Best Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes for Families — Including the Breakfast Casserole We Make on Repeat

Pre-baby dinner was a bowl of cereal. Post-baby dinner needed to actually contain nutrients — and the slow cooker saved everything.

Remember back to pre-baby when Adam and I were living on different sides of South Korea? My dinner looked like this:

But now, with Adam at work and needing to eat balanced meals for my milk supply, I have to plan a little better than that.

I think I am starting to develop a routine as a stay at home mom. Slow cooking has become my new best friend. The slow cooker was invented in 1971, a rival company released the Crock Pot…which is basically what we call slow cooking now by default.

I dream of dinners looking like this from No. 2 Pencil:

According to Wikipedia:

The Naxon Utilities Corporation of Chicago, under the leadership of Irving Naxon, developed the Naxon Beanery All-Purpose Cooker. Naxon was inspired by a story his Jewish grandmother told about how back in her Lithuanian shtetl, her mother made a stew called cholent, which took several hours to cook in an oven.The Rival Company bought Naxon in 1970 and reintroduced it under the Crock-Pot name in 1971. In 1974, Rival introduced removable stoneware inserts making the appliance easier to clean. The brand now belongs to Sunbeam Products.

Traditionally we used our slow cooker to make stew. Then basic meat and chicken dishes…but man, now, I have been experimenting with all sorts of recipes including desert. Check out my Slow Cooker Pinterest board

It’s pretty hard to find healthy recipes for the slow cooker as most require some sort of sauce or sodium filled additive.

Some sites with healthy recipes are:

Six Sister Stuff has some amazing recipes. One of my favorites:

Ingredients:1 (30 oz) package frozen shredded hash brown potatoes1 lb ground sausage (I used Italian sausage), browned and drained2 cups shredded cheddar cheese1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese1 onion, diced1 green pepper, diced1 red pepper, diced12 eggs1/2 cup milk1/2 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:
Spray a 6 quart slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray (you cannot make this recipe in a smaller crock pot because it won’t fit). Layer 1/2 of the potatoes on the bottom of slow cooker.
Top with half of the sausage, cheddar and mozzarella cheese, onions, green peppers, and red peppers. Repeat the layers again.
Beat eggs, milk, and salt and pepper in large bowl with a wire whisk until well blended. Pour egg mixture evenly over potato-sausage mixture.
Cook on low setting for 8 hours or on high setting for 4 hours or until eggs are set.
Top with green onions, salsa, tomatoes, mushrooms, avocado- whatever you like!

Recipe slightly adapted from Jimmy Dean

How often do you use your slow cooker? What’s your favorite slow cooker recipe? (Comment below)

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Spicy Southern Chickpeas and Grits (from Vegan Slow Cooking for Two or Just You) (healthyslowcooking.com)
Recipe: Slow Cooked Lamb Stew (mybeautifulthree.wordpress.com)
Crock-Pot Margarita Chicken (qsandpsofglutenfree.wordpress.com)
Easy slow cooked Shepard’s Pie recipe (homefullofcrazies.wordpress.com)
Easy Crock-pot Dinner- Chinese Spare Ribs (awemazingmom.wordpress.com)

Q: What are the best healthy slow cooker recipes for busy families? A: The slow cooker is a working parent’s best friend — you prep in the morning and dinner is ready when you need it. Our absolute favorite is a slow cooker breakfast casserole with hash browns Italian sausage peppers onions and eggs that feeds the whole family and reheats beautifully. Sites like Eating Well Cooking Light and Six Sisters Stuff have excellent healthy options that do not rely on sodium heavy canned sauces.

Q: How do you make slow cooker breakfast casserole? A: Layer frozen hash browns browned Italian sausage cheddar mozzarella onions and peppers in a six quart slow cooker. Beat twelve eggs with half a cup of milk salt and pepper and pour over the top. Cook on low for eight hours or high for four hours until eggs are set. Top with avocado salsa green onions or whatever sounds good. It is one of the most satisfying and crowd pleasing meals we make.

Q: Is slow cooking healthy for families? A: It can be — the challenge is that many slow cooker recipes rely on canned soups sodium packed sauces and processed ingredients. The key is seeking out recipes that use whole ingredients and build flavor through long cooking time rather than additives. Starting with a protein vegetables and good seasoning almost always produces something genuinely nourishing and delicious.

Q: What is the history of the Crock Pot slow cooker? A: The slow cooker was originally developed by Irving Naxon of the Naxon Utilities Corporation inspired by his Jewish grandmother’s Lithuanian cholent stew. The Rival Company purchased Naxon in 1970 and relaunched the product as the Crock Pot in 1971 adding removable stoneware inserts in 1974 for easier cleaning. Over fifty years later it remains one of the most used appliances in American kitchens.

Q: What slow cooker recipes work well when breastfeeding or needing extra nutrition? A: High protein dishes like egg casseroles chicken stews and bean based soups are excellent for supporting milk supply and energy levels during the postpartum period. The slow cooker makes it easy to prepare nutritious meals without spending hours at the stove — which with a newborn is simply not realistic. Set it in the morning and forget it until dinner.