Fetch’s 5 Favorite Slow Cooker Meal Prep Recipes for Fall

As if deciding what to have for dinner isn’t difficult enough, trying to come up with what to make to eat after a busy day of work only complicates things further. Weeknights can be pretty hectic, which means you may not have much time to whip together a meal after work. 

Rather than trying to make a dinner out of whatever snacks you have on hand and still finding yourself hungry afterward (chips, sadly, do not a well-rounded meal make), consider firing up that slow cooker you have in the cabinet and taking just a few minutes to prep an easy, tasty meal that’ll be ready and waiting for you after work. Not only will these slow cooker meals have your house smelling amazing when you get home from work, but they’re also the perfect thing to warm up your bones as the weather begins to cool off throughout the fall. 

What could be better? How about earning rewards on all your grocery purchases with the Fetch app! Download Fetch today, and find out how you can turn your grocery haul into free gift cards.

How to earn rewards and save money grocery shopping using Fetch

With Fetch, you can get rewarded for the grocery purchases you’re making, whether at the store or online. The rewards you earn can then easily be converted into free gift cards you can use to treat yourself to something fun or even to save money on future grocery runs. There are a number of ways to earn rewards on ingredients for this week’s meals with Fetch:

• Shop personalized offers: Browse your offers in the app to find out which products will earn you the most Fetch Points.
• Buy Boosted brands: “Follow the flame” in the app to see which brands will earn you points per dollar on your purchases; the bigger the flame, the bigger the Boost.
• Order groceries online using Fetch Shop: With Fetch Shop, you can place your online grocery order as you normally would and earn points for every dollar you spend.

Slow cooker vs. crock pot: is there actually a difference?

Slow cookers and crock pots are more or less the same thing, so there’s no meaningful difference between the two. If you want to get technical, Crock-Pot is a brand name for a line of slow cookers, so a Crock-Pot is a slow cooker, but not all slow cookers are made by Crock-Pot. So the difference is in referring to the type of appliance versus a specific brand. 

Whether you have a slow cooker made by Crock-Pot or another brand, you’ll be able to use what you have in your kitchen to make these easy 3-ingredient slow cooker recipes.

Easy slow cooker meal recipes with only 3 ingredients each

With fall weather starting to cool things off, nothing hits better than a hot home-cooked meal, but many of us don’t have the time to whip up a complicated dinner that’s also going to dirty up three different pans and make cleanup a nightmare. Luckily, these 3-ingredient slow cooker recipes are so easy to prep, won’t have you dirtying up every dish in the kitchen, and (in case you missed it somehow) only require three ingredients each. Dinner is served!

3-ingredient pork roast recipe

Ingredients:

• Pork roast
• 1 package Lipton onion soup mix
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup

Recipe:

1. Put pork roast in slow cooker.
2. Sprinkle onion soup mix on top of roast.
3. Pour mushroom soup over the roast. 
4. Add an ounce of water.
5. Cook on high for 1 hour.
6. Drop the temp to low and cook for at least 6 hours.

3-ingredient mac and cheese recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 box Barilla Elbow Macaroni Pasta
• 1 block Sargento Natural Block Sharp Cheddar Cheese, freshly shredded
• 1 package Velveeta cheese

Recipe:

1. Add all ingredients above, plus 2% milk and a teaspoon of salt, to slow cooker and stir well.
2. Cook on low for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until pasta noodles are tender.
3. Stir once more before serving.

3-ingredient salsa chicken recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Mix
• 1 ½ cups salsa of your choice

Recipe:

1. Add all ingredients to slow cooker, and stir to combine. 
2. Cook on high for 3.5-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours; this will vary by the brand of your slow cooker, so be sure to check on the chicken early if possible.
3. Once chicken is fully cooked, shred with two forks.
4. Serve over brown rice or inside tortillas and top with your favorite toppings, like shredded cheese, avocado, cilantro, and sour cream.

3-ingredient Buffalo chicken recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 12 oz buffalo sauce of your choice
• 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning

Recipe:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine buffalo sauce, ranch seasoning, and ¼ cup of water.
2. Pour half of your sauce mixture into your slow cooker.
3. Add chicken breasts to slow cooker and toss until coated in sauce mixture.
4. Cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6 hours.
5. Once chicken is fully cooked, pour remaining sauce mixture over chicken and continue cooking on low for another 30 minutes.
6. Serve as whole chicken breasts, slice and serve on top of salad, or shred and serve on buns.

3-ingredient broccoli beef recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ pounds flank steak, trimmed
• 14 oz frozen broccoli florets
• 8 oz P.F. Chang’s Beef & Broccoli Cooking Sauce

Recipe:

1. Cut steak into ½” thin strips, then cut strips into 2-3” pieces.
2. Spread steak strips across bottom of slow cooker.
3. Pour ¼ cup water over steak strips.
4. Cook on low for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until meat is tender.
5. Drain juices from slow cooker.
6. Pour beef and broccoli sauce over the steak and stir.
7. Cook on low for 20 minutes.
8. Once beef is near done, cook frozen broccoli following the instructions on the bag.
9. Serve beef and broccoli over rice.

Fetch is the one ingredient you always want to have on hand

If you’re grocery shopping without Fetch, you’re missing out rewarding yourself daily. Get the Fetch app (it’s free!), and use it to turn your weekly purchases into gift cards to all the places you love to shop. You’re already spending that money, so why not get something in return? Try Fetch today and see how easy it is to start earning rewards and saving money.