Here’s What to Cook Every Night This Week (October 17 – 23)

Fall is finally in full swing, meaning our barbecue is covered until next summer and our slow cooker is out of hibernation. The Crockpot makes dinner a total breeze, since most slow cooker recipes call for dumping in all the ingredients and…well, that’s about it. But we also love that you can basically make *anything* in the handy appliance—even pizza. Read on for seven comforting, unexpected slow cooker recipes that are just right for chilly evenings.

Tell marinara and spaghetti to sit this one out. These meatballs are coated in a warm-spiced, ginger-spiked masala sauce that begs to be paired with a dollop of yogurt and a bed of white rice. Bonus points for serving it all with warm naan.

Sink your teeth into this sausage-filled masterpiece that even picky kids will enjoy. It takes 4½ hours to cook to perfection in the slow cooker, but that beats hopping a flight to Chicago, no?

This satiating breakfast-for-dinner gem is only eight ingredients away, and it can feed six people to boot. Feel free to supplement any leftover protein, grains or veggies that you forgot about in the fridge.

Chopped herbs, pantry seasonings and fresh lemon go a long way on a fillet of fish. We keep the wait time to a minimum by slow cooking the salmon on the stove, but you could definitely pop it in the Crockpot instead if you don’t want to babysit.

From the buttery baguette to the soul-soothing beef broth to the gooey Gruyère, this cult-favorite soup is arguably the most comforting of all time. Substitute vegetable broth if you want to keep the crowd-pleaser vegetarian.

This takeout copycat—which leans on pantry staples that you likely already have on hand—couldn’t be simpler to pull off. Add a vegetable, like broccoli, snap peas or baby corn, to the slow cooker before the chicken is finished.

It takes some serious TLC and dedication to make this French main the old-fashioned way. But if you make it in the Crockpot, all you’ll have to do is crisp the bacon, brown the beef and dump all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Ta-da.

_{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.}