15 Big-Batch Slow Cooker Recipes with Great Leftovers
The slow cooker is beloved for so many reasons, including the fact that it naturally lends itself to cooking up big-batch dinners. That might mean feeding a crowd with ease, or it can also mean built in leftovers. With little to no extra effort on your part, big-batch slow cooker dinners reward you with meals you can stretch into leftover lunches or future dinners.
From saucy chicken dinners to soups, stews, and more, these 15 slow cooker recipes go big to reward you with plenty of leftovers.
Slow Cooker Chicken Dinners
I learned an important lesson when developing our slow cooker BBQ chicken recipe: Why cook just a pound of chicken when you can cook several pounds with little extra effort? I like to seek out chicken recipes that will leave me with ample leftovers for lunches and dinners, as well as those that are easy to scale up.
Meaty Slow Cooker Meals
The slow cooker is a natural partner to tough cuts of meat like pork shoulder, beef roasts, and brisket. But what I also love about making these meats in the slow cooker is that their large size comes with the promise of multiple meals. Use the leftovers right away or stash them in the freezer for busy weeks.
Slow Cooker Soups
To me, slow cooker soup is synonymous with big-batch cooking. I count on these recipes (most of which cook all day long) to fill my freezer with lunch for the weeks ahead.
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Favorites
Stews and curries made with beans, lentils, and sturdy vegetables are some of the best picks for big-batch slow cooker meals. Unlike more delicate vegetables, these ingredients hold up well as leftovers in the fridge and freezer.