Your crock pot is a master at culinary diversity. With a collection of recipes using unusual ingredients, you can accomplish feats of cooking delights you might not have imagined, making the crock pot the most treasured possession in your kitchen. So, put away your cans of cream of blank soup now, and get creative.

From appetizers, to the main course, and on to the dessert, your slow cooker can do it all. Not to mention, you can travel the world of cuisine with just this one kitchen appliance. Let’s take a look at some of the unusual crock pot cuisine you can dish up for your next meal:

Appetizers

Your slow cooker can do routine appetizers, and more, extremely well, so don’t limit your crock pot to tiny sausages. Instead, create a whole array of different flavored chicken wings in the crock pot. How about Lumpia, Egg Rolls, or Wasabi peas? They are all possible with your trusty crock pot.

The crock pot can easily accommodate a number of appetizers with its steady heat, portable nature and ease of use. No matter what you are in the mood for, chances are your slow cooker can help create your favorite pre-meal snack, even those exotic snacks you crave but have been hesitant to try.

Main Course

The main dish is where your crock pot can really shine. You will be surprised at the number of different countries you can visit from the comfort of your own kitchen with the help of a simple slow cooker and a few unusual ingredients. From France to India, you can go on a world tour with only the amount of money needed to prepare the dish. From capers to curry, your creativity is the only limit.

Don’t stop there. Use the foods you may be familiar with, too, in a whole new way. Tenderize meat by cooking in a cola drink. Choose fun fruit, like papaya and star fruit, in your crock pot to give your regular Hawaiian Chicken dish a new look, and taste. Cook with wine. Buy fresh herbs and add them to the last half hour of cooking and taste the flavor explosion. Your crock pot is the star chef, but you get all the credit. Try outrageous ingredients in a whole new way to create a wonderfully delicious dish.

Dessert

We know you can make a simple apple crisp in the crock pot, but what can you make that will surprise your family and friends? Try a bread and butter pudding, or how about a chocolate coffee pudding, carrot souffle, or a variety of tiramisu. All of these interesting desserts can be cooked to perfection in your crock pot.

All desserts at not necessarily cakes, pies, or pudding. How about a nice bowl of warm, mixed nuts spiced to perfection in your crock pot. You can enjoy warm granola cooked in your crock pot, served over a bowl of Gelato. Choose unusual fruits and simmer slowly until you have a nice compote to serve over rich ice cream or alone with just a swirl of heavy cream on top. Quite a change from ice cream and chocolate syrup. And, speaking of chocolate, don’t forget your crock pot is the perfect appliance for melting dipping chocolate. Perhaps dessert tonight could be a chocolate fondue event.

The next time you automatically grab the same old ingredients to throw into your crock pot, stop. Look around your refrigerator and pantry and rethink those recipes. Instead of apples, how about cherries. Instead of parsley, how about cilantro. Instead of hot sauce, how about ginger. Instead of rice, how about quinoa. And by all means, instead of cream of anything soup, how about a nice roux. You can do it all with your crock pot!

Soups, stews and roasts are all great dishes to fix in your crock pot. But what about side dishes? Slow cookers are there to help you out in the kitchen. When you are busy doing other things, like cooking a turkey or baking a loaf of bread, your crock pot can perform some of the smaller tasks, like side dishes. Let’s take a look at some of the possibilities for side dishes you can make in your slow cooker:

Everyday Side Dishes

Baked beans, German potato salad, and glazed carrots are a breeze in the slow cooker. Just drop in the ingredients and let time take care of the rest. Your side dishes should not be difficult or time consuming for you. After all, you are busy doing other things you would rather do ? like relaxing.

Scalloped potatoes are incredibly easy in a crock pot. Not only are they easy, but they are a hearty side dish. Great with almost any main course, this creamy potato creation will have your family wondering how you found time to slave over a hot stove with your busy schedule.

You don’t have to juggle dishes in and out of the oven when you have a crock pot cooking the side dishes for you. You can even bake potatoes in your crock pot.

Holiday Side Dishes

Classic holiday dishes are another great match for your crock pot. Green bean casserole in a crock pot is quite heavenly. The extended cooking time enhances the smooth, yummy goodness of this creamy classic. You’ll want to make an extra big batch so you have plenty for leftovers. Other holiday side dish favorites like stuffing, creamed corn, macaroni and cheese, and rice pudding can be relegated to the crock pot, freeing up valuable stove top and oven space for your main holiday fare.

If your holiday dishes include soups, like matzo ball soup or French onion soup, then the crock pot can be your best friend. Instead of having to keep an eye on the stove for extended periods of time, try plugging in your crock pot near the dining room table. Then you can sit down and relax while you prepare a great holiday feast for your family.

