- 6 months ago
Looking for easy, no-oven dinners to keep your kitchen cool this summer? In this video, Nicole shares five simple and satisfying slow cooker meals that are perfect for hot days when you don’t want to turn on the stove. These set-it-and-forget-it recipes are packed with flavor and perfect for busy weeknights. Nicole walks you through each dish step-by-step, from tangy pulled pork to zesty cilantro lime chicken tacos, hearty cowboy casserole, and more. These recipes come together with minimal effort and deliver maximum comfort—without heating up your kitchen.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00The slow cooker is the solution
00:01to keeping your kitchen cool in the summertime.
00:03I've got five easy slow cooker meals
00:06that are perfect for summertime.
00:07No chili, no pot roast, nothing like that.
00:11You're gonna love these.
00:12Starting out with some barbecue
00:14because every summer needs barbecue.
00:17So I have the easiest three ingredient
00:19pulled pork I'm gonna make.
00:21When it comes to the slow cooker,
00:22you wanna cook tough meats that will thrive
00:24in a low and slow environment.
00:26I'm using a bone-in pork shoulder
00:27because I love the flavor that it gives.
00:29Next goes a whole bottle of barbecue sauce
00:31and a bottle of root beer.
00:33You're gonna have that like sweet kind of warm spice
00:35from the root beer and then the tangy kick
00:37from the barbecue sauce.
00:39I chose a barbecue sauce that's not too sweet
00:42since the root beer is gonna be sweet.
00:43When we do pulled pork on a smoker or something,
00:45we usually keep a aluminum pan that has like Coca-Cola
00:49on the bottom, but the root beer is just like
00:51a new little twist on that.
00:52So go hang out on the boat all day
00:54and this will be ready when you come back in.
00:56Oh yeah.
00:59I mean, look at this.
01:00The bone already popping out.
01:03You know this is gonna be so tender.
01:06I can't even move it without it falling apart.
01:07So you know what that means?
01:09It's gonna melt in your mouth.
01:11You can't not do this.
01:13Good.
01:14I'm gonna shred it up.
01:15Get it to all soak up that sauce and serve it up.
01:18What I would really do is kind of skim off the fat first
01:21and then toss the meat back in.
01:23For time's sake, I'll do that part later.
01:25We still have four more to go.
01:27You wanna put it back in the sauce.
01:29That's the good stuff.
01:30That's the liquid goal.
01:31Grab whatever sides you want from the deli
01:33or have your friends bring them to the potluck.
01:35You did the main thing and you didn't have to stand over
01:36a hot smoker all day, nor did you have to heat up your kitchen.
01:41And then I gotta have pickles spoon over a little more juice.
01:45Barbecue sandwiches.
01:47That was a three-ingredient recipe.
01:49Oh, this could be good.
01:53I'm telling you, the sauce is what makes it,
01:55so you're gonna wanna serve this with a cup on the side.
01:58One down, four to go.
02:00This next one to me is the perfect meal to bring,
02:02if you're at the beach, slow cooker jambalaya.
02:05This one's gonna have chicken and sausage
02:07and then you're gonna go to the seafood market
02:09while you're down there and get some fresh shrimp
02:12and add it in at the end.
02:13I never thought I'd be the person
02:15that brings the slow cooker to the beach.
02:17If your rental does not have one, bring it
02:19because it is the perfect thing you can get going
02:21in the morning, go out to the beach all day
02:22and you come in.
02:23Because we love to cook at the beach.
02:25We don't always love to go out.
02:26It's too expensive, but mainly
02:28because the crowds are just too much.
02:31The reason why the crock pot is so good in the summertime
02:34is because it gets hot.
02:35When you've got your oven and stove on all day,
02:37it's just too much.
02:38So the slow cooker doesn't put out any heat in your kitchen.
02:41This is not a authentic jambalaya, I do realize that,
02:46but it's happens to be one of the all recipes,
02:48top rated recipes, and this is the one I'm using today.
02:50It gives you the jambalaya experience
02:53without standing over the stove.
02:54So it does start with the Holy Trinity,
02:57which is onions, bell pepper, and celery.
