20 slow-cooker recipes with six ingredients or fewer

We have some meals and main dishes in this list, but let’s start with a side: apple-brown sugar-glazed carrots. And yes, they’re just as delicious as they sound. Thankfully, they’re much easier than they sound, and this recipe from Taste of Home only requires six ingredients.

We promise this isn’t just a list of 20 apple-centric recipes—but come on, who could resist making a batch of this delicious apple butter from The Magical Slow Cooker? You’ll need to peel, core, and slice the apples (which is a breeze with the right appliance), but after that, your slow cooker and blender will do the rest of the work making this topping for toast, ice cream, or anything else to which you’d like to add tastiness.

These baby back ribs are so easy a baby could make them. (But please don’t let your baby near your slow cooker.) You’ll need ribs, bbq sauce, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper, and your slow cooker will need about four hours on high or eight hours on low. We’d recommend following the advice from All Recipes and caramelizing your ribs in the oven for 10-15 minutes, too. It’s worth the extra appliance.

The name of this Supergolden Bakes recipe says three ingredients, but the full thing is actually six ingredients including a teaspoon each of baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. You could also add a seventh—chocolate chips, or nuts, or both!—but we won’t pressure you into that kind of a commitment.

This one from Home Made Lovely couldn’t be easier. Chicken breasts, bbq sauce, and cola go into the slow cooker for eight hours on low or four hours on high until the chicken practically falls apart. Put it on a bun with some coleslaw and you still only need a total of five ingredients!

This isn’t a simplified recipe—a good ham really only needs four ingredients. Ham, brown sugar, maple syrup, and pineapple juice go into the slow cooker...and a delicious glazed ham comes out three hours later like a lengthy magic trick.

Making buffalo wings in the slow cooker is healthier and easier, thanks to this recipe from Spend with Pennies. According to them, you really only need wings, buffalo sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and onion—and after tasting the results, we agree!

Not only does this recipe only require three ingredients, but it’s a dessert! Even crazier, it only takes two hours in the slow cooker, and there’s no mixing involved. Say what?! Hard to believe, but it’s all true, and Blogghetti deserves the credit.

You really only need five ingredients for a good chicken soup: chicken, onion, carrots, celery, and parsley. You could add salt and pepper if you prefer, but this is really all you need for this comforting dish. Paleo Grubs has a paleo-friendly recipe, which you can totally add pasta to if you want chicken noodle soup.

Our absolute favorite Thanksgiving/Christmas/anytime side dish can be made completely in the slow cooker. And of course, this version from The Magical Slow Cooker only contains six ingredients: green beans, milk, cream of mushroom soup, black pepper, onion powder, and—our favorite part—crispy fried onions.

Succulent sirloin goes into these scrumptious sandwiches, and if you use this recipe from Taste of Home, you’ll only need five ingredients—including the rolls! But if you want more than one type of pepper, go crazy!

Mac & cheese is a simple crowd-pleaser. Elbow macaroni, cheddar cheese, eggs, milk, and butter are all you need unless you want to add some salt, pepper, and/or paprika. Get the rest of the info from Cutefetti. 

Carrots, potatoes, steak seasoning, beef broth, and a big ol’ roast are all you need for this five-ingredient version from Fit Slow Cooker Queen. There’s even a recipe for the steak seasoning if you want to make it at home—but that part alone requires more than six ingredients!

Okay, technically this potato soup from Borrowed Bites only has six ingredients if you don’t include the “optional toppings” (which are not optional for us). But that’s still pretty simple, especially with the six ingredients being potatoes, onion, butter, milk, and salt & pepper. 

This recipe from Eating on a Dime doesn’t include any sides, but the main course only requires three ingredients! And it’s easy, of course, as you can make it all in your crockpot on high-and-fast for 3-4 hours or low-and-slow for 6-8.

We regularly use this one when we’re short on prep time and need an ingredient for tacos, burritos, quesadillas, or some other Mexican/Southwestern dish. It’s just chicken breast and salsa, with optional salt, pepper, and limes. You could probably figure this one out, but just in case, Gimme Some Oven has the recipe and some tips.

Jambalaya sounds complicated, but it’s actually very simple. In fact, it can be made with fewer than six ingredients, thanks to your slow cooker. Foodie Crush will show you how easy it can be. 

Something for the seafood-lovers: a simple poached salmon with white wine, onion, lemon, dill, and salt. And although you make it in your slow cooker, it heats up fast, only requiring about 20 minutes of cooking time. Get the recipe and some helpful tips from Epicurious.

People go crazy for this popular party appetizer! All you need are frozen pre-cooked meatballs, chili sauce, cranberry sauce, orange juice, and brown sugar. After four hours on low, these meatballs from Dinner at the Zoo will be ready to devour!

You don’t need to dirty both a pot and saucepan just to make a delicious pasta dinner. Just layer sauce (jarred or homemade), tortellini or ravioli, mozzarella cheese, garlic powder, and basil leaves in your crockpot, and cook the whole thing for 90 minutes. The Frugal Girls will show you how it’s done.