If you’re still debating buying a slow cooker, check out our best slow cookers review where we’ve tried and tested the best models on the market to find the perfect for you, whether you want a budget model or a high-tech option to cook for the whole family.
For more inspiration, check out our cookbooks hub with all our reviews, including the best air fryer cookbooks, best baking books, the best keto cookbooks or best vegetarian cookbooks. We’ve also got plenty of slow cooker recipes on Good Food – from slow cooker chicken recipes to healthy slow cooker recipes.
Best slow cooker cookbooks at a glance
- Best for minimal effort: Quick Prep, Slow Cook by Charlotte Pike, £14.05
- Best for vegetarian slow cooking: The Green Slow Cooker by Heather Whinney, £17.99
- Best for meal plans: What’s For Dinner? In One Pot by Sarah Rossi, £14.99
- Best for slow cooker beginners: The Ultimate Slow Cooker Cookbook by Clare Andrews, £11
- Best for healthy slow cooker recipes: Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Slow Cooker Book by Nathan Anthony, £11
- Best slow cooker bible: Good Food Ultimate Slow Cooker Recipes, £13.59
- Best for easy healthy slow cooker recipes: Bored of Lunch: Healthy Slow Cooker Even Easier by Nathan Anthony, £10
- Best for vegan slow cooker recipes: Vegan Slow Cooker by Saskia Sidey, £7
- Best for all-year-round slow cooking: Cook Slow: Light & Healthy by Dean Edwards, £14.19
Best slow cooker cookbooks to buy in 2025
Quick Prep, Slow Cook by Charlotte Pike
Best for minimal effort
A perk of a slow cooker is that it can do the work without you needing to spend time hovering over it – but this book really dials up the hands-off time with each recipe only needing 10 mins prep. Trained chef and food writer Charlotte Pike has lots of inspiration to shake up a tired recipe rotation – discover warming veggie stews, braised meat, pasta dishes, a whole chapter of curries, and hearty puddings.
Must-try recipe: Lamb birria tacos
Available from:
Waterstones (£16.99)
Amazon (£14.05)
The Green Slow Cooker by Heather Whinney
Best for vegetarians
When you think of slow cooking, you might immediately picture stews, casseroles and slow-cooked meat, but it’s a versatile gadget for vegetarians, too. This book is full of meat-free slow cooker recipes and is structured to help you use it all year round, so choose from the ‘Light and Bright’ chapter in summer and the ‘Warming and Hearty’ chapter on cold winter days. You might not think of using your slow cooker in summer, but it’s a great way to avoid getting hot in the kitchen – think saffron rice with asparagus or spring green minestrone.
Must-try recipe: Greek-style stuffed peppers with rice and tomatoes
Available from:
Waterstones (£22)
Amazon (£17.99)
‘What’s For Dinner? In One Pot’ by Sarah Rossi
Best for meal plans
We know people love a meal plan and this clever book has 100 recipes, plus 10 meal plans with shopping lists. Each meal plan includes six dinners (leaving one night for some flexibility or leftovers), a breakfast for the weekend and a treat to bake. Every recipe in the book uses one of three pans: slow cooker, a sauté pan/casserole dish or a baking tray – so you don’t need tons of equipment. Rossi focuses on short ingredients lists and accessible family meals – think turkey taco rice, creamy gnocchi traybake or nacho loaded fries. We particularly like that even the slow cooker recipes have instructions for if you don’t have one, and there’s plenty of additional tips on every page.
Must try recipe: Sticky ginger ham
Available from:
Waterstones (£20)
Amazon (£14.99)
The Ultimate Slow Cooker Cookbook by Clare Andrews
Best for slow cooker beginners
If you’ve just bought a slow cooker and aren’t sure where to start, this slow cooker bible is a good place to start. As well as 80 recipes, there’s a useful general guide on how to approach slow cooking different ingredients such as jacket potatoes, a whole chicken or lamb chops. Recipes include familiar slow cooker staples as well as new ideas such as a veggie Lancashire hotpot, whole roast chicken cooked in cider and red Thai prawn noodles.
Must try recipe: Whole chicken cooked in cider
Available from:
Amazon (£11)
Waterstones (£20)
Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Slow Cooker Book by Nathan Anthony
Best for healthy slow cooker recipes
While slow cookers may often be associated with cosy comfort food, Nathan Anthony’s approach focuses on ‘calorie-conscious’ meals. Letting the slow cooker do the work means recipe methods are short (usually just 1-2 steps) and easily approachable even for novice cooks. If you’re trying to be healthy, there’s clear calorie information for every recipe, including any additional side dish recommendations. Chapters include ‘Fakeaways’, ‘Weekday Dinners’ and ‘Feeding a Crowd’.
Must try recipe: Mango chicken curry
Available from:
Amazon (£11)
Waterstones (£20)
Good Food: Ultimate Slow Cooker Recipes
Best slow cooker bible
We had to give a shoutout to our own collection of slow cooker recipes. We’ve produced hundreds of meal ideas over the years and this collection rounds up 150 of our favourites. Classics such as curries, chillis and hearty stews are covered along with new ideas and clever slow cooked puddings.
Available from:
Amazon (£13.59)
Waterstones (£16.99)
Bored of Lunch: Healthy Slow Cooker Even Easier by Nathan Anthony
Best for easy healthy slow cooker recipes
Following on from his original Healthy Slow Cooker book above, Nathan Anthony returns with more easy, healthy slow cooker ideas. Every recipe in the book is under 500 calories, giving lighter twists on many simple classic recipes. The highlight of this book is the ‘Meal prep, batch and freeze’ chapter giving ideas such as teriyaki beef bowls, saag aloo and creamy veggie bakes – batch cook at the weekend and then eat healthily all week. The easiest recipes are also marked with a handy logo when they take just five minutes or less prep time.
Must try recipe: Sticky whisky BBQ ribs
Available from:
Amazon (£10)
Waterstones (£14.99)
Vegan Slow Cooker by Saskia Sidey
Best for vegan slow cooker recipes
While slow cookers are commonly associated with casseroles and large cuts of meat, this short book of 70 recipes shows there’s plenty of vegan ways to use one, too. Aside from chapters on breakfasts and sweet treats, the two main course chapters are cleverly divided into ‘3 hours or less’ and ‘More than 3 hours’, so you can decide just how slow you want to cook. Ingredients are familiar and make the most of vegetables and spices rather than complex vegan alternatives.
Must try recipe: Whole spiced cauliflower
Available from:
Amazon (£7)
Waterstones (£12.99)
Cook Slow: Light & Healthy by Dean Edwards
Best for all-year-round slow cooking
On a mission to show that slow cooking doesn’t just have to be winter comfort food, this collection from Dean Edwards of healthier, nourishing recipes aims to help you use your slow cooker all year round. There’s over 90 recipes and all also have conventional oven methods for helpful comparison. Our highlights were the recipes where the slow cooker provides real benefits, such as the vegan black bean ‘meatball’ marinara and ‘melt-in-your-mouth’ teriyaki beef. Recipes are also clearly labelled when gluten free, if this is useful to you.
Must try recipe: Chipotle jackfruit tacos
Available from:
Amazon (£14.19)
Waterstones (£16.99)
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