Low-Calorie Slow-Cooker Stew Recipes | EatingWell

Staff Picks

Slow-Cooker Turkey Chili with Butternut Squash

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This slow-cooker turkey and butternut squash chili is the perfect balance of sweet and spicy. The sweetness of the butternut squash tames the kick from cayenne, making this easy crock-pot chili just right for kids and adults alike. For those who prefer a spicier chili, just pass hot sauce at the table.

By Katie Webster

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.

Slow-Cooker Mediterranean Stew

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This Mediterranean stew is a healthy dinner chock-full of vegetables and hearty chickpeas. A drizzle of olive oil to finish carries the flavors of this easy vegan crock-pot stew. Swap out the chickpeas for white beans for a different twist, or try collards or spinach in place of the kale. Any way you vary it, this stew is sure to go into heavy rotation when you are looking for healthy crock-pot recipes.

By Sarah Epperson

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.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Slow-Cooker Vegetarian Chili

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Grab your crock pot for this delicious and easy slow-cooker vegetarian chili with beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, bell peppers and sweet potatoes. The recipe requires just 20 minutes of active time: after a bit of chopping, you just dump the ingredients in the slow cooker and let it do the work. Adding a squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkle of cilantro just before serving brightens up the flavors. Top it with some shredded cheese, if you'd like, or serve it as-is to keep it vegan. Either way, this healthy chili is sure to become a go-to when you want a satisfying and healthy dinner.

By Robby Melvin

Southwestern Sweet Potato Stew

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This hearty Southwestern-inspired stew may take a while in your slow cooker, but it's so worth it! Full of sweet potatoes, black beans, and hominy, it will satisfy your tastebuds and keep you full for hours.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

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.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Ethiopian-Spiced Chicken Stew

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This chicken stew, generously seasoned with the Ethiopian spice mix berbere, is loaded with tomato and red lentils. Depending on brand, berbere spice blend can be rather spicy. For a less spicy stew, start with 3 tablespoons spice blend rather than 5.

By Jim Romanoff

Fix-and-Forget White Chili

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Thicken this slow-cooker chicken chili by slightly mashing the beans.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

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.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Slow-Cooker Vegetable Stew

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Potatoes and beans make this tomato-based crock-pot vegetable stew super-hearty. You could also add briefly sautéed chunks of zucchini or fresh corn kernels just before serving, or add another can of cannellini beans for more substance. A dollop of pesto on top is also super-delicious. Adding homemade garlic croutons is an easy way to elevate this healthy dinner.

By Liana Krissoff

Slow-Cooker Squash, Millet & Lentil Dal with Herbed Yogurt

This slow-cooker dal recipe has a range of pleasing textures: red lentils and millet break down as they cook, and the toor dal, which are split pigeon peas, stay toothsome. Look for all three ingredients at Indian markets or natural-foods stores. The crock pot does most of the work for this healthy vegetarian recipe, and a quick herbed yogurt added just before serving brightens up the flavors. Bonus: Both the dal and the yogurt can be made ahead and the leftovers are wonderful.

By Liana Krissoff

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Inspiration and Ideas

Slow-Cooker Vegan Chili

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Grab your crock pot for this hearty and easy vegan chili, which is chock-full of great-tasting and good-for-you ingredients, including pinto and black beans, red pepper, tomatoes and butternut squash. Once a little chopping is done, all you have to do is dump the ingredients in the slow cooker, making this colorful veggie chili the perfect weeknight dinner. A garnish of fresh avocado and chopped cilantro is a nice touch.

Hearty Vegetable Beef Stew

The slow cooker makes this veggie-packed beef stew super-easy and extra-savory.

Middle Eastern Lamb Stew

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Fennel & Pork Stew

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.

All Low-Calorie Slow-Cooker Stew Recipes

Squash, Chickpea & Red Lentil Stew

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Modeled on North African stews, this aromatic vegetarian main course can be served over brown rice or steamed spinach.

By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Wine & Tomato Braised Chicken

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Here chicken thighs cook in a simple herb-infused tomato-and-wine sauce. The bone-in thighs give it plenty of hearty flavor, and since you cook them without the skin, it keeps the dish healthy. There's plenty of sauce, so serve it over pappardelle or brown rice. Steamed broccoli or sautéed broccoli rabe tossed with olive oil and a splash of lemon juice complete the meal.

By Judith Finlayson

Spicy White Chili

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Top this spicy chili with hot sauce if you love the heat.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Moroccan Lamb Tagine

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A tagine is a Moroccan stew that is named after the earthenware dish it is cooked in. We use a slow cooker for this tasty version, which features lamb, sweet potatoes, dates and olives.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Curried Chicken Stew

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Short on time? Consider this slow-cooked chicken stew recipe. Spend just 20 minutes prepping in the morning and you'll come home to a hearty dish. Serve it over basmati rice or with a slice of crusty bread.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Hungarian Pork Goulash

Goulash is one of the national dishes of Hungary and therefore, many variations of Hungarian Goulash exist. It can be prepared with beef, veal, pork or lamb and is seasoned with paprika and other spices. We chose pork for our version and rest assured, our recipe is bursting with flavor.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Eggplant & Chickpea Stew

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This tasty vegetarian stew, studded with plenty of eggplant and protein-rich chickpeas, is reminiscent of ratatouille. The eggplant breaks down and makes a saucier stew if you peel it before cooking, but you can certainly leave the peel on if you prefer. Serve over quinoa or soft polenta with sautéed spinach on the side.

