Menu Planning Central

Making Life Easier Since 2007!

  • Home
  • About
    • Lifetime Member Update
  • Menus
    • Current Family Favorites Recipes
    • Family Favorites – Free Week
    • Family Favorites Menu Plan
    • Healthy 30 Minute Meals – Free Week
  • Recipes
  • Contact
  • Login
    • Affiliates
  • Cart

Make Entertaining Easier with a Slow Cooker

Spread the love
    1    

Affiliate links are used in this post.
Make entertaining easier with a slow cooker

Do you enjoy entertaining? Use your slow cooker to help make a night of hosting friends and family in your home a lot easier. In fact, if you own multiple slow cookers or various kinds of slow cookers, then you may even be able to prepare your entire array of dishes, appetizer to dessert, with slow cookers. You will then be free to take part in the conversations going on around you rather than being set apart in the kitchen slaving over the stove.

Here are a few ideas that I’ve come up with to help you figure out how make entertaining easier with a slow cooker.

Do you own a Mini Crock Pot? This particular type of slow cooker is perfect for small gatherings where you only need to serve a few people. Prepare a delicious cheese dip, a tasty soup, or an easy appetizer. Serve alongside some crackers or a fresh loaf of sourdough bread and voila you’ve got an easy meal with little fuss.

While the Triple Crock Pot can be used in much the same way as the mini crock pot, it is also a bit more diverse since you have the ability to prepare different dishes in one slow cooker. Investing in more than one triple crock pot gives you the option to serve various kinds of side dishes, a few favorite desserts, several appetizers, or plan a ‘tasting’ party offering several different mini entrees to whet your guests’ appetite. In my mind, the triple crock pot is the perfect slow cooker option for those exciting football games enjoyed with your family each fall.

My next recommendation is not actually a slow cooker. However, the Turkey Roaster Oven is the perfect addition to a night of entertaining with slow cookers because it works in much the same way, allowing you to throw in your ingredients and then pursue other interests for a few hours while your meal cooks. According to the Amazon description, this roaster “Bakes anything your regular oven would, from muffins to yeast rolls to an entire sheet cake.” So, while you may wish to serve a turkey to your guests on certain occasions, this roaster is useful to you all year long. Prepare a large batch of rolls, lasagna, your favorite vegetable, and more.  I love it that this one piece of kitchen equipment can take the place of an extra oven!

 

The most exciting thing to me when it comes to entertaining with slow cookers is that, when armed with one (or more) of each of these recommended slow cookers, I am equipped to serve many dishes to many people with ease. Minimal attention is needed while everything cooks, and little cleanup is required when you’re gathering ends.

Do you want to make slow cooking cleanup even easier? Pop in a slow cooker liner before you add your ingredients and you’ve just eliminated cleanup!

To find the perfect slow cooker fit for you, take a look at the selection of slow cookers linked below.

Extra Large Slow Cookers

More Triple Slow Cookers

Small Crock Pots

Here are some resources to get you started with planning how to put your slow cooker to use when entertaining:

Do you have a favorite slow cooker or method for entertaining with slow cookers? Share your ideas with me!

[related_posts_by_tax]

Search this site…

Try Family Favorites Menu Plans for 7 Days - Free

Our Favorite Recipes

Goat Cheese, Spinach, and Caramelized Onion Bruschetta

Spread the love
    196    

Spread the love    196     Ingredients: One loaf of baguette bread, sliced into ½ inches 5oz of honey goat cheese, softened 5 whole onions, sliced and caramelized (follow these instructions) 1 ¼ cup of spinach, chopped 10-12oz jar of artichokes, drained and chopped ½ teaspoon of Herbs de Provence Pinch of salt (or as desired) 2 tablespoons […]

Delicious Instant Pot BBQ Ribs

Instant Pot® Cherry BBQ Baby Back Ribs

Spread the love
    60    

Spread the love    60    These succulent cherry BBQ baby back ribs are fall off the bone tender thanks to the Instant Pot®!  These are sure to become a new family favorite that they will be asking for again and again.  This recipe is so easy and delicious, you will be happy to add it to your menu […]

20 Sweet Valentine’s Day Treats for the Classroom

Spread the love
         

Spread the love          It’s party time and your kids need treats for their Valentine’s Day celebration! We’ve got a great round-up of the cutest, yummiest creations you can whip up in your kitchen! Love Letter Cookies DIY Conversation Hearts Play Dough Cookie Pops Valentine’s Day Airplanes Heart Cookie Sandwiches White Chocolate Popcorn Chocolate Covered Pretzels […]

Gluten-Free Recipe Round-Up for Fall

Spread the love
         

Spread the love         I am SO excited today about everything Gluten-Free! So many Menu Planning Central members have asked for more help with their Gluten-Free life, and we are making it happen. As you probably know, there are a zillion awesome food bloggers and websites dedicated to helping folks with all things GF, and I have […]

Red Hots Applesauce Jello Recipe

Spread the love
    3    

Spread the love    3      If you are looking for a cute and easy dessert for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, 4th of July, and anytime, you will love this one!  Super easy and inexpensive, and yummy too.  🙂 This recipe will yield six 1/2 cup servings. INGREDIENTS 1 1/2 cups of boiling water 1 cup Red Hots candies […]

Roasted Sweet Potato Hash

Sheet Pan Roasted Sweet Potato Hash

Spread the love
    57    

Spread the love    57    This delicious Sheet Pan Roasted Sweet Potato Hash makes it so easy to eat your veggies! It is bright, colorful, and healthy thanks to the bright orange sweet potatoes, dark purple potatoes, sweet red onions, gorgeous green Brussels sprouts and sunny yellow eggs. Talk about a rainbow of colors! Once you take one bite, […]

Authentic Mexican Rice

Spread the love
    33    

Spread the love    33     If you want to have the perfect side dish to go with your tacos, enchiladas, and burritos, you can’t go wrong with Mexican rice!  The secret to getting making and fluffy Mexican rice that doesn’t stick together is to thoroughly rinse the uncooked rice under cold water for a couple minutes to […]

Double Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies

Spread the love
    97    

Spread the love    97     One of the greatest flavor combinations on earth is chocolate and peppermint. Don’t you agree? If you so, you’ll want to make these yummy cookies–stat!   Ingredients 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips, divided 1 1/2 cups flour 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup unsalted sweet […]

  • About
  • Contact
  • Member Login
  • Affiliates
  • Privacy & Disclosures
  • Terms

Copyright © 2026 · MenuPlanningCentral.com