Weeknight Spring Slow Cooker Recipes That Take 30 Minutes or Less to Prep

August 27, 2019
With the arrival of spring, the weather may be warming up, but don’t put your crock pot away just yet! You’ll want it to make these quick and easy slow-cooker recipes featuring seasonal ingredients, including peas, spinach, mushrooms, leafy greens, artichokes and fresh herbs. The best part? None of these light and fresh spring slow-cooker recipes requires more than 30 minutes of active time—so you can spend more time outside enjoying the longer spring days.
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Slow-Cooker Chicken & White Bean Stew

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This load-and-go slow-cooker chicken recipe is perfect for a busy weeknight dinner. Serve this Tuscan-inspired dish with crusty bread, a glass of Chianti and a salad.

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Herbed Chicken and Mushrooms

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Chicken is slowly simmered in a mushroom and white wine sauce with herbs, then served on whole wheat pasta or brown rice for a soul-satisfying meal.

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Slow-Cooker Vegetarian Lasagna

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Sure, the slow cooker's great for stews and soups, but it also happens to make a mean lasagna! In this ingenious slow-cooker recipe, all you have to do is chop your veggies, then layer the ingredients (raw) into the crockpot. Serve with: Garlic bread and a green salad.

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Slow-Cooker Moroccan Lentil Soup

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Like most soups, this Moroccan lentil soup recipe gets better with time as the complex seasonings have time to develop. Make it a day ahead if you can--this easy slow cooker/crock pot recipe variation makes it a cinch to get the soup cooking while you do other things.

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Slow-Cooker Vietnamese Pulled Chicken

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Busy week coming up? Cook up these easy poached chicken breasts infused with the flavors of the ubiquitous Vietnamese sauce nuoc cham in your slow cooker on Sunday. Then enjoy the leftover chicken three different ways over the days to come--ladled with the broth over rice noodles, layered with vegetables on a sandwich and mixed with mayo to make a creamy chicken salad.

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Slow-Cooker Pasta e Fagioli Soup Freezer Pack

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Your favorite restaurant soup just got easier and healthier with this freezer-to-crock-pot recipe. If you keep a special bottle of olive oil on hand for stand-out dishes, this is the recipe to pull it out for. The headiness of the fruity olive oil truly elevates the flavors in this Italian meal-prep slow-cooker soup.

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Creamy Spinach and Artichoke Chicken

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Selecting reduced-fat and reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup to use in this slow cooker recipe will help keep fat and sodium content down, but won't compromise flavor.

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Beef-Vegetable Ragout

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This recipe fits the bill for casual get-togethers, and it's prepared in only 30 minutes. Spoon the mixture over pasta and serve with crusty bread or corn bread and wedges of melon.

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Asian-Garlic Chicken Thighs

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Chicken thighs are seasoned with Asian-style seasonings, then slow-cooked to tenderness and served with crisp sugar snap peas.

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Turkey and Pasta Primavera

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Lean turkey and colorful, tasty vegetables star in this easy slow-cooked pasta dish.

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Slow-Cooked Ranch Chicken and Vegetables

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This creamy, veggie-packed chicken dinner comes together easily in your slow-cooker-and makes enough for another night's casserole (see associated recipe)!

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Slow-Cooker Mediterranean Chicken & Chickpea Soup

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This set-it-and-forget-it slow-cooker recipe simmers away all day so you come home to a warm and healthy dinner the whole family will love. Using bone-in chicken is the key to making rich soup without adding broth.

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