Think the slow cooker is only good for soups and stews?
I'm about to rock your world with five creative meal ideas,
and they're just perfect for freezer meal prep!
Hey guys, welcome back to my channel,
it's Taylor from The Girl on Bloor.
I'm all about sharing easy meal prep strategies
so that you could save time, money and stress.
Okay, so the number one thing I hear from people
when it comes to the crockpot is that it produces
sort of mushy, bland meals or these old school comfort foods
that maybe some people just aren't into anymore.
And I get it, why invest in yet another kitchen appliance
if you're not gonna use it all that much?
Well, the slow cooker is quite versatile you guys.
Not only is it amazing for leaving on all day,
filling your home with the aromas of good cooking,
but you basically cook dinner hands off
so that you can go out and do do other things
that you like to do.
Just add everything in by noon,
and dinner is ready by evening!
And you'd be surprised at the variety of meals
you can make in it.
Today I'll be showing you how to make lasagna,
beef stroganoff, chicken tikka masala,
turkey chili and of course, a classic chicken noodle soup
to get you through the cold winter months.
All of these meals can be frozen for later
so you can go ahead and prep everything hands off,
and then divide into servings in glass bowls
and freeze for up to three months.
I'll be going over reheating instructions
at the end of this video.
I also want to point out that the slow cooker
is not just great for winter meals,
but for also making food in the summer as well,
because you don't have to turn on your oven
and heat up the whole house.
I could go on and on about the benefits of crockpot cooking,
but I think that we should dive into the food already.
So let's get started!
We'll make the chicken tikka masala first.
This one is a favorite of mine,
the sauce is much easier to make than you think
and the slow cooker makes the chicken so much more tender
than cooking on the stovetop.
Start by prepping your ingredients.
You'll dice up one large or two small yellow onions,
mince two cloves of garlic and grate
one tablespoon of fresh ginger.
From there, you'll dice up one pound of chicken breasts.
Now you can start adding everything to your slow cooker.
See how easy the prep was?
Add two tablespoons of butter to the bottom
of the slow cooker, spreading it around
so nothing sticks to the bottom.
Add your onions, chicken, garlic and ginger.
Then you'll add one tablespoon of brown sugar
to cut the acid from the tomatoes
that we'll be adding in just a second.
This ingredient is totally optional,
but I do think it adds a nice flavor.
Now, for the spices.
You'll want to add one tablespoon of garam masala,
which is a blend of spices originating in South Asia
and particularly common in Indian cuisine.
Lots of major grocery stores in North America carry it now,
but you can always check out local markets
if you're having trouble finding it.
I always head to House of Spice in Toronto
because it has everything!
There are tons of recipes online to make your own,
and when you Google it you'll see that it contains
coriander, cumin, cinnamon
and cardamom among other ingredients.
I just prefer to use this blend because it's easier
than making your own.
Once you add in your garam masala,
you'll add in two teaspoons of turmeric,
one teaspoon of cumin, one teaspoon of chili powder
and half a teaspoon of salt.
You may want to season with more salt in the end,
so just a heads' up.
Now that you're done with your spices,
you'll go ahead and add one can of crushed tomatoes.
Stir everything up to combine,
then you'll cook on high for three hours,
or on low for six hours.
Because the chicken is diced up,
you don't need as much cooking time
as the average slow cooker recipe, it'll cook much faster.
In the last hour to 45 minutes of cooking time,
you'll want to make your rice if you'd like to serve some
along with your tikka masala, so I recommend cooking
that in a rice cooker while your chicken finishes off.
Add one cup of basmati rice to a rice cooker
or a pot on the stove, then add in
one and a quarter cups of water.
Add one teaspoon of butter to prevent sticking,
and a pinch of salt for some flavor,
then let that all cook until all the liquid has absorbed.
The rice cooker allows you to do this hands off,
so I prefer this method.
They're reasonably priced too, so there's really no excuse
not to get one.
When your tikka masala is done, you'll stir in half
a cup of sour cream and then you're ready to serve!
Divide your rice among four bowls,
then add your chicken in the creamy sauce.
Garnish with some fresh cilantro if you'd like
and serve with fresh naan bread.
The perfect comfort food in a bowl!
You can go ahead and freeze individual servings
of the chicken and rice together for up to three months
in glass containers, then you can reheat from frozen
in the microwave for six to seven minutes,
stirring partway through.
Just make sure to sprinkle some water overtop
so the rice doesn't dry out!
Okay, our second slow cooker recipe
is this delicious and super simple lasagna.
Yes, you really can make this classic pasta dish
in the crockpot, and you don't even need to cook
the noodles first either!
So what you're going to do first is dice up
one yellow onion and mince two cloves of garlic.
