Martha Stewart's Slow Cooker: 110 Recipes for Flavorful… (2024)

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If you follow my reviews you know that I generally try to make something from any new cookbook I receive. This one actually arrived a couple of weeks ago and I even have all of the ingredients ready to make this . . . . .

But Mother Nature has decided to be a real turdburger and it’s been about 12,000 degrees with 1,000,000% humidity since it got here so I’m saying screw it and my family is living on cereal until the heat wave breaks. (If you’re just dying with anticipation to see what kind of godawful concoction I can churn out, you’ll have to settle for the Great Goat Sacrifice of 2016. Oh, and YOU’RE WELCOME Cubs fans – my family’s misery is what ended a 108 losing streak and 71-year-old curse.)

Tomorrow is the first official day of Fall and *crossing fingers* sweater weather will be here any second. Of course, with sweater weather brings my most hated basic white girl obsession of them all . . . .

But today we’re going to ignore all that and focus on the glory which is Martha.

I’ve been a Martha Stewart fan since Jesus was a toddler. That being said, I’ll be the first to admit that back in the day I didn’t really tune in to her show for the food – since it was super uppity and I am super trailer parky – but I luuuuuuuuurved all the dang craft segments. Martha is the reason I know what a “cloche” is and how I should shove a bunch of miniature sh*t in one in order to make a tiny “winter wonderland.” Speaking of tiny, just when I thought I was really kicking ass with my “Hobbit Haven” . . . . .

Martha one-ups me by making a fairy garden with Mary Effing Poppins!

All the above is to say that I’ve been a superfan since way back when Martha came off with this kind of air about her . . . .

But when she came out of the pokey???? Now that is a girl I want to hang with . . . .

I’ll be 100% honest and admit I was a tad bit apprehensive at the idea of Martha Stewart tackling a crockpot recipe book since she isn’t what you’d necessarily call relatable. However, the very first line addressed the giant pink elephant in the room . . .

“To tell the honest truth, I have never, ever, really used a slow cooker.”

Awesome. OF COURSE YOU DIDN’T! You’re Martha (f*cking) Stewart FFS! Since she’s Martha (Expletive Deleted) Stewart, she knocked this one out of the ballpark. Her (way more advanced palate than my family’s) had her attempting things like slow cooker versions of Vietnamese Short-ribs or Chicken Tagine, while also (maybe surprisingly) going with tons of basics such as . . . . .

Or . . . .

It has stuff my kids would happily gobble down . . . .

As well as stuff they wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole, but that I will eat when they piss me off in order to fart them out of the house . . . .

Obtaining a Martha Stewart selection for zero dollars was pretty much my only bucket list item when it comes to reviewer copies. I am so happy it did not disappoint. It had everything I want in a cookbook – pretty pictures, ingredients that are either already in my pantry or easily obtainable and most importantly EDIBLE recipes. And really, the $26.00 price point isn’t horrible either compared to other, lesser-known, foodie books I’ve obtained in the past.

Endless thanks to the publisher for making all of my wildest dreams come true!

Martha Stewart admits she did not grow up with a slow cooker nor did she ever use a slow cooker until she decided to write this book. But she's a convert now.

The second cookbook I received (after, of course, the ubiquitous Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook) at my wedding shower was a crockpot recipe book. This was the 70's and I was determined to both work and cook well for my man. The crockpot cookbook was perfect for us. I'd start it up at seven before I left for work and, when we arrived home at five, we had a pot of amazing food.

So we (my man has learned to use the slow cooker, too, over the years) have continued to use this cookbook for the past forty years. I thought I knew everything about crockpots.

Then I read this book.

Martha Stewart had the luxury of having a panel of editors and recipe developers create and test recipes that enhanced the strengths of a crockpot for more than a year. Martha shares a list of ten Slow Cooker Commandments, all new to me, and a list of tips for best using the crockpot (all new to me). These alone are worth the price of the book.

Then I tried out the recipes. My husband and I sticky-noted recipes that sounded good to us---Chili Chicken Tacos, Sausage and Vegetable Ciambotta, Brisket and Onions---and over a few weeks, we tested Martha's testers.

Our results?

We've set our tattered and splattered forty-year-old crockpot standard in the pantry for now, and replaced it with Martha's shiny new book in our cookbook stand.

