Food

10 things you should never put in a slow cooker — but probably do

David BenjaminNovember 6, 2025

In the words of a certain Game Of Thrones character, winter is coming. And with the colder months upon us you may find your meal choices changing too. Because autumn and winter are the time to get creative with soups, stews and other comfort foods guaranteed to keep us warm while it’s freezing outside. One way of making sure you’ve got a piping hot meal to hand is to whip something up in a slow cooker, that handy kitchen gadget which allows you to prepare a stew or curry with the minimum of fuss. But if you do have a slow cooker – and you’re planning to use it in the coming months – you should read on to discover what you really shouldn’t be putting in there (even though you probably do). (Picture: Getty Images)

1. Raw meat

First up, this might seem a bit odd. Surely the whole point of putting raw ingredients into a slow cooker is that it’ll cook them (albeit slowly)? Well yes, that’s true. If you stick uncooked beef or raw sausages into your casserole they will get cooked, but the low heat of the device means they won’t brown. And browning is what gives your meat its flavour and cuts down on the amount of grease involved. So if you want a good, flavourful stew come dinner time, brown your meat by grilling or frying it before you add it to the pot – otherwise your culinary creation is likely to taste bland. (Picture: Getty Images)

2. Pasta

While sticking pasta or rice dishes into your slow cooker might ultimately seem like a time-saving exercise (who wouldn’t want to come home to perfectly cooked spag bol?) you should steer clear of cooking the actual pasta in there. This has everything to do with the fact that pasta is a quick-cooking food, and putting it into the slow cooker would turn it into an inedible, congealed mess. Save your slow cooker for whipping up a delicious pasta sauce, which is something that you can do, especially if it’s one which will taste better with a long cooking time and stick to boiling or baking your pasta, depending on what you’re making. (Picture: Getty Images)

3. Delicate vegetables

There’s nothing wrong with lobbing vegetables into the slow cooker – and depending on what you’re making you almost certainly will at some point. But when it comes to veggies, make sure you’re picking the right ones as smaller, delicate veg like asparagus, peas and courgettes are a big no-no for the slow cooker, simply because they won’t cope with the long cooking times. Which means instead of a delightful asparagus dish you’ll get a soggy mess. Stick to chunky root veg instead, and add in anything smaller and more fragile towards the end of the cooking time. (Picture: Getty Images)

4. Most seafood

In the mood for seafood? Looking to whip up a quick paella or chowder? Great. Just don’t do it in the slow cooker. Seafood, like the aforementioned pasta and rice, cooks quickly and should only be cooked for a very short time or it risks being chewy and tasteless at best – or at worst, inedible. There are two notable exceptions to this rule. Both squid and octopus do just fine when added to a slow cooker, and may actually benefit from the cooking time. But if you’re making prawns, mussels or any other type of shellfish we recommend you find another cooking method. (Picture: Getty Images)

5. Fresh herbs

OK, so we’re not saying your slow cooker creation should be free of herbs, seasoning and everything else which could enhance your dish. We’re merely saying that putting fresh herbs into the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients is inadvisable. Cooking fresh herbs such as basil or coriander for long periods of time will actually destroy the fragrant properties and flavour they bring to the food – meaning a disappointing end result. If you want to add herbs to your recipe, we suggest you cook it first and add them as a garnish just before serving, rather than in the dish itself. (Picture: Getty Images/Maskot)

6. Dairy

Milk, cream and yoghurt can make tasty additions to many stews and curries, while a little butter or cheese can really pep up your soups and sauces, right? Of course they can. Just don’t use them in the slow cooker. Dairy is another food group which doesn’t do well when it’s cooked for long periods of time. The milk, cream or whatever you’ve put in your dish could well curdle and turn watery, spoiling the flavour rather than enhancing it. If your recipe calls for dairy, add it at the end of cooking to avoid this – or consider it as a topping instead (such as a dollop of sour cream added to a chilli for example). We promise you it’ll taste a lot better. (Picture: Getty Images/500px)

7. Frozen food

The freezer might be one of the most useful appliances you have in your kitchen but if you’re planning to use frozen meat, vegetables or other ingredients then you might want to steer clear of chucking them straight from the freezer into the slow cooker. That’s because unlike your oven, hob or other cooking devices, your slow cooker takes a lot longer to reach a safe cooking temperature, meaning your frozen fare will take much longer to cook – or maybe not cook properly at all. So if you want to avoid the risk of food poisoning, defrost your meat or vegetables before you add them to the slow cooker. (Picture: Getty Images)

8. Too much liquid

So this is one you really need to be careful with if you don’t want dinner to be a disaster. While you need a certain amount of liquid for your meal to cook properly, adding too much is a culinary calamity waiting to happen as the low temperatures of the device will mean the water or stock doesn’t evaporate as it might using other cooking methods. Which in turn could leave you with a soggy, flavourless end result. Always follow the recipe carefully when it comes to the amount of liquid you use – and if you’re cooking something which wasn’t written for the slow cooker, you can often halve the amount of water or stock. Better to top it up during cooking because you think it needs more than to put too much in to begin with. (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

9. Skin-on chicken

If you’re a meat/poultry eater then chances are you’ll use your slow cooker to whip up some decent chicken dishes. And chicken does do pretty well when slow cooked – but if you’re thinking of leaving the skin on for some lovely crispy results, don’t. Chicken skin needs to be grilled or roasted to crisp up nicely, and even if you do that beforehand, it won’t stay crispy when slow cooked, leaving you with an end result that’s likely to be soft and mushy or even worse, rubbery and inedible. Oh, and while we’re at it, chicken thighs and drumsticks fare a lot better in the slow cooker than breasts which, like a lot of lean meats, are likely to be dried out by the slow cooking process. Which is also worth bearing in mind. (Picture: Getty Images)

10. Wine

Adding a dash of wine or other alcohol to a dish can do wonders for the flavour, pepping up everything from bolognese to bourguignon. But should you use it in your slow-cooked dishes? No you should not. See, if you add wine or booze to a dish cooked in the oven or on the hob the heat will cause the alcohol to evaporate, leaving the flavour behind. However this won’t happen in a slow cooker due to the lid and the fact it doesn’t evaporate much liquid, meaning it won’t taste nearly as nice. Try reducing your wine in a separate pan first before adding it to the cooker for better results. (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

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