Customer Reviews

Betty Crocker's Slow Cooker Cookbook

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you thought crockpot cooking was a bad idea from the seventies, think again. This fabulous book has a wonderful variety of recipes that are easy, inexpensive, and newly healthy for a nineties audience. Not only does it provide plenty of recipes to keep you busy, but it also explains how to adapt your own favorite fast-cooking recipes to the slow cooker. As a working woman, I can't emphasize enough how this book has brought healthy, easy, hearty cooking into my life. I highly recommend it to anyone who is busy, but wants to eat well.

I was reluctant to buy a crockpot, perhaps because I'm a little bit of a cookery snob. I'm not a pot roast and meatloaf person; I prefer recipes with a little more zing and originality. But when my friends insisted that recipes existed for much more interesting crockpot fare, I browsed through slow cooker books to see if they were right. This is the cookbook that convinced me I should buy a crockpot. Wow.

The Thai Chicken and the Mango Chutney Chicken Curry recipes quickly became favorites in my house. There are also recipes for Cuban Black Beans and Rice, Lamb Dijon, and Squash and Apple Bisque as well as for the crockpot staples. This cookbook isn't satisfied to offer a single stew recipe; it provides nine vastly different ones, using beef, pork, chicken, or even venison. Somehow, good old-fashioned Betty Crocker realized that cooks like me didn't want to compromise much when it came to crockpot cooking.

I highly recommend this book for its non-traditional fare.

If I had to choose one crock pot cookbook to own, I would still choose Mable Hoffman's Crockery Cookery. Every recipe I've tried in there turned out delicious! Crockpot aficionados, however, need variety in cooking styles. Betty Crocker's Slow Cooker Cookbook fills the "runner up" category. Most helpful are the suggestions regarding cooking beans in a crockpot, which has always been a tricky affair. In fact, my favorite recipes in this Betty Crocker cookbook are bean recipes. Savory Garbanzo Beans with Vegetables was much appreciated by a crowd of six vegetarian friends of mine. Its "secret" ingredients, believe it or not, are horseradish and mustard! Sounds strange, but tastes great. The Lima Bean and Kielbasa Soup is so delicious that my friend made her own batch of it two days after trying it at my house! A little less exciting, but still comforting on a cold winter day, is Chicken and Rice Gumbo Soup, topped with hot red pepper sauce. The only "bomb" I've tried so far was the Burgundy Stew with Herbed Dumplings. The stew was fine, but steaming dumplings on top of a crock pot recipe is doomed to failure, I'm afraid. It looks like a gloppy mass of uncooked biscuit dough, and not like dumplings, because the circumference of a crock pot does not allow for separate dollops of the dough. Bake some biscuits in the oven and ladle the soup on top of a biscuit in each bowl, instead. Finally, this recipe book has a very nice format. Alongside each recipe are "success tips", "ingredient substitution" advice, and "finishing touch" recommendations which guide the cook along. Each recipe includes helpful nutrition data, and the large majority of the recipes are accompanied by a full color photo of the finished dish. If you are already a Mable Hoffman fan, the Betty Crocker Slow Cooker Cookbook is likely to come in a close second.

Well, color me impressed. I was not expecting much from this cookbook - didn't think there was any way Betty Crocker would be "with it" - but this book kept showing up in my recommendations, and I do love my crock pot, so I ordered it. The book arrived today and I'm in love! Not only is the book full of interesting, yet easy, recipes, but there are plenty that are relatively lean (<30% fat). Yes, nutrition information is included! And I love that it is spiral-bound inside the hard cover; very well put together. There are even recipes for what to do with leftovers from other recipes. My only beef with it is that most of the recipes don't include high-temp cooking times, so if you don't have eight hours to let something cook, you're outta luck.

Like another reviewer, I resisted getting a crockpot because I'd like to think of myself as a gourmet cook. I recently had gastric bypass surgery, and my surgeon recommended a crockpot as a way to really make meats tender and easier for me to get (and keep) down.

What a cookbook! It is my first crockpot cookbook, and it was an excellent buy. I liked the "Crockpots for Dummies"-type information in the beginning. Each recipe also has excellent tips - did you know that Basil increases strength with cooking time, but Cilantro mellows? Neither did I, and both are useful tips while cooking! The spiral binding is also wonderful. The pot roasts are delicious, as are the Pork Chops with Mixed Dried Fruit. Tonight I prepared the Beef Brisket with Cranberry Gravy, and felt compelled to write.

I highly recommend this cookbook for crockpot newbies like me. Veterans should find useful and delicious recipes as well.

Im a reformed low carb eater... This book is great it gives me the carb counts and protein counts. The meals I have made are divine. It is great for a person who is eating low carb to find a cookbook that helps those who work a decent (not out of the box) meal. Try it.. I got one for all 3 of my sisters.

This was my first slowcooker cookbook for my first slowcooker, and I have yet to have a bad meal from it. The directions are clear, easy, and almost foolproof. It allows for convienance foods like canned beans or frozen veggies, without using a lot of processed food or added fat, also there are several for dried beans (cheap and good for you). Most of the ingredients are easy to come by. The tips are very helpful. I will be making some of these recipies for as long as I am still cooking. The spiral binding is just a great added touch. If you have a slowcooker buy this book.

Thanks to this book, I come home several times a week to a dinner that is ready to eat - and delicious! I have tried about 50% of the recipes and so far, all of them have turned out very well. My favorites are the Fruited Pork Chops, which are so good I served them to my family on Thanksgiving rather than turkey! Other highlights are the Hungarian Goulash, the Garlic Pork Roast with plum sauce and the Cassoulet. Best of all, I always have enough left over for lunch the next day.

On top of this, every recipe has a complete nutrional analysis, so if you are watching carbs, you can choose recipes based on that.

My family and friends love this cookbook - they get to eat the results!

I love this cookbook! Every recipe I've tried so far is winner. There's a short slow-cooking information section at the beginning, and a great variety of recipes from simple and homey, to exotic and special. They all use ingredients on hand or easy to find at the grocery store. Some start from store-bought (cans of soup, salsa, broth), but most use "whole foods." Some of our family's favorites are the Chicken Stroganoff Pot Pie, Chicken Stew with Pepper and Pineapple, Hungarian Goulash, and the unusual Picadillo. The recipes come with substitution suggestions, finishing touches, and success tips. They give great side-dish ideas for a complete meal, such as serving the Thai Chicken with coconut rice and a cucumber vinaigrette. There's a wide variety of soups and stews, meats, poultry, sides, desserts, and also a vegetarian section. Most of the recipes are full page and come with a photo. These are favorites I'll be making again and again. My only complaint is that I wish there was even more!

I had been looking for a cookbook like "the old days" when you threw everything into the slow cooker and turned it on for 8 hours. I found it in this cookbook! Too many slow cooker recipe books demand too much preparation of the ingredients before starting the cooking. This book is wonderful, the recipes are easy and the selection of soups is unlimited. I like being back to "the old days" and using the slow cooker as it was originally intended.