Here's one of our (new) favorites:

Martha Stewart's Slow-Cooker Brisket and Onions
Ingredients

1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 first cut of beef brisket (4 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving
Directions

1. In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine onion and garlic. Season brisket with salt and pepper and place, fat side up, in slow cooker. Add broth. Cover and cook on high until brisket is fork-tender, about 6 hours. Remove brisket and thinly slice against the grain. Serve with onion and some cooking liquid; sprinkle with parsley.

2. If you make this ahead of time, cover and refrigerate brisket in cooking liquid, up to 1 week. Reheat in a 300-degree oven.

I tried several and they really are delicious, but too many of the recipes had you cooking before using the slow cooker. I'd rather have recipes to save time!

yes I am counting this, also the chicken with 40 cloves of garlic is literally the easiest meal in the world

3.5 ⭐️ My quarantine hobby has become the crockpot. And there are some awesome recipes in this book (the seafood laksa being one of the best things I have ever cooked) but the whole part of the crock pot to me is the one pot, not too many step, concept. And these of course, being Martha, are way complex.

My family and closest friends know that I collect cook books and that I am a big fan of Martha Stewart, whether it be her cookbooks or non-fiction, her t.v. variety show and her cooking shows. I particularly like her cooking teaching shows. For many years, we have decorated our house from Martha’s Christmas-themed holiday books. I’ve even cooked whole meals during the holidays from her holiday-oriented cookbooks. The whole family has enjoyed our Martha themes.

This cookbook is another joy to add to my collection. I discovered the Rival crockpot about 35 years ago and added one to my kitchen appliances inventory. When both of us were working, it was a way to prepare a healthy and substantial meal for our family-of-four dinner. At the end of the day, when we would walk into the house after work, the house smelled wonderfully of pot roast or spaghetti sauce or chili or soup or chicken and vegetables. The Rival cookbook that came with our crockpot was adequate, but quite simple.

This book includes eight chapters from Meat, Seafood, Side Dishes, Sweets, Stick and Sauces. What I found refreshing is the geographic and ethnic diversity of the recipe choices, suck as: Sicilian-style Beef Stew, Carne Guisada, Italian Pot Roast, Vietnamese Pho, Southwestern Pork Posole, German-style Pork Chops, Chicken Curry, Chinese Hainanese Chicken, Saag Paneer (India), Harira (Morocco), Grits with Greens and Fried Eggs, and hundreds more. Desserts too: Creme Brûlée, Blueberry Cornmeal Buckle, Sticky Toffee Pudding and Wine-Poached Pears. Yumm!

I am so looking forward to trying some of the unique and diverse recipes, as well as sauces and spices I’ve never previously tried. I’ll post pictures on Facebook.

There are so many good recipes in this collection with beautiful photos to go with them. Several of the meals are taken to the next level, making everything that much more of a great addition to any kitchen. It has perfect recipes for poaching fish, making scalloped potatoes, and even one for cheesecake and cinnamon rolls.

It makes the simple slow cooker recipes into dishes that are more complex, but without all the work of cooking straight on the stove. It’s a cookbook that makes several meals a lot easier to make as you just place it in the slow cooker for whatever time and heat specified and that is all there is to it. It makes it even easier with the tips added throughout the pages, along with the basics at the beginning and a how-to for those needing a little extra help in the use of the slow cooker.

There are some recipes that have a little more steps than others, but the process is worth it once you get to serve it to your family and friends. Especially once they get to eat it and it tastes like you took all day in the kitchen to make it. Some of those recipes include Duck Ragu, Indian-Style Fish Curry, Root Vegetable Confit with Pistachio Pesto, Sticky Toffee Pudding, and many more.

This collection has a variety of recipes and all have been tested before added into the pages, along with a photo of each recipe throughout the book. It makes this cookbook that much better as there aren’t many out there with colorful photos for every single recipe. This one has 110 of them, plenty to choose from and try out.

It’s definitely a cookbook to have for any person that uses a slow cooker often and those that are new to it will find that they will love cooking with it also. Especially with all the little extras almost to the end of the book, it is the perfect slow cooker cookbook to have in once kitchen or to gift to a loved one.

***I received this copy from Crown Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.***

This is weirdly good. I randomly checked this out searching for a way to cook a whole chicken in my new-from-craigslist crock pot. The recipe for Hainanese Chicken is, shockingly, absolutely delicious, though not particularly faithful (tastes more like Pho).

