cdkitchen > cooking experts > pamela chester
Well, as all good things must come to an end, so it will be that I am saying farewell to my weekly slow cooking column. I hope to make a guest appearance every now and then on CDKitchen, so this is not a final farewell, but more of a fond “goodbye for now.”
On that note, in the style of a famous late night talk show host, I decided to go through some of the top tens of slow cooking:
Top Ten Slow Cooker Ingredients
These are the ingredients that seem to always find their way into slow cooker recipes. They benefit from or enhance the process of long slow cooking. Keep your pantry and fridge stocked with them and you’ll always be on the way to a great home-cooked meal.
1. Tougher cuts of meat like boneless beef chuck or rump roast and pork shoulder
2. Canned Plum Tomatoes
3. Potatoes
4. Celery
5. Root vegetables such as carrots, onions, and parsnips
6. Garlic
7. Beans including navy beans, black beans, and pinto beans
8. Onion soup mix
9. Hot Sauce
10. Chicken or Vegetable Stock
Top Ten Slow Cooker Classics
A purely subjective list, feel free to come up with your own list of slow cooker classics and be sure to put them into your dinner rotation!
1. Pulled Pork
2. Italian Beef
3. Chicken and Dumplings
4. Jambalaya
5. Six Alarm Chili
6. Day after Thanksgiving Turkey Soup
7. Beef Stew or Pot Roast
8. Boston Baked Beans
9. Chicken Cacciatore
10. Hot Spiced Apple Cider
And finally…
Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Slow Cooker This Week
10. You have less than ten minutes, not thirty minutes or less, to get dinner on the table when you come home at night.
9. Your dishwasher broke so you want a one-pot meal that is easy to clean up (Make it even easier by using disposable slow cooker liners!).
8. You want to clean out your pantry and freezer and combine it all into one interesting stew.
7. With the cost of utilities these days, it’s much cheaper and more efficient to use electric heat, rather than your gas stove.
6. You have grown tired of easy to put together, yet ultimately unfulfilling meals like cheese and crackers or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
5. You and your family have a busy day of work, school, running errands, and sports practices, so dinnertime is unpredictable; you need dinner to wait for you, not the other way around.
4. You want to drive the family dog crazy all day long!
3. Beef brisket just went on a hot sale at your local grocery store.
2. You love your family and you want to provide them with a tasty, yet economical and convenient, meal that doesn’t involve golden arches or a freckle faced redheaded girl.
1. The end results are just so darn satisfying!
So I hope I have given you some interesting slow cooker recipes and ideas to think about. I still plan to continue coming up with new ways to use the slow cooker— ways that will be sure to save me some much needed time, now and in the future!
So long for now and keep on slow cooking!
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/587-slow-cooker-top-ten/
The Highlights of Slow Cooking
Well, as all good things must come to an end, so it will be that I am saying farewell to my weekly slow cooking column. I hope to make a guest appearance every now and then on CDKitchen, so this is not a final farewell, but more of a fond “goodbye for now.”
On that note, in the style of a famous late night talk show host, I decided to go through some of the top tens of slow cooking:
Top Ten Slow Cooker Ingredients
These are the ingredients that seem to always find their way into slow cooker recipes. They benefit from or enhance the process of long slow cooking. Keep your pantry and fridge stocked with them and you’ll always be on the way to a great home-cooked meal.
1. Tougher cuts of meat like boneless beef chuck or rump roast and pork shoulder
2. Canned Plum Tomatoes
3. Potatoes
4. Celery
5. Root vegetables such as carrots, onions, and parsnips
6. Garlic
7. Beans including navy beans, black beans, and pinto beans
8. Onion soup mix
9. Hot Sauce
10. Chicken or Vegetable Stock
Top Ten Slow Cooker Classics
A purely subjective list, feel free to come up with your own list of slow cooker classics and be sure to put them into your dinner rotation!
1. Pulled Pork
2. Italian Beef
3. Chicken and Dumplings
4. Jambalaya
5. Six Alarm Chili
6. Day after Thanksgiving Turkey Soup
7. Beef Stew or Pot Roast
8. Boston Baked Beans
9. Chicken Cacciatore
10. Hot Spiced Apple Cider
And finally…
Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Slow Cooker This Week
10. You have less than ten minutes, not thirty minutes or less, to get dinner on the table when you come home at night.
9. Your dishwasher broke so you want a one-pot meal that is easy to clean up (Make it even easier by using disposable slow cooker liners!).
8. You want to clean out your pantry and freezer and combine it all into one interesting stew.
7. With the cost of utilities these days, it’s much cheaper and more efficient to use electric heat, rather than your gas stove.
6. You have grown tired of easy to put together, yet ultimately unfulfilling meals like cheese and crackers or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
5. You and your family have a busy day of work, school, running errands, and sports practices, so dinnertime is unpredictable; you need dinner to wait for you, not the other way around.
4. You want to drive the family dog crazy all day long!
3. Beef brisket just went on a hot sale at your local grocery store.
2. You love your family and you want to provide them with a tasty, yet economical and convenient, meal that doesn’t involve golden arches or a freckle faced redheaded girl.
1. The end results are just so darn satisfying!
So I hope I have given you some interesting slow cooker recipes and ideas to think about. I still plan to continue coming up with new ways to use the slow cooker— ways that will be sure to save me some much needed time, now and in the future!
So long for now and keep on slow cooking!
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/587-slow-cooker-top-ten/