili being one, but it always reminds me of going camping. That quality of food. Not the best, but it tastes damn good when you've been cold, wet, and dirty for a week straight. Couldnt do it on a regular basis though. Too much for me given other options.

That's my problem. It's always tomatoes and broth as the liquid...

Edit: Thank You to everyone that offered recipes and suggestions!! I will have to try them!

[removed]

Spicy Dr Pepper Pulled Pork- Pioneer Woman. May still be a bit "splooge" but make a nice cabbage slaw for tacos, great buns for sandwiches and we make enchiladas with more leftovers.

The key is to play with herbs and spices. Some fresh sage, thyme, rosemary, or basil can really add to the flavor. Really you are cooking everything together so it does all taste the same...

The side dish or topping is how you 'elevate' the 'splooge'.

I have this problem with the crock pot too. I ended up switching to a stovetop pressure cooker and found that while it's not as easy as the crockpot, it makes better-tasting food which doesn't end up being homogeneous goop.

And the only extra difficulty with the pressure cooker is that you can't leave it unattended, but cooking times are drastically shorter so it's a nonissue for me.

My kids love what they call "chicken and sauce" but honestly it's probably meat splooge. I think they just like it because it's hot and there's a lot of it 😂

You basically have to stick to dishes that are supposed to be uniformly flavoured and meaty.

Pulled pork, chili, stews, and many soups do well. Brown any meat ingredients in a hot pan on the stove before adding to the crockpot and liquid.

You can try doing potato soup--which if you're feeling particularly lazy you can just use Bear Creek brand (about $2-3 give or take). It's hella fast (great for if you or a loved one needs something to take to work) if you boil the water first then add the soup mix/water to the Crock-Pot, but if you're like me just add some hot tap water to the crock pot and let it do its thing a few hours. Add cheese/bacon if desired.

They also have tortilla, chicken noodle, and chili but I've never tried those.

I'm Vietnamese and I feel like most crockpot recipes are too bland for what my tastebuds are used to. I'd get really tired really fast if eating all I could eat was most of the recipes mentioned here.

I have issues with potatoes and the taste they get coming out of a crockpot, so I always boil them in a pot on the side after I get home from work/while the crockpot is finishing the meat & potatoes.

Try using a fatty piece of meat like a marbled roast or a pork shoulder. Put the veggies you want on the bottom of the pot. Whatever you want to use to flavor those, be it a can of soup or a flavor base (anything from chicken noodle or cream or anything soup to a can of soda or beer), fill up only to the top of the veggies.

Then cook it low and slow. Everything gets tender, but the meat keeps it's flavor and isn't soaking in your broth or whatever you used.

Alternatively, get a split crock pot, or I have even used crock pot liners it foil to make little separate bowls inside, so I could flavor each part with it's own sauce.

Also, get the crock pot liners either way. Nothing stops me from using crock pot faster than forgetting to clean it, those solve that and save time.

No, and that's the trade off if you want to cook cheap and lazy. You lose taste.

YES!!!!!

A multi-compartment slow cooker: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Crock-Pot-Double-Dipper-Slow-Cooker-Stainless-Steel/17219365

Throw a marinated pork loin in one side, some veggies in the other side. Have some tortillas and you've got carnitas burritos.

CHICKEN TACOS:

5 to 6 chicken breasts.

One whole jar of salsa.

one taco spice packet.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours then shred chicken with a fork.

I agree. Fuck the crock pot. If you want to save money buy some good cookware and learn to.....you know; actually cook.

Dump recipes are what you are looking for. There are a bunch of good ones here: https://www.laurengreutman.com/dump-recipes/

I haven't tried them all, but my favorites are: Pulled pork: http://www.laurengreutman.com/crockpot-pulled-pork/ Thai Chicken: http://www.laurengreutman.com/slow-cooker-thai-peanut-chicken/ Mongolian Beef: http://www.laurengreutman.com/slow-cooker-mongolian-beef/

Throw a jar of salsa in with 2-4 chicken breasts. That’s it. Tastes great

This is a weakness of crockpots. You might be better off switching to an instant pot. More flavor, less meat splooge.

I use a pressure cooker, which is pretty similar, but far less cook time. Add things in different stages. For example, if your meat takes 8 hours and your veg takes 2, then don't put it all in in the beginning.

But in the end, you're cooking everything together at once. I've never had your particular experience, but I use my pressure cooker to make things that are meant to have a similar flavor profile throughout, like chicken and lentil stew, or even just straight up pulled pork. I like using it to cook things that would typically take much longer, but not always as a one pot meal. I still have some rice on the side and maybe some roasted vegetables or a salad.

Separate different compartments using tin foil. Use different sauces in each compartment for a different flavor every portion.

Add the spices with about 45 to 30 minutes to go. Cooking them for so long weakens them

I love soups in mine. Sure it's not meat but tomato basil tortellini soup is to die for and you can eat it for days.

Easy! Don't make every element of the meal in the crock pot. My favorite go-to dinner is pulled chicken tacos. Chicken thighs go in the crock pot with salsa, onion, and cumin; maybe a dash of oregano, chili powder, and paprika.... the equivalent of a taco seasoning packet. That becomes the taco meat. Add cheese, fresh veg, and a taco sauce and you have damned fine tacos. I took it to the next level with a clone recipe for taco bell fire sauce and gordita baja sauce that I googled (super easy in a blender), which over time I have tailored to my tastes. Crazy good food for super cheap.

Add things that don't need much cooking like 10-20 minutes before serving.

Anything you cook for like 8 hours is going to become kind of a much, to make some parts taste different they need to maintain integrity, which means no long term cooking.

Cooking something all day then throwing in a ton of fresh veggies like 20 minutes before you eat works pretty well in my experience.

Throw away the crock pot and use sous vide for the meat. If you want to cook bean and rice, get a pressure cooker/instant pot.

Crock pot food tastes boiled to death.

