5 slow cooker recipes to batch cook, plus easy serving ideas

Southern-style slow cooker beef chilli
Chilli is a slow cooker staple. Take it to the next level with this recipe, which uses short rib in a rich chipotle and brown sugar sauce. Serve the base chilli with rice or finish the dish with the golden cornbread topping pictured. Freeze the base chilli in portions for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight, then reheat until piping hot.

Two ways to serve it:

• Chilli beef and bean puffs
  Halve 2 x 320g puff pastry sheets widthways to get 4 rough squares. Stir a tin of drained black beans into half a batch of the chilli. Top each square with a quarter of the chilli mix, then fold into puffs, crimp and seal with egg wash. Bake at  200°C fan/gas 7 for 30-35 minutes until golden.

• Chilli cheese fries
  Make an epic TV dinner by cooking frozen french fries tumbled with chilli powder, smoked paprika, oregano, garlic granules and a pinch of salt. Top with half a batch of the chilli and grated cheddar then bake for 15 minutes.

Slow cooker lamb stew with potatoes
Rustle up a fragrant lamb stew in the slow cooker with just 10 minutes prep. The stew serves eight, so you should have plenty of portions left over. Stash them in the freezer for up to 6 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight, then reheat in a pan until piping hot.

Two ways to serve it:

• Puffed lamb pie
  The stew doubles as a delicious pie filling. Thicken the stew with 1-2 tsp cornflour mixed with water on the hob. Decant into a pie dish, top with puff pastry and bake at 180ºC fan/gas 6 for 25-30 minutes.

• Lamb mezze
  Make this fragrant lamb stew part of a mezze spread.  Drizzle the warm stew with pomegranate or date molasses and scatter with more fresh parsley. Chop any leftover meat, reheat and serve with flatbreads and hummus drizzled with olive oil.

Slow cooker pulled pork
Simmer pork shoulder in the slow cooker with tomatoes and spices until it’s seriously tender and you can pull it apart into soft shreds. The recipe serves eight, so serve as much as you need with rice, coriander and lime wedges. Freeze the rest in portions for up to 3 months. To reheat, defrost overnight in the fridge then reheat in a pan on the hob until piping hot.

Three ways to serve it:

• Pulled pork tacos with salsa
  Future you will be delighted that you saved enough pulled pork for taco night. Serve with soft, warmed tortillas, a zesty tomato salsa, smashed avo with salt and lime juice, soured cream and pickled jalapeńos.

• Tex-Mex pasta bake
  Cook 350g of your favourite pasta shapes, drain, add to a baking dish and fold in a portion of reheated pulled pork. Crumble tortilla chips on top, dot over a little soured cream and finish with a generous sprinkling of cheddar. Bake at 180ºC fan for 20-25 minutes.

• Pulled pork jacket potatoes
  Pulled pork makes an easy and filling jacket potato topper. Serve with a scattering of fresh coriander, sour cream and a side salad.

Slow cooker gammon with soy and ginger
Gammon tastes incredible after a long simmer in the slow cooker with rice wine, ginger, sesame, garlic and star anise. Finish the meat with a hoisin and honey glaze before serving with rice and stir-fried greens. Leftover meat keeps for five days in the fridge, or slice and freeze in portions for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight.

Three ways to serve it:

• Bao buns
  Heat shop-bought bao buns then stuff them with gammon slices, shredded carrot, thinly-sliced cucumber, fresh coriander, spring onion and chopped peanuts. Serve with hoisin sauce.

• Slow-cooked gammon, mango and rice noodle salad
  Make a flavour-packed noodle salad with gammon slices, cooked and drained rice noodles, juicy mango and crisp raw veggies (peppers, carrots, mange tout and cucumber all work well here). Whisk up an easy dressing using the juice of 2 limes, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tsp brown sugar and sliced chilli.

• Gammon and kimchi fried rice
  Gammon makes a great partner for punchy kimchi in this elevated fried rice. Heat a glug of oil in a pan on a high heat, add 250g drained kimchi and fry until starting to char. Add 300g diced leftover gammon, 500g of cooked and cooled rice and the reserved juice from the kimchi jar. Stir-fry for 4-5 mins until piping hot. Serve with a fried egg, toasted sesame and sliced spring onion.

Slow cooker chicken curry
Fill the kitchen with the delicious aromas of this coconut and mango chicken curry. Serve with plain yogurt, basmati rice and poppadoms before portioning up the leftovers and freezing for 3-6 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge, then gently reheat until piping hot.

Three ways to serve it:

• Bunny chow
  Make this South African street-food fave by slicing off the tops of crusty rolls. Hollow out the middles, brush with oil and bake on a medium heat for 6-8 minutes until crisp. Spoon in the hot curry and top with an easy tomato, coriander and onion salsa to serve.

• Cheat’s biryani
  Make a delicious biryani with minimal effort. Cook basmati rice according to packet instructions. Layer the curry in a heavy-based pan and top with the rice. Cover and cook over a very low heat for 20-30 minutes until piping hot. Top with broken poppadums and fresh herbs.

• Curry chicken soup
  Transform leftover curry into a nourishing soup. Shred the chicken and dice the potatoes. Reheat in a pan with chicken stock and a tin of drained lentils. Stir in the spinach, coriander and  lime juice, then season.

For even more dinner solutions, check out our full slow cooker recipe collection and 60+ batch cooking recipes.