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Best Tips for Slow-Cooker Stews, Chilis & Curries


Think Differently About Thickeners
It's hard enough to create healthy, hearty stews and chilis on the stovetop, where you
Have the benefit of browning and decrease to come up with large, bold flavors, not to mention
Complete control of temperature to make certain that everything is cooked properly. But in the
Slow cooker, achieving this is even tougher.
Sure, the moist, gentle heat of the slow cooker helps nourish lean proteins without much
Additional fat, but it took some test kitchen creativity to come up with slow-cooker stews and
Chilis that were equally healthy and worthy of the dinner table. Here's What we have
learned. (For more information, see our guide on vegetable and chicken broths and their
sodium contents.)

We worked hard to pack our stews with interesting combinations of vegetables, so
Naturally we also focused a great deal of focus on ensuring that they were perfectly cooked.
For stews that had a short stay in the toaster, sturdier vegetables like potatoes and
Carrots, depending on how large they were cut, just could not cook through properly. In
These instances, we parcooked them before adding them into the slow cooker. For longercooking
Stews, the reverse was often the case, with vegetables turning mushy,
In these instances, we often needed to slow down their
Cooking by attaching them in a foil packet and placing it on top of the stew.

Adjust the Ratio of Meat to Vegetables
Meat stews are traditionally heavy on the meat and light on the vegetables. In order to
Create healthier stews, we restricted the quantity of meat to 4 ounces (once trimmed) per
Person and added plenty of extra vegetables--this retained portion sizes ample but trimmed

Calories and fat substantially.
For a slow-cooker chili that was both healthy and out of the ordinary, we looked for a
Way to pair sweet potatoes with a Southern staple: earthy black-eyed peas.

Over the years, we've learned that the microwave is a great ally when creating slowcooker
recipes. In many (but not all) recipes it can remove the need to get out a skillet,
Especially if you're just softening aromatics and blooming spices.
This method generally requires less fat--just a teaspoon or two of oil.
We add delicate fresh veggies at the end of a long cooking time, we often simply
"steam" them in the microwave with a little water before adding them into the slow cooker.
This helps the vegetables cook with No loss of taste and ensures that they stay
bright and crisp-tender.
Microwave and Use Less Fat

The moist heat environment and long cooking times that come with the slow cooker are
Notorious for muting tastes, so many stews need a flavor boost before serving. you'll
See that we often finish our stews (and other dishes) with fresh herbs, citrus juice,
Vinegar, or other yummy ingredients, like brown sugar and coconut milk.

Since there is no opportunity for stews to reduce and thicken naturally in the moist
Environment of the slow cooker, thickeners are often necessary. Classic fat- and flourbased
Roux add undesirable work (and fat) because they require additional stovetop cooking to
Remove the raw flour taste. When possible, we try to use ingredients in the
stew to help thicken it. We have found success processing parts of canned beans
And frozen corn prior to building the stew foundation, or finishing a stew by mashing a few of
The cooked beans and vegetables. If all else fails, we typically grab Immediate tapioca,
Which we have found through the years to be a amazing no-fuss thickener which can be stirred
In at the start.