How to Make the Best Affordable and Simple Crock Pot Meals for the Whole Family

Simple crock pot meals can be easy and affordable, not to mention healthy and tasty! Find our favorite budget friendly, simple crock pot meals here to save time this school year! Bonus: they are great for the whole family!

Meal planning in the summer months just seems more challenging.  But then, when the start of school rolls around, a whole new crazy hits too!  Am I the only one?  Simple crock pot meals to the rescue!!!

I like to have a lot of flexibility so we can have some spontaneity.  And if possible, time for some extra fun and relaxation too!  Easy and simple crock pot meals are this mom’s best friend!

Who’s ready for some easy slow cooker ideas?!

While I could enjoy a delicious summer salad (find some of my favorites HERE) for my dinner, my kiddos are always famished after a day at the beach or swimming in the pool and playing outside.  And if it happens to be a rainy summer day, like we get here in Florida, they are ready for a hearty, hot meal.

Mom, over here, is ready for a simple recipe that I can get started in the morning…so it’s ready no matter what we end up doing for the day!  Simple crock pot meals for the win!

Simple Crock Pot Meals to the RESCUE!!!

I don’t even have a fancy, pretty crockpot to show you in this post.  I am still using the one we received for a wedding gift…20 years ago now, believe it or not!

Good news?  These simple recipe meals taste amazing in our 20-year-old crockpot and are family favorites for all 5 of us!

Simple crock pot meals are perfect for just tossing everything in!

Before sharing these super simple crockpot recipes with you, I should add a disclaimer.  I don’t like recipes where I have to measure or be too precise.  Also, I just use what I have on hand!  I consider myself more of a cook than a baker, which means I like to experiment, toss in a little of this and that, and see what happens!

This is especially true with easy slow cooker recipes.  It makes for some really simple crock pot meals when you can just toss in some favorites and know they will be great together!

However, after experimenting with these easy slow cooker recipes over the years, plus knowing they are sure to be loved by our whole family, I do keep certain ingredients on hand!

What cooks well in a slow cooker?

That being said, feel free to use what you have on hand, add and take away flavorings that you know your family loves.  Most of all, just get some inspiration to grab your crockpot and enjoy a simple dinner! Use that extra time to do something fun instead!

Meat, vegetables, potatoes, and beans are my staples to mix and match.  At the same time, you can just toss them in with some seasoning for a guaranteed win!

With school starting soon, it is so helpful to toss the ingredients into my crockpot in the morning and have dinner ready to put on the table when we get home!

How to Make the Best Affordable and Simple Crock Pot Meals for the Whole Family

Simple Crock Pot Meals with Chicken: Easy Slow Cooker Taco Chicken

Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts
• Black beans
• Taco seasoning
• Garlic powder
• Garlic salt
• Minced onion
• Tortilla chips or flour tortilla shells
• Shredded cheese
• Optional: Rotel

Crockpot Tip:

I always spray my crockpot with a little bit of cooking spray before adding all of my ingredients.  It helps with the clean up and I don’t worry about stirring throughout the day to keep things from sticking on the sides!  Time saving elements like this are key to simple and easy meals, both the cooking AND the clean up!

Seasoning:

I add two packets of the mild taco seasoning.  You can add more or less for the amount of chicken and beans you are cooking.  I generously cover the chicken with garlic powder and garlic salt.

If I have minced onion, I usually add a little of that for flavoring.  We also like the Rotel sauce.  My kids prefer the mild so that it isn’t too hot for anyone, however, if you don’t mind a little kick, I personally love the medium!  One can is great for some extra flavor.

I let the chicken taco dinner slow cook through the day.  Eight hours is my preferred time for any crockpot recipe, whenever possible.  At the same time, I often use the four or six hour time and it always turns out great!

The chicken will really fall apart, which I love.  Typically, we shred it and layer it with the rest of our meal.  We enjoy the chicken served over the beans, with a side of tortilla chips or flour shells.  You can add a variety of toppings.  My kiddos like it more simple, so I sprinkle the top with shredded cheese and if I have tomatoes, add a few of those.

It is a reasonably healthy, low-calorie, easy crockpot meal that tastes wonderful!  I also love that it uses simple ingredients that are easy to keep on hand.  It warms up really well for leftovers, so I love that too.  Time saving elements, remember?!

Simple Crock Pot Meals: Zesty Italian Chicken

Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts or tenderloins
• Baby carrots
• Zesty Italian dressing
• Garlic powder
• Minced onion
• Lemon pepper
• Salt
• Pepper

As with all of my crockpot recipes, I start by spraying the crockpot with cooking spray.  For this recipe, I fill my crockpot about 1/5 of the way with water and then add my chicken.  This recipe works great with chicken breasts and sometimes I like to use the chicken tenderloins as well.  They are a nice size for our kids, especially.  I always make extra of this because it is so delicious and makes great leftovers too!

Seasoning:

I season the chicken before adding the carrots, as I want the seasonings to really soak in on the chicken!  That technique works great no matter what meat you are using for your easy slow cooker recipe.  Then, I use one bottle of zesty Italian dressing over the chicken, followed by generous amounts of the garlic powder and lemon pepper.  Next, I add a little bit of minced onion.

Lastly, I add the baby carrots and sprinkle them with regular salt and pepper.  All the flavorings really soak in, but I do like to give those a dash as they begin cooking.

If possible, I let this slow cook for 8 hours.  Our whole home smells AMAZING within a few hours.  It’s a great way to get everyone excited for family dinner!

Leftovers?

We really love this simple crock pot meal served with some rice or pasta, though sometimes we just add a second vegetable (which is a lot healthier anyway!). 

Any chicken that is left, I like to shred and refrigerate.  It is great to add to some chicken pasta for lunches or even a refreshing dinner!  You can find my favorite chicken pasta recipe HERE.  It is SO yummy and makes great lunches for the rest of the week!