Food Soups & Stews Hearty Slow-Cooker Soups, Stews & Chilies By Midwest Living editors Midwest Living editors Midwest Living's experienced editors create best-in-class travel, lifestyle, food, home and garden content you won't find anywhere else. We're loudly, proudly Midwestern, and we're passionate about helping our audience explore and create through award-winning storytelling. Midwest Living's Editorial Guidelines Updated on March 5, 2023 Trending Videos Photo: Jason Donnelly Make cheesy potato soup, black bean chili, beef stew and more with our kitchen-tested recipes. 01 of 23 Mexican Meatball Stew Jason Donnelly This easy slow-cooker meal has just five ingredients, all packaged or canned. Toss it together in minutes. 5-Ingredient (Or Less) Dinner Recipes View Recipe 02 of 23 Slow-Cooked Chickpeas with Saffron. Carson Downing This stew appears in the cookbook On the Curry Trail, by Raghavan Iyer (Workman, $30). You can use our recipe for the Moroccan spice blend ras al hanout, or purchase ras al hanout at specialty stores or online. Top Vegetarian Recipes View Recipe 03 of 23 Red Bean, Chicken, and Sweet Potato Stew Vitamin-rich sweet potatoes and creamy peanut butter complement spicy Cajun seasoning in this easy chicken slow-cooker stew. View Recipe 04 of 23 Chipotle Black-Bean Chili This chili is great for tucking into your slow cooker in the morning, so you can come home to a warm dinner. Omit the meat if you'd prefer a hearty meatless main dish. If you like, add chopped avocado or shredded cheese as toppers before serving. View Recipe 05 of 23 Tomatillo Chicken Soup Tomatillos (the key ingredient in green salsa) look like green tomatoes with papery husks. Although they can be eaten raw, we like to cook tomatillos with other ingredients to mellow and balance their tart flavor. Sizzling Mexican and Tex-Mex Recipes View Recipe 06 of 23 Smoky Beef, Black Bean and Corn Chili Blaine Moats This hands-off, slow-cooker recipe has just a pound of ground beef and a can of stock. All the rest of the heft and taste comes from black beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, smoked paprika, chipotle peppers and corn tortillas. Warm-You-Up Chili Recipes View Recipe 07 of 23 Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup This 170-calorie slow-cooker version of a classic comfort food takes just 25 minutes of prep and uses reduced-fat cream cheese in its creamy homemade broth. 25 Healthy Dinner Recipes View Recipe 08 of 23 Lentil-Ham Soup Fresh spinach and sliced carrots add a vitamin-rich veggie punch to this easy slow-cooker soup. Top with shaved Parmesan, if you like. View Recipe 09 of 23 Cheesy Potato Soup Potato, bacon and cheese—all the flavors you love in a bowl of soup! The American cheese keeps the soup from curdling while it slow cooks. Mashing cooked potatoes a bit gives the soup some body, while the bacon adds a smoky-salty taste. Smoky, Sizzling Bacon Recipes View Recipe 10 of 23 Slow-Cooker Brat and Sauerkraut Soup Potatoes, onion, sauerkraut and brats pack in the German flavor in this homey slow-cooker soup. Try with Whole Wheat Pretzel Rolls; the soft pretzels' chewy, brown exterior comes from being boiled in an alkaline solution—the 1/4 cup baking soda in the water isn't a typo! View Recipe 11 of 23 Soy-Ginger Soup with Chicken Somen are thin Japanese wheat noodles. Find them at Asian groceries or large supermarkets, or substitute vermicilli in this light chicken soup. Soul-Satisfying Asian Soup Recipes View Recipe 12 of 23 Beef and Sweet Potato Stew Sweet potatoes, cumin, cinnamon, and dried apricots or plums add a North African flavor to this lower-sodium version of slow-cooker beef. View Recipe 13 of 23 Italian Vegetable Soup Purchased pesto adds zip to this veggie-barley slow-cooked soup. Serve with a sandwich for a light meal. Vegetable Soup Recipes View Recipe 14 of 23 Chicken Chili Short on time? Move the slow-cooker setting for this mild white chili recipe to high. If you like, serve in store-bought bread bowls. View Recipe 15 of 23 Chicken and White Bean Stew Great Northern or cannellini beans blend with chicken thighs and purchased Alfredo sauce in this easy-to-assemble meal. Serve with crusty bread and tossed salad. View Recipe 16 of 23 Warm-Me-Up Chicken Chili Combine chicken, chopped vegetables and canned beans for this warm-and-comforting chili. Our recipe gives variations for Slow Cooker Chicken Chili as well as a spicier Chipotle Chicken Chili. View Recipe 17 of 23 Slow-Cooked Minestrone Ground beef turns this soup into a satisfying meal. Top the slow-cooked main-dish soup with fresh-grated Parmesan cheese. View Recipe 18 of 23 Sausage and Tortellini Soup Prep time is just 10 minutes for this slow-cooker soup; combine canned Italian-style stewed tomatoes, frozen green beans, water, a can of onion soup and turkey sausage. Add coleslaw mix and refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini 15 minutes before serving. View Recipe 19 of 23 Loaded Bratwurst Stew Smoked bratwurst, cabbage and potatoes cook in a mixture of broth, mustard, vinegar, and spices. You can try kielbasa or a flavored chicken sausage in place of the smoked bratwurst if you prefer. View Recipe 20 of 23 New World Chili Pumpkin, dried cranberries, jalapeno peppers, and turkey add a distinctive flavor twist to slow-simmering chili. View Recipe 21 of 23 Slow Cooker Three-Bean Chili What's the secret ingredient in this recipe? Chocolate syrup, which adds a rich taste to a blend of kidney beans, black beans and small white beans. Rinse canned beans to reduce the sodium. View Recipe 22 of 23 Nacho Cheese Chicken Chowder This 5-ingredient slow-cooker chowder goes together in minutes and then cooks two hours on high or four to five hours on low. Serve with breadsticks for dipping. View Recipe 23 of 23 Fireside Beef Stew with Root Vegetables Cranberry juice makes a surprise appearance in this slow-cooker main dish. The juice adds a little sweetness to the winter veggie-packed soup. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit