Instead of ordering takeout, try one of these Asian-inspired slow cooker recipes! They’re all extremely simple and more budget-friendly.
A pantry with a few essential items such as soy sauce, sriracha, rice vinegar, and fresh ginger is key to making these 25 dishes, but believe me, you’ll get the most out of them!
1. Slow Cooker Chop Suey
This dish is a Chinese-American original that features meat and eggs cooked in a rich sauce. Though this recipe calls for both beef and pork, feel free to use just one if you’d rather.
Brown the meats first before adding them to the slow cooker along with water chestnuts, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms.
Believe it or not, the sauce is just soy sauce and chicken broth. There’s really nothing extra you have to buy.
2. Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli
Since beef has a strong flavor on its own, you’ll often see it paired with a dark, deep soy-based sauce.
While beef broth is sure to add more flavor because it’s typically made with vegetables and seasonings, this recipe uses beef consommé instead, which is a broth with an even richer flavor made with beef, vegetables, seasonings, and egg whites. Interestingly enough, ground beef is used when making consommé, and some recipes also have you whip the egg whites. During cooking, stock impurities rise to the surface, creating a layer over the rich, delicious, concentrated beef stock that has been clarified.
3. Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Like you probably already suspected, orange chicken is a pretty sweet dish.
Although the zesty orange taste takes center stage, it’s also nicely balanced by other ingredients. The recipe calls for orange marmalade, which adds a subtle bitterness rather than being extremely sugary. Then, there’s soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and green onions, which make this delightfully sweet and savory.
4. Asian Crockpot Meatballs
These Asian-inspired meatballs make the perfect party snack. Not only are they bite-sized and packed with flavor, but they’re also so easy to make a big batch of.
Start with frozen meatballs, adding them right into the pot. Though you can always make your own instead, just be sure they aren’t seasoned with Italian herbs. Smother them in a sauce that’s a mixture of hoisin sauce, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, garlic, and brown sugar.
They’ll be hot, tender, and wonderfully sticky after just a few hours.
5. Slow Cooker Chinese Spare Ribs
Spare ribs are taken from the pig’s belly, breastbone, and behind the shoulder.
Not only are they larger and meatier than baby back ribs, but many people think they taste better as well.
Unlike a lot of rib recipes, you’ll start by cutting the ribs into individual pieces to help the meat really soak up the sauce, making them tender through and through.
It also helps them caramelize evenly on all sides when you broil them for the last step.
6. Slow Cooker General Tso’s Chicken
The ideal combination of sweet, spicy, and crispy chicken is what General Tso’s is all about. In order to avoid a thick, heavy batter, this recipe uses a light cornstarch coating for texture.
You’ll get beautiful dark edges if you pan-fry the chicken before adding it to the slow cooker.
Hoisin sauce, which can be found in most grocery stores, is a common ingredient in this list. Otherwise, for something truly authentic, try making your own.
7. Crockpot Sesame Chicken
Here’s another tasty chicken recipe with a simple sauce. The base consists of soy sauce, honey, and tomato paste, but ketchup can also be used.
Because it’s sweeter, you might want to use less honey if you opt for ketchup. If you like it sweeter, go ahead and add more. A dash of sriracha is always a great addition for some heat, though it’s definitely optional.
And of course, you need sesame seeds.
If you choose the wrong veggies, they might get rubbery, so you may need to add them towards the end.
8. Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala
I find curry to be the most delicious when it’s left to cook for a long time, just like chili.
Not only does this allow more time for the flavors to blend in the pot, but it also thickens naturally. Using this method will also guarantee the most tender chicken.
If you can’t find serrano peppers, which are five times hotter than jalapeńos, the recipe suggests the latter.
Just remember that yogurt is added last, and to prevent curdling, it’s best to bring it to an equal temperature as the hot sauce by whisking it in a bowl together.
9. Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
You can use this shredded teriyaki chicken in a variety of meals throughout the week.
For dinner, try serving it over steamed rice with veggies, or for lunch, try a wrap with scallions and peppers. It’s also delicious in a fresh roll with crunchy slaw.
For maximum flavor, add the sauce while the chicken is cooking and then add the cornstarch only after the chicken has been taken out.
10. Kung Pao Chicken – Slow Cooker
Sichuan Province in southwestern China is where Kung Pao chicken comes from.
Along with other tastes, this dish has plenty of flavor thanks to the Sichuan peppercorns that give it its heat. While similar to General Tso’s, this dish is noticeably hotter, so give this recipe a try if you enjoy that sticky-sweet taste and also like a little bit of a kick.
Kung Pao also typically features a stir-fry of yummy vegetables.
11. Slow Cooker Chinese Pulled Pork
I’m slightly obsessed with pulled pork, just so you know. I never seem to get enough of the stuff, whether it’s sweet, spicy, or somewhere in between. To say the least, I was so excited to try this Asian-inspired version.
Instead of the usual BBQ sauce, use a quick sauce of hoisin, soy sauce, honey, sherry, ginger, and garlic. Try it in tacos with pickled red onions, scallions, and slaw, or serve it with these amazing Asian street fries in a sesame bun.
12. Crockpot Saucy Asian Ribs
For ribs, I truly think that slow cookers are the best.