My favorite slow-cooker meal is actually pork ribs, cook with no liquid (that's right, no liquid):

1) rub ribs with salt, pepper, paprika, and smoked paprika

2) cook on low 8+ hrs

3) put on baking tray and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce

4) finish under broiler 5 minutes

Serve with side salad or some steamed veggies, flipping delicious and takes about 10 minutes to prepare in all.

I'm just not a fan. If you have to cook something on the stove for four hours, stirring, skimming the top, and adjusting seasoning throughout, then you do it. I take my cooking seriously, and there is no magic bullet.

I throw in two chicken breasts frozen, 1/4-1/3 cup of water, 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chiles, and then add sauces/spices to my liking. Take that a step further and wrap the finished product in a nice heated tortilla and top it with some cheese or queso.

I would suggest an Instant Pot. It's a programable pressure cooker. Far superior flavour to a slow cooker, but it does have a slow cooking option. Pressure cooker means it cooks quickly and doesn't just bath your food in hot water for hours.

you gotta time it right; if you overcook it yo just get protein-paste-blend-#3

Stir fry, takes 10 minutes, tastes awesome, far healthier as well

Cook for less time

Crockpot french onion doesn't taste like meat

Get a pressure cooker instead, trust me

Any recipe using an oven

Herbs and spices my friend.

Use a pressure cooker. Cooks much faster and food retain more of their own flavor.

Agreed

I burnt out on it all

Texture has always been a big thing for me. I like at least some of my food to have a bit of crunch to it. Crock pots just can't do that, ever.

Coconut quinoa curry is easy and friggin phenomenal. Try the recipe from a site called simply quinoa-- it's friggin phenomenal and so filling and easy. We eat it over brown rice (rice cookers are also a cheap and phenomenal investment if you want your rice perfectly prepared and waiting for you when you get home).

I'm guessing you mean that whole "chicken stock, western herbs, meat and two veg" taste. I'd suggest trying some Arabic recipes, or even Asian recipes. A hotpot will cook anything that is liquidy. Heck even curries. The different spices and sweetness should help switch it up.

You can do a good selection of meats with one of um. Ribs come out good, at least the way I've had um. Chicken. Pork chops. Beef. Pot roasts. Add a side of either rice or potatoes, maybe some veggies, and it's good.

I don't know how you get the meat splooge to be honest. Do you just cram in meat by itself and cook it dry or what?

I'd recommend trying a dutch oven or similar cast iron cookware. A little more effort than a crock pot but way better results in my opinion. Sear your meat & get everything up to temperature on the stovetop, then stick in the oven for a couple of hours (time varies depending on what you're doing). You can make amazing ribs, roasts, stews. If you're doing meat - once you're finished remove the meat from the pot, return to the stovetop & deglaze with water and a little bit of flour for amazing fucking gravy.

They key is to add a fresh ingredient at the end, like fresh cilantro, lemon juice, or olives. E.g. http://www.marthastewart.com/897792/lamb-olives-and-potatoes

Change up your veggies.

Meat and onions. And potatoes (or do rice separate).

Then do steamed green beans or peas or carrots or corn or broccoli florets. Or all of those at once.

The only really necessary thibgs to go in with the meat are onions and the potatoes. Sometimes carrots retain their flavor, also... But I havent been able to reliably make them stay carroty

Less on the budget side but definitely worth trying is a Toulouse Cassoulet, which is really easy to make and sooooo good.

Basically, chuck some confit duck (the expensive bit), something porky (eg, pancetta), some sausages, some beans (any white beans will do), a couple of tins of peeled tomatos, whatever veggies you have in the fridge, a litre or so of stock, some herbs and things (I stick in a couple of bouquets garni) and a litre each of red and white wine into the pot and leave it until tomorrow. Lasts for ages, freezes well (I still have some of one I made in 2015 left), and something you can serve up to friends and look fancy.

Good more formal recipe at http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/10/traditional-french-cassoulet-recipe.html, which you can easily adapt for a crockpot. :)

You got a microwave? Baked potato with a splosh of sour cream. Steamed veges.

Or Choose meat dishes for your crockpot, served on rice. Stovetop rice in a pot takes 15 minutes and is easy. Make a salad or coleslaw by shredding 3-4 ingredients and adding a little dressing.

I actually used a slowcooker to make arroz con pollo with inexpensive chicken thighs. I can post a recipe if you want, but it definitely didn't taste the same as a pot roast.

prep the food like it was all going into the crock pot but take all the root veg (not the onions), toss it in olive oil, a little salt and pepper, maybe some parsley or whatever herbs you have that are also in the soup mix or sauce mix you're using in the crock pot and then roast the when you get home from work for 30-45 min depending on how small you've cut them. (350 to 375F). This gives you enough time to change into pjs, play a game of mariocart or f around on the internet and unwind.

Then dump the veg into the crock pot contents, stir and enjoy.

If you are trying to keep things having their own flavors, a couple tips:

1) sear the meat in a skillet before you add it. If you want to you can flour it a little before you sear it. For recipes involving chunked meat cut it up and tumble it around in the skillet until all sides are seared. The biggest benefit of this is that the meat flavor is now trapped in the chunks, and you don't just have a big glop of same in your bowl.

2) cook it for ~4-6 hours instead of ~8. This helps a ton with keeping the potatoes firm enough to not turn into part of your stock.

For tip 2 I would try making stuff on the weekend while you're cleaning house or watching TV. Even if you are out and about you can leave it so long as you remember to turn it off in that timeframe.

Adding in the non-potato veggies after the potatos and meat have been cooking for an hour also helps everything keep its own flavor

Add something fresh and crunchy after for texture. Cutting up some hearts of romaine and adding things like tortilla chips or those dried and seasoned pita chips add flavor too

[deleted]

I did a indian lentil stew called Dahl, it tastes great and very non crock-potty. Google a recipe but add more water than the recipe says.