Edit: minus a star for calling shakshuka "Israeli breakfast"

Look, if I am interested in a slow cooker recipe it's because I want to dump things into my crockpot and then eat in a few hours.

I am not interested in cooking three different ingredients in different pans on my stove AND THEN putting them in the crockpot!

This does have nice pictures though.

Gorgeous photos and everything looks delicious. But honestly? I am way too lazy for half of these recipes. Was hoping for more simplicity. Can't spend $75 on herbs for one recipe, Martha.

Hahahaha- Martha!!

This is not your typical slow cooker cookbook. I’m used to the ‘5 ingredient slow cooker magic’ type books where everything comes out tasting like hot dish. There isn’t a can of cream of mushroom soup in this book! Prepare yourself for some prep work. Oh, and these will be expensive. Even beef chuck in today’s economy is out of my price range, so a lot of these recipes are beyond me at the moment. If I can’t afford beef chuck, I definitely can’t afford 4lbs of brisket.

But looking at the recipes was fun and some looked very delicious. Of course they will be delicious. It’s Martha! She knows what she’s doing, she’s just not a cook for the economically challenged people of this world.

I love the amount of pictures and the general outline of recipes. However, when I want to use a slow cooker or an instant pot, I'm looking to do things mostly as one-pot-wonders. There's way too many... braise this, broil that, [insert fancy ingredient here], [insert other gadget there]. I may refer back for ideas, but likely not.
PS. If you don't mind all the extra steps, the recipes look tasty.

Great easy to follow recipes! Purchased after borrowing from library!

Oh, Martha. It's like you've never encountered a slow cooker before... I don't need more recipes for chili, pulled pork, pot roast, chicken stock, overnight oats, or applesauce. I don't need 4 different recipes for duck, nor can I afford recipes calling for 6 C. duck fat, 2 C. of olive oil, or 2 whole branzino. These are all great ideas and the recipes sound lovely, but Martha is writing for people for whom slow cooking is a novelty, not a way of life for those of us trying to cram in healthy, tasty food while juggling work, commute, family, and other daily activities.

I bookmarked two recipes that felt unique and relatively easy to prepare.

h/t: Washington Post
Perhaps I should track down The Chef and the Slow Cooker instead...

I enjoy my slow cooker and I like Martha Stewart but there wasn't a thing in here that appealed to me. I really am a very lazy cook and I love to just throw stuff in to cook and walk away. Anything labor intensive about slow cooking beyond opening a can and I lose interest.

When it comes to preparing food with slow cookers, there are usually two types of cooks: those who regularly make use of this wonderful kitchen helper, and those who dust the cooker off now and then for holidays, pot-luck dinners, and the occasional pot roast. Slow cookers come in a wide range of sizes, functionality, and visual appeal. I still have my original Crock Pot (avocado green), and it still works quite well. I have newer cookers, one small and one large, but the “green machine” is still my favorite. It holds a lot of memories of good food and good family times. “Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker: 110 recipes for Flavorful, Foolproof Dishes (Including Desserts!), Plus Test-Kitchen Tips and Strategies” shines a new light on this old kitchen favorite, making it a “go to” meal-maker for modern families. More than a year’s research went into developing recipes and cooking techniques which make the most of the slow-cooker’s steady, even heat, minimal pot-watching, and the added benefits of less fat and more moisture in the prepared dish. Try poaching root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, and beets (Root-Vegetable Confit), and serve them over cooked grains, or as a flavorful side dish. Slow cookers are unbeatable at taking tougher, less-expensive cuts of meat like flank steak and turning them fork-tender (Ropa Vieja). Fish fillets will cook to perfection (Indian-Style Fish Curry). For richer flavor and deeper color, brown meats and sauté onions before adding them to the slow cooker (Persian Lamb Stew). It goes without saying that soup is a slow cooker classic, and you can make a spectacular vegetarian version (healthy, hearty Italian Ribollita Soup). For your sweet-tooth try delicious desserts (Cinnamon Buns) which are made even more scrumptious by the moist heat of the slow cooker. This is a delightful cookbook filled with mouth-watering food photos and recipes that will have you rethinking your tried & true menus and meal preparations, and you will appreciate the savings of food costs and time.

Book Copy Gratis Clarkson Potter Publishers via Blogging for Books

I was truly excited to get this book in the mail, because it’s always my goal to utilize my crock pot more than I currently do. Especially with cooler months coming along and the days are dark so much sooner.

