Easy Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes for Fuss-Free Dinners
I’ve been vegetarian since I was 10, so I’ve eaten my fair share of vegetarian food over the years – some considerably better than others!
One thing I definitely don’t believe is that being vegetarian means dinner needs to consist of meat substitutes or a plate of vegetables with something missing. Some of my favourite meals are curries, chilli, casseroles and big bowls of comforting food that just happen not to contain meat.
The slow cooker is particularly useful for that sort of cooking.
In our house, I quite often cook something vegetarian for myself while Stuart and Ben have a meat version, so anything that doesn’t require me to stand over another pan is a bonus. On other days I’ll make something we can all eat, or start with a vegetarian base and adapt what we serve with it.
I’ve collected my vegetarian slow cooker recipes here, along with some of the things I’ve learnt about adapting recipes, using meat substitutes and making vegetarian slow cooker meals that actually feel like dinner rather than a collection of side dishes.
My vegetarian slow cooker recipes
If you just want some inspiration for dinner, these are the recipes I’d start with.
Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Jackfruit
If you’ve never cooked with jackfruit before, my slow cooker BBQ pulled jackfruit is an easy place to start.
Jackfruit has a completely different texture from beans or lentils and pulls apart into shreds, which makes it particularly good with BBQ-style flavours. I like it in rolls, wraps or on a baked potato with salad or homemade coleslaw.
It’s also a handy vegetarian alternative if everyone else is having pulled pork because you can serve both with exactly the same sides.
Mushy Pea Curry
Yes, mushy peas in curry sounds a little odd.
My mushy pea curry is one of those recipes you probably wouldn’t think of until someone suggested it, but the peas help create a thick curry sauce without needing loads of complicated ingredients.
It’s budget-friendly too, which is always useful when you want a filling dinner without buying half the spice aisle.
Serve it with rice and whatever Indian-style side dishes you fancy.
Homemade Smoky Baked Beans
My homemade smoky baked beans are great if you like baked beans but fancy something with a bit more flavour.
They work as part of a meal rather than simply something to put next to toast, and they’re useful for batch cooking.
I particularly like meals like this when I’m cooking separately for myself because leftovers mean I don’t have to start again from scratch the following day.
Slow Cooker Red Cabbage with Apple
This one is technically more of a side dish than a complete vegetarian meal, but my slow cooker red cabbage with apple absolutely deserves a place here.
I usually associate red cabbage with Christmas and roast dinners, and making it in the slow cooker frees up valuable hob space when there are already far too many pans involved.
It works with vegetarian sausages, a nut roast or whatever you normally have with a roast dinner.
Vegetarian Slow Cooker Chilli
My slow cooker chilli con carne is written as a beef recipe, but it’s one I’ve made vegetarian many times.
I’ve been vegetarian for most of my life, so adapting meals rather than finding completely separate recipes is quite normal in our house. For chilli, you can use vegetarian mince or build it around beans and vegetables instead.
If you’re using a meat substitute such as Quorn, remember that it doesn’t necessarily need the same cooking time as beef mince. Check the instructions for the product you’re using rather than assuming it needs eight hours simply because the beef version does.
Vegetarian Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole
My slow cooker sausage casserole is another recipe that can easily work for vegetarians.
Use your favourite vegetarian sausages and check that the other ingredients you’re using are vegetarian too.
This is the sort of meal I love when it’s cold outside because you’ve got sausages, vegetables and sauce all together and only need to decide whether you’re adding potatoes, bread or something else alongside it.
The original recipe already suggests vegetarian sausages and cannellini beans as possible adaptations.
Vegetarian Chicken Tikka Masala
My slow cooker chicken tikka masala obviously isn’t vegetarian as written, but I’ve made a vegetarian version for myself using a chicken-style meat alternative.
This is particularly handy in our house because I can use the same sauce and flavours rather than feeling as though I need to make myself a completely unrelated dinner.
