Community Crockpot Challenge (Fall Instagram Series)

The Community Crockpot Challenge has to be my new favorite thing to come out of my IG stories!

We love a good challenge and this is the perfect one to try this Fall.

You guys submitted your favorite slow cooker recipes to make in September & October and we narrowed it down to the top 8 recipes to try (1 recipe per week).

I tried to keep it varied and picked recipes with chicken, beef, and turkey, plus ways to make certain recipes vegetarian-friendly.

This page is going to serve as the “home” for those recipes and ideas so you can keep coming back to it each week to participate in that week’s Community Crockpot Challenge

The Challenge

• We’re going to try one recipe per week
• The recipe for the week will be shared on Sunday in my IG stories
• Then we’ll make the recipe on Wednesday (as a mid-week break from hands-on cooking)
• Afterwards I’ll poll everyone for their feedback/rating on each recipe we’ve tried!

The Tools

This is the crockpot I’ve had for years and absolutely love!! 

I like that it has the feature to saute first before switching to slow cooking, and everything cooks evenly.

While I wouldn’t recommend this one for taking on the go to someone else’s house (the lid doesn’t latch on), I like that it has a glass lid, with no silicone, so it doesn’t retain any smells. 

Just be sure to use a rubber spatula or rubber tongs so you don’t scratch the surface of it (the utensil set I have is linked below).

Shop the rest of my meal prep must-haves (like glass storage containers and Ninja food prep faves).

Get the recipe for my Sunday Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken

The Recipes

These are all ideas submitted from our Instagram community! 

After I try each recipe I will add my thoughts/suggestions to this post and I will also add your thoughts and reviews as well! 

Week 1

Honey Butter Crockpot Chicken from Naptime Kitchen

My Thoughts:

Very easy to throw together with pantry staples. You may only need to buy the spices if you don’t have them! We served it with Naan bread, rice and broccoli and it really was the perfect meal. There was a decent amount leftover so my husband took it for lunch the next day! One out of 3 of my kids liked it but I would still make it again because it was easy enough to serve them the sides!

Community Feedback:

“All 3 of my kids ate it! Ages 8, 6, and 4”

“I loved it! My husband didn’t feel like it was saucy enough to cover plain rice…he went off to find soya sauce after a couple of bites.”

“So good! I don’t normally like chickpeas and they were great in this!”

Week 2

Crockpot Loaded Potato Soup from The Recipe Critic

My Thoughts:

2 out of 3 of my kids liked it so I call it a win. I feel like I can’t judge the recipe fairly because I had to make it dairy-free so my husband could eat it. I used a can of full-fat coconut milk in place of the cream of chicken soup and I used dairy-free cream cheese. That being said, we all loved it, and I’m sure it tasted better with the regular ingredients 🙂

Community Feedback:

“Yum! Only miss 4 ate it well, but 6 & 8 ate a few bites.”

“It was yummy! My seven year old ate two bowls full!”

“Whole fam loved it with still enough for leftovers.”

Week 3

Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup from Skinnytaste

My Thoughts:

My whole family liked this recipe so I call it a win. It was easy to make gluten-free, I just used Jovial brand GF lasagna noodles and I added the ricotta/cheese topping separately, since my husband is dairy-free. This recipe made a ton and my kids didn’t eat a lot, so I froze a few portions in glass containers for another dinner!

Community Feedback:

“Will definitely be making this again this fall and winter”

“Making it tomorrow! Looks so yummy, I can’t wait to try it!”

“Loved how easy it was and everyone ate it – no complaints.”

Week 4

Beef Tacos (Slow Cooker) from Skinnytaste

My Thoughts:

Any recipe from Skinnytaste is always a winner. This one was super easy and I had all the ingredients on hand. 3 out of 3 kids liked it and they also love how they can customize their plate. I served the taco meat with avocado, sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped tomatoes and shredded lettuce. One bonus to this recipe is it made a lot of taco meat so I froze some for another dinner. It was also a good change from the typical crockpot soup/stew type meal!

Community Feedback:

“Easily the family favorite recipe”

“Saved half the recipe in a container in the freezer for another taco night!”

