This Slow Cooker Vegan Pot Roast will save your busy life and give you more time to spend with your family instead of slaving away in the kitchen.
Now before we get started here, let's just address the big ol' elephants in the room here:
1. This is the most unpleasant looking food ever: Let's face it. Food that comes from a slow-cooker is not gorgeous. It sometimes looks unappetizing. There's really no getting around it. So face the music and move on.
2. Vegan Pot Roast?? What the??: Yup - vegetarian pot roast it is. I rarely use meat substitutes here, but for heartier slow-cooked meals, sometimes it's just called for. And these meatless beef tips are seriously ON POINT. My meat-lovin' spouse craves that stuff!
So there's those two things. We can now move on to the more important things at hand, such as the fact that I am finding less and less time to actually make dinner these days. Seriously - I am freaking busy!
As if working a full time job outside the home wasn't enough, my plate is ridiculously full:
* trying to live an active and healthy life
* trying to be present in my son's life because he's growing so fast before my eyes
* trying to be a good and involved wife because it's only a matter of time before she'll be deployed and I'll wish she was back home
* trying to make some order out of the home (which I'm seriously just really not good at!)
* trying to keep this blog afloat, working on it during every possible free second I can.
I assume you see my point. There is just not enough time for it all. I'm sure many of you can understand and relate.
My 6-Quart Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker is seriously my saving grace. Whether it's this vegan pot roast (that I just love so much), a huge batch of chili, or slow cooker jackfruit tacos, it always saves the day. Some days I'm not home for dinner because of some meeting or blogger get-together, and its those nights that I really cherish this thing. Being able to add all the ingredients, set a timer for the day, and walk away is just a life-saver. I especially love the fact that if it's done before we get home to eat, the setting automatically goes to WARM, and everything stays pretty dang hot for hours. SUCH a great feature.
Side note: I've had a few people ask me about a delayed-start feature and how they'd love that on their slow-cookers. I just want to point out the reason why you'll probably never see them exist, or why it's pretty rare at least. Think about it. Most of you are putting meat in your slow cookers, right? That meat then will have to sit out for however long before your delayed-start actually starts. That puts a bit of a risk on your health, depending on how long you have the meat sitting out before it actually begins to cook. Just thought I'd mention that since I've heard people bring it up before.
Knowing that I can create a home-cooked meal to my family even when I'm busy and about to lose my mind brings me so much happiness. Eating together as a family is one aspect of our lives that I always try to make time for, and my slow cooker definitely helps make that happen, despite the chaos going on in my life on a daily basis. I love being about to catch up on each other's days and hear about the things that happened at school and work. It's where my mind can recharge and I can feel a bit more grounded.
This particular vegetarian recipe may not be for you (although really, you should give it a try, it's freakin' amazing!), but there are so many options for slow cooked meals. If you aren't taking advantage of the time you could save by using a slow cooker to spend time doing the things that really matter in your life, you are truly missing out. A slow cooker could give you time to hug your kids a little bit longer. Have more of a meaningful conversation with your spouse instead of having to rush to make dinner. Or getting in one last family tickle fight before the night is through.
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Pot Roast
Ingredients
- Gardein Beefless Tips
- 4-5 red potatoes washed and cut into quarters
- 1 yellow onion chopped roughly
- 1 cup baby carrots
- 1 cup mushrooms sliced
- 4 celery stalks sliced into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon Steak Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 4 cups vegetable broth
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a slow cooker. Stir to be sure it is all combined.
- Set on low for 6 hours.
- Serve on its own or over cooked quinoa or brown rice if desired.
Alyssa m says
Love soups and Apple cider!
Lisa says
i tell YA. It's a toss up between pulled pork sandwiches or teriyaki chicken
Mandy Sexton says
Slow cooker meals are my FAVORITE!!! I got one as a wedding gift years and years ago, and I have absolutely worn it out! I would love to have a modern one. My favorite thing to make in it is black bean cream cheese chicken. I agree it and serve it on tortillas, and it's one of my favorite dishes, ever!
Crystal Lego says
i love making chili, meatless lasagna, chicken noodle soup and vegetable soup. Also do homemade tomato sauce, apple butter and applesauce for canning.
Jim Kottke says
I've seen several ways to make corned beef using a slow cooker and would like to try one. Boiling it with cabbage and potatoes doesn't cut it anymore.
Kim boucher says
I love to make pot roast. Or BBQ chicken. Yum.
Emily says
I love my slow cooker! I get it out almost daily. I cook a lot of beans from dry and the slow cooker makes that easy, or I love to throw a bunch of chicken breasts in there, and then I shred the meat and freeze it in dinner size portions so it's all ready to go. I have to say, though, that my favorite thing to cook it in is overnight steel cut oats. I throw them in at night before bed, set it to warm, and by morning they are perfect! Ready to scoop and serve. It doesn't get better than that!
Ashley says
I've never made anything in a slow cooker because I've never been able to afford one. 🙂 And, I'm just beginning to enjoy cooking in general. Never was a fan, but I'm definitely interested in learning. I love to bake for people, but would love to make real meals too.
If I had a slow cooker I would probably do soups, dips, and try all new things often. I'm just beginning to branch out of eating the same 10 things, each week my challenge to myself is to try something new. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. However, the ability to have the time to cook is often difficult to find. I want to make healthy items (which, I have tried things off your blog), and I hate touching raw meat so your foods are definitely good to try!
Yvonne @ Tried and Tasty says
My crockpot has been working OVERTIME the last two weeks - I would LOVE to have a second one.. because for a foodie... one just isn't enough sometimes 🙂
Faye Hoffpauer says
I don't have a slow cooker... But I would love to try cooking Braised ShortRibs .. Or maybe Beef Barley & Mushroom Soup 🙂
Kyla Oaks says
Really anything but I love roast.
Kyla Oaks says
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/11188699049983467/
Donna B says
My favorite thing to make crock pot style ... such a hard question. I have a few favorites: corned beef and cabbage with potatoes and carrots, green chili beef for my husband, and root beer bbq pork! I also love to make apple butter. But my crock pot is old, like handed down to me from an ex boyfriends grandma, and has a messed up lid. The thought of a crock pot switching to warm would be wonderful for those poorly planned busy crock pot days!
Kalyn C. says
This is hopefully the link to my pin 🙂
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/390194755189528290/
Glenda T says
I love making bean soup and chili in my crock pot. Just made a pot today.
Kalyn C. says
Slow cooker salsa chicken! Ooohh so delicious! 🙂
theresa says
My fav is lasagna!
Laurie Carlson says
My favorite thing to cook in my slow cooker is homemade marinara sauce.
Lisa Brown says
My pin - http://www.pinterest.com/pin/277675133250692515/
jslbrown2009(at)aol(dot)com
Lisa Brown says
I would make chili and rice in a slow cooker.
jslbrown2009(at)aol(dot)com
chanelle says
I don't really do meatless, but I just had to comment and say that I agree with you about food coming from the crockpot looking… less than appetizing! It all kind of blends and mushes together. But I love my crockpot anyway! I just posted a video today about how I use it to make yogurt.
Holly Waterfall says
ooh, i'll definitely have to check out the yogurt video. i've heard of people doing that in the crockpot and have been intrigued.