13 Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes (with no pre-cooking needed!)

A collection of 13 easy vegetarian slow cooker recipes that require no pre-cooking whatsoever - just dump in the ingredients, and go and put your feet up!

Collage showing 13 vegetarian slow cooker recipes.

I love using my slow cooker, but I find that most slow cooker recipes are meat-based. I'm sure it's true that slow cooking can be really useful for cooking meat, but it makes a fantastic vegetarian meal too. So here are 13 vegetarian slow cooker recipes to inspire you!

Why use a slow cooker?

To be honest, all of the recipes below could easily be made in a saucepan or in the oven, if you don't have a slow cooker. A slow cooker doesn't do anything that couldn't be done in another way.

However, using a slow cooker has loads of benefits. For example:

Slow cooking is very low effort - just throw everything in, and your meal cooks itself. No constant stirring, no risk of burning or sticking, no pans bubbling over.
Your dinner can be prepared earlier in the day when you may have more time on your hands, and may be in less of a rush, and then it'll be ready to eat later on.
Cooking food slowly helps its flavours to develop, giving rich, tasty food.

What vegetarian food can you cook in a slow cooker?

Slow cookers are perfect for cooking anything saucy, like curries, soups, and stews.

Since the lid stays on the slow cooker for the duration of the cooking time, not much liquid escapes (unlike when you cook on the stove), so your food will end up nice and saucy.

Basically, anything that benefits from a long cooking time is great to cook in the slow cooker. Caramelised onions, for example, just get better and better the longer you cook them, so they're the ideal thing to cook in a slow cooker.

I wouldn't add something like broccoli to a slow cooker (unless you're planning to blend it into soup!), as it just turns to mush if it's cooked for too long.