If you get cooking bags everything can still be cooked in the same crock just in separate bags. Ultimately you will have to season your veggies much more.

Honestly you can kinda do whatever you want, yeah the slowcooker shines for stew and chilli but you can also just mix up some barbeque sauce, mustard, brown sugar, vinegar (i prefer cider vinegar but you could use rice, malt or even just white) and spices (try paprika, cayenne pepper, ground chipotle, chilli powder) make sure to taste it first and then just pour it over some chicken thighs.

Edit: also add a little apple juice to that sauce to water it down a little.

This is exactly why I don't do this. Slow cookers take away texture and combine flavors so efficiently that you basically have shredded meat soup every time. Not that I hate that, but you can just as easily roast meats and just cut vegetables up and put them into containers just as easily.

Undercook the veggies.

Wait until the last 30 minutes and add in peppers, onions, jalapeños, etc..

It makes a difference.

Try cooking sous vide instead of crockpot. Same general idea, but you can keep things separated and tasting like individual ingredients.

Learn seasonings. Instead of buying pre-made packages get better at doing it yourself. Cumin, cracked pepper, and oregano are good starters

Throw in chicken breast, salsa verde, onions, lime, and other spices. Shred it once it’s done cooking and then just put it in corn tortillas with cilantro and raw onions to make street tacos

Go for strong flavors in one direction or another.

Japanese and Indian-style curries are one strong option. You don't even need meat with these; they work well with a selection of vegetables as well.

You can use miso and a meat (I think pork works best). I've done a miso pulled pork a number of times using a bit of wakame to add flavor - don't use too much as the shit is super strong and salty on top of the miso. The pork falls apart and the net product is basically a loaded miso soup - you can finish with rice, rice noodles, and/or your favorite selection of vegetables.

You can go mushroom-based instead of standard meat bullshit. Cream of mushroom soup works if you want to cheat; if you don't, white wine, mushrooms, onions, some butter. Sautee in a large pan to brown then turn the heat down, reduce, use that shit as your sauce base. The more liberal you are with your white wine, the less it will taste like a traditional gravy. Want to go nuts? Chop up some uncured bacon into tiny bits and throw it in with the mushrooms before you reduce. This shit sounds complicated but takes like ~20 mins for great flavors.

The last method I've used is doing a really strong tomato-based sauce. With a good sauce, you don't need to worry about a meat taking over the flavor profile - Tomato is strong enough that even something like a spicy italian sausage won't dominate the entire dish. Secret ingredient? A bit of anchovy paste - gives the shit some pop and you don't need much of it. Alternatively, make that shit into a Vodka sauce - that shit will give you diabetes by age 20 but it's delicious as hell.

Finally, a mini-trick - pre-roast some of your vegetables to give them that roasty flavor before throwing them into your slow cooking thing. If they don't need to mix in with the sauces, roast them right before you serve, and toss them in straight out of the oven. Roasting vegetables is super easy and is as hands-off as using a slow cooker - doing this helps keep your vegetables from being a mushy afterthought disintegrating beyond all recognition.

Those are just some directions to think of when trying to break up the 'generic pot roast mush' that slow cooking can seem to lend itself towards. Any strong flavor will do it; that's just in my own rotation.

Things I have learned in this area: If a recipe takes 8 hours I stick in half of the spices/seasonings in at the beginning and half at the end with around 1 to 2 hours left. Flavors are way stronger and some herbs dont taste great after spending so much time in a slow cooker. Just play with your timing/amount for each recipe, getting it better every time is rewarding.

Are you guys locking down your lids? I did that for ages without knowing and everything just melted into a glob of ick. I make beef stew all the time now and its far from uniform tasting.

You can do awesome pulled pork or lamb. Rub pork with southern spices and then lamb with Greek flavours like harissa paste. Throw some chunks of red onion in the bottom and leave them to cool until the bones slide out. Drain off the liquid fat and then it's ready to go. Pork can go in buns and lamb is great heaped over cous cous (which takes minutes to cook). These make a change from sloppy casseroles and you can buy cheaper (usually tougher) cuts of meat for it.

Then you need to season! Add salt, it's always a bit more than you would think is needed. Then add herbs, usually you can buy a jar of mixed herbs. Personally I also like to add spices when frying my onions, garlic and ginger such as cumin and fennel seeds. It all adds up to a pretty tasty meal that would otherwise be pretty boring.

If you’re willing to use your oven a roast chicken and roast vegetables is super easy. Cooking time is 45 minutes. You can do things to make your chicken more tasty but to begin you can simply salt and pepper the outside.

My friend bought a coffee shop that wasn't zoned to have a stove, and he asked me to formulate some crock pot recipes that he could make. That means I couldn't even brown anything before putting it in. I had to say sorry after a few weeks of experimentation, everything tasted like shit. I think he ended up just buying some premade crap.

Brown any meat in a hot skillet with butter or oil. Then put it in the crockpot.

I make pulled pork in the crockpot like this. Brown a Boston butt, toss it in, throw spices and tomato paste and Worcestershire in it (or a bomb char siu sauce I make) and you got meat for days.

I pull half and slice the other half. Pulled for sandwiches, sliced for ramen, rice, etc.

Well my mum and my dad both use slow cookers (seperate houses). My mum using it tastes like how you describe, but when my dad uses it the food tastes like it was made by nan on a sunday night (very good). Definitely learnt most of my cooking techniques from my dad.

IMO this is a problem with slow cookers. I used mine quite a lot for a couple of years, but was never really satisfied with it. I got a pressure cooker about two years ago, and I've enjoyed it infinitely more. You can't go too wrong with it, and I think it intensifies the flavours instead of diluting them. Serious Eats had a decent article about it.

