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Here’s What to Cook Every Night This Week (January 23 – 29)

Happy slow cooker season, friends. It’s time to give your stove and oven a much-deserved vacation in favor of the Crockpot, a handy appliance that allows you to prepare a low-and-slow dinner with barely any effort on your part. We’re also big fans of the Instant Pot, aka the pressure cooker, since it prepares hands-off meals in a flash. This week, we’re putting both appliances to good use with seven dishes that range from unconventional tacos to spicy bean stew to vegan lasagna.

17 Quick and Easy Instant Pot Dinners You Need to Try


what to cook this week january 23-29: two women smelling herbs at an outdoor farmers market
Aleksandar Jankovic/Getty Images

Shopping List

Produce
1 small head cauliflower
2 red onions
20 cloves garlic
2 pints grape or cherry tomatoes
2 English cucumbers
7 lemons
3 yellow onions
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
3 shallots
1 large sweet onion
1 small head green cabbage
3 zucchini
1 large red bell pepper
1 pint mushrooms
2 ounces spinach or lacinato kale
1 orange
5 limes
2 avocados
1 head romaine lettuce
1 Fresno chile
3 bunches parsley
2 bunches cilantro
1 large bunch basil

Meat
1 pound ground beef
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2½ pounds boneless beef short ribs
1½ pounds bone-out pork shoulder

Dairy
3 ounces crumbled feta cheese
8 ounces milk
1 stick unsalted butter
4 ounces Greek yogurt

Grains
1 pound pappardelle or other long pasta
6 ounces linguine
12 eight-inch flour tortillas
6 to 8 no-boil or oven-ready lasagna sheets

Canned and Packaged Goods
3 ounces kalamata olives
2 ounces walnuts
6 ounces white wine
16 ounces chicken stock
24 ounces chicken broth
2 ounces capers
10 ounces dried 15-bean mix
8 ounces canned diced tomatoes
18 ounces beef broth
9 ounces crushed tomatoes
12 pickle spears
One 14-ounce block extra-firm tofu
14 ounces marinara sauce
2 ounces vegan mozzarella cheese
One 4-ounce can green chiles
1 packet taco seasoning
One 14-ounce can black beans

Pantry Ingredients: extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, tomato paste, vegetable oil, smoked paprika, ground coriander, ground cumin, ground caraway, cayenne pepper, ground turmeric, apple cider vinegar, gochujang, light brown sugar, rice vinegar, white or yellow miso paste, onion powder, garlic powder, nutritional yeast

Monday: Keto Instant Pot Greek Cauliflower Rice

Dinner for a crowd in 10 minutes flat? It’s a Monday miracle. This vegetarian, low-carb dish can be easily bulked up by adding baked salmon, grilled chicken, ground lamb or shrimp.

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Bolognese

We’d love to be one of those people who wants to attentively tend to a simmering pot of from-scratch pasta sauce after a long day…but alas, we’re kinda lazy. Luckily, this set-it-and-forget-it version gives us the same delicious results while allowing us to skip the babysitting.

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Chicken Piccata

Bright, zesty and briny in all the right ways, this protein-packed meal will win a permanent spot in your weekly dinner rotation at first bite. Always use fresh-squeezed lemon juice instead of bottled—the flavor will be worth the workout, promise.

Thursday: Instant Pot Harissa Bean Stew

Cooking dried beans is typically an all-day ordeal. But with the help of a pressure cooker (and an overnight soak), this spiced stew will be on the table in just over an hour. Start with canned beans to pull it off even faster.

Friday: Slow Cooker Korean Short Rib Tacos

We’re drooling over these sticky, spicy handhelds that leave our usual ground beef tacos in the dust. The pickle spears offer crunch and acidity to every bite, but you can substitute pickled julienned vegetables or kimchi if you’d prefer.

Saturday: Instant Pot Vegetable Lasagna with Vegan Basil Ricotta

Zucchini, bell pepper and mushrooms take over for traditional meat in this layered delight, but the real star is the tofu-based vegan basil ricotta. Nutritional yeast, miso paste and lemon juice give it all the cheesy flavor it needs.

Sunday: Slow Cooker Meal-Prep Burrito Bowls

Chipotle has nothing on our citrusy, fall-apart-tender pork shoulder. Let the Crockpot work its magic all Sunday long, and you’ll have both a brag-worthy dinner plus leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. Thank us later.

The 36 Best Slow Cooker and Crockpot Recipes


Taryn Pire is PureWow’s associate food editor. A former bartender and barista, she’s been writing about all things delicious since 2016, developing recipes, reviewing restaurants and investigating food trends at Food52, New Jersey Family Magazine and Taste Talks. When she isn’t testing TikTok’s latest viral recipe, she’s having popcorn for dinner and posting about it on Instagram @cookingwithpire.


taryn pire

Food Editor

  • Contributes to PureWow's food vertical
  • Spearheads PureWow's recipe vertical and newsletter
  • Studied English and writing at Ithaca College