Slow-Cooker Bean Pasta

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This bean pasta is just a slow cooker goulash with extra protein with black beans. This dish can easily be made vegetarian by omitting beef and beef broth, cooking the onion in the slow cooker. If you want, you can also cook the pasta separately, and rinse with cold water before adding it to the slow-cooker. Doing this will give you more control over how the noodles cook, and will prevent the noodles from taking on the flavor of the sauce. Finally, use whatever spices you like. I used the ones listed below, but you can add as much or as little of any spices you like. This recipe makes 8 adult sized servings.

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What You Will Need

  • 1 lb Ground Beef
  • 1 Medium Diced Onion
  • 1 Can Stewed Tomatoes
  • 1 Can Black Beans
  • 2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
  • 1 Can Tomato Sauce, 8 Oz
  • 1 Can Tomato Paste, 6 Oz
  • 2 Cup Beef Broth
  • 1 Tbsp of each: Oregano, Parsley, Basil, Marjoram, Red Pepper Flakes, and Italian Seasoning
  • 12 Oz Macaroni
  • Large Frying Pan
  • Slow-Cooker

Directions

1. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add Ground beef and onion, and cook until all beef is brown. Transfer to slow-cooker. Add stewed tomatoes, beans, garlic, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and beef broth. Cook for 4-6 hours on high, or 6-8 hours on low.

2. Add remaining ingredients. Cook pasta for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes until done. Plate and serve.

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Slow Cooker Stuffed Cabbage with Sausage and Rice

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Stuffed Cabbage, or pigs in a blanket, I’ve made before in the slow cooker. Last time, I used just beef, and that was very good. This time, to make it more traditionally, I added rice. Rice was originally added to stretch the filling to get more food cheaply. I also added some pork sausage. This added more spice to the stuffed cabbages. I also added beef broth to thin the sauce and cover the stuffed cabbages. It was another way to add more flavor than just water. I did make 10 stuffed cabbages with this recipe, but I made them very large, to the point where 1 to 1 1/2 stuffed cabbage was enough for 1 adult portion. These stuffed cabbages also freeze well. To freeze, transfer to a freezer safe container, cover with sauce, cover, label and freeze. Then they can be microwaved to reheat.

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What You Will Need

  • 10 Large Cabbage Leaves with Middle Stem Removed
  • 1 lb of Ground Beef
  • 1/2 lb of Ground Pork Sausage
  • 1 Cup Day Old Cooked Rice, Cold
  • 1/2 Medium Diced Onion
  • 2 10.5 Oz Cans of Tomato Soup
  • 1 6 Oz can of Tomato Paste
  • 2 Cups Beef Broth
  • 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
  • Slow-Cooker
  • Strainer
  • Mixing Bowl
  • Large Dutch Oven of Water
  • Thongs and Wooden Spoon

Directions

1. Bring dutch oven of water to a boil. Add Prepared cabbage leaves and boil for about 2 minutes until soft. Transfer to strainer and let cool. Place burger, sausage, and rice in a mixing bowl, add onion, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Mix by hand. Add 1 can of tomato soup to bottom of slow cooker and stir in 1/2 can of tomato paste. Place Slow Cooker on High.

2. Once cabbage is cooled, form about 1/3 cup of meat mixture into an elongated patty. Place patty on cabbage leaf and roll, tuck under ends, then place into slow-cooker. Repeat for remaining leaves, or until out of filling. Place down first layer of pigs, then spoon each with a layer of soup from a new can. Mix remaining tomato paste with remaining soup. Place your second layer of pigs, then top with remaining sauce. Add beef broth, and carefully stir. Cook covered for at least 2.5 hours or until internal temp of 165 F is reached, best if cooked on high for 6 hours for cabbage to become fully tender.

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Ham Hock Baked Beans

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I made these baked beans with a smoked ham hock. Though this recipe seems easy, the flavor is absolutely fantastic. After about 5 hours cooking on high, you can remove the meat from the ham hock. This meat is tender and full of flavor. It comes apart like pulled pork, and after cooking for so long, the fats of the meat make a delicious baked beans. Ham hocks also have some skin on them, and after cooking for so long, the skin and fat melt away in your mouth. I made these beans as the recipe below is written. I will say, I had a very big ham hock, but my beans were almost more pulled pork than baked beans. Finally, the sauce was delicious, with a good balance between sweet and savory. It’s a really good barbecue recipe, that’s for sure! This recipe made 8 large side servings.

