30+ Creative Crockpot Recipes, Ideas & Uses—Crazy! (Soap?)

If you’re looking for creative crockpot recipes and cooking ideas we’ve got answers. If you want lots of delicious and favorite recipes and some really outrageous uses for a slow cooker, you’ve also come to the right place!

The slow cooker or Crockpot is one of the most versatile time and money-saving tools we have in our kitchen. We use them so much that, over time, we now have three of them. They help us on our once-month cooking day and for other daily needs.

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Related Article: $3400 in CrockPot Savings A Year

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Traveling with a Crockpot?

Years ago we flew the family to Washington DC for vacation. We picked up a crockpot at a local thrift store. For the entire trip, we used it to cook one meal a day in our hotel room.

One day, Annette put a whole chicken in our Crockpot and covered it with a bottle of BBQ sauce. We came back from the beach and after cooking all day the chicken was warm and delicious. This yummy main dish was served with baked potatoes and broccoli for a complete meal.

Other days, she had soup or stew or chile waiting for us when we returned to the hotel room.

Getting Your Favorite Crock Pot Ideas: We thought we’d ask our Facebook fans what they use their Crockpots to cook and we received a ton of answers. Take a look and be encouraged.

You won’t believe all of the amazing foods and other things people are using crockpots for. From meals to soaps to growing plants. This page is an amazing resource of possibilities for your slow cooker. This page has 5 sections:

1. Favorite Crockpot Ideas for Beef

Our Facebook friends shared their favorite beef recipes for crockpot cooking.

Smothered Steak? – Recipe

Smothered Steak. Eye of round steak on top of carrots with tomato sauce and beef broth over the top of mashed potatoes. You can put in some celery and onions. pretty good tasting if I do say so myself. Jennifer Bade

Slow Cooking Cow Tongue! – Recipe

I cook Cow Tongue in my Crockpot. This is my kids’ absolutely favorite. After several hours, when it’s cooked I slice it and eat it in tacos with a bunch of corn tortillas, a tomatillo/cilantro/spices salsa, and a little bit of onions. Then my gringo husband, me & our 3 kids have a tasty dinner! 🙂 Cecilia Lopez-Cueva Hoosen

My Favorite Crockpot Recipes

I love making Stew and Chili Verde. Julie Murtha Geraci

Irish in the Crock-Pot

I cook Corned Beef and Cabbage in my slow cooker! Terrylisa Barrows

Super Tender Swiss

I use ours for Swiss Steak..the meat is so tender when it is done. Lisa Plunkett Hancock

Chuck and Coke – Recipe

Chuck roast covered in coke. Once it’s cooked, shred the roast and then mix with BBQ sauce. Serve on small rolls with coleslaw! A summer favorite!  Christine Achterkirch

My Crockpot Went Up in Flames – Literally – Story

A couple of weeks ago my Crockpot died. It went out in a blaze of glory, sparks, and flames. Luckily I was standing there when it happened. I immediately went into mourning. Then my daughter reminded me that I had used that Crockpot at least 3x a week for more than 10 years. : ) She was right of course. I bought a new one the next day. I had a beef brisket I needed to cook. Kimmy Vasenda

Need More Beef Stew

My favorite Crockpot recipe is Beef stew. But, I haven’t made it often enough. It’s so easy and delicious. Darci Bellingar Wilson

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See a list of the Top Rated Crockpots and accessories on Amazon.

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2. Creative Ideas for Chicken

How to Cook a Whole Chicken in a Crockpot – Recipe

To cook a whole chicken I just put the chicken in my crockpot! Make sure it fits. Sometimes I skin it or cut into pieces to make it easier. I add a variety of spices – just depends on what I’m feeling. Using BBQ sauce is a good idea. If you want like chicken soup or roasted flavor put an onion, some garlic or lemon in the cavity. For added flavor, rub herbs on the skin.

Chicken & Dumplings Recipe

Chicken and dumplings is a family favorite of ours.

Just take 4 chicken breasts along with 2 cans of cream of chicken soup/1 can of water. Throw in some chopped onion..1/4 cup. Cook on high for 3 or 4 hours. Then take a can of biscuits and cut them into quarter-size pieces.

