31 Slow Cooker Recipes Perfect for Summer Entertaining (2024)

The One Dangerous Mistake You're Making with Your Slow Cooker

Slow-Cooker Puttanesca With Roasted Broccolini

If you’re not using your slow cooker to make pasta sauce, this is the perfect recipe to start with. Here, the multitasking appliance is used to create a rich, tangy puttanesca made with peeled tomatoes, Italian sausage, kalamata olives, and capers. When the sauce is almost done cooking, go ahead and boil your pasta and roast the broccolini for an easy summer meal.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tostadas

This recipe transforms boneless, skinless chicken thighs into juicy, salsa-infused meat, perfect for topping tostadas—aka toasted or fried corn tortillas. Add a fresh, homemade pico de gallo and crumbled queso fresco, and dinner is served. If you’re cooking for a larger group as part of a summer soiree, simply double the recipe.

Slow-Cooker Pork With Peppers and Olives

Cuban ropa vieja meets pork (instead of the traditional beef) in this easy slow-cooker recipe. Here, the meat is bathed in a tomato-y bell pepper and onion sauce. Once you add pimiento-stuffed olives and generous amounts of oregano, cumin, and garlic, you’ve got a deep, flavorful stew. Serve with black beans and white rice to soak up every last bit of the delicious sauce.

Slow Cooker Pineapple Upside Down Cake

For a summertime dessert that calls for just 25 minutes of prep, consider this pineapple upside-down cake. While you will need to add the ingredients to the slow cooker in batches, that’s really the only work required, aside from inverting the cake once it’s finished. Serve with a generous dollop of unsweetened whipped cream and dig in!

Slow-Cooker Ragù With Spaghetti Squash

If you’re looking for a lighter alternative to spaghetti in the summer months, try spaghetti squash. While there are many ways to cook the pasta-like insides of this gourd, using a slow cooker means you only need to do 15 minutes of hands-on work, while the appliance does the rest. Shower the finished dish with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan and you’re all set.

Slow Cooker Cinnamon-Pecan Monkey Bread

There’s something about monkey bread in the summer that conjures up memories of campfires and sing-a-longs. This version requires just 20 minutes of hands-on work and can function either as an after-dinner treat or decadent breakfast. Just note that if you plan to serve it immediately after cooking rather than keeping it warm, reduce the water called for in the recipe to 1/3 cup.

Slow-Cooker Vegetarian Chili With Sweet Potatoes

Yes, chili is great when it’s cold and blustery outside, but it’s just as delicious during the warmer months as well. Plus, since this meat-free recipe uses a slow cooker, you don’t need to stand over the stove for hours. This hearty dish is packed with sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and a variety of beans, and is perfect for a crowd.

Slow Cooker Mexican Beef Sliders

In this recipe, Barbacoa-inspired beef chuck roast is flavored with chipotle chiles in adobo, ground cumin, dried oregano, and more, before cooking in the slow cooker for about eight hours. Once the meat is done, it’s piled onto slider buns with a quick slaw and pickled jalapeños that bring acidity and heat, respectively. If you need a new dish for your next cookout, try this one.

Slow-Cooker Deep Dish Pizza

While you might not think to use your slow cooker to make a pizza pie, it’s totally possible to do it. Simply stretch the pizza dough to fill a large slow cooker insert, then top as you like. Yes, it’s that easy, and works for any time of the year.

Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken

There are so many things you can make with shredded chicken—tacos, chicken chili, pasta salad—and this recipe gets the main ingredient taken care of with just five minutes of prep and two ingredients. If you’re feeding a summer crowd, adjust the recipe accordingly.

Slow-Cooker Soy-Braised Chicken

This take on chicken adobo includes chicken that is braised in a mixture of vinegar and soy sauce, which creates a sweet and sour marinade that’s as delicious as it sounds. Serve with rice and bok choy so you can soak up every last bit.

Slow-Cooker Barbecue Pork Sandwiches with Crunchy Coleslaw

If you don’t feel like firing up the grill for your next BBQ, just make these barbecue pork sandwiches instead. In this recipe, pork flavored with brown sugar, chili powder, vinegar, and more cooks until it’s tender enough to shred with a fork. The coleslaw served alongside provides the perfect crisp and creamy balance, while the sandwich rolls hold everything together.

Slow Cooker Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

Yes, you can make carrot cake in the slow cooker, and yes it’s just as delicious as any oven-baked version without turning your kitchen into a sauna. In fact, one could argue that cake made in a slow cooker has more moisture and bakes more evenly, yielding a tastier final product. Just don’t forget the cream cheese frosting, which you’ll make separately once the cake is baked.

Pulled-Pork Tacos

There’s never a wrong time of year to eat tacos, especially if they come together with just 15 minutes of hands-on work thanks to the slow cooker. Serve these pork tacos with tortillas, cilantro, sour cream, lime, and extra salsa for a complete meal.

