This is a list of 22 crock pot dump and go dinners perfect for busy weeknights. These are the perfect meals that you can put together in the morning, and come dinner time, they are ready to go for everyone to enjoy. This makes it really convenient for busy working moms or kids who have practice and activities to get to. Knowing that you have a dinner that is cooking itself to come back home to is such a comfort and stress reliever.
Don't lose this article. Enter your email below, and I'll send it to you right now. Plus a little encouragement and inspiration from me, straight to your inbox.
1) Garlic Parmesan Chicken Dump-and-Go Crockpot
Dinner is handled every Sunday
Get 5 easy family dinners, printable recipe cards, and one grocery list. Simple meals, normal ingredients, no more starting from zero at 5pm.
Ingredients
Method
- Place chicken in crockpot. Sprinkle garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper over chicken.
- Pour in broth and heavy cream. Dot butter on top. Sprinkle Parmesan evenly.
- Cook on low 4–5 hours or high 2–3 hours, until chicken reaches 165°F.
- Remove chicken, shred with two forks, then return to sauce. Stir.
- If sauce is thin, mix cornstarch and water and stir into crockpot. Cook on high 10–15 minutes to thicken.
First on the list is a garlic parmesan chicken dump-and-go crockpot meal. This allows you to easily cook chicken pieces in a garlicky cheesy sauce that requires minimal prep. When you do think of chicken parmesan, you also want to pair it with a good-flavored sauce, and to do this one in a hurry, just buy a simple store-bought sauce that is a flavor your whole family enjoys. Put this together, and you're good to go.
2) Beef Stroganoff Slow Cooker Dump Dinner
Ingredients
Method
- Put beef, onion, mushrooms, broth, soup, Worcestershire, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in crockpot. Don’t fuss—just dump and level.
- Cook on low 7–8 hours or high 3–4 hours until beef is tender.
- Stir in sour cream 15 minutes before serving; do not boil after adding.
- Serve over cooked egg noodles. Garnish with parsley if you want.
Next up is a beef stroganoff slow cooker dump, and everyone loves beef stroganoff in our house. It is typically beef, mushrooms, and noodles, and being able to cook your beef in a slow cooker is going to make it extremely tender in a way that you can't on the stovetop.
So this is likely to become your new family favorite. And it falls squarely into that comfort food category, making it ideal for cold nights as well.
3) Salsa Verde Pork Shoulder Dump Crockpot
Ingredients
Method
- Pat pork dry and rub with cumin, salt, and pepper. Place onion slices in bottom of crockpot.
- Lay pork on onions. Pour salsa verde and chicken broth over pork, then add garlic.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4–5 hours, until pork shreds easily.
- Remove pork, shred with two forks, then stir in lime juice and return to sauce for 10 minutes.
- Serve with tortillas, rice, or a simple salad. Top with cilantro if you like.
Pork is another meat that cooks extremely well in the slow cooker and becomes very tender and easy to pull apart. And this salsa verde pork shoulder dump is going to bring some really good flavors together and create a dish that you can serve as tacos, sandwiches, or bowls. This is going to give you some fun Tex-Mex flavor on a busy weeknight.
4) Italian Sausage, Peppers & Tomatoes Dump-and-Go
Ingredients
Method
- Spray crockpot with cooking spray. Layer sausage, peppers, and onion inside.
- Pour diced tomatoes over top. Sprinkle Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Drizzle olive oil.
- Cover and cook on low 4–5 hours or high 2–3 hours, until peppers soften and sausage is cooked through.
- Serve over cooked pasta or with rolls. Stir before serving to mix juices.
This Italian sausage, pepper, and tomato dump-and-go dish is a classic, simple combination that is going to taste like an Italian restaurant dish that your whole family is going to enjoy.
5) Creamy Ranch Chicken with Potatoes Dump
Ingredients
Method
- Spray crockpot. Layer potatoes on the bottom, then place chicken on top.
- In a bowl, mix ranch packet, sour cream, chicken broth, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Pour over chicken and potatoes.
- Cook on LOW 4–5 hours or HIGH 2–3 hours, until chicken reaches 165°F and potatoes are tender.
- Stir in cheddar until melted. Sprinkle parsley before serving.
This creamy ranch chicken with potatoes is going to be a really simple dish that brings together familiar flavors, meaning that the whole family is going to love it, down to your pickiest eaters. My kids love chicken and ranch, so being able to put this together and then come home to it all mixed together makes a classic combo that everybody loves.
