Fix-It and Forget-It Revised and Updated: 700 Great Slow Cooker Recipes (14 page)

Serving suggestion: Sprinkle individual servings with grated
Parmesan cheese
.

Slow-Cooker Minestrone

Dorothy Shank

Sterling, IL

Makes 8 servings

Prep. Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 4-12 hours

Ideal slow-cooker size: 4- to 5-qt.

3 cups water

1½ lbs. stewing meat, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 medium onion, diced

4 carrots, diced

14½-oz. can tomatoes

2 tsp. salt

10-oz. pkg. frozen mixed vegetables,
or
your choice of frozen vegetables

1 Tbsp. dried basil

½ cup dry vermicelli

1 tsp. dried oregano

1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Stir well.

2. Cover. Cook on Low 10-12 hours, or on High 4-5 hours.

Serving suggestion: Top individual servings with grated
Parmesan cheese
.

Hearty Alphabet Soup

Maryann Markano

Wilmington, DE

Makes 5-6 servings

Prep. Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 6½-8½ hours

Ideal slow-cooker size: 4-qt.

½ lb. beef stewing meat,
or
round steak, cubed

14½-oz. can stewed tomatoes

8-oz. can tomato sauce

1 cup water

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

10-oz. pkg. frozen vegetables, partially thawed

½ cup uncooked alphabet noodles

1. Combine meat, tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and soup mix in slow cooker.

2. Cover. Cook on Low 6-8 hours. Turn to High.

3. Stir in vegetables and noodles. Add more water if mixture is too dry and thick.

4. Cover. Cook on High 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Tasty Meatball Stew

Barbara Hershey

Lititz, PA

Makes 8 servings

Prep Time: 1 hour (includes preparing and baking meatballs)

Cooking Time: 4-5 hours

Ideal slow-cooker size: 4- to 6-qt.

Meatballs:

2 lbs. lean ground beef

2 eggs, beaten

2 Tbsp. dried onion

⅔ cup dried bread crumbs

½ cup milk

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Stew:

6 medium potatoes, unpeeled if you wish, and diced fine

1 large onion, sliced

8 medium carrots, sliced

4 cups vegetable juice

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

1. In a bowl, thoroughly mix meatball ingredients together. Form into 1-inch balls.

2. Place meatballs on a lightly greased jelly-roll pan. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, to make stew, prepare potatoes, onion, and carrots. Place in slow cooker.

4. When finished baking, remove meatballs from pan. Blot dry with paper towels to remove excess fat.

5. Place meatballs on top of vegetables in slow cooker.

6. In a large bowl, combine vegetable juice and seasonings. Pour over meatballs and vegetables in slow cooker.

7. Cover cooker. Cook on High 4-5 hours, or until vegetables are tender.

Tips:

1. You can speed up the preparation of this dish by using frozen meatballs, either your own, or store-bought ones.

2. If you will be gone more hours than the time required to cook the slow-cooker dish that you want to make, you can cook that recipe in your slow-cooker overnight on Low. I’ve done this many times. In the morning I put the slow-cooker insert, now full of the cooked food, into the refrigerator. When I get home, I reheat the food in my microwave.

Ground-Beef Stew

Kim Stoltzfus

Parksburg, PA

Makes 12 servings

Prep Time: 30-35 minutes

Cooking Time: 4-6 hours

Ideal slow-cooker size: 3½-qt.

1 lb. ground beef

6 medium potatoes, peeled or not, and cubed

16-oz. pkg. baby carrots

3 cups water

2 Tbsp. dry onion soup mix

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1-1½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. garlic powder

6-oz. can Italian tomato paste

10¾-oz. can tomato soup

1. In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain off drippings.

2. Combine potatoes, carrots, water, dry soup mix, garlic and seasonings in slow cooker.

3. Add beef. Mix well.

4. Cover. Cook 4-5 hours, or until vegetables are cooked to your liking.

5. Stir in tomato paste and soup.

6. Cover. Cook an additional hour, or until heated through.

Tip:

You can add the tomato paste and tomato soup with the rest of the ingredients, if that is more convenient.

Quick and Easy Italian Vegetable Beef Soup

Lisa Warren

Parkesburg, PA

Makes 8-10 servings

Prep. Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 6-8 hours

Ideal slow-cooker size: 6-qt.

1 lb. ground beef,
or
turkey, browned and drained

3 carrots, sliced

4 potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 small onion, diced

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

¾ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

15-oz. can diced Italian tomatoes,
or
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

6-oz. can Italian-flavored tomato paste

4½ cups water

1 quart beef broth

1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.

2. Cover. Cook on High 6-8 hours, or until potatoes and carrots are tender.

Stick-to-Your-Ribs Veggie Soup

Judy Govotsos

Frederick, MD