The crockpot may be the best invention ever for saving a busy mom time in the kitchen. Assemble your ingredients in the morning, load them all up in that handy kitchen appliance, plug it in – and your dinner cooks while you go about your day.

Soups, stews, and roasts are crockpot mainstays, but you may not realize you can also make healthy recipes with your slow cooker. Try out one of these 5 Healthy Crockpot Recipes from me and four other MomsLA Bloggers and let us know what you think in the comments below. Oh, and if you have a great slow-cooker recipe of your own you’d like to share, please let us know that, too!

Crockpot Chili by Kim Tracy Prince of Agoura Hills Mom

I love chili and one of the reasons I don’t make it often is because it takes so long. Not a problem with the Crockpot! Ms. Prince gives extra tips about what to serve on the side as well as why this dish is perfect to serve no matter the season. Her version calls for ground beef, but you easily make it with vegetables only.

Potato Leek Soup by Valerie Mitchell of Mama Likes to Cook

This recipe looks very tasty and hearty, perfect for a chilly Winter dinner, and there are only 5 ingredients, one of which is water, which almost doesn’t count. I’ll be giving this a try for sure.

Rotisserie Chicken by Tania Reuben of Pure Natural Diva

Yes, you read that right – Ms. Reuben has a recipe for Rotisserie Chicken in the Crockpot. And it looks amazing. I love the taste of chicken cooked this way, but she points out all the reasons why it’s not the healthiest of choices when you buy one instead of cooking it yourself. This recipe solves those problems, and because it’s in the slow cooker, the machine does the work for you.

Vegan Frijoles (Beans) by Yvonne Condes of Yvonne In LA (and MomsLA)

Yvonne and I did a Vegan Challenge a couple of years ago and believe me, it was a tough one. One of the best aspects of the challenge, though, was learning new recipes, and Yvonne’s beans are some of the best ever. Enjoy!

Vegetable Soup by Sarah of MomsLA

I love chunky vegetable soup almost as much as I love the Crockpot itself, and this one has the added benefit of being a great pantry cleaner – meaning, you can add whatever vegetables you have in the fridge or in the cupboard that you like. Here’s what I had in the cupboard today when I made it:

Ingredients

2 cups carrots, peeled & chopped

2 cups red onions, peeled & chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled & chopped

4- 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

1 can corn kernels

Add all the ingredients to the Crockpot and start it up. Set it on high for 4 hours if you’re kind of in a “rush” and set it on low for 6-8 hours if you’re not. I serve this with a big salad on the side. Super healthy, super delicious, super easy.