Cooking Methods

We have quite a collection of slow cooker recipes on our site. We really just can’t get enough of the appliance’s versatility and ease. And while we’d have a tough time picking out our favorite recipes from the bunch, you, our readers, definitely have your favorites. These 10 slow cooker recipes are the most popular of all, and for good reason — they’re comforting crowd-pleasers that can easily go on repeat on the dinner roster.

Just wait until you taste that jus.

Cooking Thanksgiving dinner is no small feat. There is a way to make it easier, though, and it comes in the form of your slow cooker. When you’re vying for precious space in the oven, wishing you had another burner on the stovetop (or another pair of hands), or you just want to keep food warm, this trusty appliance is your best bet.

You don't even have to boil water.

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Editor’s Note: If you’ve cooked this beloved recipe before, it might look a little different these days! We recently improved it to make it even easier to follow and more delicious.Anyone else grow up heating bread and cheese in the microwave on unsupervised afternoons at home?

Editor’s Note: If you’ve cooked this beloved recipe before, it might look a little different these days! We recently improved it to make it even easier to follow and more delicious.If you like pork tenderloin, it’s time you try boneless pork loin. Consider it tenderloin’s larger, equally mild cousin.

A big bowl of classic mashed potatoes make any meal a little better. Sadly, I come from a long line of mashed potato forgetters. A familiar cry heard each Thanksgiving was, “The mashed potatoes!” This could mean one of three things: Someone forgot to start them, someone forgot they were cooking, or someone forgot them in the kitchen and they were cold by the time they hit the table. This always bummed me out. I mean, we’re talking mashed potatoes here.

The air fryer has become the latest indispensable appliance and is now a staple in many home kitchens. Besides making your favorite foods perfectly crisp without using much oil, air fryers are also incredibly handy for quickly roasting vegetables in a matter of minutes. It is a great tool for when the stovetop and oven are occupied with other dishes, or for those times when you just don’t want to heat up the kitchen. Plus, cleanup is a breeze!

Editor’s Note: If you’ve cooked this beloved recipe before, it might look a little different these days! We recently improved it to make it even easier to follow and more delicious.From here on out, creamy chicken soup from the slow cooker shall be known as change-your-life chicken soup. Try to imagine all the goodness of chicken soup — moist, tender chicken, bites of sweet carrot and peas — but wrapped in a creamy broth flecked with black pepper.

Fermented foods like sauerkraut and kombucha have been in the limelight for their role in supporting healthy bacteria in your gut, but they are also just plain delicious. If you’re looking to eat more fermented foods on a regular basis, consider making your own. It’s totally doable and can be a lot of fun to make things like milk kefir or sourdough.

My secret to getting dinner on the table every weeknight is a new sous chef — the air fryer. When I put this countertop appliance to work, I’m free to attend to the main dish while it works, virtually unattended. All I have to do is wait for that delightful “ding,” telling me the food needs a flip or is ready to eat.

Hot mulled cider is a must-have at all our fall and winter shindigs. It’s a great non-alcoholic drink option for holidays like Thanksgiving — guests of all ages never seem to turn down a mug, but grown-ups can also take the opportunity to do a little self-spiking and mix with their alcohol of choice. Slow-cooker mulled cider is the easiest way to serve a crowd.

Of all the things I make in my Instant Pot, there’s nothing more convenient (or versatile!) than a batch of sweet potatoes. Topped with a pat of butter and flaky salt, Instant Pot sweet potatoes are a quick side dish to partner with whatever I’m cooking. They’re also incredibly versatile. Loaded with beans and greens, they make a wholesome vegetarian dinner. Filled with Greek yogurt or nut butter, and fruit, I have a nutritious breakfast.

Yes, you really can make baked ziti (well, “baked” ziti) in your slow cooker. And the result isn’t just good — it’s amazing. What it lacks in the crispy-edges department it gains in the ooey-gooey comfort-food department: tender noodles coated in marinara sauce and mixed with a double dose of melty cheese. Pasta in the slow cooker has a reputation for being overcooked and soggy — a result of too much liquid in the slow cooker or too long of a cook time.

Do you love figs? Then you’ll love this easy dessert. But you’re that type. This dessert is really meant for people who can’t quite get the fuss over fresh figs — people who live in places where the only figs around are weak and watery, pale imitations of what they should be. This recipe will banish all that disappointment — these figs are caramelized, smoky, dark — and rich. The first time I tried a fresh fig I was disappointed.

