14 easy Memorial Day cookout foods you can make in a slow cooker

For your Memorial Day cookout this year, try making the potato salad using your slow cooker.

Dips, such as this spinach-and-artichoke dip, are also easily made in a slow cooker.

Garlic-and-herb mushrooms are a delicious side dish but can also be used as a burger topping.

“The recipe for slow-cooker garlic-herb mushrooms is divine and so easy,” Rhee said. “Mushrooms made in a slow cooker are truly the best.”

Shredded Buffalo chicken pairs well with salads.

One of the best — and easiest — ways to use your Crock-Pot or slow cooker is to make shredded Buffalo chicken, such as this recipe from The Magical Slow Cooker.

Add seasoned chicken breasts to the slow cooker and cover with your preferred Buffalo sauce. Then add a splash of ranch dressing and a cube of butter, toss your chicken breasts in the mixture to coat fully, and cook until the chicken is shreddable. You can use it for Buffalo-chicken sliders, salads, or tacos.

You can even make Buffalo or barbecue chicken wings using a slow cooker.

You can make any style of wings in a slow cooker, from Asian-style to barbecue and Buffalo wings. Add your wings to the slow cooker, add your sauce of choice, toss to combine, and cook for a couple of hours on high.

To make them crisp up, add a cornstarch and water mixture to your slow cooker. After they’re cooked through, broil them for a few minutes in the oven.

Meatballs make a great appetizer for guests and don’t require cooking over a hot stove.

Meatballs make the perfect appetizer for parties big and small and are easy to make in a slow cooker. 

Place your seasoned, raw meatballs in the slow cooker, top with sauce, and let it finish them off, says one recipe from Spend With Pennies. Serve them on their own with toothpicks or stuff them inside toasted sub rolls for a meatball sandwich.