Not only do meats cook beautifully and come out tender when slow-cooked, but all that protein will keep you fuller longer, as SELF has previously reported, so you won’t have to rustle up another snack before bedtime (unless you want to!). Once you’re set up and are looking for slow cooker recipes to try, focusing on protein-rich dinners is a smart choice. It’s like having a chef! Except the chef is you. Often all you’ll need to do is take a bit of time in the morning to drop everything in your slow cooker and voilà-you’ll have a delicious hot meal waiting for you at the end of the day.

A few hours later, you’ll be ready to eat.

While every recipe is a little different, the general gist is this: Choose a dish, get all the ingredients ready, toss them into the appliance, and let it do its thing. Most of all, slow cookers will make preparing a legit dinner a snap. You can also buy slow-cooker liners, which makes cleanup even breezier. For even quicker and simpler slow cooking, you can save on prep time by looking for flash-frozen veggies or prepped ingredients like chopped onions, crushed garlic, and cut sweet potatoes. (Seriously, turning a dial is the extent of the technical skill required here.) They also help cut down on cleanup time.

They are relatively affordable as far as kitchen gadgets go, as well as easy to use. But adding some high-protein slow cooker recipes to your repertoire can help you get ahead of your dinner woes. Let's be real: Cooking a filling, healthy dinner is probably the last thing you want to do after a busy day.

Crockpot macro meals