Credit: Dan Jones
Stylist Loves
Bored Of Lunch – Six Ingredient Slow Cooker: 3 easy recipes that require only 6 ingredients and are cooked entirely in your slow cooker
5 months ago
All products on this page have been selected by the editorial team, however Stylist may make commission on some products purchased through affiliate links in this article
4 min read
Save on time, effort and forgetting half of the ingredients with these handy six-ingredients slow cooker recipes.
Whether it’s a pasta dish, noodles or even a salad, sometimes the simplest of recipes can call for an ingredient list as long as your arm. And there’s nothing worse than starting dinner on any given weeknight only to realise you’re missing an ingredient that’s pivotal to the recipe. It’s a surefire way to make us give up on cooking and turn to a trusty food delivery app.
Credit: Ebury Press
But whether you’re attempting to cut down on takeaways or are just after some fresh recipe inspiration, Bored of Lunch: Six Ingredient Slow Cooker is here to offer up plenty of simple solutions. Living up to its name, not only does every single recipe only need six ingredients – whether it’s a fakeaway favourite, a weekend winner or a hearty curry – everything is also cooked entirely in your slow cooker, so there’s no need to use up multiple pans and be left with a pile of washing up. And while a certain amount of forethought is needed to get your cooker on in time, with as little as 10 minutes prep required, these recipes are as fuss-free as you can get for busy weekdays.
Black Lentil Dal
Nathan says: “This gorgeous black dal is an alternative spin on one of my favourite midweek meals. I hadn’t tried black dals until having this in a London restaurant and it’s now a firm favourite. Where have these been all my life? Feel free to add some cream in at the end.”
Serves 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 250g dried whole black lentils
- 2 tbsp curry paste (I love korma with this one)
- 400g passata
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- 100g half-fat butter
- 100ml double cream (optional)
Method
Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker, apart from the cream, along with 900ml of boiling water or chicken stock and some salt and pepper.
Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
Stir in the cream, if using, season and enjoy.
Serving note:
Perfect with warm flatbreads for dunking in. You could also garnish the bowls of dal with some fresh coriander leaves scattered over.
Creamy Butternut Squash and Lemon Linguine
Nathan says: “This gorgeous veggie linguine, with the flavour of lemon punching through, plus a good glug of cream, is all you need for those weekdays when you fancy a tasty meatless meal.”
Serves 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1kg frozen butternut squash cubes
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- zest and juice of 1 large lemon or 2 small lemons
- handful of fresh sage leaves, chopped, plus extra leaves to garnish
- 350g dried linguine
- 100ml double cream
Method
Put all the ingredients into the slow cooker, apart from the pasta and cream, and add 100ml of boiling water or vegetable stock and some salt and pepper. Cook on high for 2–3 hours or low for 4–5 hours.
Towards the end of the cooking time, cook the linguine in a pan of boiling water until al dente, then drain and reserve some of the cooking water.
Blitz the sauce in the slow cooker with a hand blender, and if it needs loosening, add a few tablespoons of the reserved pasta water.
Stir through the warm cooked linguine and cream, close the lid and heat for 2–3 minutes on high, then serve garnished with an extra grind of pepper and the sage leaves.
Beef and Bacon Hotpot
Nathan says: “Hotpots in any form are the perfect winter warmer, and this really is a hug in a pot. I suggest using beef stock with a splash of red wine here, if you have some to hand – or forgo the wine and just use beef stock.”
Serves 6
Prep: 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1kg braising steak, diced
- 8 smoked streaky bacon rashers, roughly chopped
- 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme, plus extra leaves to garnish
- 2 onions, chopped
- 500ml beef stock
- 500g potatoes, thinly sliced (leave the skin on)
Method
Brown the beef in a hot frying pan in 1 tablespoon of oil for 2 minutes, then add the bacon and cook everything for another few minutes.
Once the beef is seared and the bacon golden, add the beef and bacon and all the other ingredients, apart from the potatoes, to the slow cooker and season well with salt and pepper. Cook on high for 3–4 hours or low for 6–7 hours.
For the last hour and a half of cooking, add 2 heaped tablespoons of cornflour blended with 2 tablespoons of water to the slow cooker and mix in. Then layer the thinly sliced potatoes on top, season with black pepper and allow them to cook in the slow cooker.
Once the last hour and a half is up, brush the top of the potatoes with 1 tablespoon of oil and place the ovenproof slow cooker pot under a hot grill for 10–15 minutes, or until the potatoes start to go golden. Serve immediately, garnished with extra rosemary or thyme leaves.
Tip
Slice the potatoes as thinly as you can!
Bored of Lunch: Six Ingredient Slow Cooker by Nathan Anthony (Ebury Press, £20) is out now
Photography: Dan Jones
Sign up for our edit of what to buy, see, read and do.
By signing up you agree to occasionally receive offers and promotions from Stylist. Newsletters may contain online ads and content funded by carefully selected partners. Don’t worry, we’ll never share or sell your data. You can opt-out at any time. For more information read Stylist’s Privacy Policy
Thank you!
You’re now subscribed to all our newsletters. You can manage your subscriptions at any time from an email or from a MyStylist account.