Stretch-It Kitchen

Cheap Crockpot Dump-and-Go Dinners (With the Cost Per Pot)

Six well-rated slow cooker dinners priced at a Greer, SC Harris Teeter: $8.94 to $21.71 a pot and $2.10 to $2.92 a serving, with how hands-off each one really is and the USDA rule about frozen chicken.

A dump-and-go dinner is supposed to be cheap and easy: open some packages, put them in the crock, go to work. Some of them work that way. Some need a step halfway through, and one is really a 1-hour-40-minute recipe that happens to use a slow cooker.

We priced six well-rated Allrecipes slow cooker recipes at the Harris Teeter at Hudson Corners in Greer on October 22, 2026, at regular shelf price, and sorted them by what a serving costs. Each one also gets an honest note on how hands-off it is.

Six pots, cheapest serving first

Every one lands between $2.10 and $2.92 a serving. The honey-garlic thighs are the only pot under $10, because they feed four; the bigger pots cost more and feed more.

The one rule that matters more than price

Thaw the meat first. The USDA’s slow cooker guidance says to always thaw meat or poultry before it goes into a slow cooker, because the cooker can take hours to reach a temperature that kills bacteria. Frozen chicken breasts dropped straight in sit in that slow climb too long. Thaw them in the refrigerator the night before.

For finished temperatures, the USDA’s safe temperature chart gives 165 degrees F for chicken and 145 degrees F with a 3-minute rest for pork chops. Three of these recipes print their own check; for the others we note it.

1. Slow Cooker Green Beans, Ham and Potatoes: $2.10 a serving

Slow Cooker Green Beans, Ham and Potatoes (4.3 stars, 449 ratings) is the old Southern pot of green beans cooked down with smoked ham hocks, with potatoes added near the end. It makes ten servings for $20.95. The hocks are most of that: smoked pork hocks were $3.99 a pound, and we counted three hocks as 3 pounds, $11.97. Weigh yours; hocks vary a lot.

Two changes. “New potatoes” became red potatoes from a 5-pound bag. And the recipe’s tablespoon of bouillon granules became three bouillon cubes.

• 2 pounds fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed
• 3 ham hocks
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, quartered (we priced red potatoes)
• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules (we used 3 bouillon cubes)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• ground black pepper to taste

1. Halve the green beans if they are large and put them in the slow cooker with water to barely cover. Add the ham hocks and onion. Cover and cook on High until it simmers, then turn it to Low and cook until the beans are crisp but not done, 2 to 3 hours.
2. Take out the ham hocks. Add the potatoes and cook on Low for 45 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, pull the meat off the bones and chop or shred it. Put it back in after the potatoes are done, and season with the bouillon, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoning salt and pepper.
4. Serve the beans, potatoes and ham with a slotted spoon and a little of the broth.

2. Honey-Garlic Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs: $2.23 a serving

Honey-Garlic Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs (4.5 stars, 2,702 ratings) is the cheapest pot on the list at $8.94, and the most pantry-dependent. Four boneless thighs, counted as 1 1/4 pounds of value-pack thighs at $4.99 a pound, are $6.24. The sauce is soy sauce, ketchup and honey. If you have those, the store run for this dinner is $6.93: the chicken and a head of garlic. From an empty cabinet it is $16.79.

We made no changes. The recipe gives its own check: 165 degrees F in the thickest thigh.

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water

1. Lay the thighs in a single layer in the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker.
2. Whisk the soy sauce, ketchup, honey, garlic and salt in a bowl and pour it over the chicken.
3. Cover and cook on Low for 4 hours or on High for 2 to 3 hours, until a thermometer in the thickest part reads at least 165 degrees F.
4. Move the chicken to a plate and cover it loosely. Stir the cornstarch and water together until smooth, whisk it into the sauce, cover, and cook on High until the sauce thickens a little, about 15 minutes.
5. Spoon the sauce over the chicken to serve.

The recipe’s steps call for low-sodium soy sauce, though the ingredient line just says soy sauce. We priced regular store-brand soy sauce.

3. Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup: $2.41 a serving

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup has the most ratings here, 7,462, and a 4.7-star average. It is mostly cans: two of diced tomatoes with green chiles, chili beans, black beans, corn and tomato sauce, plus an onion, a taco packet and three chicken breasts on top. Eight servings for $19.28. The chicken is $5.99 of it: we counted the three breasts as 1 1/2 pounds of value-pack breasts at $3.99. Weigh yours; bigger breasts cost more.

One change: the recipe uses a 12-ounce can or bottle of beer. The cheapest beer in our price pull was a six-pack at $10.99, so we priced 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth instead. The cans are the store’s sizes, a little under the recipe’s 16 and 15 ounces.

• 2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
• 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans (we used a 15.5 ounce can)
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans (we used a 15.25 ounce can)
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained (we used a 15.25 ounce can)
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer (we used 1 1/2 cups chicken broth)
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
• 3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 1 cup crushed tortilla chips

1. Put the tomatoes, chili beans, black beans, corn, beer (or broth), tomato sauce and onion in the slow cooker. Add the taco seasoning and stir.
2. Lay the chicken on top and press it down until it is just covered.
3. Cover and cook on Low for 5 hours.
4. Lift out the chicken, let it cool enough to handle, shred it with two forks, and stir it back in.
5. Cover and cook 2 more hours.
6. Serve topped with the cheese, a spoonful of sour cream and crushed tortilla chips.

