Food & Drink

7 Swedish Slow Cooker Recipes For The Lazy Cook

OK, we’re not totally lazy, but we do love a good slow cooker recipe.

After a long day, nothing is better than coming home to the smell of food already prepared. Worst-case scenario, you may have to make a side dish. Best-case scenario, you lift the lid and scoop onto a plate.

We’ve rounded up a few Swedish recipes that easily can be made in the crock pot for those days when you just don’t feel like cooking.

Sides 

Lingonberry sauce

How many Swedish dishes have we posted that use this delightfully tart sauce? Too many to count. Go ahead and whip up an entire crockpot of the stuff so you have a jar ready to go in your fridge whenever you need it. Take this recipe for the sauce with a small adaption from All Recipes to make it crockpot-friendly (i.e. the 15-minute sauce is now a four-hour sauce on low).

Potato and fish gratin (Janssons frestelse)

While you’ll miss the toasty, crusty top from an oven-baked potato gratin dish, you’ll still reap the benefits of a warm, delicious, gooey side dish when you make this in the crockpot. Use this recipe from our friends at SwedishFood.com, layer your ingredients in the slow cooker instead of a baking dish and when you get to the step about baking, just turn on your slow cooker and cook on high for two hours, or on low for four to five hours.

Soups

Swedish yellow pea soup (Ärtsoppa)

When we think of crock pots, soups and stews are the first thing that come to mind. It’s the easiest way to feed a crowd without giving it a second thought. Since this traditional Swedish soup is made with dried peas, it’s is a soup that is perfect for slow cooking. We say, use this recipe and let it go low and slow all day.

Nettle soup (Nässelsoppa)

Another classic soup recipe, nettle soup also can be made in the crockpot. Use the recipe we posted earlier this year, drop your ingredients into the crockpot and cook on high for three hours or on low for four to six hours.

Reindeer Stew (Renskavsgryta)

But if we’re being honest, stews are the epitome of a slow-cooker meal. We don’t have a slow-cooker recipe for reindeer strew, but following in the footsteps of our grandmother, who needs one? Take the ingredients list from this Swedish Buzzfeed contributor. Brown your reindeer meat, and throw everything in the slow cooker. Add some stock (beef or vegetable would be good) to make sure there is some liquid in there, and reserve the cream until everything’s done cooking. After a few hours, mix in the cream and let it go for another 30 minutes or so. Såja!

Mains

Swedish meatballs

You think we could assemble a list of meals without talking about meatballs? Take this recipe from the kitchens at Food Network, and make one of Sweden’s most identifiable dishes in the slow cooker. And really, you could use your own recipe and follow the cooking instructions if you prefer.

Cabbage rolls (Kåldolmar)

Like other recipes on this list, this one requires a little bit of stove work to get it going – but we promise it will be worth it. Follow this recipe, do the prep work in the morning, and come home to a warm, ready-to-eat meal after work.