Stews, pulled pork, women's liberation: The Crock-Pot has contributed some fabulous things to our lives. But most slow cookers are as underutilized as Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky" button, which just showed me a really cool photo of the Crab Nebula. Thanks, Google. Your Crock is likewise a goldmine of untapped potential. See what that countertop bad boy can really do with these 15 low-and-slow recipes.
Deep-dish pizza
Chicago-style deep-dish pepperoni is your new lazy weeknight dinner. And weekend party dinner. And midnight snack. And Sunday morning hangover cure.
Brownies
The low heat makes these brownies extra gooey and delectable. You might want to think about getting a bigger Crock-Pot.
Fudge
Chocolate chips, condensed milk, vanilla extract, and butter are all you need for this recipe. And self-restraint. Lots of that.
Cornbread
Slow-cooker cornbread comes out beautifully moist, and once you've mastered that you can move on to different loaves like this olive oil and rosemary focaccia.
Cheesecake
This is the recipe to pull out when you've got someone to impress. It's a fancy cheesecake with sour cream, but if that's too bougie for you just use cream cheese instead.
Creme brulee
It's surprisingly easy to turn your slow cooker into a bain marie (a hot water bath for cooking). Then hack that restaurant-level torched crust by toasting the custards under the broiler.
Caramel sauce
While the sauce is still warm, dip salted pretzel sticks for homemade caramel Pocky (!!) or whole apples on a stick for old-timey caramel apples.
Bacon jam
The Paul Simon to that slow-cooker cornbread's Art Garfunkel. (Don't argue with me on this one, the bacon is clearly Paul Simon.)
Pumpkin butter
This one's for all you out-and-proud PSL drinkers. For everyone else, try making a slow-cooker fruit butter with cranberries or apples instead.
Cannabutter
All this time you were making pot roasts when you could have been making cannabis-infused edibles. On the other hand, you probably got some stuff done so it's not all bad.
Yogurt
Your intestinal flora is going to look like an English rose garden after this. You'll need one store-bought yogurt for a starter culture, but it will be the last one you ever have to buy.
Holiday ham
This honey mustard-glazed ham recipe is ridiculously easy. And it frees up your oven space so you can roast a turkey as well, which basically means you win the holidays.
Chicken wings
These super-sticky wings will be falling off the bone after a couple of hours in the slow cooker. Char them under the broiler for two minutes before serving.
Grits
Down-home cooking at home is easier than you think. These need seven or eight hours in the slow cooker, so leave them on overnight and they'll be ready for breakfast.
Risotto
Stovetop risotto requires constant stirring and ladling in small quantities of stock. It's like a needy girlfriend and you need to break up with it and date this instead. Well maybe don't date it, but if you want to keep a photo of it in your phone we think that's totally fine.
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