Recipes Everyday Cooking Slow Cooker Side Dishes 15 Delicious Slow Cooker Side Dishes for Summer Keep your kitchen cool with these Crock-Pot recipes. By Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves is a Senior Editor at Allrecipes with nearly two decades of experience helping home cooks gain confidence in the kitchen. A self-taught cook who grew up reading cookbooks for fun, Vanessa lives and breathes the challenges faced by busy everyday cooks to get dinner on the table. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines Published on July 23, 2024 Close Photo: Karen Hibbard/Allrecipes Want to make sure your summer cookouts are fun and relaxing? Let your slow cooker handle the side dishes that go along with whatever's going onto the grill. Making slow cooker side dishes frees you up so you're not stuck in the kitchen. Here are summer side dishes you can load into your Crock-Pot hours before things heat up outside. 01 of 16 Mexican Pintos with Cactus Five ingredients and 10 minutes are all it takes to get this prepped and into your slow cooker. Several reviewers said they used jarred cactus because they couldn't get their hands on fresh (ouch) but still loved this recipe. Top servings with avocado, cilantro, onion, and crumbled Mexican cheese. View Recipe 02 of 16 Mother Earth's Baked Beans This popular side dish has a speedy 15-minute prep. Just pop the ingredients into your slow cooker, turn it on, and come back later to a delicious side dish you'll want to make again all summer. View Recipe 03 of 16 Slow Cooker German Potato Salad lutzflcat Recipe creator dramamath explains, "I tried this recipe for some friends who had requested my German potato salad. I didn't have time to make in on the spot so I gathered my ingredients and put it in a slow cooker. They loved it!" View Recipe 04 of 16 Slow Cooker Creamed Corn Dotdash Meredith Food Studios Try this easy, creamy corn to balance out spicy or saucy barbecue main dishes. Shelby raves, "This recipe was INCREDIBLE! This is the closest recipe I can find to Rudy's Cream Corn in Texas. I made it as a side dish to a BBQ brisket dinner with my family." View Recipe 05 of 16 Slow Cooked Collard Greens Dotdash Meredith Food Studios "I added turnips to this recipe, and it turned out great! The jalapeno really added the perfect flavor." —Patrick View Recipe 06 of 16 Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese lutzflcat "I only got a forkful of this because that's all that was left when I got to it but it tasted great to me, creamy and cheesy. I doubled the recipe for a picnic," says Matlyn. The moral of this story? Make sure you scoop some onto your own plate right away before the hungry hordes descend. View Recipe 07 of 16 Rebellion Sauerkraut Soup Loving Nicole Got some brats on the grill? A pot of this crunchy, tart sauerkraut would be a perfect side dish. You'll start with a big jar of sauerkraut, cover it with hard cider, and let your slow cooker do the rest. That's it! View Recipe 08 of 16 Grandpa's Classic Coney Sauce SMClanton Take hot dogs from grilled to great with a ladle of this spicy sauce over the top. (BTW — Don't make the mistake of calling it chili.) "My grandfather owned a drive-in restaurant back in the 1950s," says recipe submitter Sean S. "This is his exact recipe for Coney Dogs from back in the day. I make this on special occasions and it is always hit with friends and family." View Recipe 09 of 16 Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions lutzflcat Reality check: It can take almost an hour to make properly caramelized onions. But, who's got that much time to spare? The solutions is to put your slow cooker to work making a big pot of caramelized onions to top grilled burgers, steaks, hot dogs, pizza, and more. You can easily freeze portions so they're ready to heat at a moment's notice. View Recipe 10 of 16 Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash lutzflcat Can't stand the heat? Why heat up your kitchen baking summer squash? "This worked very well as an alternative to baking spaghetti squash," says mkstevens09. "A nice idea for if you are going to be out of the house for a while and want to cook something with the squash when you come home, or if you simply don't feel like using your oven. I cooked mine for the full 6 hours and it turned out perfectly tender." View Recipe 11 of 16 Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes bd.weld When heating up the oven heats up the entire kitchen, Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes are the answer. Filling and versatile, baked potatoes make an easy addition to any cookout menu. View Recipe 12 of 16 Slow Cooker Spicy Black-Eyed Peas Karen Hibbard/Allrecipes Enhance the flavor of grilled dishes with hearty Slow Cooker Spicy Black-Eyed Peas. Because the recipe calls for diced ham, this dish may even give you a reason to replace a meaty main with one of our best vegetarian grilling recipes. View Recipe 13 of 16 Slow Cooker Green Beans Beanie VanBuskirk "I love an easy dump recipe, where you throw all of your ingredients in the pot and set it and forget it," Beanie VanBuskirk says. "A total win on that alone. But the peppers onions and bacon seal the deal, for sure!" View Recipe 14 of 16 Braised Asian Kale in the Slow Cooker Soup Loving Nicole Barbecue can be rich, so consider balancing it with a side of flavorful kale. Though the rice vinegar is optional here, adding it will brighten up the greens *and* cut through fatty meats. View Recipe 15 of 16 Sweet Barbeque Beans Laguna Lola You can't go wrong with a classic. "This is a good dish for summer barbecues," Kelley James Magestro says. "We served it with grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and there wasn't a bit left over." View Recipe 16 of 16 More Inspiration Allrecipes Magazine 23 Best Slow Cooker Recipes for Summer 20 Grilled Side Dishes That Light up the Barbecue More Delicious Slow Cooker Side Dishes Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit