Recipe for Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos with Spicy Slaw and Avocado

A beef roast is cooked in the slow cooker with Mexican flavors until it easily shreds apart and then it's made into tacos with whole wheat tortillas, spicy slaw, and avocado.

It only makes sense that with my new slow cooker blog, I'm paying more attention to how people use their slow cookers year round.  I'm finding lots of slow cooker recipes like these shredded beef tacos, which would taste just as good in the dead of winter as they did on a warm night last week. But one happy thing about cooking something like this when it's starting to get hot outside is that the slow cooker doesn't heat up the house for those hours that the meat is getting tender.  I love the spicy slaw that comes with fish tacos, so I couldn't resist adding some of that to my tacos, along with a little avocado, and two of these tacos made a perfect dinner for me.

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Slow Cooker Recipe for Sriracha-Pineapple Barbecued Chicken Sandwiches with Easy Guacamole

Use the Sriracha-Pineapple Barbecued Chicken on a sandwich, inside a pita pocket, or on a salad.

I know some people think of the slow cooker as only being for cold-weather foods like soup and stew, but truthfully I love my slow cooker just as much in the summer for the way it lets me cook without heating up the house.  This recipe for Sriracha-Pineapple Barbecued Chicken only takes a few hours in the slow cooker, and it's something that would be perfect you're having guests and you'd like an easy main dish that can be eaten outdoors.  The Easy Guacamole is optional, but for me it was the perfect topping for the sandwich.  This would also taste great stuffed inside a pita, or served over greens for a salad.

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Slow Cooker Recipe for Black Beans with Cilantro

Creamy Black Beans with Cilantro make a great side dish any time of year.

(This easy side dish made in the slow cooker was first posted in 2006 and updated July 2012 with step-by-step photos and better instructions.)  I can't remember where I first saw this recipe, but I jotted it down in a little notebook I carry around to write down ideas for the blog.  Then when I decided to use cilantro in every recipe for a month I remembered this recipe and tried it.  I loved these flavorful black beans that were so easy to cook in the slow cooker without heating up the house.  The dried cilantro that seasons the beans while they cook isn't in any way a substitute for fresh cilantro, but in something like this that's cooked for a long time, it adds a lot of flavor. I get my dried cilantro from Penzeys, but if you don't have dried cilantro, I'd suggest oregano as a substitute.

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Slow Cooker Recipe for Spicy Vegetarian Pinto Bean and Chard Burritos

Pinto beans and swiss chard cook in the slow cooker to make a delicious filling for vegetarian burritos.

I think it was a recipe I came across for swiss chard sauteed with cumin (plus an abundance of swiss chard in the garden) that inspired me to create this slow cooker recipe for a spicy vegetarian mixture of pinto beans, swiss chard, spices, and salsa that's stuffed into burritos.  This is definitely one of those recipes that produces a very unphotogenic mixture when it comes out of the slow cooker, but if you like swiss chard and pinto beans, please don't let that keep you from making this.  I loved the combination of flavors with the pintos and swiss chard, and other than chopping the swiss chard a little smaller next time, this was a lucky recipe experiment where I wouldn't change a thing!

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Recipe for Spicy Slow Cooker Rice with Green Chiles, Green Onions, and Cheese

This Green Chile and Cheese Rice cooks in the slow cooker while you're making the rest of the meal.

I wasn't going to post this recipe for Slow Cooker Green Chile and Cheese rice for a few more weeks, but when I published the updated recipe for Hamburger Kebabs, a reader named Amanda asked for the recipe for the rice dish on the plate, and I promised I would post it this week.   So for Amanda, and anyone else who'd like an absolutely fantastic side dish made from leftover cooked rice and a few other ingredients you probably always have in the fridge, here's my new favorite recipe featuring rice.  

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Slow Cooker Recipe for Spicy Shredded Chicken Lettuce Wrap Tacos (or Tostadas) with Avocado Salsa

Spicy Shredded Chicken cooked in the slow cooker and then made into lettuce wrap tacos or tostadas!