I think the same thing. And the reason is because when I think of food from a crockpot I think of super boring meals like beef and carrots. So when I got a crockpot I found as many meals that were nothing like "normal crockpot meals". The one that's my go to is Cream of Chicken Sandwiches. They look disgusting but are super simple, really tasty, and you can make enough to last three meals. All you do is put cream of chicken soup in the crockpot with shredded chicken breast, poultry seasoning, and crushed up potato chips. The potato chips are the key to making this not a boring sandwich. Mix it all up and let it cook. Before you're going to eat, crumble more chips on top. Then use a spoon to dish it out onto some buns, Hawaiian rolls are really good. Then throw a potato chip on top and it's ready to go. All the potato chips make this sound like I'm an unhealthy eater but that's not the case. I throw this meal in every couple weeks or so and don't mind the high calorie potato chips. You can find detailed recipes online.

Cook the most important parts in the crockpot then toss in raw veggies at the end ... Worms better.

I have a crazy pork roast sandwich recipe somewhere.. You only cook the pork and maybe 1 to 2 veggies in the pot itself and leave the rest raw for dressing. Works amazingly well.. Your cost is maybe $1.50 to 2 for a $7 to 10 wrap or sandwich

Try switching between flavour sets to keep it interesting. Indian curry flavours are awesome in a slow cooker, and so are some Thai (eg Massaman). Middle Eastern and north African flavours also work really well. Then portion and serve with rice/cous cous.

You can also do one pan or pot meals to add with the crockpot stuff. Like slicing up yams and other potatoes or veggies. Personally, I like baking bell peppers with cheese stuffing.

That's weird. Are your ingredients tasty or bland? Taste your raw tomatoes, are they full of a wide ranges of flavor and smell? If not, spend a bit more and buy better ingredients. Buy from your local farmers and in season produce. Avoid stuff that have been traveling for weeks to get to your store.

The difference is just amazing!

Here's an interesting read on why many food taste bland in the US

It's a pot. It's not a miracle device. The way I look at it, the pot is better suited for certain things, but it's not going to make particular items that tasty by themselves without some culinary skill.

Personally, I still prefer cooking with standard pots and pans. Heck, just learn proper cooking.

Get an instapot. You can cook for from frozen in 20 minutes, crock pot meals, rice, ect. The flavors are amazing. And the COOK from frozen is a life saver.

Switch it up with different dishes. My dad taught me a white chicken chili recipe that kills the game lol although I don't know many crockpot recipes now that I think about it

[removed]

[removed]

[removed]

[removed]

[removed]

[removed]

[removed]

[removed]

Where the fuck is the onion?

Also, try searing it and throw some red wine in there. IDK exactly how it'd work with a crock pot, but I do it in a Dutch oven then bake for 2-3hrs (longer is better though, just made it a couple times when it was the only meat and nobody thought ahead). Way better than the standard pot roast IMO.

Oh man I forgot the pot roast! I also eat this all the time and it's amazing. I usually only make it when I catch a chuck roast on manager's special, though. This basic recipe works for almost all beef/pork roasts. Thanks for adding!

Pro-tip for saving time: forget cleaning/peeling/chopping up regular carrots, just toss in baby carrots.

What do i need for this - a 3 quart pot or a 6 quart pot?

I'm crap at sizing stuff :(

I don’t use the sauce packet. Instead I use Knorr dehydrated vegetable mix (like $1) and some beef stock ($3-5 depending on if you buy it in a carton or as beef bullion) and it works amazingly. I also like to add onion and garlic cloves if I’m feeling fancy, but the potatoes and carrots really give it substance.

I don't like cooking my roast w/ potatoes, but I can't deny the convenience.

One of my favorite things is making chicken masala. Also amazing veggie stuff you can make with the crockpot.

Corned beef and cabbage

Toss in a pack of Lipton onion soup mix. And cover the roast with water. It will fall apart. So yummy

I see your roast and raise you Mississippi style. 1. Add a stick of butter 2. instead of sauce pack add 1 packet powder ranch $1.00 and 1 packet au Ju grave mix, $1.00. 2. Last thing you add is 3-5 pepperoncini $2-4 depending on the desired heat level. I usually do 4-5 and leave one on top of the roast. 3. Check half way through to make sure it isn’t dry, 6-8 hours on low and 4-6 hours on high. If it seems dry add some water. Do the vegetables just the same as you normally would with a roast.

If a more gravy is desired add a about cup of water with about an hour left in the cooking prices.

Great on sandwiches or just with potatoes and carrots.

I usually make beef and broccoli

Or just beef consume and french onion soup, you have a rich french dip just with cheese and sub bread or add veggies to turn it into a stew.

chuck roast

I'm not eating any sort of chuck. Lol chuck is the leftover GARBAGE after the good meat is taken out.

A better sauce

Onion! Onion is soooo good in this! And some celery.

One really important one with this one is to add the potatoes later because if you cook them as long as the meat, they turn into oily, brown mush. Made it too many times with ruined potatoes before someone mentioned this.

And the beauty of this? you'll get an absolutely delicious roast out of the cheaper cuts -- the ones generally considered "too tough" for regular use.

Nah, man. Slow-cook the shit out of that leathery meat. Just make sure it's fatty, and do not trim those chunks of solid flavour off the sides. :) We feed our family of four with this on the regular: a cheap-as-hell meal that leaves you feeling you ate like a king.

eta: never have used a sauce packet. I sear on all sides, salt-and-pepper liberally, douse it in a crapload of chicken/beef broth and a splash of cheap red wine; toss in some fresh rosemary and thyme. It's still cheap as hell for a meal that is pure deliciousness and will last you for days.

For pot roast you should really break out a pan and add one more step imo. Sear the hell out of the thing first over high heat until it's starting to blacken, crack, and dry out on the outside. You will be massively rewarded in the flavor department.

Also, forget the "sauce" or whatever. Just cut a bunch of onions (like 4 whole large yellow onions, they'll reduce in volume substantially) into eighths or so, and throw them in the crock pot and set the meat on top of them. The low and slow cooking will basically turn them into a thick liquid that is pretty amazing mixed with the rendered beef fat. Just as easy, cheap, healthier, and tastier IMO.