The recipe uses passata, coconut milk, spices and yoghurt, so it’s easy to see where the chicken substitute fits in. If you use a different vegetarian chicken alternative, check its cooking instructions because brands can behave quite differently during long cooking.
What works well in a vegetarian slow cooker meal?
One of the things I learnt fairly quickly as a vegetarian is that simply taking the meat out of a recipe doesn’t necessarily leave you with a particularly satisfying dinner.
If a beef stew consists of beef, carrots and gravy, removing the beef leaves you with carrots and gravy. Technically vegetarian, perhaps, but not exactly something you’re going to look forward to all afternoon!
Instead, think about what is going to give the meal substance.
Beans, lentils and chickpeas can work brilliantly in slow cooker meals. Depending on the recipe, potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and other chunky vegetables can make them more substantial too.
Then there are meat substitutes such as vegetarian mince, sausages and chicken-style pieces.
I use all of these at different times. I’m not someone who thinks vegetarian food has to be entirely based around lentils, but equally I don’t think every meal needs a fake version of meat in it.
Using beans and pulses in the slow cooker
Tinned beans are probably the easiest option because they’ve already been cooked.
Drain and rinse them if the recipe requires it and add them according to the particular recipe you’re making.
Dried beans need more thought because different varieties need different preparation and cooking. Dried red kidney beans in particular shouldn’t simply be put into a slow cooker raw. They contain naturally occurring lectins and need appropriate preparation and cooking.
If you’re adapting a recipe yourself and don’t want the extra faff, tinned beans are the easy answer.
Lentils can also be excellent in the slow cooker, particularly in curries, soups and dhal-style meals, but different types behave differently. Red lentils break down and naturally thicken sauces, whereas green and brown lentils generally retain more of their shape.
Can you use Quorn and other meat substitutes in a slow cooker?
Usually, but I wouldn’t treat every vegetarian meat substitute as though it were actual meat.
Some hold their shape beautifully after several hours while others can become very soft or start to break apart.
They may also need much less cooking than the meat they’re replacing.
I’ve used Quorn and other vegetarian alternatives in recipes including chilli and tikka masala, but I’d always check the packet for the particular product you’re using.
If you’re converting one of my meat recipes, you may find it better to add the vegetarian substitute later rather than putting it in at the beginning.
Vegetarian stock isn’t always interchangeable with meat stock
This sounds obvious, but it’s one of those little things that’s easy to overlook when adapting an existing recipe.
If you’ve found a beef or chicken slow cooker recipe you want to make vegetarian, don’t just replace the meat and forget about the stock.
Use vegetable stock or another vegetarian alternative that suits the recipe.
The same applies to gravy granules, stock pots, cooking sauces and seasoning mixes. Some are vegetarian and some aren’t, so check rather than assuming.
Don’t forget Worcestershire sauce
This catches people out surprisingly often.
Traditional Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies, so it isn’t vegetarian.
There are vegetarian and vegan alternatives available, but if you’re adapting one of my recipes that contains Worcestershire sauce, check the bottle you’re using before assuming it’s suitable.
I’ve been vegetarian long enough that checking labels for things like this has become second nature, but it’s an easy ingredient to miss if you’re cooking for a vegetarian guest.
How to stop vegetarian slow cooker meals becoming watery
Vegetarian recipes can become surprisingly watery in the slow cooker because vegetables release moisture as they cook and very little liquid evaporates while the lid is on.
Mushrooms are particularly good at contributing more liquid than you expected!
Don’t automatically use the same amount of stock that you’d put into a saucepan.
If your meal is too thin towards the end, you may be able to remove the lid for a while, use a little cornflour mixed with cold water or mash some of the beans, lentils, potatoes or vegetables into the sauce.
I’ve got a full guide on how to adapt recipes for a slow cooker if you’re trying to convert one of your favourite hob or oven meals.
