Best Healthy Crock Pot Recipes

Cooking a healthy meal can take a lot of time standing in a hot kitchen - that is, unless you have a crock pot, Instant Pot, or pressure cooker! These handy cookers allow you to create healthy, mouth-watering meals from scratch, without spending the entire day in front of your stove and without heating up your kitchen. They’re perfect for the cold winter months. Whether you are making a large meal for your family or individual freezer meals, you’ll love these easy and healthy meals.

Best Healthy Crock Pot Recipes

There are so many ways you can use your slow cooker for a healthy meal. Enjoy our favorite crock pot recipes that make being low carb easy!

Crowd Pleasing Pork Carnitas

Pork carnitas are healthy and satisfying that you can make in a crock pot, Instant Pot, or pressure cooker - they are also a great way to enjoy the health benefits of oranges and limes. These citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants, and eating citrus fruit may reduce your risk factors heart disease, boost your immune system, and promote healthy skin. Pork carnitas also contain garlic and herbs that are as delicious as they are nutritious.

Smash the garlic and juice the citrus fruit, and set to the side. After trimming the fat off the pork and seasoning it, sear the meat in the pressure cooker and set to the side. Add the citrus juice to the pressure cooker and then add the meat and top with garlic. Cook on high pressure for 55 minutes.

Serve on warm tortillas; add your favorite toppings, such as chopped onions, sliced avocado, fresh cilantro or parsley, and lime wedges. To make these low carb, use a grain free tortilla, such as an almond flour or cassava flour tortilla.

Sweet and Savory Honey Garlic Chicken

Honey garlic chicken is a low-carb meal your entire family will love that is packed with nutrients and antioxidants. For example, the honey in this honey garlic chicken is a nutritional powerhouse that may help improve heart health, reduce inflammation, and promote healing. Honey also adds natural sweetness to chicken, which provides nutrients essential for brain health, builds muscles and strong bones, promotes heart health, and may help you lose weight. Garlic is well-known for medicinal properties, of course, and infamous for its delectable flavor.

Simply pour a mixture of honey, soy sauce, water, apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar, and diced garlic over chicken breasts and cook on high in your Instant Pot for 4 hours or on low for 6 to 7 hours.

Flavorful Black Bean Soup

Black bean soup is always a crowd-pleaser, especially among those looking for a vegetarian or gluten-free treat to help them stay warm on a cold day. Black beans are rich in fiber and provide plant-based protein. Packed with flavor, black beans can help lower blood pressure, ward off heart disease, prevent cancer, promote healthy digestion, and help you lose weight and manage diabetes.

Crockpot black bean soup is easy and delicious. Simply drain and rinse canned black beans then combine them with canned green chilis, chunky salsa, vegetable broth, minced onion and garlic, and flavor with cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt and pepper in a slow cooker. Mix well, cover, and cook on high for 2 hours; stir halfway through. Blend with an immersion blender or in a conventional blender - leave some bean chunks in the soup. Top with your favorite roasted vegetables, fresh avocado slices, cilantro, or parsley.

Warming Butter Chicken

Butter chicken is a versatile dish simmered in a spicy, aromatic, creamy tomato gravy that is oh-so buttery and smooth. As its name suggests, butter chicken has butter and chicken, but it also contains onion, garlic, and tomatoes with known health benefits.

The recipe also calls for garam masala, coriander, turmeric, and tomatoes to impart an unforgettable flavor, but also to provide a nutritional kick. Garam masala is an ancient Indian blend that contains many different spices known to provide health benefits, for example, and the curcumin in turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidants. Coconut milk can stimulate weight loss and lower cholesterol.

Add chicken and tomatoes to the spices and sautéed onions, garlic, and ginger already softened in the pressure cooker. Cover the pressure cooker and set it on high for 10 minutes then let the cooker release the pressure naturally for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken and use an infusion blender to blend the butter and cream or coconut milk into the sauce. Chop the chicken and return it to the sauce, and serve over rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice.

Heart Healthy Seafood Gumbo

This seafood gumbo recipe is dairy-free, low in carbs, and keto-friendly - and is amazingly tasty! The sea bass filet and shrimp in this dish are low in calories and high in protein, so it helps you feel satisfied without overeating.

Season the sea bass, also known as barramundi or Asian sea bass, and sauté it in the Instant Pot in avocado oil or ghee, onions, peppers, and celery. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, bone broth, shrimp, and bay leaves, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Serve hot, topped with cauliflower rice and chives.

Brisket

Instant Pot brisket is a hearty, low-carb dinner that can be ready in less than 2 hours. Brisket is high in animal protein, which health experts refer to as “complete protein” because it contains all 20 of the amino acids the human body needs to build muscle, boost the immune system, sustain a normal digestive system, and other physiological processes.

To make this brisket, sear the brisket on all sides and onions in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker. Remove the brisket and set to the side. Add beef broth, ketchup, red wine vinegar, light brown sugar, dried oregano and thyme, paprika, and garlic powder into the Instant Pot. Return the brisket to the Instant Pot and cook for 70 minutes on high pressure.

Garnish with parsley, if desire, and serve with onions and gravy.

More Healthy Meals with Mighty Health

For more information on healthy meals you can create in your crock pot, Instant Pot, or pressure cooker, consult with the trusted team at Mighty Health! You can match with your very own health coach for personalized nutrition and exercise guidance based on your health goals. We also offer hundreds of lessons, live events, guided meditations, and more to help you live out the best years of your life!