These Spicy Shredded Chicken Lettuce Wrap Tacos are one of those recipes that every slow cooker fan will appreciate because once you've made the spicy shredded chicken, there are endless ways to use it.  I experimented a few times with the slow cooker part of the recipe to get the chicken flavored just like I wanted it, and we made lettuce wrap tacos and tasty chicken tostadas, but you could also use this shredded chicken to make regular tacos, nachos, burritos, or even enchiladas.  And don't skip the avocado salsa, which was the perfect thing to go with the spicy meat.

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Slow Cooker Vegetarian Cannellini Bean and Kale Soup Recipe with Shaved Parmesan

A Meatless Monday Slow Cooker Soup with Cannellini Beans, Kale, and slivers of freshly-grated Parmesan!

As much as I whine about the cold weather, when you look at the Soup, Stew, and Chili section of my recipe archives you can tell I love cold-weather dishes, especially soup.  Some of my favorite soups are the ones where I start with an idea and add things until it tastes good, but even when I have a recipe to start with like I did this time, I tend to improvise with most of the soups I make.  This slow cooker soup that can cook all day while you're at work was adapted from one I saw in The Italian Slow Cooker, a book that's loaded with good ideas.  I increased the amount of stock (and might use even more next time), added some dried Italian herbs, and served the soup with shaved Parmesan Cheese instead of croutons, for a Phase One soup that was warm and filling, and loaded with flavor.

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Slow Cooker (Crockpot) Recipe for Pot Roast with Sweet and Sour Tomato Sauce

Pot Roast with Sweet and Sour Tomato Sauce, made in the slow cooker.

(Updated with improved photos and step-by-step instructions, November 2012.)  I know some people are still looking for leftover turkey recipes, but if your turkey is gone and you're looking for something comforting but still pretty healthy to make in the slow cooker this weekend, this Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Sweet and Sour Tomato Sauce makes great leftovers too.  I love those two-in-a-pack chuck roasts they sell at Costco, and this recipe from 2007 is one of my favorite ways to use them.  The sauce is a little chunky, but if you'd like a smoother sauce use onion powder instead of the chopped onion.  Here's How to Make Pot Roast in the Crockpot which you might want to read before you make this.

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Slow Cooker Lentil Soup Recipe with Turkey Bratwurst, Leeks, and Sherry Vinegar

A delicious Slow Cooker Lentil Soup with Turkey Bratwurst, Leeks, and Sherry Vinegar.

If I had to narrow down my pantry to only ten ingredients, one thing that would definitely make the cut is lentils.  There are so many interesting ways to cook this humble little legume; in fact you could probably built an entire blog around lentil soup recipes.   I've posted my share of lentils soups in the past, but this version of lentil soup that's adapted from a recipe in The French Slow Cookerhas the interesting combination of turkey bratwurst and leeks.  This is a tummy-warming soup that could cook all day on low while you're at work.

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Slow Cooker Recipe for Vegetarian Greek Lentil Soup with Tomatoes, Spinach, and Feta

Delicious vegetarian lentil soup with Greek flavors and a sprinkling of Feta!

How about an ultra-tasty lentil soup for A Month of Daily Phase One Recipes?  I've been a lover of lentils for quite a few years now so there are many variations of Lentil Soup on my blog, but when I spotted a recipe for Greek Lentils with spinach and Feta in the American Heart Association Healthy Slow Cooker Cookbook, I couldn't resist turning it into a soup.  And since lentils are a limited food for Phase One, I added other ingredients like celery, tomatoes, and lots of stock so I could have a larger serving.  This slow cooker recipe starts with just lentils, chopped celery and onion, garlic, vegetable or chicken stock, canned tomatoes, and spices, and if you chop the vegetables the night before it's easy to throw in the slow cooker in the morning and let it cook all day.  When you get home, add chopped spinach to the soup with some lemon juice and cook a bit longer, then scoop into bowls, add Feta, and you have a tummy-warming soup for dinner.   I've never used Feta as a soup topper before, but I loved how it added a vibrant burst of flavor. 

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Slow Cooker Bavarian Pork Sirloin Tip Roast with Sour Cream Gravy

An ultra lean pork sirloin tip roast gets tender and flavorful in the slow cooker.

