Crock-Pot Seasoning Mixes and Recipes

As anyone that has read this blog for any amount of time knows I love my crock-pot. I make slow cooker recipes at least once a week and rely on them during the week to save time. Since my oldest is in school now and I am home schooling my youngest for pre-school my days seem to have less time instead of the more that I expected. I try to make as many things as I can from scratch, but there are still those days where I run out of time. During these days it's great to have kitchen 'helpers' which allow me to use fresh ingredients in combination with pre-packaged mixes. I was fortunate enough to be given 3 pouches of Crock-Pot Seasoning Mixes to try in my home kitchen.

Since I can't eat wheat I tried one of the seasoning mixes and had my two kids and husband try the other two. The three seasoning mixes that I received were:

• Savory Pot Roast
• Hearty Beef Stew
• BBQ Pulled Pork

For the Savory Pot Roast variety I made the recipe for Red Wine Braised Short Ribs. Here is the recipe:

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hrs on LOW/4 hrs on HIGH

What you will need:

• I medium onion, sliced
• 3-4 pounds, beef short ribs
• 1 pkg Crock-Pot Savory Pot Roast Seasoning Mix
• 1 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 pound small red potatoes
• 3 tablespoons butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Place onions in bottom of slow cooker and add short ribs. Combine seasoning mix, wine, and ketchup. Pour over short ribs. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours. Remove potatoes and place in large mixing bowl. Add butter and mash with potato masher or fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove excess fat from sauce by pouring into a fat separator or skimming from surface using large spoon. Serve ribs and sauce over smashed potatoes.

Serves 4.

I made this recipe for my in-laws when they were over and my father-in-law loved it. My mother-in-law thought that the mashed potatoes that had cooked in the beef juice were the best part of the dish and my two boys gobbled up their servings.

The second recipe that I tried was to make Carnitas using the BBQ Pulled Pork seasoning mix. Here is the recipe:

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hrs on LOW/4 hrs on HIGH

What you will need:

• 1 medium onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 pkg. Crock-Pot BBQ Pulled Pork Seasoning Mix
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 4-5 pound pork shoulder
• 1 jar Ortega Salsa
• Ortega Soft Flour Tortillas
• 1 medium white onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Place onions in bottom of slow cooker. Combine seasoning mix with water and pour into slow cooker. Place pork shoulder in slow cooker. Add cumin and salsa. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours. Remove shoulder and place on cutting board. Remove excess fat from sauce by pouring fat into separator or skimming from surface using large spoon. Shred pork and return to slow cooker. Cook on high 10-15 minutes. To serve, place some pulled pork on steamed flour tortilla and top with tablespoon of diced onion and cilantro.

Serves 8-10.

My husband was a big fan of this recipe. This was the only seasoning packet without wheat so this was the recipe that I tried. I thought that the meat turned out really well, it wasn't overly salty and the meat turned out very tender. My two boys were very happy with this recipe and thought that the meat was delicious.

For the final recipe I used the Hearty Beef Stew Seasoning Mix. Here is the recipe:

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hrs on LOW/4 hrs on HIGH

What you will need:

• 1 medium onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 pounds top round or eye round beef, cut into thin strips
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 1 pkg. Crock-Pot Hearty Beef Stew Seasoning Mix
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley

Place onions in bottom of slow cooker. Add beef and mushrooms. Combine seasoning mix with water and pour over beef and mushrooms. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Remove 1 cup of sauce and whisk sauce with cornstarch; pour back into slow cooker. Cook on high for 15 minutes to thicken sauce. Fold in sour cream and stir until well incorporated. Toss in parsley and serve over rice or noodles.

Serves 4-6.

My husband and two boys were the guinea pigs for this recipe. Since it had wheat I made this dinner for the rest of my family. My husband was impressed with how tender the meat was and that it wasn't overly salty like other crock-pot mixes can be. He liked it so much that he took the leftovers for work the next day. 

Overall, I was impressed with the seasoning packets. I am always hesitant with pre-packaged spice packets since they can taste too salty or over processed. I was happy that none of these packets had these problems and my two kids loved all three varities. For a quick weeknight meal when you are pressed for time these packets would be a great kitchen 'helper'.

Do you have a great crock-pot recipe? Right now simply enter an original recipe using Crock-Pot® Seasoning Mixes for a chance to win groceries for a year worth $8,000! To enter go to "Crockin' in the USA" Sweepstakes!

Interested in learning more?

For more information and usage instructions on Crock-Pot Seasoning Mixes: http://bit.ly/Wpgdfh

Crock-Pot Seasoning Mixes on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/RfyM2y

Crockin' In The USA Sweeps: http://on.fb.me/P0eyw7

 

Disclaimer: I received three Crock-Pot Seasoning Mixes in return for this blog post through the Smiley360 Blogger Circle. As always all opinions expressed are my own. I received permission to print all recipes in this post.