6) Teriyaki Meatballs and Rice Crockpot Dump
Ingredients
Method
- Spray crockpot with nonstick spray. Add rinsed rice and frozen meatballs in a single layer.
- Whisk broth, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and garlic powder; pour over meatballs and rice.
- Scatter frozen veggies on top; do not stir. Cover and cook on low 3–3.5 hours or high 1.5–2 hours.
- Check rice at 3 hours; stir gently to combine. Garnish with green onions and serve.
Teriyaki meatballs are a great way to switch up the flavor because we typically think of them as being served with a pasta sauce or marinara, and letting teriyaki be the flavor on these is going to be a nice surprise for everyone. Cooking it with rice is going to give you that perfect textural contrast that is both satisfying and very filling.
7) Chili Lime Chicken Tacos Crockpot Dump
Ingredients
Method
- Place chicken in crockpot. Pour salsa verde and lime juice over top.
- Sprinkle chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper on chicken. Do not stir; dump-and-go is the point.
- Cook on LOW 4–5 hours or HIGH 2–3 hours, until chicken shreds easily.
- Shred chicken with two forks in the pot, stir in cilantro. Keep on warm while you warm tortillas.
- Serve in tortillas with cabbage, avocado, and extra lime.
This is a chili lime chicken taco crockpot dump. Obviously, you're not cooking your tacos in the crockpot, but you are cooking your chili lime chicken. And then that allows you to serve up different tacos. You can do crunchy or soft or serve it on corn tortillas, however your family enjoys tacos.
The key here is just getting the chili-lime chicken cooked ahead of time. And then it's very easy to shred and put these together to make the perfect family taco night.
8) Maple Dijon Pork Loin Dump-and-Go
Ingredients
Method
- Pat pork dry and place it on top of the sliced onion in the slow cooker.
- Whisk maple syrup, Dijon, vinegar, thyme, garlic powder, salt, and pepper; pour over pork.
- Add chicken broth around the edges, not over the pork, to keep sauce glossy.
- Cook on LOW for 6–8 hours or HIGH for 3–4 hours until pork reaches 145°F and is tender.
- Remove pork, rest 5 minutes, slice, and spoon sauce and onions over top.
This maple Dijon pork loin dump and go is going to give you a really tender pork loin that has a Dijon mustard giving you depth and a maple flavor that adds a sweetness to this that really brings it all together. This is a dinner that sounds fancier than the effort it's actually going to take to make it, which is always a win in my book.
9) BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches Crockpot
Ingredients
Method
- Put chicken in the crockpot. Pour broth over it.
- Mix barbecue sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire, paprika, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Pour over chicken.
- Cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3 hours, until chicken shreds easily.
- Remove chicken, shred with forks, and return to sauce. Stir to coat.
- Serve on buns with coleslaw if you like.
Next up are these barbecue pulled chicken sandwiches. Again, you are just making your barbecue pulled chicken in the crock pot. A crock pot tends to make any meat nice and moist and tender, especially the longer that you cook it. I have found six to eight hours to be the sweet spot, and everything just pulls apart and shreds very easily.
You're going to choose a barbecue sauce of your liking and douse your chicken in this. Once it's shredded, stir it around in the crock pot, put out buns, and let everyone serve their own plate on this one. It's going to be a very easy sandwich-style dinner that is convenient for everybody.
10) Italian Wedding Soup Dump-and-Go
Ingredients
Method
- Mix meat, breadcrumbs, egg, salt, pepper, and half the Parmesan; form into 1-inch meatballs.
- Brown meatballs quickly in a skillet with olive oil, 3–4 minutes; transfer to crockpot.
- Add broth, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, and pasta to crockpot. Stir gently.
- Cook on low 4 hours or high 2 hours. Add spinach in last 15 minutes. Stir in remaining Parmesan before serving.
Italian wedding soup is not only delicious, but it is also a great comfort food, and this dump-and-go format is bringing together your small meatballs, your greens, and your pasta in a light broth that simmers nicely, bringing all those flavors together, and you have a delicious dinner that is ready to go once everyone is home.
11) Korean Beef (Bulgogi-style) Slow Cooker Dump
Ingredients
Method
- Place beef and onion in slow cooker. Pour soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, vinegar, and gochujang over top. Stir once to combine.
- Cook on low 5–6 hours or high 2.5–3 hours until beef is tender.
- About 20 minutes before serving, stir in cornstarch slurry to thicken. Cook on high until sauce thickens.
- Serve over rice and top with green onions and sesame seeds.