Even though I've been adding photos and re-doing posts on the blog for years now, there are still a few recipes hanging out in the archives without a photo, and when I spotted this Slow Cooker Bavarian Pork Sirloin Tip Roast with Sour Cream Gravy, I remembered how good it had been and added pork roast to my shopping list.  This would make a perfect dinner for A Month of Daily Phase One Recipes, maybe served with something like Twice-Baked Cauliflower and a nice green salad.  The ingredient that makes this "Bavarian" pork roast is the use of caraway seeds, and if you're not sure how much you like that flavor (or you're cooking for kids), you might want to reduce the amount of this strongly-flavored spice.

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Twenty Favorite Slow Cooker (CrockPot) Recipes to Enjoy, Suitable for The South Beach Diet Phase One!

The Slow Cooker can really help with Phase One, and here are 20 Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes!

I can tell by my daily stats that there are a lot of you following along with A Month of Daily Phase One Recipes, and something I think makes Phase One much easier is when recipes make enough for leftovers.  That's one of the reasons I love slow cooker recipes, and when I'm doing Phase One I'll definitely be making food in the slow cooker each weekend to eat during the week.   I thought it might be helpful if I shared a round-up of my favorite slow cooker recipes that work for Phase One.

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Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken Recipe with Lime and Melted Mozzarella

Flavorful chicken is cooked in the slow cooker with salsa and lime, then it goes under the broiler with cheese!

This Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken with Lime and Melted Mozzarella is a new recipe for A Month of Daily Phase One Recipes, and I'm pretty sure this four-ingredient recipe will become a favorite for lots of my readers who like flavorful dishes that use things you usually have in the house.  But if anyone is looking at the photo and thinking it doesn't look like a slow cooker dish, let me share how it took Jake and me three attempts to come up with this final version of the dish (which we thought was perfect.) 

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Slow Cooker Recipe for Pork Sirloin Roast with Spicy Peanut Sauce

A craving for peanut butter led to this recipe for Slow Cooker Pork Sirloin Roast with Spicy Peanut Sauce.

(When I realized I had completely ignored National Peanut Butter Day, I decided to feature this Slow Cooker Pork Sirloin Roast with Spicy Peanut Sauce for A Month of Daily Phase One Recipes, and we can just enjoy our peanut butter fixation a day later.  Yum, peanut butter!  Just don't eat nuts for a snack on the day you make this if you're seriously doing Phase One.)

It's true that I never liked peanut butter sandwiches when I was a kid (and still don't) but I love recipes using peanut butter, especially if the recipe has a spicy Asian twist to it.  A few weeks ago I had a pork sirloin roast I wanted to cook, I had a lot of work to do so I thought about using the slow cooker, and I was craving peanut butter.  That combination of circumstances led to this recipe for Slow Cooker Pork Sirloin Roast with Spicy Peanut Sauce.  I enjoyed a couple of slices of the roast pork for dinner, and the next day I diced up some of the leftover meat and ate it inside lettuce leaves, and I thought it was great both ways.

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Slow Cooker Recipe for Pulled Pork with Low-Sugar Barbecue Sauce

Just make the barbecue sauce with all Stevia or Splenda and you can enjoy this pulled pork for Phase One!

(I'm afraid that breaking my arm three weeks ago put a crimp in any plans I had for a special round-up of Superbowl Recipes, but I decided I should at least end our A Month of Daily Phase One Recipes with some Phase One ideas that would work for Superbowl parties.  And as long as you skip the optional brown sugar in this low-sugar barbecue sauce and make it with all Stevia granulated sweetener or Splenda,  this pulled pork is perfectly legal for Phase One.)

When I mentioned on Facebook that I was making a version of pulled pork with low-sugar barbecue sauce, I had people asking me to post the recipe. That didn't surprise me, since this is a classic American dish, but I do want to start by saying that one reason I decided to tackle this was because I find most barbecue sauce recipes to be too sweet, without enough complex flavor undertones. I wanted to see if I could come up with a version that would suit my preference for more savory flavors, so if you try this recipe, be prepared for a sauce with plenty of mustard flavor, smokiness, and spice, and just the barest touch of sweetness.

