How to host a complete Super Bowl party using only your slow cooker

No tortilla chip is complete without melty, spicy cheese. And this Food Network-approved recipe from Katie Lee is a quick way to mix up some queso using nothing more than your slow cooker. It does call for some beef browning, but this can be done in your cooking vessel if your slow cooker has a saute function. Step-by-step instructions are right here.

If you're not serving guacamole at your Super Bowl party, you're doing it wrong. And though guacamole is usually a dip that is served cold and doesn't need to be cooked, this guacamole soup will make you rethink your expectations of what guacamole can and should be. The recipe can be found right here.

This recipe calls for cooked ground beef, but if your slow cooker has a saute function, you can take care of that in the cooking vessel. Other than that, this is a wonderful set-and-forget dip that you can keep warm in the slow cooker right up until game time. The full recipe is right here.

Yes, you can make homemade salsa in the slow cooker! And it's delicious! Leaving everything alone in the slow cooker will soften everything enough that you can just pulse the mix a few times in the blender and you'll have a perfectly chunky salsa perfect for dipping. The full recipe can be found right here.

No messing with pizza bricks. No fussing with making dough. All you need to make a wonderfully fluffy pizza is a can of pre-made pizza crust, some sauce, cheese, and toppings. The slow cooker will brown the crust somewhat, and your guests will never guess that all you did was throw a bunch of stuff in the slow cooker. The full recipe is right here.

Technically, this recipe is for taquitos, but that requires baking some tortillas in the oven. Luckily, the recipe works just as well as a taco filling for those crunchy taco shells you can buy at the supermarket. Yum! Step-by-step instructions can be found here – be sure to serve with that salsa you just made!

Usually, jalapeno poppers are deep-fried balls of oil and cheese, some of the unhealthiest things you can put in your body. Now, uh, cooking them in the slow cooker won't make them healthy food – they're still full of cheese and bacon bits –  but at least they won't be fried! Plus, the delicious tender steamed jalapeno flesh has a texture, unlike anything you can get out of a fryer basket. The recipe is right here.

The salty-sweet taste of bacon-wrapped dates makes them a perfect finger food at any gathering, especially when they're stuffed with delicious goat cheese. The full (and simple!) recipe can be found right here.

Unless you grew up in one of Pennsylvania's many Dutch communities, you probably think of pigs in a blanket as mini-hot dogs wrapped in crescent roll dough. This version, however, is much heartier, healthier, and in our opinion, much more suited to a classy (or not-so-classy) Super Bowl soiree. Trust us, once you taste these sausage-filled cabbage rolls, your definition of "Pigs in a Blanket" will change too. You can find the recipe here.

What's better than cheese? Beer. What's better than beer? Beer and cheese, together, in a soup. What's better than that? The fact that this recipe really only has 2 steps. It's very much a "throw stuff into the slow cooker and wait for a while" recipe, except for the end, where shredded cheese is lovingly mixed into the soup. Yum. The full recipe is right here.

If your slow cooker has a saute setting, the bacon and aromatics for this delicious German-style warm potato salad can be made right in the slow cooker itself – and we definitely recommend doing it that way so that you can get all that bacon deliciousness in your slow cooker before the cooking starts. The full recipe is here via Betty Crocker.

Low and slow cooking is a great way to prepare ribs if you're not grilling them, so they are very much at home in a slow cooker. This simple recipe calls for some limited oven use, just to caramelize the barbecue sauce at the end so we're cheating a little bit with this one. That said, the taste more than justifies us bending the rules. The full recipe is right here.

This might be the easiest recipe you'll ever make. Just pop a big ol' piece of pig meat in your slow cooker, pour some root beer over it, and cook. Couldn't get simpler. The Comfort of Cooking has the full recipe here, which also calls for a quick toss with the barbecue sauce of your choice. Don't worry, we won't tell your guests how easy making the pulled pork was.

The bad news first: there's no way to make deep-fried buffalo wings in the slow cooker. The good news? These might just be better, especially if you go the extra mile and broil the sticky-sweet-spicy wings in the oven for a few minutes after they come out of the slow cooker. You won't want to go back to fried wings after this. The full recipe is here.

It's just not the Super Bowl without chili, is it? This recipe, via the Food Network, is a Texas chili, which means that it forgoes beans to make room for what's really important in a chili: the delicious, delicious slow-cooked meat. The full recipe can be found here.

These enchiladas are messy, heavy, and unapologetically un-photogenic. They also happen to be delicious, vegetarian, and a perfect addition to your Super Bowl feast. The full recipe is here, via The Kitchn.

Sure, soaking beans can be a pain. But trust us, if you want a red beans and rice dish for your party that will blow the pants off of the tub you got last year from Popeye's, it's a necessary step. Despite the considerable time this recipe takes, you'll only really be actively cooking for 15 minutes. So follow along with the instructions here, and keep these red beans going while you're making the rest of your meal.

No, you can't fry chicken in a slow cooker. But if you're like us, and an essential part of the Super Bowl experience is delicious, crispy-crusted chicken, try this low-calorie, set-and-forget recipe from SkinnyMs. It only takes about two and a half hours to cook, and somehow, the chicken comes out impossibly crunchy despite being cooked in a slow cooker. Just make sure to remove the lid at the end. The full recipe is right here.

Baked beans go with everything, which is why you're going to make them for your Super Bowl party, and "accidentally" allow them to mix with your chili, pulled pork, and literally everything else on your plate. This recipe will take some time, especially if you don't presoak the beans, but trust us, it's worth it. Plus, it'll keep for a while, so you can feel free to make this ahead of time. All the steps can be found here.

If your guests want a dessert, this recipe from Food.com should suffice. Who knew you could bake a cookie in a slow cooker? Much less a deliciously moist chocolate chip walnut cookie? The full recipe is right here.