Fall crockpot recipes are the whole reason my slow cooker comes back out of the cupboard every October. Fifteen minutes in the morning, then you walk in the door at dinnertime and there’s pulled pork or beef stew or a big pot of creamy soup just sitting there waiting for you. These are the 12 I actually make on real weeknights, starting with the apple cider pulled pork, which is the one my family asks for the most.
It’s prime time for them right now, too. Pinterest searches for “fall crockpot recipes” in the US went up about 700% over the past month and were still up 80% in the last week of September 2026.
Hearty main dishes
1. Apple cider pulled pork
My featured recipe, it’s below. Pork shoulder cooks low and slow on a bed of apples and onions in cider and comes out sweet, tangy and falling apart. One batch feeds about 10, or my family of four twice, which is really the point.
2. Classic beef stew
I toss about 2 1/2 pounds of beef chuck in flour, brown it, then it goes in the slow cooker with carrots, potatoes, celery, onion, two cups of beef broth, a couple tablespoons of tomato paste and a splash of Worcestershire, 8 hours on low. A cup of frozen peas stirred in for the last 15 minutes. Crusty bread is not optional at my house.
3. Maple dijon chicken thighs
Whisk a quarter cup maple syrup, a quarter cup Dijon, two tablespoons soy sauce and some garlic, pour it over two pounds of boneless thighs and let it go 4 to 5 hours on low. Thighs stay juicy where breasts would dry out, trust me on that. Over rice with some roasted veggies and done.
4. Slow cooker pot roast
Grab a chuck or blade roast, throw it in with some onions, carrots and a little broth, and after 8 hours or so on low it just falls apart when you poke it. I wrote up the cut and timing in detail in my bolar blade roast in the slow cooker post.
5. Slow cooker cottage pie
The filling does its thing low and slow, then mashed potato on top and a few minutes under the broiler. Here’s my slow cooker cottage pie recipe.
6. White chicken chili
Everything goes in at once here, chicken breasts, a couple cans of white beans, green chiles, cumin, chicken broth. Six hours on low later I shred the chicken with two forks right there in the pot and stir in 4 oz of cream cheese till it’s melty. We pile avocado and smashed tortilla chips on top and fight over the last bowl.
Soups
7. Loaded potato soup in the crockpot
Thick and creamy, and we load it up like a baked potato with bacon, cheese, green onion, the works. In my crockpot loaded potato soup I explain why the dairy goes in at the end, which is something I got wrong for years (curdled soup is sad soup).
8. Butternut squash soup
Squash cubes, an onion, some garlic, one chopped apple and about four cups of broth, six hours on low, then I blitz it with a stick blender and a splash of cream. When I’ve got more time and want that deep roasty flavor I make my roasted butternut squash soup instead.
9. Lasagna soup
All the lasagna flavor with zero layering. The sauce and meat cook in the slow cooker, then broken lasagna noodles go in for the last half hour on high. My stovetop lasagna soup has the full list of ingredients.
Sides and something sweet
10. Crock pot mac and cheese
Creamy, no pot of boiling water, and it holds on warm for a party. Try my crock pot mac and cheese with Velveeta.
11. Slow cooker apple butter
I fill the slow cooker with about 5 pounds of peeled sliced apples, a cup of brown sugar, a tablespoon of cinnamon and a pinch of cloves. Ten hours on low, then blend it and let it cook with the lid off another hour or two till it’s thick. The house smells unbelievable the whole time, neighbors have literally knocked.
12. Hot spiced apple cider
I pour in a whole gallon of cider with three cinnamon sticks, a few cloves, an orange cut in rounds and a chunk of ginger, let it heat 2 or 3 hours on low and then just leave it on warm with a ladle. Best drink for a crowd on a chilly night and the kids drink it by the mugful.
RECIPE
Crockpot Apple Cider Pulled Pork
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp brown sugar packed
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 4 lb boneless pork shoulder (pork butt) trimmed, cut into 2 or 3 pieces
- 1 large yellow onion sliced
- 2 apples cored and sliced, Honeycrisp or Gala
- 4 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 cup apple cider
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup barbecue sauce optional
- 10 brioche buns
- 3 cups coleslaw
Method
- Mix the rub ingredients and press them all over the thawed pork.
- Optional but worth it: sear the pork in a hot oiled skillet for 2 to 3 minutes per side until browned.
- Spread the onion, apples and garlic in the slow cooker and set the pork on top.
- Whisk the cider, vinegar and mustard together and pour around the pork.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or HIGH for 5 to 6 hours, until the pork shreds easily with a fork.
- Lift the pork out, shred it with two forks and discard any large pieces of fat. Skim the fat from the juices.
- Return the pork to the slow cooker and toss with 1 cup of the juices and the barbecue sauce if using. Serve on buns with coleslaw.
Notes
Private Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Pulled pork tips that actually matter
Use pork shoulder, sometimes called pork butt or Boston butt, not pork loin. I made that swap once thinking leaner would be better, and it came out dry and stringy. Shoulder has the fat and connective tissue that melts over the long cook, that’s what you want.
Searing isn’t required, but three minutes a side in a hot skillet gives you a browned crust that flavors the whole pot, so I almost always do it. And don’t drown the meat. One cup of cider is plenty because the pork and apples let out a ton of their own juice, too much liquid and you basically end up boiling it.
Once it’s shredded I mix the meat with roughly a cup of the juices from the pot, give it a taste, and add a bit more juice or some barbecue sauce if it needs it. Moist, not soupy, is what you’re going for.
Slow cooker safety, the short version
The USDA’s slow cooker tips are pretty simple and I try to actually follow them. Thaw your meat first, since frozen meat sits too long at unsafe temps while the pot warms up. I put the veggies in on the bottom because they cook slower and need to be closest to the heat. I aim to have it between half and two thirds full (too empty and things overcook, too full and they might not cook through), and I try really hard not to lift the lid, because every peek lets heat out and adds cooking time. I fail at that last one a lot.
Making it work on busy weeks
What saves me is prepping the night before. I chop the veggies and mix the rub or sauce, put it all right in the slow cooker insert and stick it in the fridge. In the morning the insert goes in the base and I flip it on. Some ceramic inserts should sit on the counter for 15 minutes first, check what your manufacturer says, because sudden temperature changes can crack them.
A lot of these freeze really well too. Pulled pork, beef stew, white chicken chili and any soup without dairy all keep about 3 months in freezer bags laid flat.
Questions I get about slow cooking
Can I cook these on high instead of low?
Yes. Rough rule, one hour on high is about two on low. But tough cuts like pork shoulder and beef chuck come out more tender on low, so I use high only when I’m running late.
Is it ok to leave it on while I’m at work?
That’s what it’s made for. Keep it on a heat-safe counter away from the wall and anything that could catch, and if yours has an automatic warm setting, even better.
Do I really have to brown the meat first?
Not for safety, no. It’s just flavor and color, and for stew and pulled pork it really does make a difference.
What size slow cooker should I get?
Mine’s a 6 quart and it handles basically everything, including a 4 pound pork shoulder.
One last tip: for anything cheesy or sugary like the mac and cheese or the apple butter, use a liner or rub a little oil around the inside of the pot first. Saves you a long soak and a lot of scrubbing.