The toppings are $3.89 of the pot. Skip the chips and it is still taco soup.

4. Slow Cooker Kielbasa Stew: $2.71 a serving

Slow Cooker Kielbasa Stew is kielbasa layered with sauerkraut, sliced apples, onion and red potatoes, then 4 hours on High. It has the fewest ratings on this list, 108, and 4.2 stars, so treat it as the least-tested. It is also the priciest pot, $21.71 for eight, because it calls for 2 pounds of kielbasa.

Our change: this store’s cheapest kielbasa comes in 14-ounce ropes at $5.59, so two ropes are 28 ounces, 4 ounces short of 2 pounds. A third rope would add $5.59 for 4 ounces. The sauerkraut comes in 14.5-ounce cans, and the recipe’s 1 1/2 pounds is most of two.

• 2 pounds kielbasa sausage, cut into 1 inch pieces (we used two 14 ounce ropes)
• 1 1/2 pounds sauerkraut, drained and rinsed (from two 14.5 ounce cans)
• 2 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced into rings
• 3/4 onion, sliced into rings
• 2 pounds red potatoes, quartered
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1. Put half the sausage in the slow cooker and top it with the sauerkraut. Cover with the rest of the sausage, then the apples and onion. Top with the potatoes, pour the broth over everything, and sprinkle with the caraway.
2. Cover and cook on High for 4 hours, until the potatoes are tender. Top each serving with Swiss cheese.

Kielbasa is already smoked and cooked, so the 4 hours are mostly for the potatoes. The caraway is half a teaspoon from a $4.99 jar; if you don’t own one, leave it out and save the $4.99. That is our suggestion, not the recipe’s.

5. Slow Cooker Dump and Go Cheesy Chicken: $2.89 a serving

Slow Cooker Dump and Go Cheesy Chicken (4.1 stars, 497 ratings) is the one that lives up to the name: chicken, two cans of cheddar soup thinned with milk, garlic powder, and 6 hours on Low. Six servings for $17.33. Six breast halves, counted as 3 pounds of value-pack chicken at $3.99, are $11.97.

One change: the recipe calls for two 11-ounce cans of cheddar cheese soup, and the cans here are 10.5 ounces, so the pot has an ounce less sauce.

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 (11 ounce) cans condensed cream of Cheddar cheese soup (we used two 10.5 ounce cans)
• 1/2 cup milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Spray the slow cooker with cooking spray and put the chicken in. Mix the soup and milk in a bowl and pour it over the chicken. Season with salt, pepper and the garlic powder.
2. Cook on Low for about 6 hours, until a thermometer in the chicken reads 165 degrees F.

It is a sauce-and-chicken dinner, so it needs something under it. Rice or noodles are not in the $17.33.

6. Slow Cooker Pork Chops: $2.92 a serving

Slow Cooker Pork Chops (4.5 stars, 999 ratings) is on this list with an asterisk. It cooks on High for about 1 hour and 40 minutes, with basting, until the chops reach 145 degrees F. That makes it a good after-work dinner, but not a leave-it-all-day one. The recipe gives no all-day Low setting.

It needs four thick-cut boneless chops. This store sells them three to a 24-ounce pack at $7.00, so four chops means two packs: $14.00 at the register, $9.33 of it in the pot, and two chops for the freezer. The rub is the other cost: a tablespoon of poultry seasoning is $1.10 from a $4.59 jar.

• 4 thick cut boneless pork chops
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

1. Cut small slits in a diamond pattern on each chop with the tip of a knife and season with salt and pepper.
2. Whisk the paprika, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, oregano and basil in a bowl. Take out 2 teaspoons of the mix and rub it into the slits in the chops.
3. Whisk the broth and garlic into the rest of the spice mix.
4. Pour the broth mixture into a 6-quart slow cooker and set the chops on top.
5. Cover and cook on High, basting now and then, until the chops are slightly pink in the center and read at least 145 degrees F, about 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Keep going

For a single slow cooker recipe done start to finish, the crockpot chicken that cooks itself while you work prices garlic parmesan chicken and potatoes. Big-batch chili is another pot that feeds a crowd, and honey BBQ chicken and rice is the oven version of a sweet-sauce chicken dinner. For seven more priced dinners at this store, see dinner for four under $10.

Which of these would you trust to cook while you’re at work all day?

Recipes: Allrecipes, linked in each section, followed as written except the changes we name. We priced every recipe; we did not test-cook each one for this list. Prices: regular shelf prices at Harris Teeter Hudson Corners, 2145 Old Spartanburg Rd, Greer, SC 29650, pulled October 22, 2026 through the Kroger Products API. Sale prices left out. Pot cost counts the share of each package used; salt, black pepper, cooking oil, cooking spray and water are not counted. Meat sold by the pound is counted at the weight the recipe uses. Food safety: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Your store and week will vary.

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