Slow Cooker Dinner Party Recipes

When winter arrives it brings with it cold, arguably dreary, weather and early nightfalls. It shouldn't however, bring with it a lack of social gatherings!

We love the idea of preparing a weeknight dinner party for family and friends that will warm both limbs and heart during the winter months.

To keep things simple for the host and still special for everyone, we prepare a dinner celebration with our favorite kitchen tool during the winter: our slow cooker!

Below, we've come up with three quick and easy dinner recipes to make preparing food for your dinner party simple.

Before you head to work in the morning, prepare your main meal - green chili. You can do your chopping the night before limiting prep time for this entree to 10 minutes in the morning. Then, throw all of your ingredients together in your slow cooker while you work and by the time you get home, your meal will be ready! The great thing about chili is that the longer it simmers, the better it tastes. So, you can also feel free to cook this chili up the night before if you're not comfortable leaving your cooker on while you're out.

Once you arrive home, prepare your appetizer - a savory, warm and flavorful tortilla soup. Prep and throw all your ingredients into your free slow-cooker while you get yourself freshened up and ready to greet guests.

Finally, as you eat, prepare the dessert! We're betting guests will be full from your hearty appetizer and entree, so keep it light, warm and in theme with your slow cooker dinner party and prepare a hot candy cider to end the meal on a sweet note.