Healthy Autumn Slow Cooker Recipes for Cosy Family Meals
Autumn is when my slow cookers really start earning their cupboard space. As soon as the evenings get darker and there’s that first properly chilly day, I start fancying chilli, curries, casseroles and the sort of dinners that have been bubbling away for hours.
I have three slow cookers in different sizes, which might be slightly excessive, but they get plenty of use at this time of year! I love being able to get dinner started earlier in the day and then forget about it until we’re hungry, especially on days when I know I won’t feel like cooking from scratch at teatime.
Over the years I’ve added lots of healthy slow cooker recipes to Just Average Jen, so rather than giving you a list of random autumn meal ideas, I’ve brought together the ones I think work particularly well at this time of year. There are family favourites, budget-friendly meals, recipes that are great for batch cooking and plenty that can be frozen for another day.
My favourite autumn slow cooker recipes
I don’t think autumn food has to mean everything is beige, covered in gravy or enormous! For me, it’s more about meals that are warming, easy to make and something I actually look forward to eating when it’s cold and dark outside.
These are some of the slow cooker recipes I’d choose first at this time of year.
Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole
Sausage casserole is probably one of the first meals I think of when someone mentions autumn dinners. It’s warming, filling and easy to adapt depending on the sausages and vegetables you’ve got available.
It’s also one of those meals where throwing in an extra carrot, pepper or handful of mushrooms usually works perfectly well, which makes it useful when the fridge needs clearing out.
Try my slow cooker sausage casserole.
Slow Cooker Chilli Con Carne
Chilli is brilliant at this time of year because it’s warm and filling without needing loads of preparation.
I particularly like making enough for leftovers because chilli is one of those meals that seems to be useful for almost anything. Have it with rice one evening, put it over a jacket potato the next day or freeze a portion for one of those nights when cooking feels like far too much effort.
Try my slow cooker chilli con carne.
Turkey Chilli
If you fancy chilli but want a change from beef mince, my turkey chilli is another good autumn option.
Turkey mince works really well with all those warming chilli flavours and, again, it’s perfect for batch cooking. You can change the beans or vegetables depending on what you’ve got rather than feeling you need to follow the recipe religiously.
Beef and Root Vegetable Stew
This is proper cold-weather food. Root vegetables really come into their own during autumn and they’re particularly good in the slow cooker because they have plenty of time to soften and take on the flavour of the sauce.
It’s the sort of dinner I like when it’s miserable outside and I want something warm and filling without having to do much at teatime.
Try my beef and root vegetable stew.
Caribbean Pepperpot Stew
If you like the idea of a warming beef stew but fancy something a little different, try my Caribbean-inspired pepperpot.
It gives you all the comfort of a slow-cooked stew but with completely different flavours, which is particularly welcome once you’ve had several weeks of traditional casseroles!
Try my Caribbean pepperpot stew.
Guinness Lamb Stew
Lamb works brilliantly in the slow cooker because the long cooking time gives it plenty of opportunity to become tender.
My Guinness lamb stew is rich, warming and definitely one for a chilly autumn evening. It takes around seven hours on LOW, so it’s a good one to get started earlier in the day and then leave alone.
Try my slow cooker Guinness lamb stew.
Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala
Autumn doesn’t have to mean endless stews. Curry is one of my favourite alternatives when I still want something warming.
My chicken tikka masala can be cooked for around four hours on HIGH or seven to eight hours on LOW, so it’s particularly handy when you want to get dinner sorted well before you actually need it.
Try my slow cooker chicken tikka masala.
Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
Another easy option for curry night is my slow cooker chicken curry. You can adapt the vegetables and spice level depending on what your family likes, and it’s useful for batch cooking too.
If Friday night takeaway temptation tends to appear as soon as the weather gets colder, having something like this already cooking makes ordering one slightly less tempting!
Try my slow cooker chicken curry.
Mushy Pea Curry
I know. Mushy peas and curry still sounds like an odd combination!
This has been on Just Average Jen for years, though, and it remains one of my more popular slow cooker recipes. It’s inexpensive, uses everyday ingredients and is a good meat-free option when you want something warming.
Try my slow cooker mushy pea curry.
Slow Cooker Keema Curry
If you’ve got mince but don’t fancy chilli or bolognese again, keema curry is a lovely alternative.
It’s another recipe that lends itself well to batch cooking and gives you something warming without falling back on the same casserole every week.
Try my slow cooker keema curry.
Slow Cooker Gammon
Gammon starts creeping back onto my meal plans as we head towards the colder months, and it’s really easy to cook in the slow cooker.
