Crockpot Dump Dinners – 3 Ingredient Dump and Go Meals For EASY Crock Pot Cooking
Keep scrolling to see the easiest crockpot meals EVER I make all the time – especially on cold winter nights, for easy NO OVEN family dinners or even for feeding a crowd.
And oh my, these set and forget crockpot dump meals are PERFECT for school night dinners, too. Even my picky eaters approve of these recipes – and that’s a WIN!
Updated on September 9, 2024
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Who else gets tired of making dinner every Single NIGHT!?!? I know I sure do! That’s why I started this collection of EASY dinners I can just dump in my trusty crockpot… and then walk away.
I update this list of recipes often – but here is a quick preview of the crockpot dinner recipes I have down below.
Crockpot Dump Dinners
Ready for some quick easy make ahead dinner recipes?
These dump and go slow cooker meals below are as easy as it gets AND some recipes have only THREE ingredients!
Even though they have few ingredients, they are still bursting with flavor, super delicious and sure to be regular weeknight dinners for the whole family.
In fact, my picky eaters are ALL about these one step crockpot meals – so YAY for that!
Easy throw together recipes to make ahead that morning?
That’s MY kind of crock pot cooking!
Imagine this…
It’s early in the day, you dump a few ingredients in your crockpot and dinner is ready when you get home. Sounds magical right?
No dealing with “what’s for dinner?” when you get home after a long day, no cooking, no meal prep… dinner is simply READY when it’s time to eat!
Like this lazy easy Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie recipe:
That’s the magic you will discover with these make ahead crockpot dump and go dinner recipes below.
And let me tell you this – your whole family will LOVE them (even the picky eaters too!)
Recipes
If you do NOT feel like cooking at the end of every day, these make ahead, no oven slow cooker meals are about to be your best friend!
This Dump and Go Poor Man’s stew is very budget-friendly, has few ingredients and is YUMMY!
Just brown up a pound of ground beef, chop up some carrots and potatoes – dump all that in your crockpot.
Then, mix a 6 ounce can of tomato paste with 2 cups of water and pour that mixture over the items in your crockpot (you can season if you want… salt / pepper… Italian seasoning works well too – about 2 teaspoons at most).
Turn your crockpot on LOW and let it cook for about 8 hours.
If you need it faster, you can cook it on HIGH for 4 hours – just make sure the potatoes and carrots are tender and done before serving.
These next recipes are my personal favorite dump dinners (tho some have a few more ingredients than three – the 3-ingredient recipes are found below).
We LOVE BBQ anything around here (the kids even love it!), so this next crockpot dump meal is a total no-brainer in this house.
Luckily, it is SUPER easy to make!
Note: if you do not have Italian dressing, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce on hand, just use a 1/2 Cup of bottled BBQ sauce (that’s what I do…. remember, I’m a bit of a lazy cook haha!)
Speaking of me being lazy – look at THIS super simple crockpot meal that is perfect for two:
You see that? You wrap your baking potatoes or sweet potatoes in foil and cook them IN the crockpot the same time you’re cooking your chicken!
That’s just 2 potatoes wrapped in foil, 2 chicken breasts covered in enchilada sauce cooked on HIGH for about 4 hours.
This next recipe is SUPER easy, delicious and… it’s low carb too!
All you need is:
3 Chicken Breasts (I’ve used frozen)
2 16-ounce size things of cream cheese
1 packet of dry ranch dressing mix
1 Cup of shredded cheese (I use sharp cheddar)
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
8-ish crumbled strips of cooked bacon (in a pinch? use those good pre-cooked bacon crumbles or cook your bacon in the oven like this)
Just dump those ingredients in your crockpot and cook LOW for 7-8 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours.
SOOOOOOOOOO good! In fact, it’s addicting (hence the name haha!)
Feeding a Crowd?
If you’re feeding a crowd, let your crockpot do the work!
Below are some easy “dump and go” large batch crockpot meals and recipes that are not only SUPER simple, but real crowd-pleasers too!
Recipes in the image above:
Crockpot Sandwiches for a Crowd
Big Batch Crockpot Mac ‘n Cheese
Slow Cooker Chicken Bacon Pasta
Crockpot Soup Recipes For Large Groups
Lazy Day Slow Cooker Meals
Below are more of my family’s favorite complete slow cooker meals plus MY shortcuts to make the recipes even EASIER.
And when I say “easier”, trust me… I’m a really lazy cook so naturally I’ve found the easiest ways to make these recipes haha!
As I type this, I have my FAMOUS crockpot pot roast cooking in the crockpot – so easy and SO good!
If you can dump ingredients, you CAN make it perfectly every, single time.
From the image above…
Crockpot Chicken, Potatoes and Green Beans
Chicken breasts, green beans, potatoes and Italian dressing – just dump and go!
✅ My shortcut: her recipe has a homemade Italian dressing – I just use bottled Olive Garden Italian dressing because I’m lazy haha!
Speaking of Olive Garden Italian dressing…
The Olive Garden Chicken Pasta is REALLY good.
Only problem? You have to cook the pasta first which TOTALLY defeats the whole ‘dump and go’ quality of a crockpot dinner that I SO love.
BUT – it’s too good to NOT share (I saw it somewhere on Facebook years ago).
