8 delicious and easy spring meals you can make in a slow cooker

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Erin McDowellApr 14, 2021, 01:22 IST
8 delicious and easy spring meals you can make in a slow cooker

Soup is a hearty and healthy meal perfect for the springtime.Andrew Thomas Lee/Clarkson Potter Publishers

  • Slow cookers are usually associated with stews, pot roasts, and other winter comfort foods.
  • However, you can also make delicious spring recipes using a slow cooker or Crock-Pot.
  • From cookout sliders to delicious soups, these slow-cooker recipes are perfect for spring.
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Mediterranean chicken bowls are a delicious weeknight dinner option.

Mediterranean chicken bowls are a delicious weeknight dinner option.
Mediterranean chicken bowl. Erin McDowell/Insider

For a light spring meal, making your protein in a slow cooker and adding rice, quinoa, or salad on the side is a great option.

For this Mediterranean chicken dish, add lightly browned chicken breasts into your slow cooker along with Kalamata olives, chopped roasted red peppers, and chopped red onion.

After the ingredients are added to the slow cooker, pour in the garlic, vinegar, and honey mixture outlined in the recipe and cook for four hours on low.

You can also make shredded Buffalo chicken for salads.

You can also make shredded Buffalo chicken for salads.
Buffalo chicken salad. Erin McDowell/Insider

One of the best — and easiest — ways to use your Crock-Pot or slow cooker is by making shredded Buffalo chicken.

Add seasoned chicken breasts to the slow cooker and cover with your preferred Buffalo sauce. Then add a splash of ranch dressing and a cube of butter and toss your chicken breasts in the mixture to coat fully, and cook until the chicken is shreddable.

Whether you want to make Buffalo chicken sliders, salads, or tacos, the options are endless.

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Pulled pork sliders are a great way to use your slow cooker for a spring cookout.

Pulled pork sliders are a great way to use your slow cooker for a spring cookout.
Pulled pork sandwiches with barbecue sauce and coleslaw. Joshua Resnick/Shutterstock

One of the best ways to utilize braised and slow-cooked pork shoulder is to make pulled pork sliders with all that tender meat.

To take the dish to the next level, top your meat with barbecue sauce and slaw before sandwiching it between two fluffy brioche buns or potato rolls.

You can also make barbecue ribs in a slow cooker.

You can also make barbecue ribs in a slow cooker.
Barbecue ribs. David P. Smith/Shutterstock

Nothing screams a spring cookout like delicious, sauce-covered ribs.

"Ribs do really in the slow cooker, and you can always stick them under the broiler in the end to crisp them up," Kim Laidlaw, the author of multiple cookbooks, previously told Insider.

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You might not know that you can cook salmon in a slow cooker, too.

You might not know that you can cook salmon in a slow cooker, too.
Salmon with lemon. Jacek Chabraszewski/Shutterstock

For many people, the spring and summer months entail eating a lot of seafood. For a simple, fresh weeknight dinner, try poaching salmon fillets in a slow cooker with lemon, vegetable broth, and dill.

For a spring side dish, try making potato salad in a slow cooker.

For a spring side dish, try making potato salad in a slow cooker.
Potato salad. ziashusha/Shutterstock

You might not know that you can parboil potatoes in a slow cooker. To do so, chop and cover the potatoes with water, a little salt and pepper, and butter and cook them until they're fork-tender, usually about six hours on low.

Then, mix together the dressing for your potato salad as you normally would — mayonnaise, dill, whole grain mustard, and a splash of red wine vinegar makes for a salad perfect for any cookout.

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Lentil soup is a warming meal you can make in a slow cooker on cooler days.

Lentil soup is a warming meal you can make in a slow cooker on cooler days.
Lentil soup. Andrew Thomas Lee/Clarkson Potter Publishers

Soup is a hearty and healthy option for the springtime — especially on those colder, rainy days where you don't want to venture outside. It can be cooked ahead of time and warmed up when you're ready to eat, whether that's after doing some spring cleaning or working out in the garden.

Hugh Acheson, a "Top Chef" judge, Iron Chef Canada competitor, and the author of "The Chef and the Slow Cooker," previously told Insider that lentil soup is one of his go-to winter comfort meals, but his simple dish can also easily transition to the spring.

For another comforting dish while you wait for warmer weather, you can make a spin on General Tso's chicken in the Crock-Pot.

For another comforting dish while you wait for warmer weather, you can make a spin on General Tso's chicken in the Crock-Pot.
Slow cooker chicken dish. Erin McDowell/Insider

This recipe from The Cookbook Network is perfect for a weeknight dinner with rice. While this meal does require a little extra prep — you do need to pan fry the cornstarch-coated chicken ahead of time — it's definitely a "set it and forget it" slow-cooker meal.

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