17 Diabetes-Friendly Slow-Cooker Dinners You'll Want to Make Forever

Slow-Cooker Mushroom Soup with Sherry

These cozy dinners have something to offer everyone at the table—from hearty stews to comforting braised beef and veggies, you're sure to find something delicious for dinner tonight. Each of these recipes follows our parameters for a diabetes-friendly meal, focusing on complex carbs like whole grains and aiming for a heart-healthy level of sodium and saturated fat. Recipes like our Slow-Cooker Mushroom Soup with Sherry and Slow-Cooker Braised Beef with Carrots & Turnips are healthy crowd-pleasers that will have you coming back for more.

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Slow-Cooker Chicken & White Bean Stew

Slow-Cooker Chicken White Bean Stew

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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Italian Pork with Mashed Sweet Potatoes

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This simple Italian-inspired recipe combines pork shoulder with aromatic fennel. As the pork cooks, its juices drip down to flavor the sweet potatoes that are nestled in the bottom of the slow cooker. Serve with steamed green beans for a complete meal.

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Slow-Cooker Jambalaya

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This hearty jambalaya is bursting with chicken, smoked turkey sausage, and shrimp. It takes just 25 minutes to prep in the morning and then your slow cooker will work its magic and deliver a tasty meal at the end of the day.

04 of 17

Slow-Cooker Mushroom Soup with Sherry

Slow-Cooker Mushroom Soup with Sherry

This comforting and creamy slow-cooker soup is loaded with earthy, umami flavor from the mushrooms and soy sauce. Puréeing only some of the slow-cooker mushroom soup gives the dish complex texture and eye appeal. Garnish with additional black pepper and chopped fresh thyme, if desired.

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Slow-Cooker Vegetable Minestrone Soup

Slow-Cooker Vegetable Minestrone Soup

A winter classic, this crock pot version of minestrone is heavy on the vegetables and light on the pasta, keeping carbs in check while providing plenty of flavor.

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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 Braised Beef with Carrots & Turnips

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The spice blend in this healthy beef stew recipe—cinnamon, allspice and cloves—may conjure images of apple pie, but the combo is a great fit in savory applications too. Serve over creamy polenta or buttered whole-wheat egg noodles.

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Slow-Cooker Arroz con Pollo (Chicken & Rice)

Slow-Cooker Arroz con Pollo

This one-pot chicken dinner, inspired by the traditional dish of Spain and Latin America, comes together easily in the crock pot. The instant brown rice is added near the end, to keep it from overcooking.

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Pork & Green Chile Stew

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Let your slow cooker work—while you're at work!—and come home to a delicious bowl of hearty stew for dinner. Full of potatoes, hominy, green chiles, and chunks of pork sirloin, this filling stew recipe takes just 25 minutes to prepare in the morning.

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Shredded Chicken Tacos

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This taco recipe is a great choice for midweek dinners, even if it's not Taco Tuesday! Instead of beef, we use moist, boneless chicken thighs and to make things easier for you, the taco filling is cooked in a slow cooker, so you can prepare it in the morning and come home to a delicious meal.

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Pasta Puttanesca with Beef

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This easy slow cooker ground beef and pasta recipe makes a great meal any night of the week.

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Barbecue Pulled Chicken

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This BBQ pulled chicken recipe is a fanciful reinterpretation of pulled pork that slow-cooks chicken in lots of tangy tomato sauce. Have sliced jalapenos, sliced red onions and some sour cream on hand to top this barbecue pulled chicken, which makes a hearty main course. You can turn it into an unbelievable sandwich or serve it on mashed potatoes or even whole-grain spaghetti. Serve with shredded napa cabbage tossed with low-fat mayonnaise, cider vinegar, celery seed and honey to taste.

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Fennel & Pork Stew

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This meltingly tender pork shoulder ragout has a savory broth that's full of fennel. White wine gives the stew a bright edge of acidity.

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Slow-Cooker Vegetable Lasagna

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This vegetarian lasagna couldn't be easier, thanks to jarred pasta sauce and no-boil lasagna noodles. Prep it in the morning and let your crock pot do the work.

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Italian-Herbed Chicken and Mozzarella Melts

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Chicken thighs are slowly cooked with Italian-style sauce and herbs, then served on crusty bread slices with olives and two savory cheeses.

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White Chicken Chili

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A bowl of this healthy white chicken chili packs a whopping 22 grams of protein in each serving and is appropriate for a diabetes-friendly diet. Consider topping this white chili with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream to reduce calorie and fat content while still getting a creamy texture.

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Slow-Cooker Chicken Marsala

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This slow-cooker chicken Marsala recipe gets its full flavor from plenty of mushrooms and fragrant shallots. Whole-wheat pasta soaks up the rich sauce. Round it out with a simple green salad for a comforting healthy dinner.

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