Vegetables that work particularly well in the slow cooker
I use all sorts, but firmer vegetables tend to be the easiest when something is going to cook for several hours.
Carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and parsnips are all good candidates.
Peppers, onions and mushrooms work in lots of dishes too, although mushrooms can release quite a lot of water.
Softer ingredients don’t necessarily need to go in at the beginning. Spinach and peas, for example, can usually be stirred through much later.
I don’t think there’s any prize for putting the maximum possible number of vegetables into one meal, though. Choose vegetables that actually work with the flavours you’re cooking rather than turning every slow cooker dinner into an opportunity to empty the fridge.
Are vegetarian slow cooker meals cheaper?
They certainly can be, particularly when you’re using dried or tinned pulses, seasonal vegetables and ingredients you already have.
A bean chilli or lentil curry can be very inexpensive per portion, especially if you make enough to freeze.
Vegetarian doesn’t automatically mean cheap, though. Some meat substitutes can be surprisingly expensive, particularly if you’re buying several packs for a family meal.
I tend to mix things up. Sometimes I want vegetarian sausages or a chicken-style substitute because that’s what works in the meal; other times beans, lentils or vegetables make far more sense.
Can I make vegan slow cooker meals too?
Absolutely, although vegetarian and vegan aren’t interchangeable.
Some of the recipes here may already be vegan or may only need a small change, while others contain dairy or another animal-derived ingredient.
Check things such as yoghurt, cheese, stock, sauces and meat substitutes rather than assuming that because there’s no meat, the whole recipe is automatically vegan.
My BBQ pulled jackfruit is an especially good place to look if you’re after something plant-based.
Batch cooking vegetarian meals
The slow cooker and batch cooking are a pretty obvious combination.
If I’m already cooking something for several hours, I quite like getting more than one meal out of it.
Chilli, curries, beans and casseroles are particularly useful because they can often be portioned up for another day. Always check the storage and freezing advice on the individual recipe, though, particularly if you’ve adapted it or used a meat substitute with its own storage instructions.
It also helps avoid that situation where everyone else has leftovers and I realise the vegetarian meal I made myself only served one. I’ve been caught by that more than once!
Making one meal work for vegetarians and meat eaters
If your household is a mixture like mine, you don’t necessarily have to cook two completely different meals every night.
Sometimes I’ll use the same side dishes with two different mains. Pulled pork and pulled jackfruit can both go in rolls with the same salad, for example.
A curry sauce can sometimes be divided before adding chicken to one and a vegetarian alternative to the other.
Chilli is another easy one because you can make a vegetarian version using beans or vegetarian mince without completely changing what you’re serving alongside it.
It isn’t always worth doing this – occasionally I’d rather just have something completely different – but anything that avoids cooking two elaborate dinners is welcome in my house.
What to serve with vegetarian slow cooker meals
This depends entirely on what you’ve made.
Curries work with rice, naan, chapatis and Indian-style side dishes. Chilli is lovely with rice, wedges, a baked potato or in wraps. BBQ jackfruit can go into rolls or wraps, while casseroles are perfect with potatoes or crusty bread.
I tend to decide this part based on how much effort I can be bothered with by the time dinner is ready!
If the slow cooker has done all the hard work, I’m certainly not going to turn the side dishes into a two-hour project.
More vegetarian recipe ideas
My slow cooker is only one way I cook vegetarian food.
I’ve collected lots more of my vegetarian and vegan recipes together, including curries, pasta dishes, moussaka, kebabs, breakfasts and plenty of meals that don’t involve a slow cooker at all.
For more slow cooker inspiration, head to my healthy slow cooker recipes collection, where you’ll find all my slow cooker recipes together.
I’m gradually adding more vegetarian slow cooker recipes too. After being vegetarian since I was 10, I’m definitely not short of opinions about what makes a decent veggie dinner – and what feels like someone has simply taken the meat off the plate and forgotten to replace it with anything!