To get that fall-off-the-bone texture, they need to be slow-cooked for hours, so it’s the ideal appliance. This way, you won’t have to have the oven on all day or constantly check on a grill or smoker.
Just toss everything into the pot and let it do its thing. They should be super tender after five hours or so, which means they’re ready to eat. To kick it up a notch, try broiling them before serving.
13. Slow Cooker Hot And Sour Soup
While hot and sour soup is famous for its spice, it also has a ton of different ingredients, from pork and mushrooms to tofu, bamboo shoots, and eggs.
But did you know that it’s also low in sodium, calories, and carbs?
Fortunately, getting the eggs to be so light and silky is much easier than you’d expect.
Just swirl the soup and stream the beaten eggs right in, and they’ll start cooking right away, turning into delicious egg ribbons.
14. Crockpot Sweet and Sour Chicken
Did you love this as a kid, too? Although it’s mild enough for children, I’m still a big fan of that sweet and sour sauce. Those sinful nuggets of battered chicken likely make this taste so good (and increase the calories).
However, since you can’t deep-fry in a slow cooker, this is a healthier and lighter version.
Many recipes contain brown sugar and ketchup, which is fine, but this recipe uses a blend of soy sauce, honey, Worcestershire, white vinegar, tomato paste, garlic, ginger, and sambal oelek. Pineapple juice, which is added last, provides the added sweetness.
15. Crockpot Chicken Chow Mein Recipe
Chow mein and lo mein are both amazing noodle and vegetable dishes that are pretty similar. The main differences are in the noodles and how they’re prepared.
The noodles in chow mein are typically stir-fried right in the pan. Lo mein noodles, however, are cooked separately and then tossed in the sauce before serving.
Since you can’t stir-fry in a slow cooker, this is more like lo mein, but regardless of what you call it, it’s delightful.
16. Slow Cooker Ramen Noodles Recipe
As a well-known Japanese noodle soup, ramen is almost always made with a broth of meat or fish and topped with sliced meat and vegetables. But you might be surprised at the minimal spices needed for this dish, which only calls for ginger and black pepper.
The chicken, onion, garlic, broth, soy sauce, vinegar, milk, and mushrooms provide the rest of the flavor.
17. Slow Cooker Thai Pineapple Vegetarian Curry
I love how versatile curry can be, from a ton of heat and a creamy sauce to tons of veggies and even fruit. For every mood, there’s a curry recipe, and this one is ideal for a bright, chilly evening when you need something satisfying and fresh.
This vegan curry is brimming with chickpeas for protein, sweet potatoes for flavor, and a yummy sauce of coconut milk, curry powder, crushed red peppers, and garlic.
18. Slow Cooker Lo Mein
This recipe uses a slow cooker liner for simple cleanup. Just open the bag and press it into the pot, leaving enough to fold over the lip.
Like the recipe above, you’ll cook the meat right in the sauce. In this case, it’s pork shoulder, which will get incredibly soft. It’s smothered with a mixture of soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, sambal oelek (an Indonesian chile paste), oyster sauce, ginger, and sesame oil.
Since the pork is a thicker cut, this needs at least three to four hours on high or eight on low. I love recipes that are slow, so I can set it up in the morning and arrive home to a tasty dinner.
19. Slow Cooker Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
For a light but still filling low-carb meal, lettuce wraps are a great choice.
With lean ground chicken, you’ll cut back on calories, and the flavor of the sauce is so strong you won’t even be able to tell the difference. And what’s more, this recipe is perfect for your vegan friends. Just swap the chicken for the same-textured tofu ground beef, and no one will even suspect it’s meat-free.
20. Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
Unlike other Crockpot chicken breast recipes that need to cook all day, this chicken will be ready in just a few hours.
Using a slow cooker is the best way to cook chicken because it stays incredibly juicy as it soaks up all the flavor.
Put entire chicken breasts in the slow cooker and smother with a mix of soy sauce, honey, hoisin, vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and sriracha.
It will be fork-tender and super simple to shred after a few hours.
21. Vegan Crockpot Chinese Hot Pot
In my opinion, this dish is more of a soup than a hot pot. With a hot pot, families sit around a simmering pot of soup or broth, cooking meats and vegetables inside. What we have here is a one-pot dish where everything is already cooked.
Still, it’s a tasty little dish, and I love that it uses bamboo shoots for a great crunch and tofu for that extra protein.
22. Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef
Mongolian beef features such a simple yet powerful sauce made with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and brown sugar.
While using ground ginger is fine if that’s all you have, fresh ginger is absolutely worth it. Try grabbing a big piece, peeling it, and processing it, then just keep it in the freezer.
Flank steak works best with this, though hanger or skirt steak will work fine, too. Using thinly sliced sirloin, on the other hand, feels like a waste of good meat. Make sure to coat the meat in cornstarch before adding it to the slow cooker.
It will thicken the sauce and turn it into a glaze during cooking.
23. Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
If you need a pick-me-up for the middle of the week, this sweet and sticky garlic chicken will do just the trick. You can easily make it over the weekend and enjoy it as meal prep throughout the week, and because it freezes well, you’ll have it on hand for those extra busy days.
Egg-fried rice is my favorite way to enjoy it, but noodles and steamed rice are great, too.