48 Dump and Go Slow Cooker Dinners

Dump and go slow cooker dinners are one of my favorite ways to take a little pressure off dinnertime. Is there anything better than walking in the house after a long day to a meal that's waiting for us?

I mean, yes, obviously. Taylor Swift could show up to bake cookies and drink wine with me.  But as far as things that are LIKELY to happen this week?  Easy Crockpot meals are pretty high on my list.

Whether you’re a working professional or a busy mom managing a never-ending to-do list, having these easy family slow cooker meals in your arsenal is a stress-reliever. No need to shell out extra cash for food delivery or beg the higher powers for more hours in the day – these easy slow cooker recipes will come through in a pinch.

I've gathered recipes from my own kitchen and other food bloggers, with everything from chicken and pulled pork to hearty soups and comforting pasta dinners. They're grouped into categories below, so you can jump straight to whatever sounds good or works with what you already have.

What Makes These Dump and Go Dinners?

The idea is simple: add your ingredients to the slow cooker, turn it on, and get on with your day. But not every slow cooker recipe is quite that hands-off. To make this list, a recipe needs to meet a few rules:

• No required pre-cooking*. If you have to brown meat or sauté vegetables before filling the crock pot, it's out. Recipes that use leftover cooked meat or store-bought precooked ingredients are welcome, though!
• Less than 30 minutes of prep. That includes chopping the meat and vegetables. Most of these take much less time, which is good news if, like me, you move a little slowly while drinking your morning tea.
• Hands-off cooking. Once the lid goes on, you shouldn't need to keep checking, stirring, or adding ingredients throughout the day. Shredding meat or stirring in dairy or quick cooking veggies near the end is fine.
• Any extra cooking afterward is optional. A couple dishes mention that you CAN broil or sear a meat before serving to get a little char on top, but that you don't need to. Adding cooked pasta is fine though.

*One exception: my crockpot ribs need a few minutes under the broiler before going into the slow cooker. With just 3 ingredients and 15 minutes of prep, they were too easy to leave out!

While not related to ease, I also only included entree's on this list. There are a lot of great side dishes you can make in a crock pot too, but my goal here was a list of dinners. Let's be honest: sides are a lot easier to come up with on the fly than a full meal. Plus, many of these include vegetables to be one-pot dinners.

One more thing before you choose: low prep doesn't always mean an all-day cooking time. Some dishes are ready in an afternoon, while others can cook through a longer workday. Check the timing before you plan, and keep in mind that slow cookers can run differently. After replacing my old crock pot, I ended up testing slow cooker temperatures across different models, and those differences are worth knowing about!

No time to scroll right now?  Pin this list for later!

A quick side note on cooking frozen meat

It is the USDA's stance that you shouldn't cook meat in a slow cooker from frozen, because it may spend too long in the temperature danger zone on it's way to cooking, even if it reaches temperature by the end of cooking.  Whether it will spend too long in that danger zone will depend on a variety of factors such as how hot your crock pot runs, the size and shape of your meat, if it is above liquid or submerged in it, etc. Some of these links disagree with that USDA recommendation, and like you, they can do what they want in their kitchen.  I don't argue with folks about what they serve their families, but I would be remiss to not mention it at all.

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