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Ovens & Ranges

13 Super Bowl snacks you can easily make in your slow cooker

For easy game day eats, use your slow cooker.

football snacks Credit: Getty Images / arinahabich

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It's that time of year when turning on your TV means watching men in shoulder pads run around and bump into each other on a field. Somehow there's a ball involved, and a thing called field goals, and some animal mascots… Okay, you caught me—I’m not much of a sports-ball fan. I’m in it for the food.

But oh, what glorious food accompanies a rousing game of football. Wings that coat everything you touch in a rich layer of sauce, dips that ooze delicious cheese, and giant bowls of steaming hot chili. And you can make it all in the king of game day snack-makers: your slow cooker.

Here's why you need a slow cooker for the Super Bowl

Cuisinart slow cooker
Credit: Reviewed.com / Kyle Looney

Slow cookers are the epitome of set-it-and-forget-it. Toss in your ingredients in the morning, and your food should be done by the time everyone’s worked up an appetite from yelling at the TV. That frees you up to prepare for any guests coming over to collectively yell at the men with the shoulder pads while they run around because sports.

A slow cooker also means you won’t be dirtying up tons of bowls and cookware, so it makes for an easier cleanup. I don’t know about you, but I’m touchDOWN with that.

If you don’t have a slow cooker yet, there’s plenty of time to grab one off of Amazon before game day. We’ve tested several and especially loved cooking in the Cuisinart 3-in-1 Cook Central 6-Quart Multi-cooker, which we used to make melt-in-your-mouth-delicious pulled pork. If you’re looking to spend a little less, we’ve also tried and adored Crock Pot’s cheaper 6-quart cooker.

Here's what you should make in your slow cooker

For your big TV Yelling/Sportsball gathering, it’s often best to stick with variations on the tried-and-true classics. Though they may not be the healthiest foods, you can't go wrong with some good ol' wings and dip.

Wings

chicken wings
Credit: Getty Images / jeehyun

Wings are the ultimate crowd-pleaser, despite also being the messiest.

  1. Delish has a great recipe for Buffalo Ranch Wings.
  2. You can also try Delish's Barbecue Bourbon Chicken Wings for more sophisticated flavor.
  3. Go a little less traditional with Betty Crocker’s recipe for Teriyaki wings.
  4. Sriracha lovers will want to try an easy Sticky Chicken Wings recipe from Damn Delicious.

Dips

dips
Credit: Getty Images / Magone

It’s never a bad time to dunk crackers, chips, or veggies into some kind of cheesy dip, but most of the year we simply don’t. But come game day, we give ourselves free rein to dunk away. Make sure you serve your delicious creation in an especially super...bowl (wink!).

  1. French Onion Dip is a classic, and this recipe from The Domestic Front uses real carmelized onions.
  2. Damn Delicious’ Spinach and Artichoke Dip is another veg-friendly classic.
  3. Placate any meat lovers with Cheesy Bacon Jalapeno Corn Dip from Host the Toast.

Sandwiches and Sliders

sandwiches
Credit: Getty Images / tvirbickis

Game day sandwiches are just a way to pretend that meat in sauce is a finger food. You can eat these succulent recipes sans silverware, but be prepared to make a bit of a mess.

  1. How about Meatball Sliders with Tomato Sauce from Southern Living?
  2. Or Just a Taste’s Balsamic Honey Pulled Pork, served on a fluffy bun?
  3. Or maybe you’d prefer The Beeroness’ Slow Cooker Beer Brisket Sandwiches topped with horseradish sour cream? The choice is yours.

Chili

chili
Credit: Getty Images / bhofack2

If you’re looking to provide guests with a filling meal rather than a series of finger foods, you may want to serve up a big pot of chili.

  1. Gimme Some Oven’s Slow Cooker Chili recipe boasts ingredients like ground beef and chipotles in adobo (one of my favorite ingredients to add rich, smoky flavor).
  2. Half-Baked Harvest’s Crockpot Beef Chili features spices like smoked paprika, cumin, and cinnamon.
  3. If you’d rather forgo the meat, Real Simple has a vegetarian chili recipe full of sweet potatoes and multiple kinds of beans. Yum!

Beer

Credit: Canva

Just kidding. Don’t try to make this in your slow cooker. Go buy some at the store! And hey, no matter which recipes you go with, take comfort in the fact that your slow cooker will do most of the work for you. And whether you’re watching the game for the sports, the company, the commercials, or the food, that’s something to celebrate.

So which slow cooker should you buy?

For the best game day food, you need the best kitchen gadgets. After testing several slow cookers, we fell in love with the Cuisinart 3-in-1 Cook Central 6-Quart Multi-cooker as our top slow cooker. Not only did this cooker perform near perfect on all of our food tests, it was by far the easiest to use and to keep at a safe temperature on a warm setting. Another great slow cooker we tested is the Crock Pot 6-quart cooker. This cooker, too, did very well during testing and is intuitive to use. Not to mention, it's hard to beat the price. Happy Super Bowl-ing!

Get the Cuisinart 3-in-1 Cook Central 6-Quart Multi-Cooker on Amazon for $111.19 Get the Crock-Pot 6-Quart Slow Cooker on Amazon for $27.61

To see how other slow cookers performed in testing, check out Reviewed.com.

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