My Family’s Favorite Crock-Pot Recipes in Winter

There is nothing better than coming home from a long day of work, school, and daycare to already having dinner waiting for us in our Crock-Pot. It seems like magic to me. I threw a few ingredients in the slow cooker and eight hours later with little effort, dinner! Here are two of our family’s favorite slow cooker recipes to eat in the winter.

Slow Cooker Taco Chili

Ingredients: 1 pound ground turkey browned and drained, 2 – 15 ounce cans pinto beans, 10 ounce can of diced tomatoes with chiles, 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes, 1 can of corn, 1 package taco seasoning, 1 package ranch dressing seasoning mix

Directions:

1. Brown and drain meat. Add taco seasoning to meat before it is completely browned.
2. Combine all ingredients. Do not drain any of the cans. So easy!
3. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

Recipe modified from Crock-Pot Girls.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta

This recipe involves a little bit more work, but I still think it’s a great meal to make before a long day as long as you have 30 minutes before dinner to shred chicken and add an ingredient.

Ingredients: 3 large chicken breasts, 1 can cream of chicken, 3/4 cup -1 cup (depending on how spicy you want it) of buffalo wing sauce, 2 cups sour cream, 1/2 cup ranch dressing, 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded, 1 pound whole wheat penne pasta

Directions:

1. Mix the cream of chicken, buffalo sauce, and whole raw chicken in the slow cooker. Make sure that these ingredients are mixed together and try your best to cover the chicken.
2. Cook on low for 8 hours.
3. Take the chicken out of the slow cooker, shred it (I use two forks), and add it back to the slow cooker.
4. Start making the penne pasta separately. Follow the directions on the box. I will often make it the night before so that I can just throw it in the slow cooker at the end.
5. Add sour cream, ranch, mozzarella to the slow cooker, and mix well.
6. Cook until everything is melted together, which will take about 30 minutes.
7. Add cooked al dente penne pasta to slow cooker.
8. Serve.

Recipe modified from Crock-Pot Ladies.