Easy Crockpot Meals to Make at Retreat
- Molly
- Jun 16
- 3 min read
With working full-time, I do not get a lot of time at home to sew. So when I am at retreat, I like to spend most of my time sewing. That means I want quick and easy meals. Eating takeout is a great option for quick meals, but I do enjoy home-cooked meals too! Home-cooked meals do not have to take hours to prepare. I have put together this list of easy crockpot meals that would be great for lunch or dinner at retreat.
Many of these recipes you could prepare the ingredients at home, so while at retreat you just have to put them all in the crockpot and walk away for the day. For example, any veggies that need to be chopped could be chopped ahead of time.
I have provided a link to a PDF of all these recipes at the bottom of the page.
Creamy Spicy Sausage Tortellini Soup
This is a favorite in our house. This is a recipe that I created based on a few combined recipes. It makes a lot, so it is also a great meal for a large group. It can also be modified to fit lots of different allergies and diets. If you need it to be gluten-free, use gluten-free tortellini. If you want it to be vegetarian (which I used to do for a college roommate), omit the sausage and use cheese tortellini. If you need lactose free, switch the evaporated milk for lactose-free milk, do not add the parmesan cheese, and use a meat-filled tortellini. There are so many options!
Crockpot Spaghetti
I would say that I believe that my husband and I actually prefer crockpot spaghetti over traditional spaghetti (boiling the noodles in water) as we love how much flavor the noodles get from cooking in the sauce. This would be a great easy meal for a retreat. You could even bring the meat already browned so all you have to do is dump all the ingredients into the crockpot and then go work on your projects the rest of the day.
Baked Potato Bar
Making baked potatoes in the crockpot is super easy! Then all you need to do is prepare the toppings. Easy toppings to bring to retreat are bacon bites, butter, sour cream, chives, green onion, and shredded cheese. If you have a large group, you may need two crockpots to make enough potatoes at one time.
Meatball Subs
Bring your favorite frozen meatballs, marinara sauce, buns, and cheese. Put the meatballs and sauce in the crockpot all day and enjoy an easy meal at the end of the day!
Italian Sausage Hoagie
Similar to the meatball subs, bring your favorite Italian sausages, sauce, and buns. In the crockpot, cook the Italian sausages and sauce all day. You can also add sliced red and green peppers and onions to the crockpot too!
Sante Fe Soup
This is a family favorite of ours. We have it quite often. Similar to chili but with a twist. We love to serve it with tortilla chips, sour cream, and shredded cheese. It makes a large batch, perfect for feeding everyone at retreat.
Chicken Chili
This is an easy dump in the crockpot and forget until it’s dinner time meal. It is basically chili, but instead of using ground beef, you use chicken. What makes it easy is you can add the chicken in raw and let it cook throughout the day rather than having to brown the hamburger prior to adding. Serve with your favorite chili toppings like sour cream and shredded cheese.
Chili Mac
We eat a lot of chili in our house during the winter months, so it is always great to mix it up a little. Chili Mac is a great way to mix up your standard chili recipe. You could even make your favorite chili recipe and then add the elbow noodles for the last 15 minutes of cooking.
Barbecue Ham
This is one of my husband's favorites. It's a tradition that we always have it the first weekend of deer season. It is so easy to make! Just gather all the ingredients, place them all in the crockpot, and wait for it to be ready. If you cannot find chipped ham, I have also made it before with just regular ham sandwich meat.
French Dip Sandwiches
Another favorite of my husband's. He loves French onion soup, but I do not. This recipe we both love, and it gives my husband his favorite flavor of French onion soup. This would make a great easy meal for retreat that could serve a large group.
Find all the recipes in the PDF below!
I hope you get to enjoy at least one of these recipes at your next retreat! You will have to let me know which one you like best.
Thanks for reading!
~ Molly
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