This Korean beef recipe is going to use a chuck roast. I have found those to just cook really nicely in the crock pot. It has a little bit of fat on it to give it that perfect amount of flavor. But cooking this for six to eight hours on low is going to give you meat that just falls apart after cooking in a savory soy-based marinade.
12) Creamy Tuscan Chicken Dump Dinner
Ingredients
Method
- Season chicken with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning and place in crockpot.
- Whisk cream, broth, garlic, and Parmesan; pour over chicken.
- Scatter sun-dried tomatoes on top. Cook on low 3–4 hours or high 1.5–2 hours, until chicken reaches 165°F.
- Stir in spinach 10 minutes before serving so it wilts but stays bright. Shred chicken in sauce or serve whole.
This creamy Tuscan chicken dump dinner is going to be made in a cream sauce with sun-dried tomatoes. I love keeping sun-dried tomatoes on hand because they add so much flavor and depth to a dish. And this easy dump and go dinner is no different.
Don't lose this article. Enter your email below, and I'll send it to you right now. Plus a little encouragement and inspiration from me, straight to your inbox.
That creaminess is going to make this one feel like a comfort food, and the spinach is a way to sneak in some extra vegetables without any complaints.
13) Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans Dump Crockpot
Ingredients
Method
- Add quinoa, beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, spices, and broth to crockpot. Stir once to combine.
- Cook on low for 2 to 2.5 hours, or on high for 1 to 1.5 hours, until quinoa is tender and liquid absorbed.
- Stir in cilantro and lime juice just before serving. Taste and add more salt if needed.
This Mexican quinoa and black bean dump meal is a vegetarian option that is a protein-rich bowl-style dinner. These kinds of meals come in handy when you're not sure what to make, you don't have time to defrost any meat, but you have some pantry staples on hand that you can throw together to really bring some unexpected flavors to life.
This one can be made with a carne asada seasoning or a taco seasoning. And when it is done, just top each bowl with cheese, and everyone is going to love this.
14) Thai Peanut Chicken Dump-and-Go
Ingredients
Method
- Place chicken in crockpot and add peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, sriracha, and chicken broth. Stir a bit to combine.
- Cook on LOW 4–5 hours or HIGH 2–2.5 hours until chicken is tender.
- Shred chicken in pot with two forks and stir in cooked rice noodles and vegetables. Let sit 10 minutes on warm to heat noodles through.
- Serve topped with green onions, chopped peanuts, and lime wedges.
This Thai peanut chicken dump-and-go dish is going to be made in a peanut sauce with Thai-inspired seasoning. Once all of these flavors simmer together, you are going to have a really tender chicken that has a flavor your family is not expecting, but one that they will enjoy every single time.
15) Crockpot Lentil and Ham Soup Dump
Ingredients
Method
- Add lentils, ham, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, pepper, and broth to the crockpot.
- Stir once to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for 6–7 hours or HIGH for 3–4 hours, until lentils are soft.
- Remove bay leaf. Stir in frozen peas in the last 10 minutes if using. Taste and add salt if needed. Serve hot.
Next up is a crock pot lentil-and-ham soup. Lentils simmered with ham give you a very hearty and budget-friendly soup, which is always a win in our house. Lentils are an ingredient you should keep on hand because they are very easy to add to soup and give the added substance that many recipes need to come together perfectly.
And you can either chop up fresh ham with this one or use leftover ham. Whatever you have in your fridge, this is going to be a budget-friendly staple that sticks around in your rotation.
16) Spinach Artichoke Chicken Dump Crockpot
Ingredients
Method
- Layer chicken in crockpot.
- Spoon spinach and artichokes over chicken.
- Mix cream cheese, sour cream, mozzarella, Parmesan, garlic powder, salt, and pepper; dollop over top.
- Cook on low 4–5 hours or high 2–3 hours, until chicken reaches 165°F.
- Shred chicken in crockpot and stir to combine. Serve over rice, pasta, or with crusty bread.
This spinach artichoke chicken dump crock pot recipe is going to take the flavors of a classic spinach artichoke dip and turn them into a full chicken dinner. Again, allowing chicken to cook in the crock pot is going to make it very tender and easy to pull apart.
So, this becomes a dish that has the familiar appetizer flavor but is repurposed as a main dish that is very filling and something everyone will appreciate.
17) Minestrone Dump-and-Go Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Add tomatoes, broth, beans, pasta, frozen veg, onion, garlic, oregano, and basil to crockpot. Stir to combine.
- Cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours, until pasta is tender. Stir once halfway if you can.
- About 5 minutes before serving, stir in spinach and adjust salt and pepper. Let spinach wilt.
