Why Autumn Is Slow Cooker Season
From September onwards, the slow cooker earns its place on the counter. The cold weather makes stews and soups actually desirable. The back-to-school routine means mornings are rushed and evenings are precious — loading the slow cooker at 7:30am and coming home at 6pm to a hot dinner that’s been cooking all day is the cooking equivalent of a weighted blanket.
These 15 recipes are the ones I make on repeat from September through March.
1. Classic Beef Stew
Set time: 10 minutes | Cook: 8 hours on Low | Child acceptance: 4.5/5
The essential slow cooker recipe. Beef chuck cut into chunks, potatoes, carrots, onion, beef stock, tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce, thyme. Everything in the pot at once. Come home to stew so tender the beef shreds when stirred.
The secret: beef chuck (not stewing beef, which often has stringy connective tissue). Chuck renders slowly into silky tenderness over 8 hours.
Ingredients (serves 5): 800g beef chuck, cubed | 4 medium potatoes, chunked | 3 carrots, sliced | 2 onions, sliced | 500ml beef stock | 2 tbsp tomato purée | 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce | 1 tsp thyme | Salt and pepper
2. Pulled Pork
Set time: 5 minutes | Cook: 8–10 hours on Low | Child acceptance: 5/5
The slow cooker recipe that produces the best ratio of effort to result. Pork shoulder in, nothing else required, and 10 hours later you have meat so tender it falls apart when you look at it. Shred with two forks and serve in brioche buns with coleslaw.
Ingredients: 1.5 kg pork shoulder | 2 tsp smoked paprika | 1 tsp garlic powder | 1 tsp onion powder | 1 tsp cumin | 1 tbsp brown sugar | 1 tsp salt | Your favourite BBQ sauce (stir in after shredding)
Rub dry spices over pork. Place in slow cooker, fat-side up. Cook 8–10 hours Low. Remove, shred, return to pot with BBQ sauce for 30 minutes on High.
3. Chicken and Vegetable Soup
Set time: 10 minutes | Cook: 6 hours on Low | Child acceptance: 4/5
Whole chicken legs in, vegetables in, stock in. Six hours later, remove chicken, shred meat from bone, return to pot. Deeply flavoured, genuinely nourishing, and the sort of soup that makes children feel better about coming home on a cold day.
Ingredients: 4 chicken legs | 3 carrots, sliced | 4 celery sticks, sliced | 2 onions, diced | 2 garlic cloves | 1.5L chicken stock | 1 tsp thyme | Salt and pepper | Optional: 150g pasta or pearl barley added in last hour
4. Slow Cooker Bolognese
Set time: 10 minutes | Cook: 6–8 hours Low | Child acceptance: 5/5
Brown mince and soften onions in a pan first (10 minutes), then add everything to the slow cooker. Six to eight hours later, the richest, deepest bolognese I’ve made. Serve over pasta with Parmesan.
Ingredients: 600g beef mince | 1 onion, diced | 4 garlic cloves | 2 tins chopped tomatoes | 1 tbsp tomato purée | 100ml red wine (or stock) | 1 tsp dried oregano | 1 tsp dried basil | Salt and pepper
5. Vegetable and Lentil Soup
Set time: 10 minutes | Cook: 6–8 hours Low | Child acceptance: 3.5/5
Red lentils, tinned tomatoes, sweet potato, spinach added at the end, cumin, coriander, turmeric. Everything except spinach goes in at the start. Spinach stirred in the last 10 minutes. Served with crusty bread.
Ingredients: 200g red lentils | 1 large sweet potato, cubed | 1 onion, diced | 2 tins chopped tomatoes | 1L vegetable stock | 1 tsp cumin | 1 tsp coriander | ½ tsp turmeric | 100g spinach | Salt
6. Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
Set time: 5 minutes | Cook: 4–5 hours Low | Child acceptance: 5/5
The sweet-savoury sauce makes this the most universally accepted slow cooker recipe in my house. Chicken thighs, honey, soy sauce, garlic, ginger. Serve over rice. So simple it feels like cheating.
Ingredients: 8 boneless chicken thighs | 4 tbsp honey | 3 tbsp soy sauce | 4 garlic cloves, minced | 1 tsp ginger | 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp water (stir in last 30 min to thicken)
7. Chilli Con Carne
Set time: 10 minutes | Cook: 6–8 hours Low | Child acceptance: 4/5
Brown mince and onions first. Add everything to slow cooker. Come home to chilli that tastes like it cooked all day (because it did). Serve with rice, jacket potatoes, or in wraps.
Ingredients: 500g beef mince | 1 onion | 2 garlic cloves | 1 tin chopped tomatoes | 1 tin kidney beans, drained | 1 tsp chilli flakes | 2 tsp cumin | 1 tsp smoked paprika | Salt | 200ml beef stock
8. Slow Cooker Lasagne
Set time: 20 minutes | Cook: 3–4 hours Low | Child acceptance: 5/5
Layer uncooked lasagne sheets, bolognese, béchamel, and cheese directly in the slow cooker pot. Liquid from the sauce cooks the pasta. After 3–4 hours, cut into portions. The pasta is tender, the cheese is melted, the layers hold.