“Even my picky 7 year old liked it!”

Week 5

White Bean Pumpkin Turkey Chili from Skinnytaste

My Thoughts:

Loved this recipe. So easy and you really can’t taste the pumpkin, it just makes it creamy. I served the chili with cheese quesadillas on the side for the kids and 3/3 kids tried it so I call that a win! I was also able to save a big glass container of chili in the freezer to defrost another time!

Community Feedback:

“Will be making again!”

“6 and 8 year old tried it – I call that a win!”

“Froze half for another night. Cook once, eat twice!”

Week 6

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken from Skinnytaste

My Thoughts:

This was probably the easiest recipe of the bunch as far as prep. I had all of the ingredients on hand and I found it actually cooked pretty quickly for a crockpot dinner. Definitely adding this one to the rotation. I served with white rice and sugar snap peas, but would also add broccoli next time!

Community Feedback:

“Left out the Sriracha, still came out great!”

“I served this on Hawaiian rolls, like sliders, everyone loved it.”

“After shredding the chicken, I left some out before putting the rest back in the sauce, that way the kids could try it with and without the sauce!”

Week 7

Gooseberry Patch Slow Cooker Cookbook – this cookbook was recommended by a follower! I am going to pick a recipe from it to try (I actually found a copy at the library!)

My Thoughts:

I made the slow cooker taco soup from the cookbook and it was SO easy and 3/3 kids loved it. I had all the ingredients on hand so that made it even easier and very budget-friendly.

Community Feedback:

“Ordered the cookbook and every recipe looks so good!”

“The taco soup is the #1 recipe we make from the books – my husband’s all time favorite meal. We like lots from this series, but this is definitely the most made/requested.”

“Tried the slow cooker mac & cheese from the books – so easy, everyone liked it!”

Week 8

Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings from Half Baked Harvest

My Thoughts:

This was actually my favorite of the whole series. My kids thought it tasted like chicken pot pie soup. I was surprised the dumplings actually worked and even more surprised everyone ate it, no complaints!

Community Feedback:

“Would definitely keep this on rotation for Sunday dinners.”

“Not as hands-off as the other recipes, but worth the extra step to make the dumpling batter and add it in.”

“I made it on the stove top instead and it still came out great.”

These are the recipes that I am going to cook from, but feel free to use whatever recipes you love and if you try a different recipe from what’s listed here, please let me know how it comes out (you can leave a comment here or DM me on Instagram).

Dietary Substitutions

Most of you guys already know that one of my kid’s is on a gluten-free diet and my husband is lactose intolerant so I always have to keep that in mind when I’m choosing recipes and cooking.

Gluten-free: I’ve had a lot of success using Bob’s Red Mill and King Arthur Flour 1:1 gluten-free flour blends in different recipes. We’ve also recently experimented with Einkorn flour (not completely GF but very “low” on the scale) and our daughter seems to do well with that!

Dairy-free: In recipes that call for milk I either use almond milk or full-fat coconut milk (after cooking in the slow cooker I find the coconut flavor sort of disappears). I also use DF cream cheese if a recipe calls for that. 

Vegetarian: The lasagna soup, turkey chili, and honey butter chicken can be made vegetarian by just using extra beans and leaving the meat out. The loaded baked potato soup uses a can of cream of chicken soup, but you could try cream of celery soup and see how that comes out. I haven’t looked through the Gooseberry Patch cookbook yet, but I’m hoping there are some vegetarian recipes in there as well!

So unbelievably excited for this Community Crockpot Challenge and I can’t wait to see what everybody makes and how everything comes out! 

Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram when you try a recipe from the challenge!

What to Read Next:

• Ultimate Guide: Back-to-School Freezer Meals
• Everything I Meal Prepped for My Family This Week
• Healthy Chicken & Broccoli Meatballs Recipe
• What I Fed My Family This Week (Realistic Meal Ideas)
• Easy Cheesy 3 Ingredient Taquitos Recipe

Follow Marla on Instagram for more practical solutions for everyday #momlife