To be honest, I’ve always been a bit leery about trying Martha Stewart’s cooking books, partially due to her crafty side that I always tended to attribute her skills towards. But, after watching her on the public television station, when I had the opportunity to try out this cookbook, I jumped at it.

The book overall is well put together and speaks quality. It isn’t something where the pages are a thin quality and cheaply put together. A lot of time and effort was spent in the design process.

Many of the recipes sound truly delightful and the carrot/honey was very tasty.

The one thing I had a problem with was that the recipes I would not necessarily classify in the “easy” category. There are a slew of ingredients, many of which, the typical home would not have on hand. Therefore, it would require a stop at the grocery story to stock up.

For me, the main issue was the amount of steps before placing all the ingredients into the crockpot to cook. Typically, when I start the slow cooker, it’s in the morning before work. So I do not have a lot of time to do very much prep to get the meal ready. What I can do in the evenings, I do. This is a book that would be great if you had someone who could do all the work for you, so that when you arrive home in the evening it is done. Or, you prepare on the weekends when time is a bit more plentiful.

All in all, I did enjoy the cookbook and will use it more in the future. Once I get all the ingredients and a weekend ready to try another recipe out.

This review contains my own thoughts and opinions. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.

You’ll never look at your slow cooker the same way again!

I have a whole new appreciation for my slow cooker and what it can do after looking through this book. While this book does provide some traditional slow cooker recipes for meals that can cook while you're out at work for the day, this book is a bit different and also includes some new recipes that show you how to utilize the unique benefits of the slow cooker cooking style to accomplish some amazing new feats. There are lots of recipes with new international flavors and styles. This is not just a collection of stew and chili recipes.

Martha Stewart shows how to combine the unique attributes of slow cooking with some additional cooking steps such as adding fresh herbs or broiling the final dish to get crispy chicken skin or a “sticky-glaze finish” on the ribs. I had never thought about poaching salmon in a slow cooker, but it seems to be a perfect process to cook salmon with the guarantee that you will not dry it out or overcook it. And it only takes an hour to poach salmon in the slow cooker.

In addition to a lot of main dish recipes this book also includes ideas for side dishes, breakfast, and some desserts (cheesecake!). My favorite part is that every recipe has a picture to show you what the end result should look like.

What a great update this recipe book gives to my old slow cooker. I've always loved that appliance and now there are so many more reasons to love it! I can't wait to try several of the recipes.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my fair and unbiased review.

Martha Stewart's Slow Cooker is full of beautiful, colorful photos to accompany the 110 recipes in this book.

Interestingly enough, Martha Stewart said she only recently started using a slow cooker and her mother didn't use one growing up. However, she said she has been impressed with the slow cookers she has tried out in recent years and now thinks of it as a "smart cooker." In the beginning of this book, she offers basic advice for using a slow cooker including the "Slow Cooker Commandments" and "How to Use a Slow Cooker" basics which include a few tips that I didn't know before. There are chapters on meat, poultry, seafood, meatless, side dishes, breakfast, sweets, and stocks and sauces.

My family eats more chicken and meatless dishes than other meats Martha includes. As a result, recipes for Pho, Chicken Chili Tacos, Chicken with 20 cloves of garlic, Coq au Vin, Barley Risotto with Fresh Mushrooms, Ribollita (Italian vegetarian soup, Maple Granola, Overnight Oatmeal, Peach Pecan Grunt, Sticky Toffee Pudding and Butterscotch Bread Pudding with Brown-Butter Rum Sauce.

I also think the recipes for basic stocks, sauces and jams will be good to use.

I think I will use about a quarter of these recipes. I wish there were more than that but we don't cook much for seafood since we live in the middle of the country where we don't get a lot of really fresh seafood like they do in New England. But the recipes I want to try look simple to follow with great pictures and good instructions.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Great Photos, Interesting Recipes

The best thing about this cookbook, next to the recipes, is the mouth watering pictures of the finished dishes. It made me want to try all of them.

The recipes are good and generally easy to make. However, there are often several steps that are done before or after using the slow cooker. This has the advantage of increasing the flavor of most dishes, but also adds preparation time. It’s a trade-off.

The book features useful information such as the Slow Cooker Commandments and The Basics, which are information included at the beginning of each chapter. The book contains recipes for meat, seafood, poultry, side dishes, stocks and sauces, breakfast and sweets. I found the content heavy on meat dishes. We don’t eat much meat. I would have preferred more meatless dishes. However, Spaghetti Boulognese is excellent.