I’m testing with pasta just dumped in there and cooked with it – I’ll let you know (still have to adjust the liquid amounts).
Crockpot Meatloaf and Potatoes
Meatloaf in the crockpot? Oh yes, and it turns out perfectly.
✅ My shortcut: she uses a lot of ingredients in her meatloaf – needless to say, I do NOT. Remember, I’m lazy!
I just use the good ‘ol Stove Top meatloaf recipe that I’ve been using for years – 1 pound ground beef, 1 box Stove Top stuffing (any flavor), 2 eggs, 1/2 cup Ketchup (or BBQ sauce) and 1/2 cup water. Put all that in a bowl, get your hands in there and mix it up – then form it into a loaf. SO much easier and YES, it’s VERY good!
Speaking of slow cooker meatloaf…
The meatloaf stuffed peppers are SUPER good
✅ My Shortcut: use the same lazy meatloaf recipe from above.
6 Slow Cooker Dump Meals
Take a quick watch of the video below to learn 6 lazy easy 3-ingredient slow cooker dump-style dinners.
Recipes In The Video:
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken | Recipe
This corockpot dump and go chicken recipe only needs 3 ingredients to make it super flavorful and delicious. One of the secret ingredients for this recipe is bottled Italian dressing. You might think that it’s a little odd, but it adds lots of seasonings and flavor in just one ingredient.
Crockpot Spaghetti Dump Dinner | Recipe
This slow cooker spaghetti recipe has a couple of ingredients that you might not think belong. Cinnamon brings a wonderfully warm spicy flavor that contrasts nicely with the zingy tomatoes. Brown sugar helps balance out all of the acidity in the tomatoes for a balanced flavor. Topped over pasta and you’ll have a new family favorite!
3-Ingredient Chicken and Gravy | Recipe
Cream of chicken soup, brown gravy mix and ranch seasoning powder turns boring chicken into an irresistible dinner that’s ready when you are.
Pineapple Barbecue Chicken Dump Dinner | Recipe
This one of my very favorite dump-and-go dinner recipes (my kids LOVE it!). To make this, you really just have to dump everything in the slow cooker, leave it to cook on low for five hours, and come back at dinner time.
Crockpot Creamy Chicken Tacos | Recipe
This crockpot dump meal is my hubby’s favorite – and it’s SO easy to make ahead of time! All you have to do is add chicken, cubed cream cheese, and salsa to a greased slow cooker and cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 4 hours. Yep, that’s all there is to it!
Dump and Go Crockpot Lasagna | Recipe
Hard to believe a lasagna can be so easy to make in a crockpot, but this recipe has proven it to me over and over. Just layer the oven-ready lasagna noodles with other ingredients right in the crockpot and cook on low for about 4-5 hours. I’ve made it without meat and it’s super good and I’ve also added browned sausage and hamburger meat to the layers too. Serve with a bagged side salad and some bread and you’re good to go!
Wait – what are “oven ready lasagna noodles”?
Oven-ready lasagna noodles, also known as no-boil lasagna noodles or instant lasagna noodles, are a type of pasta that do not require precooking or boiling. These noodles are designed to be used directly in the lasagna dish, eliminating the step of boiling and draining traditional lasagna noodles.
They taste just as good as traditional and make cooking pasta dishes SO much easier!
More Easy Crockpot Dump Dinners
Crockpot dump dinners are the best, right?
If you’re looking for more easy and delicious crockpot dump dinners, here are more delicious recipes to check out:
- Check out Taste of Home’s collection with 55 dump dinners for your slow cooker[See Recipes]
- Southern Living offers 44 dump-and-go slow-cooker recipes, including Chipotle Brisket Sliders and Salsa Chicken[See Recipes]
- Better Homes & Gardens has 17 tasty slow cooker dump meals, such as Slow-Cooked Beef and Veggies and Spicy Spring Picnic Pork[See Recipes]
- Reddit’s slow cooking community shares minimal “dump and forget” crockpot recipes, like chicken with white corn and black beans[See Recipes]
- Julia Pacheco’s YouTube channel features the best easy crockpot recipes[See Recipes]
- Insanely Good Recipes provides 30 dump dinners specifically for the crockpot[See Recipes]
- Eatwell101 offers 12 easy dump-and-go crockpot dinners[See Recipes]
- Explore Eating on a Dime’s collection of 63 dump-and-go slow cooker recipes[See Recipes]
Slow Cooker Meals
I was browsing Instagram and found some more super easy slow cooker dump dinners to try. They look really good!
Best of all, these are all really quick video recipes that SHOW how to make these dump dinners!
How to make them:
Crockpot Cowboy Dump Supper (video recipe here)
Firehouse Crockpot Chicken Pasta (video on Instagram)
Lazy Day Chicken And Dumplings (video recipe here)
High Protein Spicy Garlic Parm Pasta (video recipe here)
More Slow Cooker Recipes
13 Crockpot Mac n Cheese Recipe Variations – Easy No Boil Recipes To Feed a Crowd
27 Must Make Crockpot Appetizers For Easy Make Ahead Party Food In Your Slow Cooker
Crockpot Roast Recipes – 12 Slow Cooker Pot Roast Recipes With 5 Ingredients Or Less
Make Ahead Crockpot Breakfast Recipes For A Hungry Brunch Party Crowd
Pin For Later?
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