Old Fashioned Side Dishes

Some of the best side dishes are slow cooked. When your parents and grandparents used to make your favorite dishes, they would often use a nice, heavy Dutch oven and cook it for a long, long time over very low heat. Unless you have inherited their Dutch oven, it is difficult to replicate the same taste of these slow cooked specialties.

Luckily, your crock pot comes close in recreating these wonderful side dishes you remember. Because of the long cooking time, your side dishes will taste like they have the same amount of love poured into them as if you stirred the pot for hours.

The crock pot seems to have been designed for old fashioned side dishes. Dishes like corn pudding, black-eyed peas, green beans and hamhocks, red beans and rice, and calico beans are a few sides that are reminiscent of old time kitchens. Typically, these old fashioned side dishes require quite a bit of preparation work and attention. With a crock pot, once the ingredients are in, your work is done ? no stirring and no worrying over the heat setting. You can walk away and return to your favorite side dish from days gone by.

Go ahead and put your roast or chicken in the oven, then put your crock pot to work slow simmering your favorite side dish. Enjoy a filling meal without all the fuss, but with all the flavor.

It took your mother hours to put together your favorite comfort foods, preparing and simmering all sorts of delights that made you feel all warm and fuzzy no matter what kind of day you were having. These slow cooked recipes passed down from generation to generation, gather you up in a whirlwind of memories and whisk you away to a better time. A time when life was simpler and the street lights would tell you when it was time to come home after playing outside all day.

Today you are an adult, and life is filled with ups and downs. The frustrations of each day seem to run together. However, there is no reason to let these frustrations follow you into the kitchen. Why not combine your two favorite things; the smile that comfort food brings to your heart, and the ease of cooking with a crock pot. You get the best of both worlds; the flavors and aromas of comfort food simmering on the stove all day, along with easy and carefree cooking. Let’s take a look at how you can put your crock pot to work for you creating those same warm and fuzzy comfort food feelings:

Your Favorite Comfort Foods In The Crock Pot

Soups of all kind are truly comfort foods. Chicken noodle soup and chicken vegetable soup are all time favorites, especially when it gets cold outside. This dish is a great candidate for a crock pot. Loaded with veggies, chicken, and savory broth, chicken soup warms you inside and out, and have even been proven to help when you’ve got the sniffles. Beef vegetable soup and all sorts of chowders are classic foods to get cozy with on a stressful day. Soups in general are usually a good way to gather together with family and friends to reminisce and relax. Let your crock pot do the work so you can enjoy the moment.

Chili is another great comfort food. It is hearty with beans, meat, tomatoes, and warm spices that can whisk you away to an old fashioned chili-cook-off in your very own kitchen. Perhaps, you remember the sound of a football game on the television on a Sunday afternoon, and the aromas of a big pot of chili ready for all the family to enjoy during half-time. Chili not only feeds a family inexpensively, but it is very filling and satisfying; a comfort food in the best sense of the word.

Pot roast is about as old fashioned as you can get in the comfort food category. Many families remember a time when dad came home from work and sat right down at the table, signaling the rest of the family to join him. Mom brought in the pot filled with tender beef, potatoes, and carrots, with a thick gravy ready to ladle over everything. The crock pot is not only an easy way to make a pot roast, but the specific method of cooking in a crock pot tenderizes any meat better than oven roasting.

Why Your Crock Pot Is The Perfect Choice

Crock pot cooking embodies the ‘trifecta’ of great homemade comfort foods; 1) the meals are easy, 2) the meals are filling, and 3) the meals stimulate the senses.

With comfort foods in the past, we most likely were talking about a lot of time and effort. However, while your parents had to spend the whole day in the kitchen preparing your favorite comfort foods, now your crock pot can do most of the job for you. This frees up your time and gives you the flexibility to prepare a filling meal while accomplishing other tasks without watching the pot.

The perfection of time management and organization, your crock pot is the ultimate way to cook comfort foods, helping you manage your health, stress, and your time. You’ll spend just a little time to prep your meal, then the rest of the work is up to the crock pot. Set it and forget it. When you’re ready to relax and dig into your favorite comfort food, all you need is a place to sit. And, when you’re feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, you aren’t faced with a kitchen overflowing with pots and pans. Crock pot cooking is almost one pot cooking. Put your leftovers away and you have one pot, the crock, to wash up. With a single pot doing the cooking for you, that crock pot comfort food is even more comforting.

The crock pot is a great tool, not only for making good food, but also giving you time back to spend with your family. Throwing your favorite foods into the crock pot before heading out the door will give you the slow-cooked taste without the effort. Don’t slave over a hot stove just to feed your family their favorite comfort foods. Use your crock pot to give them the comfort foods you enjoyed growing up, and savor the aromas and flavors of a hearty meal and the comfort of family time.