The Best Crockpot Recipes For the Holidays

Crockpot recipes are ideal if you are planning parties for the holidays. Whether Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter or another occasion is imminent, having a crockpot can help you with the food planning and preparations.

It is worthwhile investing in two or three slow cookers or even borrowing a couple from your friends. You might like to serve soup from one, make a hot fruit punch or hot chocolate in another and use the third for a warm dip recipe.

Crockpot

Several crock pots in varying sizes are ideal for this. You can make a chicken recipe in a three or four quart crockpot whereas a slow cooker half that size would suit a hot spinach dip.

If you are having a big party you might want to make the dip recipes in larger crockpots and the other recipes in bigger pots. If you are catering for fifty people, for example, a sweet and spicy meatball recipe might need to be made in a big pot on the stove unless you have a really enormous slow cooker. Use the crockpot for other dips and recipes.

Festive Holiday Drinks

Fruit punch, hot apple cider, hot chocolate and more can be made and kept warm in a slow cooker. Heat some red wine with cinnamon, cloves and orange segments. Mulled wine is wonderfully warming and perfect for any fall or winter holidays.

Cloves, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg can be added to apple cider and warmed up to make a wonderfully festive hot apple cider drink which is sure to be popular. A crock pot is ideal for keeping drinks hot which is a real timesaver because it means you do not have to go into the kitchen every time somebody wants a hot drink.

You should not take the lid off a slow cooker when you are cooking a recipe but if you are just using it to keep something warm it does not matter if people keep taking off the lid, taking some drink and replacing the lid again. It will still keep warm. You can make a big batch of cider, hot chocolate or mulled wine and it will be fine in there for hours.

Slow Cooked Holiday Side Dishes

Green bean can be cooked in a crockpot or candied yams or, in fact, any one of many holiday side dishes. If you want to keep your oven or stove free for the ham or turkey, using a crock pot to cook the side dishes can make this possible.

As well as using your slow cooker to make holiday recipes and hot drink, you can use it to make gift recipes like sweet chutney or spiced nuts. The guests you give these gifts to at the end of the party will not need to know how simple the gift was to make and they will love such a thoughtful and tasty gift. Use seasonal ingredients and flavors for the best results, although you can adjust most recipes to suit your own preferences.

The Best Crockpot Recipes For the Holidays

There is a lot to think about for the holidays and crockpot recipes can really help by simplifying things in the kitchen. Use your crockpot to cook holiday meals or side dishes or to keep drinks and festive dip recipes warm and you will be so glad you invested in one.

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