1. AND WHEN YOU GET HOME DIGG THE FUCK IN!!!

You forgot easy as balls Chicken and Dumplings.

• 1. 4 Chicken Breasts
• 2. A Couple Cans of Chicken Broth
• 3. 4 Cut Up Potatoes
• 4. Season to your own Tastes (I suggest a bit of diced onion)
• 5. Cook on low 7 hours
• 6. 1 or 2 cans of Pillsbury Biscuits
• 7. Lay Biscuits on top of cooking stew
• 8. Cook 45 min - 1 hour on low

Srsly, super easy and tastes pretty damn good.

Disclaimer: Am drunk, may have messed up proportions of ingredients.

OK non-American here and I just burst out laughing to see Amazon selling the casserole sauce packs. That's amazing and so unexpected.

But why are they so expensive??

Not to mention you can hand shred the left overs and leave it sitting in enchilada/green chilies sauce over night. Then you can roll it into homemade enchiladas that the entire neighborhood love.

Pot roast leftovers shredded with the juice from the Pot roast the night before with some brown gravy mix. Put on top of egg noodles. Easy cheap and mother-in-law approved. Toss the left over veggies in for a bit more filling meal.

The next-day sandwiches are basically the whole reason I make this meal. God damn they're good. My favorite lunch to take to work by far.

Mississippi Pot Roast

3 lb beef roast Stick of butter One package of Beef Onion dry soup mix One package of ranch dressing dry mix Whole pepperoncinis

Pat dry roast. Add a little oil to a skillet (cast iron preferably and sear all sides of the roast. Quick sear is the goal.

Put roast in crock pot. Add stick of butter, onion soup mix, ranch mix and pepperoncinis. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Shred and enjoy. I serve it with mashed potatoes and a roasted veggie.

Seriously it’s the most flavorful roast you’ll ever have.

[removed]

And when you’re done with these, head on over to /r/slowcooking, where crockpot is life, for tons of great and affordable meal solutions.

My family always uses southwestern salsa when making pot roast instead of a regular sauce packet and it's delicious.

I do a chuck roast recipe where you pour a can of cranberry sauce over the roast after seasoning. It makes the most amazing gravy, and all I need to do is steam some veggies when I get hone from work. Though it's the best if you also make mashed potatoes!

Try using sliced lemons and kalamata olives to flavor the pot roast (don't forget to take the pits out of the olives). I hate pot roast, but I love pot roast in the crockpot with lemon and kalamatas.

I don't have the recipe to hand, but it was originally a crock pot chicken recipe. The beef soaks up the flavor much better.

And I got triple gold for a post about crockpots... LOL.

*sauce

(Not trying to be a jerk. Spelling errors make some redditors dismiss a post. Your recipe looks awesome and I can't wait to try it.)

Ok. Will report back.

instead of taco seasoning, try it with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (comes in a can in the mexican area of the grocery store). gives the chicken an awesome smokey spice

You can always add a bit more to this with beans and corn as well.

Damn, I came here and posted this exact recipe without seeing your post. For sure, this is a great easy meal.

Ok, so I have a crockpot but have never used it but this sounds good. Do you cook the chicken separate, shred it, then add it to the already cooking mix or does it all go in the crockpot uncooked together and cooks in the crockpot? If so, are you cooking the chicken breast whole in the pot or in pieces? Size of those pieces?

Also, salsa verde for this can be really damn good! And if people want to save more and also learn to make their own salsa, not hard at all. Just get a can of some whole peeled roma tomatoes, an onion, a few jalapenos, maybe garlic, some cilantro, and add lime juice, cumin and salt and you got yourself some basic salsa.

And homemade guacamole... I can barely do store bought now. Fresh home-made guac is so fucking good. Hell, it doesn't even need much. Just get several avocados, mash em when they're getting a little mushy, add chopped onion, some lime juice, a good amount of salt, and you're good. I always buy a bag of avocados but never finish them all by the time they're getting too mushy so it's the perfect ending for them. I like adding just a little habanero sauce... just enough so you can taste some spice but not too spicy. The flavor of it is awesome but it will quickly become overpowering so you have to be careful.

I do a taco soup.
Can be done in crock pot or 30 minutes in a pot.

1-2 pounds of meat ( chicken or ground beef are my usual choices)

2 cans of corn 2 cans of diced tomatoes A can of black beans A can of chili beans 2 packs of taco seasoning 1 pack of ranch mix And i like to throw in a jar of salsa to give it that little extra flavor.

I always end up with very liquidy results when I do this. I think I'm using too much salsa

How well does that keep over time?

I was thinking of doing something like this as a meal prep for a week or so.

I use this one a lot. Add in a can of beans and a can of corn and serve over rice. If you aren't worried about calories you can add a bit of shredded cheese on top too.

Makes lunch for a whole week and only costs about $10 all included.

This. I make this all the time, I'm gearing up to make it tomorrow actually! I use chicken thighs now, they tend not to dry out to the same level as the breasts

Variation: 1 package boneless skinless chicken thighs, lots of chili powder, one can of diced tomatoes and green chiles. 8 hours on low.

I did this the other day, but added a bag of frozen gumbo veggies. (Freezer section, look for bags of veggies, find one that says gumbo mix) it was hella good.

Or you can do corn and black beans for a more Southwest feel.

Both are good served over rice and a dollop of sour cream on top.

My version, feeds two for most of a week:

• 4-5 lbs chicken breast, rubbed with 1 packet taco seasoning

• 1 jar each: salsa, green chiles

• 1 can each: black beans, pinto beans, corn

• 1 yellow onion

• 2 bell peppers

Cook on low for 6-8 hours, shred chicken. Cook 3-4 cups of rice separately, make 'burrito bowls' and serve with hot sauce, sour cream and/or cheese.