03:00We'll say this recipe does not call for the rice
03:03to be cooked in with it.
03:05That can get finicky and the rice can get a little,
03:08like, gummy and sticky.
03:09So the recipe suggests just to serve it over rice,
03:12but I have a little trick up my sleeve
03:14to pull in at the end.
03:16I like to include the leaves
03:18if they're on your celery stalks,
03:20so that's where all the really good celery flavor is.
03:22If you are looking, however,
03:24for the perfect jambalaya recipe,
03:26that would be mine, available at allrecipes.com.
03:29That's when I got my really fancy pot,
03:31and I made the best jambalaya I've ever made.
03:33Also adding in garlic, which is not in the recipe,
03:37but it is always in my Cajun cooking.
03:39I now love having a slow cooker on vacation too,
03:42because it really works for breakfast too.
03:44We do like these big batch breakfast burritos
03:46that you can actually start the night before,
03:48and then you wake up to perfectly cooked sausage egg.
03:52Goodness.
03:53Besides a little chopping,
03:54that's all the prep you have to do.
03:56You don't have to precook any of the meats
03:58or anything like that.
03:59Everything now is just getting dumped
04:01right into the slow cooker.
04:02Recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken breast.
04:04I'm gonna use that this time.
04:06Normally I would probably just put in the thighs,
04:08which you could totally do, will be a little cheaper.
04:12And andouille sausage.
04:13The sausage is gonna really give it
04:15that authentic kind of Cajun flavor.
04:17Recipe calls for diced tomatoes also.
04:21I like the flavor that this gives,
04:22especially that we're adding shrimp too.
04:25That's when I, you know, sometimes use tomato,
04:28but typically you don't really put tomatoes in jambalaya.
04:31And because I like to make recipes my own,
04:32sometimes I'm adding in a little fresh thyme
04:35instead of dried because I love this flavor.
04:38Cajun seasoning, whatever kind you like.
04:40Little pinch of oregano too.
04:42I think you get enough heat from the Cajun seasoning.
04:46So I'm gonna cut back on the cayenne a little bit.
04:48And then chicken stock, about a cup.
04:50Give this a stir.
04:51And then it goes low and slow for about six to eight hours
04:55or high for three to four hours.
04:57And everything's gonna release a lot more liquid.
05:00So it doesn't look like a lot of liquid at this point,
05:02but it'll get there.
05:03All right, here we go.
05:06This jambalaya is smelling heavenly.
05:09Smells like summer down on the bayou.
05:12We are now going to add in that shrimp and some rice.
05:17Now for the rice,
05:18I'm gonna do these like pre-cooked packets
05:20because they're mostly cooked.
05:22These two things will be done about the same time.
05:24And then you've got your rice
05:25that has kind of absorbed some of that juice
05:27because that's what we want.
05:28I don't want to just put it over plain white rice.
05:30Know what I mean?
05:33All right, lid back on.
05:35I'm keeping it on high for just about 15 minutes.
05:40While I know this is not traditional,
05:41it still looks daggum delicious right here.
05:44Smells even better.
05:47Shrimp cooked perfectly.
05:49I'm gonna top it with some green onion,
05:51maybe a little hot sauce.
05:56Mm, 10 out of 10 on that flavor.
05:58This is delicious.
05:59That chicken, it's so tender, not one bit dried out.
06:02Sausage gives us so much flavor.
06:04Shrimp, because we're at the beach.
06:05This is a genius move on your next vacation.
06:10Now you know I can't give you a week's worth
06:11of slow cooker meals without including one for Taco Tuesday.
06:15So this is slow cooker cilantro lime chicken tacos.
06:19This one calls for chicken thighs.
06:21And to me, that's the perfect chicken to cook
06:23in the crock pot.
06:25It's harder to mess up and dry out.
06:26You don't get that like stringy kind of dry chicken.
06:29It's fine in the jambalaya
06:30because we have like a lot of other things going on.
06:33But when the chicken's the main thing,
06:35just choose the thighs.
06:36Not only are they gonna taste better,
06:37but you're gonna save some money.
