Malibu’s Top Chef!
Creamy Potato Soup
Ingredients:
1 (30 oz.) bag frozen hash-brown potatoes (I use the squared, southern style)
2 (14 oz.) cans chicken broth
1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
1/2c chopped onion
1/3 tsp. ground black pepper
1 (8oz) package cream cheese (softened)
Garnish: minced green onion
Directions:
1. In a slow cooker, combine potatoes, broth, soup, onion, and pepper.
2. Cover, and cook on low for 5 hours.
3. Stir in cream cheese, cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until combined.
4. Garnish with green onion.
8 Second Taco Soup
Place frozen or thawed chicken breasts in the crockpot
Cover with Salsa
Cook in crockpot all day
READY for dinner!!
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Chili
Ingredients
1 pound of ground chicken
1 can white navy beans, drained and rinsed
14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes, drained
4 cups chicken broth
¼ - ½ cup buffalo wing sauce (start with ¼ cup and add more at end if needed)
1 package ranch dressing mix
1 cup frozen corn kernels
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon celery salt
½ teaspoon dried cilantro
¼ teaspoon salt
8 oz cream cheese
Blue cheese crumbles (optional)
Instructions
1. Brown ground chicken until fully cooked, place in crock (or brown ahead of time and store in fridge until ready to
assemble)
2. Add remaining ingredients except for cream cheese and blue cheese and give it all a stir to combine
3. Add block of cream cheese on the top and cover
4. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8
5. Stir to incorporate cream cheese and add additional wing sauce as desired
6. Top individual bowls with blue cheese crumbles if desired
Easy Taco Soup
Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
1 envelope taco seasoning
1-1/2 cups water
1 can (16 ounces) mild chili beans, undrained
1 can (15-1/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) stewed tomatoes
1 can (10 ounces) diced tomato with green chilies
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies, optional
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
Sausage Wild Rice Soup
2 lbs. Ground Mild Italian sausage
2 large onions, chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
3 cartons (32 ounces each) chicken broth
1 can (28 ounces) tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 package (6 ounces) fresh baby spinach coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 Cup uncooked wild rice (cook per pkg directions)
In a stockpot, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Remove and set aside. In the same pan, sauté
onions in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, basil and oregano.
Return sausage to the pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Stir in spinach, salt, pepper and wild rice; heat through. Yield: 5 quarts
Recipe for Slow Cooker Parmesan, Sausage and Kale Soup
Makes 10 servings
Ideal slow cooker: 5-6 quart
Cooking time: 4 hours on low
1 lb ground Italian sausage (I used mild)
1 small onion, finely diced
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 celery rib, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced or shredded
2 cups cubed red potatoes (I cut them into fairly small cubes)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground thyme
1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
5 kale leaves
1. In a pan, brown the sausage for 3-4 minutes. Add in the onion and continue cooking until sausage is completely
cooked through. Add sausage and onion to the slow cooker.
2. Add broth, water, celery, carrot, potatoes, garlic powder, thyme and parsley to the slow cooker.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours, or until potatoes are tender.
4. In a small bowl combine salt, pepper, and flour. In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter over medium low
heat. Stir in flour mixture by tablespoon at a time to form a roux. Whisk in milk, a little at a time, until fully incorporated
and smooth.
5. Stir cream mixture into slow cooker and then let cook on high without the lid for 15 more minutes.
6. While soup is cooking add Parmesan cheese into the soup. Cut up kale leaves* into bite size (or smaller) pieces and
add to the soup. Ladle into soup bowls and serve.
*I lay a piece of kale on a cutting board and then cut off the leaf portion and discard the rib and stem. It's kind of time
consuming but the stem is bitter and tough...you won't want to eat it.
Ham, Mac, and Cheese Soup
Here is the recipe that I used for the Ham Mac and Cheese Soup. Because I am not one to measure things out properly
and have a tendency to forget some items I did edit a few things. I omitted the Dijon mustard and flour. I also used Ritonii
noodles and shredded Monterary cheddar Cheese. This is actually a stovetop soup which you can make rather quickly.
Combine half and half, butter and chicken broth in a large sauce pan bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. If using
cockpot cook on high until heated, reduce heat to low. Dice ham and add with the chicken broth mixture. Cook noodle
until al dente. 15 minutes before you are ready to serve mix the noodles in the cockpot with cheese. Careful with the
noodles as they will continue to cook and become musher the longer they cook.
Crockpot Vegetarian Lasagna
Ingredients
1 large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 container of low-fat cottage cheese
1 frozen tray of TGIF (or BJs brand) Spinach Artichoke dip
Shredded cheese (whatever type and amount you like, we use the Mexican combination from BJs and lots of it)
Shredded parmesan cheese
Lasagna noodles
*For meat eaters, hamburger meat can be precooked and added to the recipe
1. Cook the lasagna noodles according to the directions on the box
2. *If you are a meat eater, cook whatever amount of hamburger meat you’d like (cooking chopped onions with the
meat adds to the flavor)
3. Microwave the spinach artichoke dip
4. Coat the bottom of the crockpot with plain spaghetti sauce
5. While the noodles are cooking, combine the remainder of the jar of spaghetti sauce, container of cottage cheese,
microwaved tray of spinach artichoke dip and as much shredded cheese as you like (*meat eaters would add the
cooked hamburger meat to this combination as well). Stir well so everything is nicely mixed together.
6. Place in the crockpot one layer of noodles, there will be excess noodle because they are longer than the crockpot
7. Spoon the first layer of the spaghetti sauce mixture on top of the noodles. For the excess noodle you can either
fold it and place the sauce over it or once you place the sauce, fold the excess noodle on top of the sauce mixture.
8. Place another layer of noodles, then cover it with the spaghetti sauce mixture.
9. Continue until you run out of noodles or run out of sauce.
10. Sprinkle shredded parmesan on top to your taste.
11. Turn on the crockpot and let it cook: if you’re cooking in the morning, the low setting will be sufficient for the
lasagna to be ready by dinner; if you want it done in a few hours, cook it on the high setting for about 3 to 4
hours.
Side note: Depending on how you like your lasagna, adjust the ingredient amounts. I like it very saucing so sometimes
add an extra half-jar of spaghetti sauce. I also love the spinach artichoke dip so sometimes add an extra half or whole
tray. When I tried to use the no-bake noodles, the lasagna was gummy so I wouldn’t recommend those noodles.
Bon appetite!