These healthy crockpot recipes are great dump dinners and can be made ahead of time. Just set it and forget it for easy weeknight meal prep.

These dump dinners are great for meal prep, freezer-friendly, and perfect for feeding the whole family with ease. Let your crockpot do the work so you can spend less time cooking and more time enjoying your meals
Why you'll love these recipes
- Set it & forget it: Just dump in the ingredients and let the slow cooker do all the work!
- Perfect for meal prep: These recipes make big batches that are great for leftovers or freezing for later.
- Budget-friendly: These meals use affordable pantry staples and minimizes food waste.
Set it and forget it!
Looking for dinner options that are easy, hands-off and healthy? Enter these dump and go recipes. All you have to do is chop up any veggies or protein, then throw it all in the crockpot and let it cook all day. It's the perfect option for busy weeknights.















More healthy slow cooker recipes
Pro tip: freeze ahead!
Add all the ingredients to a Ziploc bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then dump everything in the crockpot and cook.
You need to defrost first if you're using meat, because frozen meat can't go in the crockpot for food safety purposes.
Meal prep tools
- 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.
Comments & Reviews
Janette says
Thanks so much for these recipes!! Do you have instructions to do any of these in an instant pot, instead of a crock pot?
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Janette – unfortunately I can’t provide instructions but most of them can be cooked by dumping in the Instant Pot and cooking for 5-10 minutes.
Kristine says
I made all but the soup. All turned out ok and were easy. I was happy to pull them out of the freezer and put them in the crock pot. Dinner when I got home and some leftovers. The African stew was the best and the one I will do again. I was thick (the others were watery) and had the best flavor. I used frozen spinach which was just fine and put it over brown rice.
Taylor Stinson says
Happy you enjoyed, Kristine!
Jamie says
Hi. Is the butter chicken recipe missing the butter? Most recipes I’ve seen do have it so I was curious if it had been overlooked as an ingredient?
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Jamie – no, not overlooked! This is just a healthier version. You can use butter in place of the olive oil if you’d like.
Sandy says
Hi, thank you very much for your inspiring recipes! Just one question – do I really need a slow cooker, or is there any other option to make these dishes without one? 🙁
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Sandy – you should be able to cook most of these dishes on a large pot on the stove on low for about an hour. Hope that helps!
Bob says
I meal prepped the Minestrone soup this weekend and it is delicious. I can’t wait to try the other ones in this post. Thanks for these great recipes
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed it Bob! 🙂
Chantelle says
Hey! I’m totally going to try this! Question,
So you have an actual cookbook? I’m more of a paper person instead of digital, but I can’t find anything!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Chantelle – I don’t have a hard copy cookbook but not ever ruling that out in the future 🙂
Arianne Laframboise says
Love all your recipe ideas ! I’m trying to eat healthy and loose weight and I find myself using your recipes more and more 🙂 It would be awesome if you released a cookbook:)!! I would be a buyer for sure!
Taylor Stinson says
Aww thanks so much Arianne 🙂
Cheryl says
Can you tell me what fast fry steak is? I have seen it in a couple of your recipes. I have never heard of it.
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Cheryl! It’s thinly sliced steak that you can use in stir fries 🙂
Rudy says
I find Flank Steak is the best to use.
Robin Prothro says
Is that a 14.5 oz. can of crushed tomatoes for the Butter Chicken?
Taylor Stinson says
It’s a 28oz can!
Hannah Francois says
Hi Taylor,
I have 5 people in my family,3 if which are teenagers. Will this meal be enough to feed them or should I double these recipes?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Hannah – just one of these meals should be enough to feed everyone but if you’re unsure or would like leftovers, go ahead and double them 🙂
Hannah Francois says
Thank you. I’m looking forward to trying these out! It’s on my grocery list for next week!
Susan says
Made these dump meals this weekend – worked like a charm! I cooked the African Peanut Stew yesterday and it was amazing!
Thanks for your blog!
Susan
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed them Susan!!! Thanks for reporting back and hope you enjoy the others too 🙂