You can stop right here if you want this to be
a meat and cheese based lasagna,
but I'm a fan of adding extra veggies,
so I usually add some sliced mushrooms
and I dice up a bell pepper.
I'm doing half yellow and half red here for some color.
If you're feeling lazy
but still want to get your veggies in,
then you can just use some baby spinach.
Finally, you'll want to grate two cups of mozzarella cheese
if you aren't using the pre-grated stuff,
personally, I find the best mozzarella cheese
is a ball of pizza mozzarella so look for that if you can.
Now that we've got that little bit of prep out of the way,
let's get to cooking!
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat,
then add one pound of extra-lean ground beef.
Be sure to use extra lean
so that you don't have to drain it.
Break that up with a spoon, let it brown a little bit,
then add onions, garlic, veggies,
and half a teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
When your beef is browned and the veggies are tender,
add one jar of pasta sauce.
You'll need two jars of pasta sauce for this recipe,
so that is something to keep in mind.
Stir it all together to combine and remove from heat.
Now you're ready to assemble in your crockpot!
Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray,
then layer in.
Add lasagna noodles overtop.
I've tested this recipe with both regular lasagna noodles
and oven ready ones and both work just as well,
so go with whatever your preference is.
As you're adding your lasagna noodles,
you'll find that you might have to break some of them up
to get them to fit in one even layer,
so just do the best that you can here.
Don't worry if it looks a little bit messy.
Now you'll add your cheeses!
You'll need a tub of ricotta cheese
and then you'll have your two cups of grated mozzarella
on hand and you'll divide both of these among all the layers
so just do your best to eyeball it.
You should end up with about three layers total
and each layer should be about one inch thick
so those are just some benchmarks to keep in mind
as you build your lasagna.
Spread about a third of the tub of ricotta cheese
across the lasagna noodles, then add in more meat sauce.
Now repeat the process.
Add more lasagna noodles, add more ricotta,
and more meat sauce.
Then once more, add your remaining third of ricotta
and more meat sauce, topping with one more layer
of lasagna noodles.
Pour another jar of pasta sauce overtop of the whole thing,
then add half a cup of water along the sides
of the lasagna as that will help the lasagna noodles
cook all the way through.
Finally, you can top with two cups of mozzarella cheese
and cook on high for three hours or on low for six hours.
It's that easy!
When the lasagna is finished, top with fresh basil
or parsley if you'd like and then serve and enjoy!
Now, this is a little bit of a challenge
to get all the slices out,
but once you are able to lift the first one out,
and then it gets easier from there.
I recommend storing individual servings
in two cup containers, then you get either refrigerate
for five days or freeze for up to three months.
You can reheat from frozen for seven to eight minutes,
sprinkling some water overtop and stirring partway through.
I also like to freeze in foil containers
so that I can reheat in the oven from frozen,
it's just such a cozy, comforting feeling
to have your dinner going in the oven after a long day,
so I really highly recommend this lasagna for meal prep.
You'll love it!
Moving onto our next slow cooker meal,
and this one is a classic chicken noodle soup.
Can't go wrong with the classics!
We'll start by prepping our ingredients.
Dice up one yellow onion, chop two carrots,
two celery stalks and mince four cloves of garlic.
Then you'll chop up about a quarter cup of fresh herbs.
I like to go with a variety such as rosemary, thyme, parsley
and sage but you can use whatever you have on hand.
You can also use two teaspoons of dried herbs.
If you do this, I recommend you go with Italian seasoning
as that will contain all of the herbs I just mentioned.
Once you've got that little bit of prep done,
you'll add one tablespoon of olive oil to your crockpot,
followed by one pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Add everything you just chopped up,
along with half a teaspoon of salt,
quarter teaspoon of pepper, six cups of chicken broth,
half a cup of frozen corn and half a cup of frozen peas.
Cook on high for four hours, or on low for eight hours.
When there's just half an hour left of cooking time to go,
you'll add in two cups of dry rotini pasta.
Let it continue cooking, then remove
and shred your chicken before adding back to your pot.
Easy peasy chicken noodle soup is ready to serve!
This one can also be frozen for up to three months,
but the noodles do soak up some of that liquid
so when reheating you'll probably need to add some water
and salt, whether you're reheating from frozen
or from the fridge.
I love keeping lots of bowls on hand in the freezer
for days when I'm craving something comforting
or for when I'm feeling under the weather.
You just can't go wrong with chicken noodle soup!
Okay, our second last slow cooker meal
is this amazing beef stroganoff.
Another comfort food favorite for those cold winter days.
Start by quartering two cups of mushrooms,
then mince four cloves of garlic and dice one yellow onion
or two shallots for deeper flavor, as I'm doing here.
With that little bit of prep out of the way,
you can start adding everything.