By Judith Finlayson

Irish Lamb Stew

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Lamb stew is Irish penicillin: a rich stew full of potatoes, leeks and carrots that'll cure whatever ails you. In traditional fashion, nothing here is browned first, just all stewed together--in this case, in a slow cooker to make it extra easy. To keep it healthy make sure to trim the lamb of any visible fat before you cook it.

By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Slow-Cooker Pinto Bean Stew with Jalapeno-Corn Dumplings

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This healthy slow-cooker pinto bean stew recipe is bursting with veggies--onion, bell pepper, celery and corn--and topped with crunchy bits of radish and chile- and lime-flecked cornbread dumplings. If you're pressed for time, skip the dumplings and serve this pinto bean stew straight out of the crock pot, topped with crushed tortilla chips and a sprinkling of Monterey Jack cheese. Make sure to soak your dried beans before using them in the slow cooker to ensure even cooking.

By Carolyn Malcoun

Slow-Cooker Turkish Lamb & Vegetable Stew

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Layers of fresh Mediterranean vegetables, seasoned with an abundance of bay, garlic and oregano, meld with tender lamb into a luscious harvest-time supper. Serve the stew with rice or warm whole-wheat pita.

By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Fireside Beef Stew

This low-calorie main dish stew gets its lively flavor from a tantalizing mix of mustard, allspice, and Worcestershire sauce.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Basque Chicken Stew

Straddling the coastal border between Northern Spain and Southern France, the people of the Basque region have a deep affection for fork-tender chicken stewed in a vibrant tomato-pepper sauce. Briny green olives stuffed with Spain's pimiento peppers root the dish even further.

By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Slow-Cooker "Corned Beef" & Cabbage

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This warming slow-cooker stew has all the flavors of corned beef and cabbage but with much less sodium, plus it's ready in half the time of traditional corned beef and cabbage. Rather than curing the beef in a salty brine for at least a day, we just throw the beef and veggies into a crock pot with pickling spice for that delicous briny flavor without the long soaking period.

By Hilary Meyer

Bean Medley Chili

Three beans are better than one in this slow cooker chili recipe. Each type adds a distinctive flavor and texture.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Pork, Farro, Bean, and Sweet Potato Stew

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This stew recipe is a great choice for a warming fall or winter dinner. Because it uses shredded, cooked pork it's a relatively quick slow-cooker meal, ready in under 3 hours.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Chicken & Sweet Potato Stew

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Here's a dinnertime warmer with a hint of spring's sweetness, designed for that day when you'd rather be outside raking the leaves from the garden, getting it ready for what's ahead, than slaving over the stove.

By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Rich Chicken Stew

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A blanquette is a classic French stew of veal, chicken or lamb with mushrooms in a velvety sauce. This concept has been adapted to the slow cooker to make a lightened-up version using chicken thighs. Just a little whipping cream (which is less inclined to break down than lighter creams and gives more density to the sauce) adds richness. This is delightful over egg noodles.

By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

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This slow-cooker gumbo recipe skips the fat when browning the flour and swaps in turkey sausage and brown rice, resulting in a healthier dish with the classic Creole taste.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Super-Simple Beef Stew

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Beef stew meat, potatoes, carrots, and onion are simmered with cream of mushroom soup in this super simple, slow cooker beef stew recipe.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Beef and Red Bean Chili

A slow cooker brings out all the flavors in this easy bean and beef chili recipe.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Beef Stew with Garlic-Thyme Sour Cream

Start this slow-cooker beef stew before you leave for work and you'll arrive home to a delicious and hearty meal. All you'll need to do is whip up the garlic-thyme sour cream topping, and it will be ready to eat.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

Fragrant Shredded Beef Stew

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This stew has a simple list of ingredients, but plenty of great flavor thanks to flank steak, a cut that's known for its excellent meaty flavor. The flank is also known for its long grainy, and sometimes tough texture. In this stew the texture is a great asset--the meat shreds apart into tasty strips after it's cooked in the slow cooker.

By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Flemish Beef Stew

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For this slow-cooker interpretation of Carbonnades Flamandes, a Flemish stew made with beer, if you can't find a brown ale, use a strong, dark beer (but not a stout).

By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Provencal Vegetable Stew

Adding a splash of vinegar just before serving boosts the flavor of this vegetarian main dish. The beans and vegetables make the stew high in healthy fiber.

By Diabetic Living Magazine

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