Probably has the highest ratio of taste:work of any of our slow cooker recipes, can easily be switched to more of a jambalaya recipe as well if you add sausage and throw the rice directly into the slow cooker at the end.

That sounds absolutely terrible. I can almost smell the artificial smoke flavour from over here. And why would you cook chicken breast for 8 hours, they're so tender and basically the best part of the chicken.

Fuck yes, I do this all the time with green chiles! Sometimes I add onions and bell peppers to make fajitas!

Sounds good! I do one that's kind of similar. Same amount of chicken, 1 pack of frozen corn, salsa, 1 pack of cream cheese, 1 pack of fiesta ranch mix, 1 large and 1 medium size can of black beans.

How does the chicken come out? Because when I do that it comes out so fragile you might as well shred it.

• Chicken breast

• one bottle BBQ sauce

• one bottle beer

• one bag seasoning blend veggies

Put everything in the slow cooker except beer, and slowly add the beer until everything is just covered in liquid. Then slow cook for 8 hours.

I've also had a variant where it's chicken, Rotel, and canned chopped tomato.

I do this all the time. Really awesome with frozen or canned corn with black beans in it as well. Usually serve over yellow rice when it is cooked then make it into burritos or what have you. Freezes well too, can make a huge batch and have emergency dinners for lazy nights.

Similarly instead of taco seasoning and salsa use half a cup of spicy Italian salad dressing and half a cup of your choice of barbeque sauce. Shred the chicken and make tacos or sandwiches. So good and so simple.

Actually did this in a pressure cooker the other day. It was excellent. If you want a quesadilla your going to need the following:

Chicken Breast

Tortilla

Complete Seasoning

Taco Sauce

Butter

Onions

Green Peppers

Mexican mixed Cheese

Season Chicken breast with Complete Seasoning. Cook Chicken for 25 minutes in the pressure cooker. Cook finely chopped onions and green peppers in a pan sprayed with oil. Mix a bowl with hot sauce, Chicken, Mexican cheese, and cooked onions and peppers. Heat a pan with butter on high and place tortilla on the pan. On half, place the mix and fold the tortilla. Flip and cook until golden.

Nah, if you really want to excel at crockpot recipes here's what you want to do. If you add 3 berries and 1 monster meat. Restoring 3 health, 62.5 hunger, and 5 sanity. Compared to eating this alone would only yield -20 health 46.875 hunger -15 sanity.

That feels like step two for the point OP is trying to push. Not saying it's bad advice but the idea of "eating out is easier" is the core issue op is addressing. Using the crock pot as a dump and forget cooking tool is step 1. Browning the meat etc is easy but honestly so is throwing it in a pan and just cooking it on the stove.

What's easier than all of that, is dumping it all into the crock pot at once.

An electric pressure cooker IE Instant Pot has all the features a crock pot has, plus the ability to brown foods and cook at pressure. it's a much better buy than a crock pot, which is really only good for keeping food at temp and not really that great for actually cooking.

Seriously, buy a cast iron skillet with your crockpot and DVR Good Eats...

Watch an episode a night before you go to bed and your cooking will improve exponentially. Besides being incredibly weird, it explains the why of cooking and underlying principles.

Hey after you brown the meat do you ride of the lipids or do you add it in the pot as well?

What do you mean by "browning the meat"? As in cooking it on the stove or oven first?

Just watch cooking videos guys, the videos by Gordon Ramsay and FoodTube are really nice even if you don't want to cook. Once you get an idea of what you would like to make and eat, you can just buy that stuff. Seriously utensils are not that expensive, buy once and use them the whole year.

Yeah I've got one of those ninja cookers that doubles as a stove top on that setting. Can brown the meat and whatever else for 5 minutes before putting it to slow cook mode. Really makes a big difference. It was expensive but man I use that thing all the time. Can even "steam bake" in it. Pretty friggin cool.

Second this. I have an Instant Pot and use it regularly, very very similar to slow cooking results but faster and sometimes even a bit better.

Would the recipe be the same for an Instant Pot? I’m thinking about getting one of those.

Taste tests have been done by multiple food sites and everyone agrees the pressure cooked food has more flavor than slow cooking for most meals (the others, the oven was the best). Slow cooking actually scores the worst across the board for taste.

Plus if you buy a large enough pressure cooker you can use it for canning. That's what I do. Canned soups and stocks all up in my pantry. Non perishable.

And insulated! You'll save money on electricity costs.

Large pressure cookers can be used just like crock pots.

It's definitely more of an upfront investment and is a bit of a luxury, but I definitely agree than an Instant Pot is the way to go if it's in the budget. I use mine way more than I ever used my crockpot because I'm terrified of my food sitting unattended all day, especially with my very stubborn and chronically starving cat left to her own devices. IPs cook the same type of meals in a fraction of the time so you can do all your cooking after work, and you can even cook frozen meats pretty quickly if you forget to leave them out to thaw. You can also cook aromatics and brown meats on the sauté setting before pressurizing the pot. And there's a massive Facebook Group with tons of tips and recipes. Last night I steamed artichokes then made a buttery lemon chicken with ours.

Gonna second that ! Pressure cooker is so much more efficient and way faster. The issue is you cant cook everything in that either. Its like eating stew for every meal. Will get old too fast. I usually insert something baked or quick fried in the meal to keep from getting bored.

Agreed- Instant Pot is definitely a more versatile device. We've used it for everything from soups & chili's to making pulled pork & chicken. It's really a time & money saver. The only thing I would do differently is buy a smaller one if I were in the market for one again, the big one can be a bit cumbersome (for me).

Agreed. Instant pot is not only a slow cooker, it's also a pressure cooker, yogurt maker, a rice cooker, you can saute in it, and much more. I use it more than my stove top. The pressure cooking features makes it faster than a slow cooker. There are a lot of features where you can delay the start too. I feel you can use it for almost anything.