06:39This is also good for meal prep.
06:40Meal starts with like three pounds of chicken.
06:42Cook it once, eat it twice.
06:45Even if you have leftover,
06:46it freezes right after it's cooked.
06:49But if you're not doing it just for tacos like I'm doing,
06:51then you can also just make like burrito bowls out of it
06:54or put it in like some chicken enchiladas or casserole.
06:57All right, straight into the crock pot.
07:00Because we're on vacation
07:01and we don't have all our spices,
07:04we bring out the packet.
07:05Or you could just put in your own stuff.
07:06Taco seasoning in and also a jar of salsa.
07:11Cilantro lime chicken.
07:13So I'm adding cilantro and lime.
07:15I'm adding in probably this whole bunch.
07:18And then the lime.
07:19And that's a wrap.
07:19Chicken thighs are also safer to go longer than chicken breasts.
07:23So if you are going to work,
07:25don't put chicken breasts in there.
07:26Like they will be rubber when you get home.
07:31Cilantro lime tacos, anyone?
07:33Smells so good.
07:35Chicken's ready.
07:36It just falls apart.
07:38See, that's what you want.
07:39Not dried out chicken.
07:40So this recipe makes a lot.
07:42Like I said, it's perfect for meal prep.
07:44I'm going to show you two ways I like to serve it up
07:48on a taco Tuesday.
07:49This is also good to put out for a party too,
07:52because the chicken can just stay warm in the crock pot
07:55and the guests can serve themselves
07:56and you can just set up a little taco bar.
07:59Look at this.
08:00See how good this looks?
08:01And what's the key here?
08:02Let's see if you remember kids, chicken thighs.
08:05All right, here are my two favorite ways to serve it up.
08:08Tostada, I love a tostada shell.
08:11They just stay so crunchy.
08:13I like a little refried bean on the bottom,
08:16followed by that delicious chicken.
08:19I could literally eat this every day.
08:20Little cheese, cilantro, pico.
08:24You get the idea.
08:26I like a tostada, something crunchy and one on a soft shell.
08:29So that's what I'm going to do.
08:30Extra lettuce on my tacos.
08:31That's the way we like them.
08:33Let me just taste it and make sure it's not poisonous.
08:35Mmm, that is good.
08:38Chicken's delicious.
08:40I know there are a million recipes out there
08:41for like salsa chicken,
08:43but this is the one you need to make.
08:45So good.
08:48This next one is the hearty meal you want to make
08:50when you have a lot of mouths to feed
08:52or just really hungry mouths to feed.
08:54This is the crock pot cowboy casserole.
08:56This might be the one you want to serve on a Sunday,
08:59put it in in the morning, have it as an early supper.
09:02You do have to do a little bit of prep on the stove
09:04just to brown the ground beef.
09:06Then it's just a dump, dump stir situation.
09:08So I'm cutting one small onion
09:10and I'm going to brown that up.
09:11Or you're just going to brown your ground beef and onion.
09:14And then I'm going to season it up
09:15with a little salt and pepper, some chili powder,
09:17a little cumin and some garlic powder.
09:20You know, whenever you hear something cowboy,
09:23you think of like those kind of smoky flavors
09:26with maybe a little kick.
09:28And so I'm also going to deglaze all of this
09:30with some fire roasted tomatoes to resemble the campfire.
09:34The tomato will just lift the flavor
09:36off the bottom of the pan.
09:37And I like to rinse out the can
09:39with just like a quarter cup of water.
09:41Cause there's a lot of flavor left
09:42in the bottom right there.
09:45See, that's how you clean your skillet.
09:47It is new.
09:48Another addition to this casserole
09:49that's like typical in all our beans and potatoes,
09:53cause that's going to really fill you up and be hard.
09:56So I'm adding in a can of baked beans
09:59and a can of kidney beans.
10:00I'm going to add it to this meat mixture
10:01so I can layer it in, in the crock pot.
10:04I promised you no chili.
10:05This is not chili.
10:06Might look like it now, but it's not.
10:08Okay. So I'm going to put half of this mixture
10:10down into the crock pot.
