As the summer months roll in, bringing with them a wave of heat and bustling outdoor activities, many of us look to simplify our cooking routines. Even though it is time to go out and play in the sun, we still crave wholesome, delicious meals that don’t compromise on flavor or heat up the house. Enter Summer Crockpot Meals, the kitchen superhero that’s here to transform your summer cooking experience!
There’s something special about slow-cooked meals. Their rich flavors, melded over hours of gentle cooking, are hard to achieve with any other method. This makes crockpot cooking a beloved choice for many, regardless of the season. However, the slow cooker’s role becomes even more critical in summer, when its convenience truly shines giving you more time to enjoy your family.
The beauty of crockpots is their ability to create complex, layered flavors with minimal intervention. Plus, they don’t heat up your kitchen like an oven would, making them perfect for warm weather.
The crockpot can turn the season’s selection into a summertime parade of exciting meals for the whole family! Think fresh vegetables stewed with herbs into ratatouille, pulled chicken for tacos, or even an entire BBQ-style dinner with baked beans and pulled pork. Crockpots are also excellent for cooking less traditional summer dishes. Try something new and flavorful, like our Slow Cooker Spinach Artichoke Dip or our homemade Root Beer BBQ Sauce which you can add to literally anything – you’ll be surprised by the results!
Remember, the ingredients are the key to great crockpot meals for weeknight dinners. Use fresh, seasonal produce and high-quality proteins. This is true for any cooking, but especially for slow cooking, where flavors have ample time to develop and mingle.
As the sun sets later and the days get warmer, consider taking your cooking routine slow. Embrace the leisurely rhythm of summer and let your crockpot do the hard work. You’ll be rewarded with delectable, fuss-free meals that capture the essence of the season.
Summer is a fantastic time to experiment with new recipes. The abundance of fresh produce gives you a chance to get creative and expand your culinary horizons.
So, dust off that crockpot, and let’s get slow-cooking!
New England Baked Beans have a complex sweet and savory blend with brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, garlic, ketchup, bacon, and Worcestershire sauce.
Slow Cooker Bacon Garlic Pork Loin is a take on my most popular recipe, Brown Sugar Garlic Pork made for the slow cooker and with bacon in just 5 ingredients!
Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken with crispy chicken thighs, fresh pineapple chunks, onions and bell pepper takes 15 minutes of prep and makes the perfect meal to come home to after a long workday!
Mouthwatering Memphis BBQ Sloppy Joes will blow your mind! Finger licking good ground beef sandwiches with homemade BBQ Sauce, topped with Sweet Coleslaw!
Easy Moroccan Chickpea Pot Roast is full of exotic flavor! A delicious tender beef roast braised with warm spices, chickpeas, carrots, and Turkish apricots.
Slow Cooker Korean Beef made in the slow cooker with just 10 minutes of prep makes the easiest weeknight meal with so much flavor from the garlic, ginger and sesame oil.
Slow Cooker Bacon Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken is made with just five ingredients in your slow cooker. Sticky, garlicky, sweet fall apart bacon and chicken.
Sweet and Sour Meatballs is an easy baked meatballs recipe with a takeout twist! Savory ground beef meatballs in a homemade Chinese Sweet and Sour sauce.
Slow Cooker Creamed Corn is super creamy, made with just a few ingredients and it won’t take up any oven space or active cooking time when you’re busy preparing for the holidays!
Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Sriracha Chicken is an easy weeknight dinner with just 4 ingredients in your crockpot! Sticky sweet, spicy chicken thighs in a rich, flavorful, garlicky sauce.
Slow Cooker Honey Orange Garlic Chicken recipe is tender, juicy chicken with a sweet and savory sauce made with orange juice, garlic, honey and soy sauce.
Slow Cooker 40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken is your next go-to weeknight meal. Buttery chicken in a rich sauce with white wine, thyme, and, yes, 40 garlic cloves.
Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.
Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.
She is also the author of the upcoming cookbook: Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients which is being published by Harper Collins.
She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.
As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.
Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.
As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.
Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.
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