Also, add 1 can of mixed vegetables and simmer for 1 hour. Homemade Chicken and Dumplings!! So…so…easy!! I serve it with a salad and mashed potatoes. Yum!! Jackie Madewell Selover

Whole Chicken – Recipe

I make a chicken in my Crockpot that my mom always made… It’s super easy and I loved it as a kid and my whole family does now… I just put a chicken in the Crockpot with salt pepper and paprika and then add celery.  I always make this chicken recipe with stovetop stuffing

It’s very basic and VERY yummy… I just cook it all day on low. Karen Prusak Kashuk

Chicken Tacos – Recipe

I use mine a lot for various things – especially in the fall and winter – – just recently used the last few chicken breasts that were in the freezer and added some water (~1/4 C) and some Taco Seasoning for Chicken Tacos – – served with rice, beans & fixings for tacos & was a hit with the family. Beverly Keller-Lucero

Simple Chicken Tacos – Recipe

Throw frozen chicken breasts in with a jar of salsa. Before serving it will shred super easy to make chicken tacos. My family’s favorite. Cara Volmer

3. Ideas for Pork

We Like “Buzzard Dip” – Recipe

My husband likes to use it to make “Buzzard Dip” for parties:

Here are the ingredients: 1 pound browned crumbled sausage, 1 can of Rotel tomatoes, 2 packages of cream cheese.

Super easy, but it always gets scarfed down quickly. Sarah Fulleton Wolcoff

Pork Tenderloin with OJ? – Recipe

I cook pork tenderloin with orange juice in my crockpot.  Angie Kolberg

Crockpot Cooking Ideas for Everything

When our local grocery store has pork loin for under $2/lb (the cheapest it gets around here), I buy A LOT and cut half into chops and the other half into roasts. I’ll throw a roast in with a package of Jack Daniels BBQ marinade and let it cook all day. Makes the best Pulled-Pork BBQ sandwiches. Mmmmmmm! Kelly Coyote-Hunt

The Best Beans Ever!

I like to fry up a bit of bacon ends and onion, put it in the Crockpot with some pre-rinsed raw pinto beans, cover with plenty of water and cook all day (season to taste). Tanya Hastings Owens

Melt in your Mouth Ribs!

I threw in some huge pork ribs today! Yum, just melted in your mouth! Brendy Eley

Throw Together Soup

Yesterday I put a bacon hock, soup mix, grated and chopped fresh veggies and had a yummy soup for dinner and lunch at work today:) Debbie Sullivan

4. Crockpot Ideas for Vegetarian Dishes

Soup with Cornbread – Recipe

Today, I put in pink beans, jalapenos, onions, and vegetable broth – it will go over the cornbread muffins I made at the beginning of the month. All ready for us after our workout! Karen Garrett

More Italian Ideas

I’ve cooked Eggplant Parmesan in my slow cooker Meg Says

 Great for Soup

I’ve found that soup in the Crockpot is super easy and absolutely my favorite!!!  Jessi Ray

Beans in my Slow Cooker

I like to make kidney bean soup and White Northern beans in it. Janet Marie Olsen-Olinger

Crockpot Yogurt Maker

I use my slow cooker to make yogurt. Joanne Courtney Mitchell

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RELATED ARTICLE: Homemade yogurt recipe here

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5. Crockpot Ideas for Every Kind of Food & Misc

Falling off the Bone – Lamb in the Crockpot – Recipe

I like to put a whole leg of lamb in, rosemary, parsnips, onions, potatoes, and carrots, cook it all day and then serve with some green beans, it just falls off the bone and the veggies soak up the lamb juices. Liskeard Jane

How to Cook Crockpot Baked Potatoes – Recipe

I use my crockpot for all of the things mentioned earlier, but also for baking potatoes.

Directions: Wash and wrap each potato in foil. Place in Crockpot with about a cup of water poured into the bottom.

Cover and cook on Low for the longest setting.

You’ll have yummy potatoes to smother in veggies and cheese, cool, peel, and cut later for potato salad, peel, and mash or just eat as a baked potato side dish. time saver! Karen Ray Dwyer

Sweet & Sour Kielbasa – Recipe

Sweet and Sour Kielbasas are delicious and simple to make.