Pressure cooking actually seems to lock in flavours. Mashed potatoes from spuds cooked in a pressure cooker have more flavour than ones boiled on the stove.

The food tastes substantially better as well. No contest. Pressure cookers get hot enough for maillard reactions to take place, while crock pots don't.

I have a Breville one and it's dope...have never used slow cook feature tho lol

I need to learn how to use them, almost scolded myself when I opened it up. I don't know if it was broken or the heat was too high but the lid practicall flew off when I twisted it.

Love mine but I wish I'd gotten a bigger one. It's just me, my husband and a toddler but, between the three of us, anything I make in my 7-in-1 seems to last only one day. That is, unless it's a soup.

This! If you truly want to replace the convenience of eating out, a pressure cooker is definitely the way to go.

There's a 3qt InstantPot I found out about today. Would have been a better purchase than the 6qt one for me, as a single guy. Just feels so wasteful and overkill.

While fast is nice, there's nothing like coming home after work for an already prepared meal waiting for you in the crock pot that you made that morning.

I just got one and I'm kinda intimidated by it. I was going to make chicken and salsa with it, but the instructions were terrible - can I put frozen chicken in it?

Also, my little steam valve is jiggly. It tells you to set it to "vent' or "steam" but I could sneeze and the handle would move. Is this normal?

Thanks a lot man...I was looking at an instant pot on Amazon for a week, now they've sold out. I'm blaming you, lol.

It's all fun and games until it explodes

Source: Kitchen was destroyed and grandma almost killed by an exploding pressure cooker.

And freeze them in serving portion sized containers. Grab one for lunch on your way out the door, or pull one out for that lazy dinner.

You can also just prep the meals in gallon bags, thaw overnight in the fridge, cook on low for 8 hours, and ta-da, dinner's ready when you get home.

Some ingredients aren't okay with this, but the vast majority are. And the meal will be freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Just chop, toss in the bag, give the bag a mix, remove the air as much as you can, and lay flat in a freezer.

Buy a food sealer and profit

This! I have a ton of shredded meat in snack bags in my freezer. One minute in the microwave, put on a bun, add buffalo or BBQ sauce, boom delicious meal in almost no time and with next to no dishes. All thanks to the crockpot! People who are saying they don't like crockpot meals, do you really not like pulled pork or shredded beef/chicken sandwiches? They're so yummy.

My standard freezing food post

What you are attempting to do is a poor mans vacuum seal, air is the enemy. You'll need three things, you most likely already have all of them. Tupperware or these, these are what I use, they are cheap, re-usable and microwave safe. Also because they are cheap tossing them isn't an issue. So those, plastic/cling wrap like Saran wrap and aluminum foil.

Put the leftovers in your selected container, take a piece of plastic wrap and place it on top of the food. Push it down gently so it covers the food completely; really work it in against the food, your looking to remove the air. Make the piece of plastic wrap big enough the cover the edges of the container, hanging over the lip. Put the top on the container with the wrap hanging over. Once you put the top on you've got a pretty darn good seal that will protect the food. Next wrap that container in aluminum foil, again pressing it up against the container. Toss in the freezer, pull out and thaw/re-heat later.

Someone questioned the aluminum foil step, whether it was really required. Honestly I don't know, I've been doing this for a very long time and it works. If it ain't broke don't fix it! I have two shelves of different leftovers at the house that my son heats up after sport practice or weekends. It is not unheard of to pull out chili from 6 months earlier, good as new.

My parents bought us a food saver so we freeze leftovers. We can store more food in less space in the freezer. Just boil the bag in a pot of water for about 20 minutes and dinner is ready.

I put cheese, berries, fruit, veggies, tortillas in food saver bags and they last forever.

I guess the used bags are waste but we rarely throw food away anymore.

Is he overwhelmingly handsome and extremely intelligent?

I do this but I also add in 2 cans of chili (just hormel or whatever) and a bit of shredded cheese. Not exactly artisan, but it tastes pretty darn good.

Add in a can of tomatoes, a few peppers, whole onion, can of beans, some cilantro. You have very tasty tortilla soup.

Oh man, I'm insane with grocery shopping. We also eat the food, but I go crazy.

I still dream about the days 10 years ago when it was just my husband and a pregnant me. Easily spend $400 a trip at Walmart just on groceries. Now it's us and 3 kids to feed so I can't pull shit quite like that anymore.

What about... just cooking?

Just go to a meal prep subreddit. The crockpot is something that I actually rarely use, but I use my oven all the time.

The real savings is due to planning, taking advantage of sales and obviously not wasting food.

[removed]

We cook two big meals on Sunday that we eat for dinner throughout the week. I'm not a huge fan of crockpots for anything but chili or pulled pork. The flavors get washed out.

I know, right. You can do this crockpot slop for maybe a month or two max before it begins feeling like prison food. Also, it's important to have a varied diet, else you'll end up with some or the other deficiency. Cooking meals isn't that hard or time consuming.

I think this post is geared towards the laziest among us. Like me. I tried to save money by buying groceries, meal planning, cooking every night, I had the best of intentions. Buuuuut Tokyo Joe’s is directly across the street. I can see it from my balcony. So $100 worth of groceries went bad in my fridge, and I still ate out, so it ended up costing me more. Because I’m lazy. But I can do a crockpot. Most days.

Plus, since I don’t cook a lot, it’s always expensive to go shop for all those spices, I usually have to buy some kind of kitchen item I don’t own or a special pan that didn’t come with the set I got at family dollar. Then I don’t know the right way to chop things so chopping things takes me like 20 minutes...

Yeah i dont get this either. Buy some pots n pans and a couple of knifes people. Throw chopped up food in them. Its not that hard and you dont need to be a michelin chef for it to taste good enough to eat. Look feel and taste along the process gets you there. Not everything needs to be spetsnaz dicipline on the recepies.