10:11And then I'm going in with some potato,
10:13grab you a couple of small potatoes or one big one.
10:16I've already washed it.
10:17I'm going to leave the peel on, keep this really rustic.
10:20I'm going to cut it in half and then just make really thin slices
10:23and then just kind of layer them in between.
10:26So it's like, we really stretched one pound of ground beef
10:29to like a super hearty meal.
10:31The other ingredients are really affordable.
10:33And you could also do this with ground Turkey
10:36to make it even cheaper.
10:37Truthfully, you don't have to layer it.
10:39I just think it's going to be good like this.
10:41I'm also going to layer in slices of jalapeno.
10:45Give it a kick.
10:46And to this layer, a can of cream of onion.
10:49You can also do cream of chicken or cream of mushroom.
10:52Just kind of adds another little texture to our casserole.
10:56Spread it out over the potatoes and then top it
10:59with the remaining beef and bean mixture.
11:02And that's it.
11:03I'm going to cover this, cook it on high for about three
11:07or four hours or low for six to seven hours.
11:11But right before it's done,
11:12I'm going to top it with a little bit of cheese.
11:14All right. This is almost done for the final step.
11:17I'm going to top it with cheese and let it go
11:19until it all melts.
11:22The weather might be hot outside,
11:24but we can all still use a warm hug.
11:26And this is that.
11:28That just looks so good.
11:30Even though this is cowboy casserole,
11:31I feel inclined to top it like I would my chili
11:34or like a loaded baked potato.
11:35A little sour cream, a little cilantro.
11:38You could also do some green onion here.
11:39Keep up with the cowboy theme.
11:41How about some chopped jalapeno?
11:47That's just stupid.
11:48It's so good.
11:49We might've topped everything.
11:50It's everything that you do love in a loaded baked potato,
11:53but it's like creamy.
11:54That little creamy surprise in the middle
11:57is like what's tying this all together
11:59and giving you that warm, tight hug.
12:02And for my final trick, this one is no surprise,
12:09but have you made it in a while?
12:10Crock-pot buffalo chicken sandwiches.
12:12So it starts out just like how we make buffalo chicken dip,
12:15but you can set it and forget it.
12:17And when you come back inside or home from work,
12:21just shred it up, serve it up on rolls,
12:24add a little ranch dressing and call it a day.
12:26So straight into the crock-pot with your chicken,
12:29packet of ranch seasoning and a good bit of wing sauce.
12:33A whole bottle, but this is a big bottle,
12:35so not quite this whole bottle.
12:37Then let it go.
12:40All right, chicken is cooked.
12:42These are chicken breasts,
12:43so they definitely don't take as long.
12:45To me, this is your perfect Friday night meal.
12:47You know, it's indulgent,
12:48but instead of going out to the sports bar or something,
12:51do it right at home.
12:52Let's not forget that it took about 25 seconds to prepare this.
12:56I'm turning this into buffalo chicken sandwiches.
12:59This meal, however, for dinner,
13:00you could do the lettuce wraps
13:01if you want to keep something like light for dinner,
13:04or tacos, or turn it into a dip,
13:07but we're here for dinner, right?
13:09So I'm doing buffalo chicken sandwiches
13:11because I feel like it's a Friday thing.
13:13So I'm putting a little ranch down
13:15because my kids love ranch with their buffalo,
13:18and then down with our chicken.
13:20And now you could put on some cheddar cheese.
13:23I'm going to do a little blue cheese
13:24because to me, that's just the perfect pairing.
13:28There's some crumbles.
13:29And I like crunchy lettuce on my sandwiches,
13:31so it's kind of like instead of the celery
13:33with your buffalo wings.
13:34Buffalo chicken sandwiches for dinner.
13:36This is like 12 out of 10.
13:40It's a whole different way to buffalo chicken.
13:42You know, it's not the fried, dipped in the buffalo sauce.
13:45It still somewhat feels light, but packed with flavor.
13:49I love a kick.
13:49The crunchy lettuce on top, pro move.
13:54Mm, that's delicious.
13:56We went out with a bag.
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