Directions: Place 2 pounds of smoked kielbasa in your Crock-Pot. Add 1 cup brown sugar and 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard.

Cook on low 2 hours and serve over rice or noodles. This is my kids’ favorite meal! Michelle DiGuardo Wheeler

Crockpot Cooking Ideas List

I use my crockpot for darn near everything, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, granola, you name it! Green Bay Consumer

Just About Anything

Cheesy meatballs, gooey chocolate cake, potato soup, tortilla soup, garden fresh green beans, ranch cream cheese chicken. Just about anything. Dawna Branson

Cook & Defrost Everything

Just made salsa yesterday. Love my 3 pot buffet Crockpot. I do lots of stuff with it.

Cook meat in one, bake potatoes in another, and veggies or dessert in the 3rd. I defrost ground turkey and make taco meat. I make meatloaf and even foil packets of fish with foil packets of corn on the cob on top. That’s in addition to all my regular meals…variations on chicken and beef. Resa Carrell

Crockpot Cooking Ideas for Everything

I cook all kinds of chili, chicken tortilla lasagna, pot pies, roasts, b-cue beef/pork, meatloaf, lasagna, chicken, casseroles, stuffed pork chops, peppers, stroganoff, spaghetti pizza pie, cobblers, fruit crisps, peach cake/rhubarb cake, soups!

I so love my crockpots, that’s right I have 4 crockpots (5, if you count my husband’s Dallas Cowboys which we won’t count! LOL:) and 2 little dippers too!:) I would probably have more if I had enough storage room for them! LOL:) I do everything in my crockpots, especially in the summer so I don’t heat up the kitchen!

I so love my crockpots, that’s right I have 4 crockpots (5, if you count my husband’s Dallas Cowboys which we won’t count! LOL:) and 2 little dippers too!:)

I would probably have more if I had enough storage room for them! LOL:) I do everything in my crockpots, especially in the summer so I don’t heat up the kitchen! Heather Snyder

Crockpots Save Time with Kids

Roast, spicy steak chili, ribs are some of my Crockpot favs!
Saves a ton of time w/ 4 kiddos running around 🙂 Lindsey Mueller

Chicken, and Roasts

We do the chicken in the crockpot too. Leftover chicken makes a great chicken salad. We also do Bottom and Top Round roasts. Jenn Cangelosi

Italian and Dessert in the Crockpot

We’ve done lasagna! Chocolate Cake! Love my Crockpot! Angela Entrikin

Check out our super simple and delicious Chocolate Lava Cake (made in a slow cooker) recipe with video.

Breakfast and Dinner in the Crockpot

I cook steel-cut oats, pork chops, beans in my crockpot Cheryl Tiffin Findeisen

Crockpot Meatloaf and more!

We make meatloaf in our Crockpot. It is so juicy and yummy!! Just take your regular meatloaf recipe and instead of cooking it in the oven, put it in a Crockpot. Cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. LOVE IT!

We also make BBQ Ribs, Chili, Beef Stew, Whole Fryer Chickens, Lasagna and so much more. I use our Crockpot about 3-4 times a week! Crockpot cooking is awesome!

I love making Chili. Sandra Neal Kutz

 Food and Soaps

I have 2 Crockpots. One for cooking food & the other strictly for making hot process soaps. Ruth E. Brown

Crockpot Lasagna!

Lasagna with no-boil noodles. Cook and drain ground turkey and then layer with sauce, whole milk ricotta, cheese, and squeezed dry spinach. It is excellent!

For Plants also: I will be using an old one for a cold frame heat source in late winter.

I have 3 crockpots. My 36-year-old model gave up the ghost last year after using it at least two or three times a week continuously …. love Crockpot! Terry Lopez 

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Crock Pot History and Trivia

The first crock pot was invented by Irving Nachumsohn. He was granted a patent for his idea on January 23, 1940. His company, Naxon produced the original slow cooker. Naxon was eventually bought by The Rival Corporation in the 1970s. They changed the name of Nachumsohn’s invention from Naxon Beanery All-Purpose Cooker to the Crockpot.

You can read more in this Wikipedia summary.

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For more cooking ideas, visit our Money-Saving Tips Recipes Page!