17 cozy comfort meals you can make in a slow cooker

• A slow cooker or Crock-Pot can be a valuable yet underutilized tool in your kitchen.
• A slow cooker can make many cozy comfort foods, from stews to simple soups and roasted meats.
• Meats like brisket and short ribs become tender when made in a slow cooker.

As the first hints of fall arrive and temperatures begin to cool, it's a great time to dust off your Crock-Pot or slow cooker and ease into the season with warm, comforting meals that practically cook themselves.

Business Insider spoke with chefs and cookbook authors about their favorite comforting slow-cooker meals, from hearty beef stews and chowders to tender brisket, and researched celebrity chefs' go-to Crock-Pot dishes.

Here are 17 cozy comfort-food dishes you can make in a slow cooker, according to chefs.

Short ribs become extra tender when slow-cooked.

Short ribs are one of cookbook author Kim Laidlaw's favorite things to make in a Crock-Pot, and they're a go-to on a chilly fall day.

In her cookbook, "Everyday Slow Cooking: Modern Recipes for Delicious Meals," Laidlaw offers several recipes for short ribs and recommends serving them with other sides.

"If you do them in a slow cooker, then the meat is out of the way," she told Business Insider. "Then, you can focus on other side dishes like polenta or risotto."

Stew is one of those slow-cooker meals where you can practically toss in the ingredients and walk away.

Beef, turkey, or chicken stew is the kind of stick-to-your-bones comfort food that feels made for fall.

Packed with tender meat, hearty vegetables, and a rich, flavorful broth, a warm bowl of stew makes an especially satisfying meal as temperatures drop and chilly evenings set in.

"Beef stew is really nice in the slow cooker," Laidlaw said. "That's something I grew up on with the slow cooker, and it's just as good today."

Corn chowder is another simple meal you can make with a few inexpensive ingredients.

If you make this chowder in late summer or early fall, you can use fresh, in-season corn, as suggested in this celebrity chef-approved Martha Stewart recipe on the chef's website.

However, you can also take the easy route by choosing canned corn from the store. The chowder is flavorful yet light, using heartwarming ingredients like heavy cream, bacon, and baby red potatoes.

Brisket is another meat that becomes super tender in a slow cooker.

Brisket isn't reserved just for holidays or special occasions.

Laidlaw's recipe for slow-cooked braised brisket includes garlic, onion, dry red wine, carrot, and chicken or beef stock, with a chimichurri sauce.

"Brisket is a natural partner for the slow cooker, as a gentle braise renders it meltingly tender," Laidlaw writes in "Everyday Slow Cooking."

Sticky barbecue ribs can also be made in a Crock-Pot.

Whether it's for game day or just a slow Sunday with the family, crock-pot barbecue ribs make everything unbelievably easy.

"Ribs do really well in the slow cooker, and you can always stick them under the broiler in the end to crisp them up," Laidlaw said.

Laidlaw's recipe recommends cooking the ribs on a low heat setting for five to six hours and marinating them in ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, wine, lemon zest and juice, brown sugar, and other seasonings for maximum flavor.

Bolognese sauce is another great way to use your Crock-Pot.

There's nothing quite like a big pot of Bolognese in the early fall or winter, and it's easy to make in the Crock Pot.

"Bolognese is great because you can cook it for a long time," Laidlaw said. "You just have to remember that the sauce doesn't evaporate the same as it would if you were doing it on the stove. You definitely need to compensate and put less liquid in the pot if you're using a slow cooker."

There are tons of recipes out there for slow-cooker Bolognese — one recipe by The Pioneer Woman recommends browning the meat first before adding it to the Crock Pot for enhanced flavor and texture.

You can also make mac and cheese in a slow cooker.

Celebrity chef Martha Stewart's recipe for slow-cooker mac and cheese is not only easy to make but super delicious and perfect for the fall and winter seasons.