Add two tablespoons of butter,
spreading it around the bottom of the crockpot to grease it.
Then you'll add one pound of stewing beef.
I've been told that this is more
of a Canadian grocery store thing,
so feel free to use any type of beef that you'd like.
Cheaper cuts like rump roast, top round
or chuck work perfectly here because the slow cooker
gets them nice and tender,
but if you're feeling fancy you could dice up
a top sirloin or New York strip steak
so just go with your preference here.
After you add your beef, add in your mushrooms,
minced garlic and diced onions, followed by
half a teaspoon each of salt and pepper,
a quarter cup of red wine, one tablespoon of Worcestershire
and half a cup of beef broth.
The red wine is optional here but recommended
for much deeper flavor.
White wine also works but make sure it's a dry white.
Otherwise, you can just leave it out altogether
without needing to add any more liquid.
The mushrooms will naturally release some liquid
as they cook so you're good on that front.
Cook that all on high for four hours,
or on low for eight hours.
For this recipe in particular I do recommend
cooking on low for eight hours just to get the meat
as tender as possible so listen to me
if you want the best results!
When the stroganoff is close to being done,
like within five or 10 minutes of finishing,
you'll cook a 12 once package of egg noodles
in boiling water.
They should be done in 3-5 minutes.
You want them to be slightly undercooked
so they soak up the sauce, so watch them closely.
Drain them and then get ready to add them in with your beef!
Remove the lid from your slow cooker,
stir in your sour cream and mix well to combine.
Then you can add your noodles and toss to coat.
Let the mixture sit with the lid on but the heat off
for five minutes as the sauce will thicken up,
and then you are good to serve and enjoy!
I like to garnish with a little bit of fresh parsley
and of course enjoy with a nice glass of red wine.
This is the perfect dish to curl up on the couch with!
Now if you want to freeze this one,
you could freeze it as is with the noodles,
but for best results, I recommend
storing the meat-based sauce in the freezer
up to three months, then reheat in the microwave
for 4-5 minutes from frozen and in that time,
cook your egg noodles fresh.
You won't even notice it's a freezer meal this way!
Okay, now for our final recipe,
and that is our slow cooker turkey chili!
You can do this with ground turkey or ground beef,
but I use turkey to make it a little lighter.
Don't worry, all the flavor is there in the end though!
Start by dicing up one yellow onion,
four stalks of celery and one green pepper.
Then mince four cloves of garlic.
Next, you'll heat one tablespoon of olive oil
in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Add one pound of ground turkey or ground chicken,
seasoning generously with salt and pepper.
Saute for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned,
and then you can add to your crockpot right away.
Add your diced onion, celery and green pepper,
followed by one cup of corn.
Drain and rinse one can of kidney beans,
add one can of navy or cannellini beans,
then add them to the crockpot.
Add in your garlic, two tablespoons of chili powder,
one teaspoon of cumin, one teaspoon of paprika,
one teaspoon of coriander, one teaspoon of salt
and half a teaspoon of pepper.
If you don't feel like measuring out all these spices,
then three tablespoons of taco seasoning will work here.
I make my own taco seasoning maybe once every few months
by adding a large amount of all of these spices
to a glass container but you can also buy it at the store.
Now, you'll finally add one can of diced tomatoes
to the crockpot, along with two cups of beef broth.
Give that all a stir, then let it cook on high
for three hours or on low for six hours.
If need be, you could let it cook on low for eight hours
but since you're sauteing the turkey ahead of time
it doesn't quite need that long.
While it's cooking, you can prep any toppings you'd like,
such as shredded cheddar cheese, sliced scallions,
chopped cilantro, sliced jalapenos or sliced avocado.
I like to top my chili with cheese,
scallions and jalapenos, then dip some tortilla chips in it.
It's probably my favorite slow cooker recipe and again,
it freezes fantastically.
Just freeze individual portions in two cup glass containers
for up to three months, then you can reheat
from frozen for 6-7 minutes.
Leftover chili works so well on nachos,
frozen fries, in salads and it's just so versatile
that this is a dish worth freezing for sure.
And there you have it!
My top five slow cooker recipes
that can also be made ahead of time for freezer meal prep!
This is one of my favorite ways to cover myself
for those busy weeknights in the winter
when I just don't have as much motivation
to cook every night.
I personally have trouble with all the darkness
so this is just something nice you can do for yourself,
whether you prep a bunch of food ahead of time
or just let your slow cooker take care of it
so that you can rest and recharge.
I hope you enjoyed these fun and creative ideas,
and if you'd like me to share
some more slow cooker recipes
please drop your requests in the comments below!
Okay, I'm signing off, thanks so much for hanging
with me here in my kitchen
and I'll see you in the next video!