The chapter on sauces and stocks is very helpful. The slow cooker is an excellent device for preparing stocks. The chapter on fish was also useful. We eat a great deal of salmon. It’s easy to overcook it. However, poaching in slow cooker makes it come out perfect.

I hadn’t really tried baking in a slow cooker, but the Blueberry Cornmeal Buckle turned out very well as did the Apple-Cranberry Crisp.

If you enjoy slow cooker cooking, this is a very helpful book.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

This is another great Martha Stewart cookbook. I use my slow cooker a lot and this book is filled with wonderful recipes with great pictures included. There are the usual slow cooker recipes that I expected to find like beef stew and coq a vin, but there were a lot of recipes in here that surprised me like pho and Vietnames baby back ribs. There are lots of international recipes that look great. There is also a section at the end for basic bases and sauces that I found very helpful. All in all this is a great new addition to my cookbook collection.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for an honest review.

Hubby retired 8 1/2 years ago and announced he would clean up after every meal I cooked from then on. Yes! (Before long he was asking if it was necessary for me to dirty every pot in the house when I cooked.) We laugh about some of the messes I make, and he really appreciates when I make dinner in the crockpot. I'm very impressed with this cookbook that is full of exotic recipes that aren't difficult to make. Each one has a beautiful photo. Once again I was able to find a Like New copy online with free shipping at 1/3rd the normal price. Although it's a paperback, it's a nice size that opens all the way and has larger, easier to read print.

Okay, so the recipes are good and sound. Why I marked this down, Martha states that she is not a user of a crock pot and obviously does not understand that they are usually used by people to make life easier. Several recipes require precooking ingredients, cooking parts of the meal after the crock pot items are complete and others were just very complicated. Also a lot of the recipes are things that the average user would already know how to do so I would have said it was a good book for people using their first crock pot, except for the complexity of the recipes.

The recipes I’ve made so far weren’t amazing, and some of the ones I skipped sounded disappointing compared to relatively easy recipes without a slow cooker. Often, I wondered if the slow cooker was necessary rather than stove-top.
With that said, I did learn some techniques for how to use a slow cooker (let it pre-heat) that I found useful, and I appreciated the additional steps (usually browning) rather than just dumping all the ingredients in and turning on. I borrowed this book from the library, and after trying a number of recipes, I won’t miss the book after I return it.

There are a lot of great recipes in here. There were quite a few negative reviews complaining about having to use another pot or pan, even though you may have to in order to get the best flavor. Some people complained about the "strange" recipes, or hard to find ingredients. I think some of these reviewers may prefer a Family Circle Magazine type of cookbook. I love Martha, and I think there is a nice variety in here, inspiring pictures. Sometimes if the recipe doesn't turn out for me, the pictures are still inspiring to try again, maybe with a different recipe.

Great book for the tips and strategies, but if you use a slow cooker often you're going to have a lot of these recipes already. She really excels at veggies and sides; also, the pictures are great. While a lot of these have some prep beforehand, if you have the kind of slow cooker that also browns, these are still one-pot meals.

It's a solid book, but I really expect groundbreaking, creative recipes from Martha and it kind of feels like she's hopping on the bandwagon here.

If you want to take your slow cooker to the next level, then this is the book for you. There is a nicely international selection of recipes, accompanied by delicious photos. There are tips to help you create more taste and texture in your slow cooked dishes, whether you follow these recipes or more familiar standbys.

The Meatless, Side Dishes, and Sweets sections are the areas that most interested me as I am a vegetarian. I found several recipes I’d like to try, should I ever get a slow cooker. Even if I don’t, there are recipes I want to make, based on the ingredients. I’m sure I’ll be able to find similar recipes on Martha Stewart’s website for regular cooking and/or baking.

Although I use mine in regular rotation, slow cookers can have the reputation of being a little bland in output. Upon flipping through this, I thought Martha could change that. Upon reading through it, I was convinced! These sound like extremely delicious and more high-end recipes for this overlooked kitchen wonder. I can't wait to start cooking through this.

I liked this book enough that I actually bought it after borrowing it from the library. You can make a lot more than beef stew in the crockpot. Martha Stewart doesn't give you the same old boring "chicken and a can of mushroom soup" type of recipes. And she also gives tips I never would have thought of, like warming up the crockpot before you put stuff in.