* Saute! A lot of crock pot recipes call for throwing onions, garlic, and bell peppers into the crock pot raw. For much better flavor, saute them first: Melt some butter in a skillet. (If you prefer, use olive or coconut oil.) Once it's melted, add the onions and saute until transparent. (Or, for even more flavor, saute until they are caramelized and brown.) If the recipe calls for bell peppers, add them to the skillet and saute a minute or two. Finally, if the recipe calls for minced garlic, add it and saute until it's golden. Then and only then should you add these vegetables to the crock pot.
* Brown first. Most meats should be well browned before putting them in the crock pot. (An exception is poultry.) This adds flavor, and it gives the meat a better texture.
* Go bold with seasonings. With crock pots, your finished meal will come out much more tasty if you use at least double the seasonings. For example, if you have a stove top meal you've converted for the crock pot and it calls for 1 teaspoon of chili powder, use 2 teaspoons when you cook it in the slow cooker. And if you try a crock pot recipe that seems bland to you, go ahead and double the measurements for all the seasonings.
* Go last minute. Last minute additions to the crock pot can add a lot of flavor. For instance, if a recipe calls for cilantro, don't add it until a few minutes before you're ready to serve the meal.
* Garnish. Using fresh garnishes can also add punch to crock pot meals. For example, try using a few fresh herbs, just chopped, on top of each serving. Or use fresh salsa, just-chopped green onions, or just-grated cheese.
* Go for crispness. If you're using root veggies like carrots, cut them into large pieces. For other vegetables, try adding them about a half an hour before the crock pot meal is done cooking. These tricks keep the veggies from getting mushy and bland.
Do you have any tips for making crock pot meals better? Tell us about them in a comment!
Don't have anything to add, but while I love using my crockpot, my hubby doesn't like any chicken dish I use it for! I'm mostly relegated to using it for soups or beef dishes, even though I sneak one in there every now and then. Thoughts on this? He doesn't like the flavor the chicken takes on, or the texture it gets, which is helped if I use thighs instead of breasts, but is still not satisfactory for him.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLiberty, do you know what exactly he doesn't like about the texture of the chicken? And have you ever tried putting the chicken in frozen?
DeleteAnother thought: You might try cooking chicken with the skin on, for added flavor. You can remove it after cooking. And you may need to try cooking it alone, with just liquid - i.e., braising it in the crock pot. Here are instructions for that: http://www.hellobee.com/2013/03/27/slow-cooker-braising/
ReplyDeleteWOW! Bland?? The food I cook in my slow cooker is anything but bland! BUT I don't use any recipes. I create my own.
ReplyDeleteHere is what I do to give everything tons of flavor.
1) When I am cooking anything in stew consistency (beef, chilli, soups, chicken etc) I add 1/2 cup of vinegar on top of meat (this will help tenderize the meat), then I add dry seasoning (cumin, curry, paprika, chilli powder, cinnamon, black pepper, coriander, garlic powder, anything and everything you like). NO salt. I add that last when meat is done.
2) I also add tons of greens (parsley, green onions, ginger, cilantro, kale, cilantro or any other herbs I got on hand)
3) When meat is ready 2-4 hours later depending on the meat, I add the veggies and the salt. If I am cooking soup I add NO tomatoes. It makes soup really acidic. If I am making chilli or roast, I add a can of crushed tomatoes and let it cook for another 2 hours.
4) For Asian flavored chicken I add a can of coconut milk and spicy peppers.
5) For meat strognoff I add sour cream, or cream cheese and mushrooms.
A really good trick to enhance the flavor of meat is to add chopped mushrooms when you add your greens and seasonings.
6) I also like to roast chickens on my crock pot. I do a dry rub and just put the whole chicken in there. After 4 or more hours the skin will be crispy and the meat cooked. Sometimes, depending on the chicken, there will be a lot of juice which you can use for chicken soup later, or add the bones back in and make chicken stock. Or add flour and make gravy.
7) Any kind of cooking is really about seasoning (onion, garlic, bell peppers, green herbs, dry seasonings they will turn anything into yummy food.... just check out Caribbean, Asian or Indian food. That's how they make anything taste good.)
Forget using canned soups in your recipes. Just use dried spices and herbs. Experiment fresh mint into your next ground meat stew or cinnamon on your roast. :) I hope that helps.