10 Vegan Slow Cooker Recipes That Don't Sacrifice Any Of The Flavor (2024)

FAQs

What foods should not go in a slow cooker? ›

Savoury ingredients, like soy sauce, fish sauce, Marmite, or Worcestershire sauce, can add some of the umami depth you're missing. Acidic ingredients like vinegar and lemon juice can brighten up flavours that have been dulled by hours of slow steaming and simmering.

Fish, shellfish, oysters and clams need to be cooked quickly. Obviously, slow cooking isn't quick, and it will obliterate these delicate proteins. The only seafood exceptions are squid and octopus because they tend to be tough meats and slow cooking makes them tender.

Under seasoning your food

If you don't add enough salt, you risk having your food taste bland — but over-salting can make things taste, well, way too salty. When you're cooking on the stovetop, you are usually seasoning your ingredients as you sauté or fry.

If you don't have enough liquid in the pot, the carrots won't cook evenly and may stay tough. Aim for at least a cup or two of liquid, enough to reach about a third of the way up on the ingredients.

Yes, you most certainly can cook raw meat in the slow cooker! You put it in “cold”, with whatever liquid your recipe calls for, turn it on either “low” or “high” depending on your recipe (I usually start it on “high” for a couple hours, then turn it to “low”), and in 6–7–8 hours, it's now COOKED meat!

Searing meat before slow cooking adds flavor through caramelization, but it's not mandatory. If you skip searing, you might miss some depth of flavor, but the slow cooker will still cook the meat thoroughly.

Numerous studies have shown that vegans consume insufficient calcium and vitamin D, not only owing to the absence of dairy products but also due to calcium bioavailability problems in plant-based diets [28]. Vitamin D insufficiency exacerbates calcium shortage further owing to impaired intestinal absorption.

What foods do vegans love? ›

Protein from beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, tofu, tempeh and seitan, along with healthy fats from avocado, nuts, seeds, and coconut and olive oils, can also keep your blood sugar stable. High-protein vegan diet: Protein is one of the nutrients often lacking in a vegan diet.

A safe slow cooker, cooks slow enough for unattended cooking, yet fast enough to keep food out of the bacterial danger zone. In the danger zone (above 40°F to below 140°F), bacteria grows very rapidly. Food left in the danger zone too long can cause food borne illness.

Absolutely, which is why you should always adjust times and amounts as needed. Smaller amounts of slow cooker hamburger only need a few hours before they are done.

The danger with a slow cooker is that it's very slow to heat up and very slow to cool down. This means that during startup and shutdown the food will spend a significant amount of time at a temperature when where bacteria can grow rapidly. Turn it on and keep it on and you'll be fine.