"It is important to use pungent cheeses, such as sharp cheddar, mixed with a little Gruyere or pecorino Romano for extra bite, since the white sauce and pasta will absorb a lot of flavor," Stewart writes.

Chicken stock and broth are two kitchen staples you can make in a Crock-Pot.

Hugh Acheson's slow-cooker chicken broth is pretty simple — all you'll need is a whole chicken, salt, garlic cloves, white onions, carrots, celery, and a few seasonings to taste. 

You can find the full recipe for Acheson's chicken broth in his book, "The Chef and the Slow Cooker."

You can also make chicken soup in a slow cooker.

"A simple soup with Thai chilis, coconut milk, and lime is just wickedly good," Acheson said.

The recipe for Acheson's slow cooker chicken soup with chiles, coconut milk, and lime can be found here on Garden & Gun. Or, if you're feeling a little more adventurous, Acheson also said a slow cooker is a perfect way to make delicious chicken and dumplings.

Meatballs are another warming meal to make in a slow cooker.

Acheson points out that not only are meatballs, like the veal meatballs he includes in his book, easy and delicious to make, but they're a comforting, kid-friendly option you can make in a slow cooker.

"Slow cookers are not necessarily the best tool for cooking for one — they work so much better for nourishing an entire family," he said.

Acheson said his go-to slow-cooker meal on a cool day is lentil soup with a little sour cream.

"I usually go for something that won't take too long," Acheson said. "Usually, I go for a lentil soup with Tuscan kale and a little sour cream and herbs on top. To me, that's the type of food you want as you're watching the snow fall down."

The recipe for Acheson's lentil soup with Tuscan kale can be found here on Cup of Jo.

Acheson also points out that large batches of soup are great for the next day.

Braised and pulled chicken is another great way to use your Crock-Pot.

One of the benefits of using a slow cooker is that you can start with a basic protein and jazz it up.

From Mexican food-inspired spices to Indian simmer sauces, there are tons of ways to transform simple braised or pulled chicken dishes into something show-stopping.

This recipe from Delish tells you how to make slow-cooker barbecue pulled chicken.

Pork shoulder is a slow-cooker staple you can use in a number of dishes.

"One dish I think is so versatile is pork shoulder in a slow cooker with broth and a little salt and pepper," Laidlaw said. "I just braise that and then you can turn into so many different things."

Laidlaw said that using a pork shoulder, you can make everything from pulled-pork sliders to carnitas tacos or burritos.

You can also slow-cook a leg of lamb, but you might want to sear it first.

"Leg of lamb is so good as it breaks down in the slow cooker," Acheson said. "Cooking in the slow cooker and then finishing another way is going to make sure your meat is at its best. Whether that means re-searing the meat or throwing it under the broiler, you might want to think about other steps to really finish off your meal."

Laidlaw added, "Recipes that have you throw everything in without any prep ahead are not nearly as good or as flavorful as the ones that do. Taking 10 minutes to brown the meat before you put it in or getting the onions started goes a long way to making your meals more delicious."

You can also make poached or braised fish in the slow cooker.

"It's really about rethinking recipes and figuring out how to do it in the slow cooker," Acheson said.

One of the best recipes Acheson said he uses from his book is one for a braised catfish stew, the recipe for which can be found on Garden & Gun.

"It's got this long-cooking, beautiful broth that's just a vision at the end," he told Business Insider. "It's got chilies, peppers, and mace — big flavors. It just works perfectly. When slow cooking, you really want to choose a dish that works well simmering potentially all day."

Goat shoulder is another delicious meal you can make in a Crock-Pot.

"These days, goat shoulder doesn't have that gamey taste it might have had before," Acheson said. "When you're talking about cooking a large piece of meat, a slow cooker is a great place to start."

You can even make a comforting dessert like cheesecake in a Crock-Pot.

One of the desserts Laidlaw includes in her book "Everyday Slow Cooking" is for gingersnap-brandy cheesecake, which would be perfect as a treat on a cold day or a holiday dessert.

Read the original article on Business Insider