This is the recipe most people are sceptical about. It works.
Method: Make a basic bolognese sauce and a simple béchamel (or use jarred). Layer in slow cooker: sauce, lasagne sheets (broken to fit), béchamel, cheese, repeat. End with béchamel and cheese layer. Cook 3–4 hours Low.
9. Lamb Tagine
Set time: 15 minutes | Cook: 8 hours Low | Child acceptance: 3/5
Lamb shoulder cubes, chickpeas, preserved lemon, apricots, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ginger. Serve with couscous. The complexity of flavour from a 15-minute prep is the slow cooker’s finest achievement.
Ingredients: 800g lamb shoulder, cubed | 1 tin chickpeas | 1 onion | 2 garlic cloves | 400ml stock | 1 tsp cumin | 1 tsp coriander | ½ tsp cinnamon | ½ tsp ginger | 100g dried apricots | 1 tbsp honey | Preserved lemon or zest of 1 lemon
10. Pea and Ham Soup
Set time: 5 minutes | Cook: 8 hours Low | Child acceptance: 4/5
A gammon joint or ham hock, dried split peas, onion, bay leaves, stock. Cook all day. Remove gammon, shred, return. Season. The split peas dissolve into a thick, deeply savoury soup that needs nothing else.
Ingredients: 800g smoked gammon joint or ham hock | 400g dried split peas | 2 onions, sliced | 2 bay leaves | 1.5L chicken or ham stock | Pepper (no salt until tasting — gammon is salty)
11. Sausage and Bean Casserole
Set time: 5 minutes | Cook: 6 hours Low | Child acceptance: 5/5
Sausages (browned briefly in a pan first for colour), tinned tomatoes, haricot beans, peppers, paprika. The simplest recipe on this list and one of the most popular in my house.
Ingredients: 8 good pork sausages | 1 tin chopped tomatoes | 1 tin haricot beans, drained | 2 peppers, sliced | 1 onion | 1 tsp smoked paprika | 200ml stock | 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
12. Whole Chicken (Slow Cooked)
Set time: 5 minutes | Cook: 6–7 hours Low | Child acceptance: 4.5/5
A whole chicken in the slow cooker emerges completely falling off the bone, with a concentrated stock in the bottom. The skin doesn’t crisp (this is a slow cooker limitation) — finish under the grill for 5 minutes if you want crispy skin. The stock from the bottom is better than anything from a box.
Method: Season whole chicken inside and out with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika. Add 2 halved garlic heads, 1 onion, and ½ cup water to the pot. Place chicken breast-side up. Cook 6–7 hours Low.
13. Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup
Set time: 10 minutes | Cook: 6–8 hours Low | Child acceptance: 3.5/5
Autumnal, warming, and genuinely beautiful orange colour. Everything in the pot, blend at the end. Add a swirl of cream and serve with crusty bread.
Ingredients: 1 large sweet potato, cubed | 1 small butternut squash, cubed | 2 carrots | 1 onion | 2 garlic cloves | 1L vegetable stock | 1 tsp cumin | ½ tsp nutmeg | Salt | Optional: coconut cream for stirring in before blending
14. Beef Short Ribs
Set time: 10 minutes | Cook: 8 hours Low | Child acceptance: 4/5
Short ribs require nothing fancy — they just need time. Brown them in a pan first (crucial for flavour), then slow cook in beef stock, red wine, tomatoes, garlic, and rosemary. After 8 hours they’re falling off the bone. Serve with mashed potato.
Ingredients: 1.2 kg beef short ribs | 1 onion | 4 garlic cloves | 200ml red wine | 400ml beef stock | 1 tin chopped tomatoes | 2 sprigs rosemary | 1 tsp thyme | Salt and pepper
15. Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chilli (Vegetarian)
Set time: 10 minutes | Cook: 6–8 hours Low | Child acceptance: 3.5/5
A vegetarian chilli that doesn’t taste like a compromise. Two tins of black beans, sweet potato for substance, roasted red pepper, chipotle paste for smokiness. Serve with rice, soured cream, and coriander.
Ingredients: 2 tins black beans | 1 large sweet potato, cubed | 1 tin chopped tomatoes | 1 roasted red pepper | 1 onion | 2 garlic cloves | 1–2 tbsp chipotle paste | 1 tsp cumin | 1 tsp smoked paprika | 200ml vegetable stock | Salt
Slow Cooker Tips for These Recipes
Brown meat first: It takes 10 minutes but produces significantly better flavour. The Maillard reaction happens at temperatures a slow cooker never reaches. Not optional for stews, beef ribs, and bolognese — optional for sausages and chicken thighs.
Don’t lift the lid: Each peek releases heat and adds 20–30 minutes to the cook time. Resist.
Add delicate vegetables late: Peas, spinach, courgettes, and pasta added at the start become mush. Add in the last 30–60 minutes.
Thicken sauces if needed: Mix 1 tbsp cornflour with 2 tbsp cold water, stir into the slow cooker, and cook on High with the lid off for 20 minutes at the end.