Here are some delicious, healthy summer crockpot recipes that are also gluten free. I like to make light summer meals for my family during the summer and I especially love to use the slow cooker so I’m not heating up the kitchen!
All of a sudden it’s like summer here – last week we had the heat on and this week we have the AC on. That’s what happens when you live in the northeast, you can have all 4 seasons in one week.
Anyway, I really do not want to cook in this heat so I’m going to use my crockpot as much as possible, and make some light summer meals in my slow cooker that won’t weigh us down and make us feel even more hot than we already do!
Enjoy these quick and light dinner ideas and add them to your summer meal plan!
You could make these 7 crockpot summer dinner recipes into your entire meal plan for this week or even turn some of them into freezer meals for when you have a hot scorcher of a day. Don’t forget your freezer meal labels you can download from the Freebie Library.
You could also probably stretch these into meals for two full weeks, depending on your family size and whether you have leftovers or not.
Make sure you read my Ultimate Summer Meal Plan guide – it’s like a choose-your-own-adventure full of summer meal planning tips and tricks!
LIME CILANTRO CHICKEN TACOS
We love mexican flavored anything all year round but tacos are especially easy in the summer. Or if you have a picky eater because they can just choose their own toppings – I like to put all the toppings in a multi-compartment dish like this becuase it makes for super easy cleanup.
PS – If you’re keeping this gluten-free, make sure to get gluten-free corn tortillas and not flour ones!
CROCK POT BBQ RIBS
My oldest son is a huuuuuuge ribs fan so I can’t wait to make these for him! I find so many complicated rib recipes but these seem super easy, tasty (and sticky!). They have a combo of BBQ sauce and a dry rub which is why I chose this recipe for you (and my son ? ).
Serve this with a garden salad and some potato salad and you have onesuper-easy summer (gluten-free!) dinner.
SLOW COOKER HEALTHY CHICKEN CACCIATORE
This isn’t your typical super-rich-and-heavy cacciatore! It has a healthy dose of bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms to be filling yet light. My favorite thing about this recipe is that you can throw it all in the slow cooker without cooking the chicken thighs ahead of time!
Serve this over zucchini noodles to make it even lighter (and gluten free)!
COPYCAT CHIPOTLE BARBACOA
I’m not a fan of lettuce in a salad, but when you throw some flavorful and tender barbacoa on top, for some reason I don’t see it as “salad” anymore and this looks delicious!
Serve it with some garden veggies and a generous heaping of guacamole (or just fresh avocado) and you’ve got a complete summery meal with barely any work!
More healthy summer crockpot recipes:
PALEO TURKEY CHILI
I know what you’re thinking – chili? on a summer menu? Yes, yes, yes! This chili is made with turkey and loads of veggies so it’s not your typical winter chili. But I think the best part is that this one is served over sweet potato noodles!
Or, just like the barbacoa above, you can serve it on a bed of lettuce. This will also freeze really well, so pop the leftovers in the freezer when you need a last minute dinner.
NOT-YOUR-MUMS APRICOT CHICKEN
I personally have never had my mom (or mum if you’re in Australia!) make me apricot chicken so I have nothing to compare it to. But I love how the dried apricots plump up during cooking, and the fruiti-ness (is that a word?) is a good choice for a lighter, summery dish.
This would also make a good rescue meal if you keep some chicken breasts in the freezer because everything else is from the pantry or freezer.
CHICKEN AND BEAN BURRITO BOWLS
Since I’ve recently converted to a paleo diet, I’m becoming more of a fan of things-that-are-normally-in-tortillas-or-on-bread-served-in-bowls. It’s like the ease of a casserole without the fuller-than-full feeling afterwards. And you know I love that it can all be dropped into the crockpot without cooking!
This would be delicious with cilantro-lime rice (there’s a recipe link in the post) or even over some cauliflower rice!
Make sure you read my Ultimate Summer Meal Plan guide – it’s like a choose-your-own-adventure full of summer meal planning tips and tricks!
So which one (or two… or all seven…) of these easy and healthy summer crockpot recipes are going on your meal plan for the week?
