5 Healthy Crockpot Recipes {Dump Dinners}

These 5 Healthy Crockpot Recipes make great dump dinners and can be made ahead of time. Try sweet and sour chicken, minestrone soup and more!

Ingredients and substitutions

Sweet & sour chicken

Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
Chicken breasts – boneless skinless chicken thighs would also work.
Canned diced pineapple chunks – you could try using fresh pineapple but you might need to add in a bit of extra pineapple juice.
Rice vinegar – apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar are the best substitutes here.
Brown sugar – swap out for some honey or maple syrup instead.
Ketchup – tomato paste will work but it will alter the flavour of the dish.
Soy sauce – tamari or coconut aminos are the best soy sauce substitutes.
Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
Bell peppers – use any colour combination of bell peppers of your choice.

Peanut stew

Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
Chickpeas – lentils are the best substitute here.
Sweet potato – butternut squash, acorn squash or regular diced potatoes would also work.
Yellow onion – white onion or shallots can be used instead.
Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
Curry powder – make your own using a combination of cumin, coriander, chili, turmeric and pepper.
Cumin – add more curry powder or use coriander instead.
Salt – to taste.
Canned diced tomatoes – a can of crushed tomatoes would also work.
Peanut butter – another nut or seed butter like almond butter or tahini can be used.
Chopped peanuts – leave these off if you don’t have any on hand.
Spinach – another dark leafy green such as kale would be good too.

Beef & broccoli

Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
Fast fry steak – you can try using another cut of beef, just make sure it’s cut thinly so it cooks the same.
Broccoli – the broccoli is one of the stars of this dish but you can swap out for another veggie of your choice.
Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
Fresh ginger – ground ginger powder will work in a pinch.
Soy sauce – tamari or coconut aminos are the best soy sauce substitutes.
Rice vinegar – apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar are both good alternatives to rice vinegar.
Honey – use brown sugar, maple syrup or agave instead.
Salt & pepper – to taste.

Minestrone soup

Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
Dry macaroni or shell pasta – swap out for another pasta of your choice.
Kidney beans – pinto beans, black beans or cannellini beans would also be good in this soup.
Yellow onion – white onion or shallots can be used instead.
Canned diced tomatoes – a can of crushed tomatoes would also work.
Vegetable bouillon cubes – you can use chicken bouillon cubes for a non-vegetarian option.
Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
Bay leaves – dried oregano or thyme would also work.
Italian seasoning – use a blend of oregano, basil, thyme, sage and rosemary to make your own Italian seasoning.
Parmesan cheese rind – a pecorino romano rind will work as well or you can leave this out.
Frozen veggies – use any frozen vegetable blend of your choice.
Salt & pepper – to taste.

Butter chicken

Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
Chicken – you can use either chicken breasts or chicken thighs.
Canned crushed tomatoes – a can of diced tomatoes would also work.
Yellow onion – white onion or shallots can be used instead.
Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
Minced ginger – ground ginger powder will work in a pinch.
Brown sugar – use a combination of white sugar and molasses to make your own brown sugar.
Garam masala – swap out for chili powder or a blend of allspice and cumin.
Turmeric – saffron is a good substitute here.
Chili powder – make your own using a blend of paprika, cumin and cayenne.
Cumin – add extra chili powder if you don’t have any cumin.
Salt – to taste.
Heavy cream – coconut cream would also work but it will change the flavour of the dish.

How to make a dump dinner

Assemble your ingredients.
Prep a Ziploc bag.
Add everything to the Ziploc bag.
Dump everything into a crockpot.
Cook for desired amount of time.
Serve or store for later!

Meal prepping with a slow cooker

Do you have a dedicated meal prep day? If you have a meal prep routine already in place, dump meals can speed that process up.

With a few freezer-safe Ziploc bags or meal prep containers, you can assemble any or all of these five meals in a short amount of time – usually within an hour you can have everything assembled and ready to go. You’ll be prepared for dinners for at least a week, and that's having a different dinner every single day!

Gathering and preparing all of the ingredients is the only hands-on work for dump meals. If you do that ahead of time, all you have to do the day you want to eat the meal is throw it all in the crockpot and let it cook.

Healthy Crockpot Recipes

Your choices for crock pot dump meals are nearly limitless. These five recipes are easy to prepare and taste amazing when cooked. Start with these and then start expanding your repertoire.

Minestrone Soup

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Butter Chicken

Beef & Broccoli

Slow Cooker Peanut Stew

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are they called dump dinners?

Dump dinner is just the best way to describe these simple meals. Dump it all in the slow cooker and wait for it to cook. It's really that easy!

Can you put raw meat in a slow cooker?

Yes! You can definitely cook raw meat in a slow cooker, which is super convenient when it comes to prep since you don’t have to cook anything separately.

When do you add the vegetables?

You can put all of the ingredients into the crockpot at the same time. It’s truly a hands-off meal. If you prefer your veggies to be less cooked, you can add them a little later. Frozen vegetables, like the ones you see in the minestrone soup, are good to go in with the rest of the ingredients, as are heartier veggies like carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, etc.

Can you make them in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop?

You have several options for making these meals. If you put all the ingredients in an Instant Pot, you will cook it on high for just 5 minutes. If you forgot to put it in the crock pot in the morning, you can still get a healthy meal on the table quickly. On the stovetop, you can dump everything in a large pot and then simmer the meal for 30 minutes. The beef and broccoli is the only exception to these rules. On the stove top, you will want to cook the beef and the broccoli separately. I've got a great recipe for Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli here, too.

Storing and reheating

The best way to use these recipes is for meal prep. Put all the ingredients together and refrigerate for 4 to 5 days.

An added bonus to preparing these crock pot freezer meals in advance is by allowing the meat to marinate in the sauce, it will ensure a full flavor. After you cook these meals, you can divide them into individual portions and refrigerate for 3 to 5 days, depending on the ingredients.

Freezing dump dinners

You can freeze all the ingredients together for up to 3 months. Allow the meal to thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before dumping everything into the crockpot and cooking. You can also freeze the cooked meals for up to 3 months for quick and easy lunches.

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More healthy slow cooker recipes

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Meal prep tools for this recipe

Use these Ziploc bag holders to help you add your ingredients.
Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on refrigerating the leftovers of these dump dinners.
I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.