Crockpot Lasagna

Any lasagna recipe can be made in the crockpot. I'm serious. And you don't even have to cook the noodles first. (Awesome!)

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
3 cans (15 ounces each) Italian-style tomato sauce
2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)
1 container (15 ounces) small curd cottage cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
15 uncooked lasagna noodles


Cook ground beef and onion in 10-inch skillet over medium heat 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is no longer pink; drain. Stir in tomato sauce, basil and salt.

Mix 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and the cottage cheese and Parmesan. (Refrigerate remaining mozzarella cheese while lasagna cooks.)

Spoon one-fourth of the sausage mixture into 6-quart slow cooker; top with 5 noodles, broken into pieces to fit. Spread with half of the cheese mixture and one-fourth of the meat sauce mixture. Top with 5 noodles, remaining cheese mixture and one-fourth of the meat sauce mixture. Top with remaining 5 noodles and remaining meat sauce mixture.

Cover and cook on Low heat setting 4 to 6 hours or until noodles are tender.
Sprinkle top of lasagna with remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Cover and let stand about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Cut into pieces.

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Wraps

Ingredients

2lb boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buffalo wing sauce (from 12-oz jar)
3/4 cup ranch dressing
1 package flour tortillas for burritos (8 tortillas)
3 cups shredded lettuce

In 1 1/2-quart slow cooker, place chicken; sprinkle with salt. Cover; cook 6 to 7 hours (if slow cooker has heat settings, use Low).

With slotted spoon, remove chicken from slow cooker and place on cutting board; discard liquid in slow cooker. In slow cooker, mix buffalo wing sauce and 1/4 cup of the ranch dressing. With 2 forks, shred chicken. Return chicken to slow cooker; stir gently to mix with sauce.

To serve, spread each tortilla with 1 tablespoon remaining ranch dressing; top each with about 1/2 cup chicken mixture and about 1/3 cup lettuce. Roll up tortilla; secure with toothpicks.

For something different, substitute blue cheese dressing for the ranch, or top with a little crumbled blue cheese.

Crockpot Italian Chicken

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1 packet dry Zesty Italian dressing
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1-2 cans cream of chicken soup (depending how much sauce you want)

Place the chicken in a crockpot and sprinkle Italian dressing over it.
Combine cream cheese and cream of chicken soup in a small pot over low heat and pour over chicken. Cook on low in the crockpot for at least 4 hours. You can leave it in there all day.
Once chicken is done you can leave the chicken breasts whole, cube it, or even shred it.
Once you have cut up the chicken, throw it back in the crockpot and stir into the sauce. If you feel the sauce is too thick you can thin it to your preferred consistency with a little milk.
Serve over pasta or rice.

From: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Easy Crock-pot Stuffed Bell Peppers

Makes: 6 servings
Cook: 3 hours (High) or 6 hours (Low)

Ingredients

6 red or yellow bell peppers 

11/2 pounds lean ground beef

1 can (11-ounce) Mexican-style corn

1 can (7-ounce) sliced ripe olives

1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

1/2 cup converted rice

1 packet (1.0-ounce) low sodium taco seasoning

1 can (103⁄4-ounce) condensed tomato soup

1 can (10-ounce) diced tomatoes

1/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

Directions
Cut tops off peppers. Remove stems, seeds, and cores from peppers. Dice pepper tops. In a large bowl, combine beef, corn, olives, 1 cup cheese, the rice, taco seasoning, and diced pepper tops. Stuff peppers with equal portions of meat mixture. Place stuffed bell peppers in a 4- to 5-quart slow cooker. In another bowl, combine soup and tomatoes. Pour over stuffed peppers in slow cooker. Top peppers with 1⁄4 cup shredded cheese. Cover and cook on high-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours or low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours.

Beef and Bean Taco Casserole

Ingredients
1 pound lean (at least 80%) ground beef

1 can (16 ounce) refried beans

1 jar (16 ounce) salsa

1 package (1 ounce) less-sodium taco seasoning mix

2 1/2 cups coarsely broken tortilla chips

1/2 medium green bell pepper, chopped (3/4 cup)

4 medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)

2 medium tomatoes, chopped (1 1/2 cups)

1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

1/4 cup sliced ripe olives

1 cup shredded lettuce

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In 12-inch skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in refried beans, salsa, and taco seasoning mix. Reduce heat to medium. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.
In ungreased 2-quart casserole, place 2 cups of the broken tortilla chips. Top evenly with beef mixture. Sprinkle with bell pepper, onions, 1 cup of the tomato, the cheese, and olives.
Bake uncovered 20 to 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly and cheese is melted. Top baked casserole with lettuce, remaining 1/2 cup tomato, and remaining 1/2 cup tortilla chips.

Notes: There are some great variations on this recipe to make it healthier and/or easier to make.

1) Use lean ground turkey instead of beef

2) Make your own taco seasoning to control the amount of sodium

3)Place in crock pot instead of baking

4) Use frozen or thawed chicken breasts instead of beef/turkey when making in the crock pot.