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Indian-Spiced Slow Cooker Red Lentil Soup Recipe with Spinach and Coconut Milk (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

We swooned over this Indian-Spiced Slow Cooker Red Lentil Soup with Spinach and Coconut Milk

I know some of you are going to take one look at the title of this recipe and veto it because you think the Indian spices, the red lentils, or the spinach is just not going to appeal to you.   But that would be truly sad, because the entire time we were making this easy slow cooker soup, Jake and I just couldn't stop tasting it and remarking on how good it was!  Admittedly Jake is an Indian food lover, and I'm a fanatic for red lentils, but still we're pretty picky about what we consider to be "blog-worthy" and this delicious soup more than made the cut.  If you're not vegan you might like it with a dollop of fat-free Greek Yogurt, and I loved it with a generous squeeze of lime.

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Slow Cooker (or Stovetop) Vegetarian Black Bean and Rice Soup with Lime and Cilantro

I've made this Slow Cooker Black Bean and Rice Soup many times for parties!

(Updated February 2013 with better photos and instructions.)  I first made this recipe when black beans had been on my mind, and this recipe was one of those intuitive ones that swirled around in my brain for a few days and then suddenly I found myself in the kitchen making it. This has happened to me for years, but luckily when I started blogging I learned to write the recipes down.   The soup was flavorful and delicious, with earthy beans, sour lime juice and spicy cilantro all combined in a healthy soup without a drop of fat, salt, or gluten, and although I used chicken stock, it could have easily been vegan if you used vegetable stock.  This may be one of the healthiest recipes I've ever channeled and it's such a perfect Meatless Monday soup that I decided this recipe deserved better photos!

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Slow Cooker from Scratch Celebrates a Year of Slow Cooker Food!

A Year of drool-worthy recipes from Slow Cooker from Scratch, and many are South Beach Diet Friendly!

A year ago I started my second blog, Slow Cooker from Scratch, and what a year of slow cooker deliciousness it's been!  I was a pretty committed slow cooker user even before I started this new site, but this blog spotlighting slow cooker recipes that use from-scratch ingredients has really opened my eyes to the variety of things that can be made in the slow cooker.  Slow Cooker from Scratch is what's called a "curated" blog, which means I don't cook and photograph all the recipes myself, but they are carefully selected by me.  And since I'm focused on recipes that are South Beach Diet friendly, it's no surprise that many of the recipes I'm choosing to highlight on the new blog are things that might appeal to readers from Kalyn's Kitchen.

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Slow Cooker Thai-Inspired Butternut Squash and Peanut Soup with Red Bell Pepper, Lime, and Cilantro

Delicious and can-be-vegan Slow Cooker Butternut Squash and Peanut Thai-Inspired Soup with Red Bell Pepper and Cilantro is also gluten-free.

There's a good reason why there are so many butternut squash soup recipes, and personally I think it's about the way the slightly nutty flavor of butternut squash gets along well with so many other flavors.  In this soup, the cubed squash cooks in the slow cooker in a little vegetable stock until it's soft and then it's pureed and cooked a little longer with onion, garlic, ginger, Coconut milk, Thai Red Curry Paste, and peanut butter, with a tiny touch of fish sauce (or vegan "fish sauce") and brown sugar to complete the Thai flavor notes.  Even though I adore butternut squash, I haven't used it in soup that much, but this soup is one I'll be making over and over again.

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Slow Cooker Greek Rice Recipe with Red Bell Pepper, Feta, and Kalamata Olives

Slow Cooker Greek Rice with Red Bell Pepper, Feta, and Kalamata Olives may not be that photogenic, but this dish is completely delicious and perfect for Meatless Monday.

I haven't moved for 25 years, and there's no question that I had completely blocked all the memories of just how awful moving really is, so it's a good thing I'm excited about the hew house!  It's now pretty much sorting through stuff and packing for the move every spare minute around here, but a few weeks ago before the new house frenzy switched into overdrive I made this delicious Slow Cooker Greek Rice with Red Bell Pepper, Feta, and Kalamata Olives with Jake.  This is one of those slow cooker recipes that could be made on the stove, but cooking the rice in the slow cooker means you don't have to watch it much at all.   Definitely this could be a nice side dish for a meal with Greek flavors, but I think this rice also makes a nice vegetarian main dish with all the flavors going on here.  The rice didn't end up being overly photogenic, but if you like these flavors, I guarantee you'll love this rice.

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