Low-Fat Slow-Cooker Recipes: 8 Set-and-Forget Dinners Under 5 g of Fat

Low-Fat Slow-Cooker Recipes: 8 Set-and-Forget Dinners Under 5 g of Fat

The slow cooker is quietly one of the best tools for low-fat cooking. Long, moist heat does what oil and butter usually do — it makes lean cuts tender and pulls flavour out of vegetables and spices — so most recipes need no added fat at all. The catch is that classic slow-cooker recipes lean on fatty cuts, cream and condensed soup. These 8 do not. Skinless poultry, lentils, beans and lean beef, all under 5 g of fat a serving, all assembled in fifteen minutes or less.

Slow cooking is one of four gentle methods worth knowing. The other three have their own guides: poaching and simmering for lean protein that stays tender, and grilling and broiling with less fat for the nights you want colour and char without oil.

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1. Chicken and Root Vegetable Stew

The benchmark weeknight pot. Skinless thighs stay moist over long cooking in a way breast does not, and they still come in low on fat once the skin is off.

Fat: 4.5 g  ·  Calories: 310  ·  Serves: 6  ·  Prep: 15 min  ·  Cook: 7 hr low

Ingredients

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 3 carrots, cut into chunks
• 2 parsnips, cut into chunks
• 500 g potatoes, quartered
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 500 ml low-sodium chicken stock
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp dried thyme
• Salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. Put the vegetables in the base of the slow cooker and lay the chicken on top.
2. Whisk the stock with the tomato purée and pour over. Add the herbs and season.
3. Cook on low 7 hours (or high 4).
4. Lift out the bay leaves, shred the chicken roughly into the sauce, and check the seasoning.

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2. Turkey and Black Bean Chili

Lean ground turkey browned dry in a hot pan loses almost nothing in flavour and a great deal in fat. This freezes in portions beautifully.

Fat: 4 g  ·  Calories: 300  ·  Serves: 6  ·  Prep: 15 min  ·  Cook: 6 hr low

Ingredients

• 500 g lean ground turkey (93% or leaner)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 cans (400 g each) black beans, drained
• 1 can (400 g) chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 250 ml low-sodium stock

Instructions

1. Brown the turkey in a dry nonstick pan over high heat, breaking it up, then drain off any liquid fat.
2. Tip into the slow cooker with everything else and stir.
3. Cook on low 6 hours.
4. Mash a ladleful of beans against the side and stir back in to thicken.

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3. Lentil and Sweet Potato Curry

Red lentils break down into their own creamy sauce, which is why this needs no coconut cream. A little light coconut milk at the end is plenty.

Fat: 3.5 g  ·  Calories: 290  ·  Serves: 6  ·  Prep: 10 min  ·  Cook: 6 hr low

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups red lentils, rinsed
• 2 sweet potatoes, cubed
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves and 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 2 tbsp mild curry powder, 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 can (400 g) chopped tomatoes
• 700 ml low-sodium vegetable stock
• 100 ml light coconut milk
• Juice of 1 lime, handful of coriander

Instructions

1. Combine everything except the coconut milk, lime and coriander in the slow cooker.
2. Cook on low 6 hours, until the lentils have collapsed.
3. Stir in the coconut milk and lime juice off the heat.
4. Season and finish with coriander.

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4. Salsa Chicken with Peppers

Three ingredients and a spice mix. Shred it for tacos, bowls or baked potatoes — one pot covers three different dinners.

Fat: 3 g  ·  Calories: 210  ·  Serves: 6  ·  Prep: 5 min  ·  Cook: 5 hr low

Ingredients

• 700 g skinless chicken breasts
• 400 g jar of salsa (check for no added oil)
• 2 peppers, sliced
• 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• Juice of 1 lime

Instructions

1. Lay the chicken in the slow cooker, scatter the peppers over, and pour the salsa on top.
2. Add the spices. Do not add water — the chicken releases plenty.
3. Cook on low 5 hours.
4. Shred with two forks in the sauce and stir the lime juice through.

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5. Lean Beef and Barley Soup

Trimmed top round is lean enough for a low-fat plan and tough enough to need exactly this kind of cooking. The barley thickens the broth on its own.

Fat: 4.5 g  ·  Calories: 280  ·  Serves: 6  ·  Prep: 15 min  ·  Cook: 8 hr low

Ingredients

• 400 g lean beef top round, trimmed and cubed
• 3/4 cup pearl barley, rinsed
• 2 carrots and 2 celery sticks, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 200 g mushrooms, quartered
• 1.5 litres low-sodium beef stock
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp dried thyme

Instructions

1. Sear the beef in a dry nonstick pan until browned on two sides, then pour off any fat.
2. Add everything to the slow cooker and stir.
3. Cook on low 8 hours.
4. Remove the bay leaves, season, and let it sit 10 minutes before serving — the barley keeps absorbing.

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6. White Bean, Kale and Rosemary Stew

A completely meat-free pot that still eats like a proper dinner. Blending part of the beans is what makes it creamy without cream.

Fat: 2 g  ·  Calories: 250  ·  Serves: 6  ·  Prep: 10 min  ·  Cook: 5 hr low

Ingredients

• 2 cans (400 g each) cannellini beans, drained
• 1 onion and 2 carrots, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 litre low-sodium vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp chopped rosemary
• 1 can (400 g) chopped tomatoes
• 150 g kale, stalks removed and torn
• Juice of half a lemon

Instructions

1. Add everything except the kale and lemon to the slow cooker.
2. Cook on low 5 hours.
3. Blend about a third of the stew with a stick blender directly in the pot.
4. Stir in the kale, cover and give it 15 more minutes, then add the lemon juice.

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7. Honey-Garlic Chicken with Green Beans

The sauce reduces to a glaze in the last half hour with the lid off. Serve over rice and it feels like a takeaway you did not have to regret.

Fat: 4 g  ·  Calories: 290  ·  Serves: 4  ·  Prep: 10 min  ·  Cook: 4 hr low

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
• 300 g green beans, trimmed

Instructions

1. Whisk the honey, soy, garlic, ginger and vinegar and pour over the chicken in the slow cooker.
2. Cook on low 4 hours.
3. Lift the chicken out, stir the cornflour slurry into the sauce, add the beans, and cook on high uncovered for 20 minutes.
4. Return the chicken, spoon the glaze over, and serve.

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8. Overnight Apple Cinnamon Steel-Cut Oats

Set it before bed and breakfast makes itself. Steel-cut oats are the only kind that survive eight hours without turning to paste.

Fat: 3 g  ·  Calories: 230  ·  Serves: 6  ·  Prep: 5 min  ·  Cook: 7 hr low

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups steel-cut oats
• 2 apples, peeled and diced
• 1.2 litres water
• 500 ml skim milk
• 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Lightly grease the slow cooker insert or use a liner — oats stick.
2. Add everything and stir once.
3. Cook on low 7 hours overnight.
4. Stir well in the morning; loosen with a splash of milk and top with berries.

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Making the Slow Cooker Work on a Low-Fat Plan

• Brown meat in a dry nonstick pan, not oil, and pour off the rendered fat before it goes in the pot — that step alone can save 10 g per serving.
• Take the skin off poultry before cooking. Slow cooking keeps skinless meat moist, so you lose nothing.
• Skip condensed soups and cream: thicken instead with a cornflour slurry at the end, or blend a ladleful of beans, lentils or potato back into the pot.
• Chill leftovers before reheating and lift the solid fat off the surface — the easiest fat reduction there is.
• Add dairy, lemon juice and fresh herbs at the end. Long cooking flattens acidity and splits low-fat milk.