Low-Carb Slow-Cooker Recipes

Brown sugar makes this slow-cooker beef stew a tad sweet, which beautifully complements the spicy kimchi. You can make this soup ahead and refrigerate it until ready to eat. If you opt to make it ahead, wait until you reheat the soup to add the cabbage.

A twist on a classic! This beef stroganoff is cooked in a slow cooker and served over zucchini noodles with onions and mushrooms in a mouthwatering gravy.

Using a slow cooker means this simple crowd pleaser can be cooking while you're at work. A persillade is a mixture of parsely and other seasonings that adds flavor and pizzaz to a dish. Try this one, with Kalamata olives and zesty lemon peel over the roast garnished with lemon wedges.

This recipe is reminiscent of a pot roast made with onion-soup mix, but the flavors are true and pure--and nobody misses the excess sodium. (For a slow-cooker variation, see below.)

Using bone-in chicken thighs in this soup ensures the meat stays moist over the long cooking time. Not only are chicken thighs inherently juicier than breast meat, but cooking chicken on the bone also helps it stay succulent.

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.

Mushroom soup and fresh mushrooms give earthy flavor to pork chops in this slow-cooker recipe.

This healthy copycat recipe for classic Buffalo dip cooks in your slow cooker for an easy, hands-off appetizer you can keep warm for the whole game, party or any casual gathering. Serve with carrot sticks, celery sticks and tortilla chips for dipping.

A quick fresh-made blender enchilada sauce makes all the difference in this slow-cooker recipe for Mexican cheese dip. Serve it straight from the crock pot, with tortilla chips, to keep it warm and gooey.

While cooking pork in the slow cooker may not yield the crusty ends you'd get making a traditional Chinese roast pork recipe, the flavor more than makes up for it. It's worth heading to your local Asian market for dark soy sauce for this recipe (or order it online)--it's thicker than regular and less salty, with a touch of sweetness. You can make a substitute by combining regular soy sauce with a bit of molasses.

Sichuan peppercorns give this brothy slow-cooker chicken dish a distinctive lemony, mouth-numbing flavor. Unrelated to peppercorns, they're the dried berries of the prickly ash tree. Look for them in specialty markets and online. If you've never had them before, try one first and add more or less to taste. Serve with sesame baby bok choy (which takes just a few minutes to prep) and Chinese noodles for an easy, healthy dinner that'll get you out of your same-old-chicken-dish rut.

Mellow, slightly sweet and devoid of the overt fishy flavor that's polarizing for so many, this slow-cooker cod is perfect for pairing with a show-stopping sauce like this tomato-balsamic jam. Diced pancetta provides a salty counterpart to the sweet onion, tomatoes, vinegar and honey and gives the jam complexity. Garnish with fresh thyme sprigs, if desired.

When making a whole, slow-cooker chicken, it's best to buy a better-quality chicken such as one from a farm stand. The flavor and texture of the bird will hold up best over the long cook time. Also, leaving the skin on during cooking will ensure that the chicken stays moist. If you have leftover chicken, use it for a chicken soup or in a chicken salad sandwich. For a beautiful presentation, serve the chicken surrounded by fresh sage leaves and roasted, halved lemons and garlic heads.

Traditional French rillettes are made by slowly cooking pork or duck in its own fat to make a spread. This recipe takes inspiration from that technique to make a plant-based version with carrots. Serve with crackers or bread.

This easy slow-cooker method preps chicken for a multitude of recipes. Bonus: Rich-tasting chicken stock to keep on hand in your freezer as well.

Ratatouille is normally served as a main dish but here it's served with pita chips and enjoyed as an appetizer. It's made in the slow cooker so if you're serving it at a party just leave it in the cooker on warm while your guests dig in!

You may want to serve these slightly smoky, fragrant, briny little meatballs over pasta or polenta. The sauce, which has depth from red wine, is low in sodium because of its no-salt-added tomato base, and the meatballs are lighter than the usual suspects due to the addition of shredded zucchini and chopped Spanish olives. Do drizzle on some best-quality olive oil and a sprinkle of shredded manchego cheese.

Enjoy super-tasty Buffalo chicken that's easier (done in your slow cooker!) and healthier (topping a salad!) than traditional wings.