Did you know that you can turn one slow cooker recipe into five different meals? That means you only cook once, but have enough leftovers to enjoy five different dishes. If you like variety, I do not suggest you eat all of these dishes consecutively for dinner every day, because you might get fed up with the taste of leftover chuck roast quickly. Rather, you should have them every other day, or alternate between having it for lunch or as a quick dinner. That way you ease the feeling of eating the same flavor every day, and not end up wasting your precious leftovers.
Make the Most of Your Meal Prep With These Slow-Cooked Korean Beef Tacos
This slow cooker recipe is meal prep at its best! Just imagine, you throw all the ingredients in a Ziploc bag when you have time, and that way you have it ready to go whenever you want to dump it in the slow cooker. If you’re looking for easy dinner recipes, this one is pretty straightforward and hard to mess up. You’ll have delicious food on day one, and awesome leftover chuck roast to get creative with for upcoming days.
Essentially, during the meal prep phase, you start with the beef itself. I like getting my chuck roast from ALDI, since the quality and price is almost unbeatable.
Follow the recipe here, and prepare your bag. I omit the jalapeño since I’m not a fan. I leave the marination bag in my fridge for a day or two, within a clear container to avoid any spills or dripping. If I’m not using it within a day or two, I put it in my deep freezer and leave it there for months. The important thing is to always take it out the night before using it and let it thaw in the fridge overnight. I think it marinates better if you do this. The other thing I like to do is use a slow cooker liner when cooking, which you can find at a grocery store. Or, you can get these ones; they’re pretty good and make cleaning a breeze.
Here are several ways to make the most of your beef:
Day 1: Sliced Chuck Roast With Trader Joe’s Potatoes
The first day I just serve it sliced, straight from the slow cooker. I do not add all the juice from the slow cooker because it can make it overly sweet. You might want to preserve that liquid for future days if you think it’s too dry. Add a pack of frozen, embellished potatoes, and voila!
In case you’re wondering, here are the potatoes. I add a tablespoon of butter, plus sea salt and green onions.
Day 2: Korean Beef Tacos
On day two you can go ahead and pull the meat apart with two forks. You can add some of the liquid you preserved from the day before to make it juicier if you’re so inclined. I personally didn’t find it necessary. I added my personal guacamole recipe (which I will share in a future post), blue corn tortilla chips, sour cream, and tortillas. If you’re in the mood, you can pair it with a shot of Patrón Tequila!
Day 3: Chuck Roast With Rice and Cilantro Garlic Sauce
This one is really easy, especially for packing a lunch. The cilantro garlic sauce changes the flavor and tricks you into thinking you’re eating a completely different dish. Want to change it even more? Add some “maduros” (sweet plantains) on the side. You can buy them frozen to reheat in the microwave, or get the dark yellow plantains (the darker the better, even if they’re almost black) and bake them. The strong flavors will mask any semblance of a Korean dish.
Day 4: Korean Beef and Cheetos Quesadilla
This recipe can be very polarizing. Some may like it, but it might be a no-no for others (especially those that believe Cheetos have no place in any recipe). I hear you’all! LOL. If you do like it, I used leftover chuck roast, tortilla, cheese (I used mozzarella), sour cream, and Puff Cheetos.
Anyways, you can always substitute the Cheetos for sliced carrots or coleslaw. 😉
Day 5: Leftover Swiss Cheese and Chuck Roast Sandwich
Your leftover chuck roast might not even make it this far. If it does, you can toast bread and throw in some fixings like Swiss cheese, arugula, or even pickles for an easy lunch or dinner.
The Lowdown
So, if you want to maximize your meal prep routine and get some easy dinner recipes, get cracking with this awesome slow cooker recipe. This slow cooker recipe will yield some tasty leftover chuck roast that makes for a quick dinner, five different ways, any day of the week. So next time you think of ignoring your leftovers because you just had that, think twice!
That’s my take!
What are your go-to easy dinner recipes? Do you have other ideas on serving leftover chuck roast? How do you save time when fixing dinner?
I throw left over chicken or whatever we have in a skillet with sliced mushrooms, diced onions and beans. I love canned beans (lima, butter beans, green, garbanzo, kidney, cannellini). Add a little butter and pepper cover and put on low for about hour until steamy hot. The mushrooms add the moisture naturally. I call it my “crock skillet” method. During that hour while it warms I enjoy before dinner cocktails and beer. That is when I do my best thinking about life.
I will have to try those Trader Joe potatos. They look good.
Tom
Wow, Tom, that sounds tasty! You’re giving me some ideas here! I like the idea of dinner cocktails, you have something good going on here! Miguel also does some of his best thinking after some bourbon. 🙂
It’s really hard to beat Aldi prices on mostly everything. Everything I’ve had there has been top quality except for the boxed mac n cheese. That was a bit dry. But I shouldn’t be eating that garbage anyway! Lol
Oh thanks for the heads up on the mac and cheese. LOL. That’s one of my guilty pleasures…I recently tried the frozen one from Cracker Barrel -so yummy! You know what’s another thing that I don’t like from Aldi? Their hazelnut spread. I’m a Nutella freak and thought it was going to be the same. 🙁 The rest of their stuff is good AF! 🙂
Hey Lily! Great, now I’m hungry and have a few hours to go yet until lunch 🙁
LOL! Nice post! Chuck roast is one of our absolute favorites…the leftovers never last too many days.
I would omit the jalepino too (I’m not a fan either but Mr. DS is…oops..!)
I’m still in awe over your cheetos dish…I haven’t bought cheetos in years and I miss them!
Thanks, Mrs. DS! If you do buy the Cheetos, hide whatever is left so you don’t end up like me going back to the bag when I get home from work and crave them the most! There’s something about getting home after an hour of traffic and craving crunchy, salty snacks! 🙂
That’s like putting chips in sandwiches (a British thing but delicious). I have never heard of putting Cheetos in a meal! I’ll have to try this in my instant pot!
LOL GYM! I don’t think I can eat a sandwich without chips, although I usually have them on the side to avoid a mess. If I eat a sandwich without chips I feel incomplete! 😛
Hey Lily!
Great post about the slow cooker and left overs! I love korean beef tacos — they are awesome! And I’d have to try the Korean Beef and Cheetos quesadilla!! Looks very special with the Cheetos. Do the Jalapeno Cheetos pass? 🙂
I know you mentioned you’re not a fan of jalapeno (neither am I) but the jalapeno Cheetos are awesome hehe.
I love all the images on this post! They all look really delicious and it’s almost dinner time for me!!
As usual, you provide awesome tips! <3
Thanks Panda!
I haven’t seen jalapeno Cheetos but I’ll be sure to give them a try if I see them based on your recommendation! 🙂 It was fun to make all these leftover recipes, more than once we ate so much on a given day I was scared it wouldn’t make it until the next day for another recipe! And yes, give those jalapeno Cheetos a go next time you have leftover Korean tacos!!