Slow Cooker Comfort Food: Easy Meals for Fall

Everyone loves to come home to a house filled with the inviting aroma of a home cooked meal.  With today’s busy schedules, that can be a rarity, but it really isn’t impossible.  Below are a few of my favorite slow-cooker meals for chilly fall nights.

Chili is always a favorite and so simple.  For a family of four, brown one pound of ground beef, drain fat and place into a slow cooker.  Add one can of Ro-tel Chili seasoned diced tomatoes and green chilis, one can of chili beans (your choice of hot or mild) and one can of tomato sauce.  You may vary the amount of beans and tomato sauce, depending upon how thick you like your chili. The chili beans may be omitted altogether if you like.  Stir well and cook in your slow cooker for as long as needed.  Serve with chili cheese fritos or cornbread and grated cheese and/or sour cream. This can be mixed together the night before and stored in the refrigerator until ready to cook. 

Classic chicken and noodles is hard to beat on a cool evening.  Place 1 carton of chicken broth and four chicken breasts into the slow cooker, along with chopped onion, celery, and a few diced carrots.  Add 2 teaspoons of poultry seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the chicken is tender.   Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred or tear into bite size pieces.   Depending upon whether you want this to be thin, like chicken soup, or thicker, like chicken and dumplings, pour desired amount of chicken broth into a separate bowl.  Add one can of celery soup into the crock pot and stir until blended with the broth in the slow cooker, adding back in the reserved broth for thickness desired.  Return chicken to the slow cooker and add one package of Reeme’s frozen egg noodles.  If you use the pre-cooked kind they will be ready in just a few minutes.  Allow to simmer in the slow cooker until the noodles are tender. 

Round steak, london broil or chuck steak with gravy is so delicious.  Try placing the meat into the slow cooker, mixing one can of cream of chicken soup and one dry packet of onion mushroom soup together and spreading over the meat.  Cook in the slow cooker on low for all day or on high for about 5 hours.  This will make its own gravy, which is great with mashed potatoes or egg noodles.

Hamburger stew is another wonderful meal, easy on the budget and full of flavor.  Brown one pound of ground beef with chopped onion, to taste.  Drain fat.  Place in slow cooker and add one carton of beef broth and one can of tomato sauce or diced tomatoes, one large can of veg-all and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cook on low all day or on high as desired and serve with cornbread  or crackers.  This, too, may be mixed together in advance and refrigerated until cooking.

Macaroni and cheese is always a favorite with kids, and it can be made ahead and kept warm in a slow cooker.  Boil one cup of macaroni, being careful not to overcook it since it will continue to cook in the slow cooker, and drain.  Combine one can of cheddar cheese soup, one can of evaporated milk, and shredded cheese or Velveeta to taste (about a half cup to one cup).  Velveeta will yield a smoother result and cheddar  gives a sharper flavor.  Mix with the macaroni and pour into a greased slow cooker.  If your slow cooker has a “keep warm” setting, this is ideal for longer periods of time since pasta tends to soak up liquid.  If yours gets too dry, you may add additional evaporated milk or regular milk, just before serving.  This is essentially ready when it goes into the slow cooker, so the amount of time you cook it will be up to your needs.

Barbecue pork loin sandwiches are great for game days because they are so hearty and filling.  Place one prepackaged pork loin (barbecue or unflavored) into the slow cooker.  Add 1 cup of cola and one large slice of onion.  Cook all day on low or about 6 hours on high.  Before serving, remove the pork and shred it with two forks.  Remove the liquid from the slow cooker.  Return the pork loin to the slow cooker and add barbecue sauce  to taste (I highly recommend all varieties of Head Country).  You may mix in as much reserved liquid as you like for moisture.  Serve over hamburger buns or sandwich rolls with chips, curly fries or a veggie tray with dip.

Hopefully, you will find good results with these easy solutions for dinner because there’s nothing like a home cooked meal!