Perfect for busy families, the best slow cooker can provide a tasty home cooked meal with minimal mess and fuss. What’s not to love? While stews and soups are the most common recipes for slow cookers, there’s loads you can do with them – from slow cooked meat and tasty sauces to desserts and even bread. If you don’t know where to start, there are loads of great slow cooker recipe books around to inspire you in the kitchen. From vegetarian-friendly dishes to tasty curries, there’s a cookbook to cater for every kind of taste. Slow cookers are designed to cook for a long time so you can keep it on low overnight or all day while you’re out as long as you follow the directions and the manufacturer's instructions. However, consider what it is you’re cooking. Most recipes suggest six to eight hours on low, so if you want it on for longer, it is best to keep an eye on it to ensure you get the best out of your recipe. Do you need to brown meat before slow cooking? And if you're a vegetarian, don't worry: We've got you covered too! Try our slow-cooker vegan butternut squash soup, our slow-cooker eggplant Parmesan, and our slow-cooker split pea soup. New to slow cooking? We've tested all the best slow cookers to make sure you find the best one for you and your kitchen.

Is there anything better than coming home to the smell of your dinner already cooking? Even better if you’ve only had to spend ten minutes in the morning throwing some ingredients into your slow cooker. Slow Cooked, by Miss South. Based on an excellent blog, that's sadly now unavailable.” (Recommended by Mumsnet user DogInATent) Our verdict The Bored of Lunch cookbook is really good. Only bought it last month and it’s already one of my favourites (and I’m a cookbook addict and have way too many!!).” (Vetted by Mumsnet user Sammysquiz ) There are photographic guides for helping you prepare the meals, with tips on how to use up cheaper and leftover cuts of meat to help you cook on a budget and reduce waste. It also provides advice on different cooking methods, so this will be a great book for someone who wants to broaden their cooking skills. Readers note that some ingredients need pre-cooking in a frying pan or a saucepan though, which requires more effort than just throwing it all in the slow cooker and leaving it to cook. BBC Good Food Slow Cooker Favourites, Pinch of Nom Comfort Food, and 200 Easy Slow Cooker Recipes by Kate Bishop.” (Books loved by Mumsnet user Skyeheather) Our verdictWhat’s it about?: Making meals in a slow cooker will not only save you plenty of hassle in the kitchen, it’ll save you money too. This nifty piece of kitchen kit uses far less energy than an oven or hob, making it the appliance of choice for budget-conscious cooks. Nathan has become a go-to source of inspiration for what to make in a slow cooker and his debut cookbook is a treasure trove of ideas for every day of the week. The 80 calorie-counted recipes include pasta, risotto, curries and healthy versions of your favourite takeaways, all of which leave the hard work to the slow cooker while you get on with your day. With simple methods and easy-to-find ingredients, this is a perfect accompaniment for the chef looking to expand their repertoire of slow cooker recipes.

If your family likes to try new things, this could be the book for you. With a mixture of family favourites and dishes that are a bit more adventurous, Whole Food Slow Cooked helps you put delicious meals on the table with different options for cooking, depending on how much time you have. As a slow cooker fan herself, our writer Gemma is always on the lookout for family friendly meals so spent time hunting down the best slow cooker recipe books currently available, making sure to cater for all tastes, needs and budgets. Slow cooker cookbook for two (or one). Opt for the ATK book discussed above and simply adjust ingredient proportions. That said, one other option to consider is Fix-It and Forget-It Cooking for Two: 150 Small-Batch Slow Cooker Recipes from the classic bestselling series of the same name. Sous Vide. The Wolf Slow Cooker includes a sous vide cooking mode. The approachable ATK cookbook Sous Vide for Everybody demystifies sous vide cooking and shows how the cooking method can make life easier.With this number one bestselling book, Nathan Anthony has proven that you can eat healthily and still enjoy gorgeous home cooked meals at the end of a busy day. The book came from Nathan’s popular blog, Bored of Lunch and he now has over 1.2m followers, plus a companion book focusing on air fryers. Best vegetarian slow cooker cookbook. Again, we recommend starting with the ATK book—it has plenty of vegetarian main dishes. After working your way through those recipes, you should be able to convert your own favorite vegan and vegetarian recipes to the slow cooker. Also see our best vegetarian cookbooks list.