Fresh watermelon is one of the most delicious delights of summer. After enjoying watermelon slices, a watermelon salad, or your favorite smoothie, the thick rind is all that’s left behind. This old-fashioned Southern pickled watermelon rind recipe is a zero-waste solution that repurposes the part that is usually discarded and transforms it into a treat that can be a great complement to an appetizer spread, or a unique addition to a salad or wrap.

Cool, briny pickles straight from the fridge are one of the simplest pleasures of summer. Quick pickling is also a brilliant solution for preserving a plethora of summer vegetables from the market or your garden. Quick pickling doesn’t require canning or a bushel of vegetables. Best of all, you can adapt this simple formula for any fresh vegetables; try a mixture of vinegars and spices for a truly custom pickle pleasure. Here’s how to make these easy quick pickles in just 20 minutes.

If there’s a food that’s not improved by grilling, I’ve yet to find it. The open flame and sizzling grill grates add flavor, complexity, and gorgeous grill marks to meat, veggies, fruit, and extra-firm tofu (what we’re talking about today!). With just a few smart steps — including dredging the planks in a simple spice rub and finishing them with a punchy herb sauce — tofu can be one of the most flavorful foods to come off the grill.

Countertop air fryers are an increasingly popular kitchen gadget. Air fryers work by circulating super-hot air, which quickly and evenly reaches all the surfaces of the food. In other words, it gives food that crispy-fried texture and golden-brown color without having to actually deep-fry anything. If you’ve joined the air fryer club and need some ideas for meal essentials, we’ve got you covered. You can make practically anything that you would fry in an air fryer.

My grandmother kept a tidy little vegetable garden outside her New England home. While she did a decent job of growing summer squash, cucumbers, and some tomatoes, her best results always came out of her snap bean plants. This also meant my annual August trips to visit her were filled by snapping beans on her porch (a job reserved strictly for grandchildren) and putting jars of quick-pickled green beans in her refrigerator.

It's all about the marinade.

When summer heat floods the farmers markets and groceries stores with green zucchini and yellow squash, it also brings pattypans, the darling of the summer squash family. These small, adorable, disk-shaped squashes with their sometimes scalloped edges come in all shades of green and yellow, and are just as delicious as their bigger counterparts.

The grill has the ability to elevate sweet, juicy peaches from over-the-sink snack to the most stunning dessert or a side dish with nothing more than heat. Grilled peaches are the kind of magic that happens in a hot grill’s twilight, when dinner is nearly done, and sweet fruit is the best pairing for the cold wine and ice cream destined for dessert. Here’s how to pull it off with grace and ease in only four simple steps. They’re incredibly easy to grill.

Picture this: You’ve got guests coming over for a cookout in less than an hour. What can you grill that will be both impressive and quick? The answer is almost always grilled pork tenderloin. Pork, especially the pork tenderloin, takes incredibly well to the smoky char of the grill. With just a smart dry rub of sugar, salt, and spices, pork tenderloin grills up with a thin, tender-crisp crust, while being incredibly juicy and, well, tender in the interior.

When the sun is shining and you’re contemplating grilling outside, don’t forget that easy grilled sweet potatoes can be a delicious addition to the summer dinner plate. All you have to do is toss thick slices with some oil and salt, and after just 10 minutes on the grill they’ll be sweet and tender with a hint of smokiness from the flames. To up the ante, toss the still-warm grilled sweet potatoes in a sweet-and-spicy dressing. Heat the grill.

Make it fancy with an easy herb butter.

It’s time to get fired up.

This basic chicken breast technique gets meal prep done faster!

It’s summer, which means that not only is your grill hot, but corn on the cob is also finally juicy and sweet. The two need to meet. While I’d like to tell you it’s as simple as throwing the cobs on the hot gas grill or charcoal grill and letting the two mingle, there is some work that must be done to get the corn and its husk ready for the grill. Get to know which corn to buy, steps for grilling, and the essentials to achieve a grilled corn perfection.

Fresh salmon that’s been rubbed with herbs and grilled slowly over wine-soaked cedar planks: Let me tell you, this right here is some of the best salmon you’ll ever put in your mouth. This is such a simple and elegant technique for cooking salmon. The fish steams gently in the heat of the grill, staying incredibly tender and moist. It also picks up smoky flavors from the grill and woodsy flavors from the cedar, along with whatever was used to soak the planks. So good.