It’s also useful because leftovers don’t have to become exactly the same dinner the following day. You can use cooked gammon in all sorts of lunches and meals, which makes cooking a larger joint worthwhile.
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Pulled pork is another recipe that doesn’t immediately scream autumn, but it’s actually really useful at this time of year.
Serve it with wedges, jacket potatoes or rice, put it into rolls or wraps, or simply add vegetables and whatever sides everyone fancies.
Try my slow cooker pulled pork.
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese
Sometimes you don’t want an exciting new dinner. You just want something everyone already likes!
Bolognese works really well in the slow cooker because the sauce gets plenty of time to develop while you’re doing something more interesting. Cook the pasta separately when you’re ready to eat and dinner is sorted.
Try my slow cooker spaghetti bolognese.
Slow Cooker Moroccan Meatballs
These are a nice change if you’ve got mince but are getting bored with chilli and bolognese.
The Moroccan-inspired flavours make them warming enough for autumn without feeling like another traditional stew, and they’re another recipe that works well when you want the slow cooker doing most of the work.
Try my slow cooker Moroccan meatballs.
Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers with Turkey Mince
Stuffed peppers are a slightly lighter option for those autumn days when you don’t necessarily want a huge bowl of stew.
Mine use turkey mince, and cooking them in the slow cooker means the peppers soften around the filling while you get on with the rest of your day.
Try my slow cooker turkey stuffed peppers.
Homemade Smoky Baked Beans
Homemade baked beans are lovely once the weather turns colder, whether you have them as part of breakfast, with a jacket potato or as a side with another meal.
They’re also another useful meat-free slow cooker idea if you’re trying to get a bit more variety into your week.
Try my homemade smoky baked beans.
Don’t forget something sweet
Slow cookers aren’t just useful for dinner, and autumn is probably the time of year when I’m most likely to fancy a warm pudding.
My cream soda rice pudding is definitely one of the more unusual recipes on Just Average Jen, but if you like traditional rice pudding, it’s worth trying for something a little different.
I’ve also made chocolate cake in the slow cooker, because apparently owning three slow cookers eventually leads to experimenting with cake!
Neither is something I’d suggest you need to make “healthy” simply because this is Just Average Jen. Sometimes you just fancy pudding, and that’s fine.
Ingredients I always seem to use more in autumn
My shopping definitely changes once autumn arrives. Suddenly I’m buying more carrots, potatoes, parsnips, butternut squash and onions because they’re so useful for the sort of meals I want to make.
Root vegetables are particularly good in slow cooker meals because they stand up well to longer cooking. I tend to put the firmer vegetables towards the bottom of the slow cooker, where they’ll be closer to the heat.
Tinned tomatoes, beans and lentils are useful cupboard ingredients too. They’re inexpensive, keep for ages and can turn a fairly basic collection of vegetables into something much more filling.
Then there are herbs and spices. Smoked paprika, cumin, chilli, rosemary, thyme, garlic and ginger all get used a lot more in my kitchen once the weather turns. You don’t need an enormous spice cupboard, but having a few favourites makes it much easier to change the flavour of otherwise similar ingredients.
Stock cubes or stock pots are another thing I always keep around, although remember that slow cooker meals usually need less liquid than the same meal cooked on the hob because much less evaporates during cooking.
Make a bit extra for another day
One of my favourite things about slow cooker meals is how easy they make batch cooking. If you’re already making chilli, curry or stew, increasing the quantity often doesn’t involve much extra work.
I like freezing individual portions rather than one enormous container. They’re much more useful that way because you can take out exactly what you need rather than defrosting enough chilli to feed six people when there’s only one of you eating it!
Just make sure food is cooled and stored safely, label it so you know what it is and when you froze it, and follow appropriate food-safety guidance when defrosting and reheating.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve opened the freezer with absolutely no enthusiasm for cooking and been ridiculously pleased to discover a forgotten homemade meal. It’s one of those tiny bits of organisation that future you will genuinely appreciate.
What’s going in your slow cooker this autumn?
I think this is probably my favourite time of year for slow cooker meals. There’s enough variety here that you could make something different every week without spending the entire autumn eating various shades of brown stew!
I’d start with whichever recipe actually sounds good to you rather than the one that seems the healthiest or the one you think you “should” choose. For me, that might be sausage casserole one week and chicken tikka masala the next.
I’ll keep adding new autumn slow cooker recipes as I make them, so I’ll update this page as my collection grows too.
If you’ve got a favourite autumn slow cooker meal that I haven’t made yet, let me know in the comments. With three slow cookers in the house, I can hardly claim I don’t have the equipment to try it!