- Serve with grated Parmesan and crusty bread.
Minestrone is a delicious soup, and being able to just dump and go with this one in the crock pot is going to be a very filling comfort food recipe that you come to rely on.
This is typically made with vegetables, beans, and pasta, making it an Italian classic that everyone gravitates toward and something that you can also freeze for a future night when you are too busy to think about cooking.
18) Honey Garlic Ribs Crockpot Dump
Ingredients
Method
- Layer ribs in the crockpot. I overlap them; they still cook evenly.
- Whisk honey, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, vinegar, ginger, and pepper. Pour over ribs so most pieces are covered.
- Cook on LOW for 6–7 hours or HIGH for 3–4 hours, until tender.
- Optional: remove ribs, mix cornstarch with water, add to sauce, and cook on HIGH 10–15 minutes to thicken. Spoon sauce over ribs to serve.
Ribs are another type of meat that you can toss in the crock pot, and cooking them low and slow is really going to bring out their flavor, especially if they're cooked on the bone. These are going to have a savory honey garlic sauce that really makes them a hit and becomes a dish your family is asking for again and again.
19) Cheesy Beef and Pasta Dump Dinner
Ingredients
Method
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet, drain, and transfer to the crockpot.
- Add pasta, marinara, beef broth, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Cook on low 2–2.5 hours or high 1–1.5 hours, until pasta is tender.
- Stir in cheddar and mozzarella. Let sit 5 minutes with lid on to melt cheese. Serve hot.
If your family is anything like mine, they love mac and cheese with hamburger. And this cheesy beef and pasta dump dinner is an easier way to make it, as it's going to come together throughout the day and be ready to serve at dinner time.
Cheesy pasta dishes are a guaranteed hit with kids, and ground beef as the protein just adds that extra little bit of flavor that you can't get from just a box of mac and cheese. This one is going to have pasta, beef, and a cheese sauce that comes from shredding a variety of cheeses, really bringing a ton of flavors together and making this one a new family fave.
20) Apple Cider Pork Chops Dump-and-Go
Ingredients
Method
- Pat chops dry and season with salt and pepper. Layer onions and apple slices in the crockpot.
- Place pork chops on top. Sprinkle brown sugar and thyme over everything. Pour apple cider around, not directly over chops.
- Cook on LOW for 5–6 hours or HIGH for 2.5–3 hours, until pork reaches 145°F and apples are soft.
- If you want a sauce, remove chops, whisk cornstarch into cider in a small bowl, stir into crockpot, then cook on HIGH 10–15 minutes until thickened. Return chops and serve.
Apple cider pork chops are going to be a sweet, fall-flavored dish that you are going to want to try. Apple cider is what is going to help tenderize these pork chops in the slow cooker.
And you can serve these up with a starchy side like mashed potatoes and a fresh vegetable. And they are going to be something that everyone is asking for again and again.
21) Crockpot Jambalaya Dump Dinner
Ingredients
Method
- Add chicken, sausage, tomatoes, rice, onion, pepper, and garlic to crockpot. Stir to combine.
- Pour in broth and sprinkle spices over top; do not stir again.
- Cook on low 3–4 hours or high 1.5–2 hours, until rice is tender and chicken reaches 165°F.
- Fluff gently with fork, taste and adjust salt. Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon if desired.
This crock pot jambalaya dump dinner is a Louisiana-style mix of rice, sausage, and often shrimp or chicken with Cajun seasoning. Jambalaya is a really good meal that everyone loves in our house. And what we really like about it is being able to add in different proteins.
I really like to get a rotisserie chicken and shred it, tossing that in with chopped up bell pepper as well, giving it that extra bit of flavor and depth. And being able to toss all this into a crock pot at once means a dish that is ready come supper time, everyone enjoys, and makes the house smell so good. I like to keep the spices pretty moderate and then serve it up with creole seasoning for anyone to add on later for an additional spice if they want it.
22) Chicken Tikka Masala Slow Cooker Dump
Ingredients
Method
- Add chicken, onion, garlic, ginger, spices, yogurt, and sauce to the slow cooker. Stir to coat chicken evenly.
- Cook on low for 4–5 hours or high for 2–3 hours, until chicken is tender and cooked through.
- Stir in heavy cream if using, taste and adjust salt. Let sit on warm 10 minutes.
- Serve over rice with cilantro on top.
Chicken tikka masala is going to give you a restaurant dish right at home, and being able to put it in the slow cooker is going to really put all of these flavors together wonderfully. This has chicken with a spiced tomato creamy curry sauce that is sure to be a hit every single time.