Same. From reddit I gather that Americans tend to just eat out every single day and it's mind boggling. If I eat out once during the week, I probably won't next week because it feels too expensive.

Besides, crock-pot or no, you can always cook larger amounts for the same trouble and save half for left-overs or freeze it. I probably cook only 3-4 times a week but eat at home every night of the week.

Edit: Ok guys, I get it - some of you are American and you also cook. I'm sorry for my generalization, I didn't mean it in a literal sense at all. I'm aware it doesn't apply to all of you or even half of you.

People here will tell you to spend your time and money investing in yourself and your quality of life but for some reason learning how to cook like an adult is off the table. A handful of basic techniques seperates them from making better-than-most restaurant quality food at home and actually enjoying the process.

To add to what the others are saying, the primary reason I can see is that of time. For me, sitting down drafting up a weekly meal plan (about a 30-45 minutes), going shopping (1.5 hr with driving and everything else), and then cooking all these meals every day (45minutes a day).

Instead, I can buy in bulk the common stuff between crockpot recipes, a giant bag of onions, potatoes, stocks, canned stuff, and so on. This cuts meal design time down drastically, add in shopping time being simplified to proteins and specialty items like kale or something. Don't even mention prep or cooking times, just toss it in and bam. Saves me hours weekly, and days yearly.

Crockpot is the easy alternative to just cooking if you feel intimidated.

The common theme here is people are lazy as shit. A lot of folks can't even chop an onion properly, let alone follow basic cooking recipes without feeling super overwhelmed.

Personally, I enjoy the idea of crockpot/pressure cookers because I can cook beans and tomato and stuff more easily. Especially the pressure cooker idea.

Now if only there were better macros for vegetarian fitness that weren't just lentils and vegan protein powder...

I think the point is, if you are stuck in the loop of eating out all the time, you are far more likely to fix this by using a crockpot as opposed to spending the extra time to actually cook a full meal.

I never understood this!! "Crockpot" is always the advice for "I don't like to cook" I love to cook last I don't have this problem but.... How does a crockpot save you any time as opposed to just cooking?! You still have to cut all the shit up an buy it. Now I just also have to wait eight hours

I brought this up once and apparently I was guilty of making my child associate food with comfort and contributing to a lifetime of disordered eating because I didn't insist that she eat the same things all week for lunch and dinner.

Most people are bad at it that's why they pay other people to cook for them.

Being introduced to a crock pot changed how I felt about eating out. ('Why would I pay for this when I can make it way cheaper myself' )

And sure enough I started cooking most of my meals myself but what nudged me in the right direction was the ease of a crock pot.

You're not wrong or anything it's just the way I see the necessity of the post.

The general idea of the OP is the cooking is done while you are at work so when you get home, all that's left is the eating.

I think op is targeting the lazy people who go out to eat because of the ease of access( im one of those lazy people) it's like afk cooking for the lazy, and the results are pretty damn good for really simple recipes and instructions.

Exactly. There's 1000s of really good and well reviewed recipes online. If you don't want to use that, Save with Jamie is a great book on meals you can make over the course of a week generally starting with a big roast, and then making other things with the leftovers as the week goes on. I'm a fan of Jamie Oliver, but do find some of his ideas weird, but this book is actually really good and is really simple.

Mom bought me a crockpot and recipe books when I moved out. I feel guilty but I've only used it once to make macaroni.

She forgot that I don't really eat chili, roasts, chicken breasts, or any other typical crockpot food. Plus, I work 6a-5p every day. I don't have time in the morning to prep a meal.

I like cooking but often too lazy to do it and/or hate cleaning up afterwards, so I tend to make simple stuff.

Honestly, the crock pot is great for some things, but I don't like making full dinners in it unless I'm making corned beef or stew or something.

We make a lot of pasta- super easy, and if you put ground hot Italian sausage in the sauce, it is sooo good. Also lots of chicken, marinate it in catalina or greek salad dressing, grill it, have it on a salad with red onions and/or whatever else you like- I guarantee you will like it.

I completely agree, and although I don't want to knock the crockpot too hard since I understand many people like it, I find that you sacrifice taste and texture for convenience when you use it. Making fresh food from scratch is quick, easy and cheap if you know some basics.

I use crockpot meals for work days. When I get home and I'm already exhausted I don't want to have to spend 30 minutes to an hour in the kitchen "working" on making dinner, plus clean up after. I meal prep one day a month, usually make about 20-30 meals at once, in freezer bags. The day before I pull out tomorrows dinner from the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw. Before work it goes in the crockpot. Usually just meats, although some recipes are a full meal. For sides I use the frozen steam bags of veggies. On days where I don't work though I will cook other things. Also helps because my boyfriend gets home much later than I do, so I can eat when I get hungry, leave the crockpot on warm and he has dinner ready when he gets home.

Agree. Crockpot is fine once in a while but I agree with some of the other comments, the food is bleh, and working from home, having to smell it all day cooking can really turn you off of eating it, especially with pork dishes.

With a little planning cooking can be less effort than eating out.

Yea I'm with you here. This is where the passionate PF folks deviate pretty seriously from those of us in the middle. Food isn't just about cheap.

Cooking in a crock pot is "just cooking"... OP is recommending a style of cooking that is cheap, low effort and can run completely unattended because it's a good stepping stone for the person who's eating out too much because they don't have time, don't know how to cook, etc.

Word. I like the idea of a crockpot, but I just make myself a giant soup or chili every week and it's worked out fine. I'm not sure I'd get nearly as much use out of a crockpot as OP thinks I might. :\

I swear, every thread about food in this sub is like this. This isn't /r/frugal, people. Personal finance is about living within your means and investing in your future. Not everyone needs to completely abandon eating out or spending money on quality food to achieve this.

My time is way too valuable to spend an hour cooking a day. I don't even like eating. I'd drink all my food if I could but protein shakes only go so far.