5) Substitute black beans for the refried beans

6) Substitute torn up corn tortillas for the chips

7) Add a can of corn (drained)

From: Recipe.com

Crock Pot Vegetable Stew

Serves 6 | Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 7hr 30m

Ingredients
4 large carrots, diagonally sliced into 2-inch pieces (about 5 cups)
2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
1 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 16-ounce can chickpeas, drained


 Directions
Combine the carrots, turnips, onion, garlic, tomatoes (with their liquid), broth, salt, cumin, and pepper flakes in a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Cook on low heat for 6 hours, or on high for 3 hours.
Add the zucchini and chickpeas and cook 1 hour longer on low.

I may substitute sweet potatoes for the turnips. It will change the taste of the soup, but I think it will still be delicious. If you don't like/have turnips, rutabaga is a perfect substitute, and parsnips are a good replacement.

From Real Simple

Crock Pot Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna

Serves 6| Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 4hr 15m

Ingredients
2 10-ounce packages chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess moisture
1 cup ricotta
3/4 cup grated Parmesan (3 ounces)
3 cups marinara sauce
6 regular lasagna noodles (not no-boil)
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella (6 ounces)

Directions
In a bowl, mix together the spinach, ricotta, and ½ cup of the Parmesan. In a second bowl, mix together the marinara sauce and ½ cup water.
Spread ¾ cup of the marinara mixture in the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Top with 2 noodles (breaking to fit), ¾ cup of the remaining marinara mixture, half the spinach mixture, and ½ cup of the mozzarella; repeat. Top with the remaining noodles, marinara mixture, mozzarella, and Parmesan.
Cover and cook on low until the noodles are tender, 3 ½ to 4 hours.

From Real Simple

Taco Soup

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef (can use ground turkey or a combination)
1 large onion, chopped
3-16 ounce cans Mexican style Chili beans
1-16 ounce can whole kernel corn, undrained
1-16 ounce can chopped tomatoes, undrained
1-15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1-4.5 ounce can shopped green chilies
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 envelope ranch style salad dressing mix
Topping: Tortilla chips, grated cheese, sour cream, avocado.

Directions
Cook ground beef and onion in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until meat is browned, drain. Stir in beans and next 7 ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Serve with toppings.

This can also be made in the slow-cooker. Cook ground beef and onions as directed, combine with remaining ingredients in slow cooker (reduce water if thicker soup is desired). Heat on low until warm, serve with toppings.

Notes:
May be frozen up to 3 months.

From RumpkeFamilyCookbook

Slow-Cooker Vegetarian Chili With Sweet Potatoes

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 20m | Total Time: 8hr 20m

Ingredients
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
kosher salt and black pepper
1 28-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 15.5-ounce can black beans, rinsed
1 15.5-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed
1 medium sweet potato (about 8 ounces), peeled and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
sour cream, sliced scallions, sliced radishes, and tortilla chips, for serving

Directions
In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, cocoa, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Add the tomatoes (and their liquid), beans, sweet potato, and 1 cup water.
Cover and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender and the chili has thickened, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours (this will shorten total recipe time).
Serve the chili with the sour cream, scallions, radishes, and tortilla chips.

From Real Simple

Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup salsa
2 tsp chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 shredded monterey jack cheese
6 flour tortillas (6")
1 small tomato, chopped
1 green onion, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Stir soup, sour cream, salsa and chili powder in medium bowl.
Stir 1 cup salsa mixture with chicken and cheese in separate bowl.
Divide chicken mixture among tortillas. Roll up tortillas and place seamside up in 2qt shallow baking dish. Pour remaining salsa mixture over filled tortillas. Cover baking dish.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until enchiladas are hot and bubbling. Top with tomato and onion.

Make this in the crockpot two different ways!

1) Follow the above directions, but assemble in layers in a crockpot instead of a baking dish: Tortillas, chicken mixture, tortillas, salsa mixture, repeat.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until heated and bubbly.

OR

2) Omit 2 cups chopped cooked chicken and Add 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Place chicken breasts on the bottom of crockpot. In a separate bowl, mix soup, sour cream, salsa & chili powder.  Pour over chicken breasts in crockpot. Cover with shredded cheese. Cook on low 7 to 8 hours.  Shred chicken in crockpot and stir mixture.  Serve on tortillas.

I find that cooking the chicken in the crockpot is the easiest and most convenient way for me. I rarely have the time or desire to first cook chicken breasts and then assemble this recipe.  It also cuts down on dishes and cleanup!

Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken

2 lb Chicken breast
1 teaspoon oregano
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chicken broth or water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Wash chicken; pat dry. Season chicken with salt and pepper and half of garlic and oregano.

Heat olive oil in frying pan and brown chicken on all sides. 

Transfer chicken to crockpot. Sprinkle with remaining oregano and garlic. 

Add broth or water to frying pan, stir to loosen brown bits; pour into slow cooker.

Cover, cook on LOW (200°) for 7 to 8 hours. Add lemon juice last hour. 

Skim fat from juices and discard. 

Serve with rice and steamed vegetables.

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