What You Will Need

  • 12 Oz Northern Beans
  • 1/2 cup Brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
  • 1/2 cup Ketchup
  • 2 Cups Water
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Mustard
  • 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 Tbsp Black pepper
  • 1 ham hock
  • Medium seal-able Container
  • Slow Cooker

Directions

1. Place your beans in your seal-able container, and cover with an inch of water. Let sit out at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Strain and rinse your soaked beans. To your slow cooker, add your beans and the rest of your ingredients and stir together.

2. Let it cook on high for 6 hours stirring about every hour. If too much liquid boils off, add water 1/2 cup at a time. After 6 hours on high, reduce your heat to low. Cook for another hour on low before serving.

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Slow-Cooker Pigs in a Blanket using Cabbage

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Old fashioned pigs in a blanket is a common meal that many people used to make about 100 years ago. This recipe was most commonly made by those who had family stemming from eastern Europe. Today, pigs in a blanket is typically something very different, usually a hot dog or mini dog wrapped in a puff pastry. These pigs in a blanket taste very different than the new version. The older version was savory flavored meat wrapped in a wilted and tender cabbage leaf and coated in a slightly sweet tomato sauce. Though this dish can be very messy to eat, it is filling and very delicious. This recipe makes 12 pigs and 4-5 adult sized servings. This recipe can also easily be doubled and frozen in a freezer container or casserole dish.

What You Will Need

  • 6 Large Cabbage Leaves, Halved with Middle Stem Removed
  • 1 Lb of Ground Beef
  • 1 Medium Diced Onion
  • 2 10.5 Oz Cans of Tomato Soup
  • 1 6 Oz can of Tomato Paste
  • 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
  • 2 tsp Paprika
  • Slow-Cooker
  • Strainer
  • Mixing Bowl
  • Large Dutch Oven of Water
  • Thongs and Wooden Spoon

Directions

  1. Bring dutch oven of water to a boil. Add Prepared cabbage leaves and boil for 1-2 minutes until soft. Transfer to strainer and let cool. Place burger in a mixing bowl, add 1/2 onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, and paprika. Mix by hand. Add 1 can of tomato soup to bottom of slow cooker and stir in 1/2 can of tomato paste.

2. Once cabbage is cooled, form about 1/3 cup of meat mixture into a patty. Place patty on cabbage leaf and roll, tuck under ends, then place into slow-cooker. Repeat for remaining leaves, or until out of filling. Place down first layer of pigs, then spoon each with a layer of soup from a new can. mix remaining tomato paste with remaining soup. Place your second layer of pigs, then top with remaining sauce. Add 1 can of water and remaining onion, carefully stir and place on high and cover.

3. Check every hour and spoon with hot sauce. Once they begin to shrink, push more into hot sauce. Cook pigs for at least 2.5 hours on high before serving, making sure they are thoroughly cooked first. Plate and let cool 10 minutes before serving.

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Slow Cooker Ziti

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Slow cooker meals are convenient and an important option as the fall busyness begins. Slow cooker ziti is one of my favorite recipes. This recipe makes lots of servings and is very filling! This recipe makes 10-12 adult sized servings. When I made this dish, I cooked everything in the slow cooker, and I cooked everything on high. Once I added the noodles and broth, my slow cooker only needed to cook for 20 minutes before the noodles were Al dente. And, once I added the cheese and let it melt for about 5 minutes, the noodles were perfectly done. You can easily make this recipe vegetarian by adding eggplant instead of meat, veggie broth or water instead of beef broth, and a cheese substitute instead of mozzarella.

What You Will Need

  • 1 Lb Ground Beef
  • 1 Diced Onion (1 Cup)
  • 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 Tbsp Basil
  • 1/2 Tbsp Oregano
  • 1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce
  • 1 can (14.5 oz) of Diced Tomatoes
  • 1 Box (16 oz) of Ziti or Penne Pasta
  • 2 1/2 Cups Beef Broth
  • 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella
  • Large Slow Cooker

Directions

  1. Brown your burger quickly in a skillet, or by placing in your slow cooker on high and stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Place in slow cooker. Add onion, spices, spaghetti sauce, and diced tomatoes.
  2. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, or on high for 2-3 hours.
  3. Add beef broth and pasta about 30 minutes before serving. Make pasta as submerged as possible and cook on high. Taste pasta firmness after 15 minutes, and again every 5 minutes until desired texture is reached. Top with cheese and cover for 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Serve, but wait 10 minutes before eating, very hot!

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