Slow Cooker Cuban Sandwiches

Slow-cooked meals have a reputation for being overly rich, but in summer months, the goal is dinners that are light and refreshing. That's precisely why you should make these sandwiches: briny pork, salty ham, tangy pickles, and bright mustard fill crusty bread. Serve with an ice-cold beer and a side of baked chips for a fast and delicious dinner.

BBQ Sweet Potato Bakers

Use your slow cooker to soften spuds, like these healthy and hearty sweet potatoes. Pack them with plenty of summer-ready toppings like fresh corn, chopped tomatoes, or crisp chives to bring your farmer's market haul right to your table. Serve with a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store to avoid turning on your stove.

Chicken Taco Soup

You might think soup is just too hot for a summer day, but it can be very refreshing and filling without making you fan yourself at the table. Plus, you can use cooling toppings like radishes, sour cream, avocado, and fresh corn to keep things light.

Sweet and Spicy Pork Tenderloin

A spicy-sweet coating of brown sugar and crushed red pepper helps seal in moisture in this pork tenderloin. A hint of umami is added by soy-spiked beef stock. You can use this tenderloin the way we recommend—served over rice with crisp, refreshing cucumbers and carrots, or use it to make quick tacos, a salad topper, or even the meat for a mix-and-match burrito bowl.

Coca-Cola Carnitas

Fans of batch cooking will appreciate this slow-cooked pork shoulder recipe. It's brimming with flavor thanks to chili powder, cumin, and oregano, but a braise of sugary cola makes the meat tender and exceptionally juicy. (Bonkers, we know!) Put this in to cook on a Sunday or the first night of your vacation, and use it to make tacos, nachos, quesadillas, and more all week long.

Black Bean Posole

Cool, fresh toppings like avocado, radishes, and cilantro tame the heat and spice of this Mexican soup, which helps you stave off a sweat. Plus, this soup is broth-based, which is lighter and more refreshing than a hearty stew on a hot night. It's perfect for freezing if you have any leftovers, but we doubt there will be much left behind.

Open-Faced Pulled-Pork Sandwiches with Tangy Broccoli Slaw

Juicy pulled pork makes for fast and easy sandwiches with a quick, fresh, and crisp slaw topping. You can eat the slaw (which is also made ahead for the best flavor) on the sandwich or as a side. If you've got summer-ripe ears of corn, they're welcome with this easy summer sandwich too.

Big-Batch Slow Cooker Black Beans

Beans can long-simmer over a stove eye, but the heat can be overwhelming when the sun is so strong. Opt for cooking beans in your slow cooker instead. You can even skip the overnight soaking step. Use your batch of beans as a side throughout the week or as the base for a soup, salad, or grain bowl.

Slow Cooked Angel Food Cake

Light-as-air angel food cake is the perfect companion to juicy summer strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and/or a tropical mixture of pineapple, mango, and flaked coconut. This fluffy dessert can bake while you make an assortment of no-cook summer dinners.

Slow Cooker Chicken Congee

The benefit of making this traditional Chinese dish in the slow cooker? The long cooking time makes the coconut milk even more flavorful. Top it with roasted mushrooms, a fried egg, cilantro, sliced avocado, or Sriracha.

Slow Cooker Coq au Vin

In this clever recipe, flavors from the wine, veggies, and spices infuse the chicken as it cooks. Serve over egg noodles, pearl barley, or white or brown rice.

Slow Cooker Spinach Lasagna With Romaine Salad

To follow this recipe, simply layer the noodles, marinara sauce, mozzarella, and a mixture of spinach and ricotta right into the slow cooker. Let it cook until the noodles are tender, which takes about three and a half hours.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

This popular, tomato-based Indian food isn't too spicy but still has a nice kick. This dish benefits from a mix of flavors coming from cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, and black pepper. And the chicken soaks it all up as it cooks.

Slow Cooker Chinese Pork Shoulder Recipe

The secret to this tasty recipe is Chinese five-spice powder, which is a combination of cinnamon, star anise, cloves, fennel seed, and Szechuan peppercorns. Serve the pork over white rice and sprinkle it with scallions.

Slow-Cooker Asian Short Ribs

To make this recipe, you'll place most of the ingredients in together all at once and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or on high for 5 to 6 hours. After transferring the ribs and veggies to plates, you'll make the sauce with the remaining juices.

Slow Cooker Apple Spice Cake

Though this scrumptious cake takes about five hours total to make, there are only 30 minutes of hands-on time. When it's done, dust it with powdered sugar or drizzle on caramel sauce.

Slow-Cooker Chocolate Pudding Cake

This ooey-gooey, chocolatey cake couldn't be easier to make in the slow cooker. Whisk the ingredients together, add them to your slow cooker, and let it all cook for three hours. Eat this dessert warm, topped with whipped cream or ice cream that melts decadently into the chocolate.