Best Slow Cookers for Two People

Why To Buy?

Batch cooking, crock pot meals, the lot – surely putting something on to slow cook means a lot of effort? Isn’t slow cooking something bigger families invest in? Maybe not. In fact, digital slow cooker brands are becoming more and more popular with two person households.

First of all, it is important to know that your slow cooker does most of the work for you. All you need do is add the ingredients, and the slow cooker will cook your meat and/or veg to perfection, making everything tender and delicious. It’ll save you time if neither of you has time to cook after work.

Slow cooker meals certainly don’t always have to be stews and sauces, either! You can try cooking up anything from a whole Sunday dinner to pulled pork burgers. The list of recipes available online for slow cookers alone should be reason enough for you to consider the option.

This is all well and good, however – and the best budget slow cooker might seem appealing – but what should you really be looking for in slow cookers? What’s the difference from one crock pot or pressure cooker to the next? Keep reading, and you’ll find out.

What to Look for?

A Manageable Size

Healthy meals or otherwise, the last thing you’re going to want is to have to cook in a massive crock pot. A compact slow cooker will give you more than enough space to cook up dinners and other dishes for two portions. In fact, the vast majority of picks from our slow cooker best list have just enough volume for what you want to cook.

That’s where you’re going to need to look at the litres of capacity for your specific slow cooker of choice. Between 1.5 litres and 3.5 litres should give you more than enough for a hot meal between two. The best slow cooker for a couple, or for two people, shouldn’t have to take up much space on the counter top.

If you know that you’re going to want to pressure cook for more people, or that you could do with the best slow cooker around for regular dinner parties, then by all means – look for something bigger! A 3.5 litre slow cooker is a good ballpark figure.

Dishwasher Safe Cleaning

Got a dishwasher in your kitchen? Scrubbing out a crock pot can take a lot of time and effort between you both. Therefore, one of the first things that you should look for in a slow cooker is that it is dishwasher safe.

If you plan on using your slow cooker frequently, and only cook for one for two people, then the chances are that the cooking pot should easily fit in your dishwasher as you’ll only need something nice and compact.

First of all, just check that the cooking pot is dishwasher safe, and if it is, then it could easily save you time and effort on cooking and on cleaning. Again, the smaller the better when it comes to cleanup, honestly!

A Reputable Brand

A good slow cooker can last you for years, easily, keeping you and your loved ones well fed. However, poor quality slow cookers can easily break, making them unworthy of your investment.

When looking for the best slow cooker for two, look at the make first. For example, a Morphy Richards Sear and Stew, or a basic Russell Hobbs slow cooker will come with a seal of quality and a great warranty to boot. Something as simple yet satisfying as the Crock-Pot Lift and Serve Digital Slow Cooker – while perhaps better for bigger dinner parties – is also a good mark of quality. They are not hard to find, but try and avoid investing in slow cookers from companies you’ve never heard of.

The best slow cookers on the market may be a little more expensive than you might have expected, however, remember that it is an investment into a useful kitchen tool.

Multiple Heat Settings

We all have different tastes, and if you and your partner want to try different dishes to slow cook, it makes sense to invest in a unit that cooks at a variety of speeds. A slow cooker is, by very definition, going to cook slowly – but the higher the heat, the sooner your food will be ready.

The best slow cookers have three heat settings, allowing you to prepare your food on a low, medium or high heat. This makes it far easier to adjust the cooking time to your preferences, whether you just need enough cooking time to reheat your meal, or a long enough cooking time to prepare your food for a few hours while you tend to your other duties.

Removable Crock Pot

This absolutely goes for most slow cookers, not just those for couples, but as we all know, dinner for two can still lead to a lot of washing up. What’s more, if you want to be super romantic and serve at the table, it might make sense to opt for a slow cooker where you can actually bring the pot out of the machine. A keep warm setting works well here too, and we’ll come to that shortly.

Beyond this, in order to make all your cleaning, preparing and serving duties easier, it is always best to opt for a slow cooker with a removable pot. They do not come at a much higher price than other slow cookers, but the removable pot is definitely worth the investment.

However, it is important to remember that they are heavy, even ones just for one or two. They are especially difficult to carry when they are full of hot food, and will heat up a great deal all around the pot. Ensure that you are wearing the right protective gear to ensure your safety and that of those around you! Simply wear thick oven mitts, and ensure that you have a clear path to wherever you are taking the inner pot. Stand the pot on an appropriate stand if you’re taking it to the dinner table between two.

Non Stick Slow Cook Pot

Is there anything more annoying than having a lovely dinner for two ruined by some dodgy cookware? A truly great slow cooker will have a non-stick bottom so that the cooking process, serving process and cleaning are made all the easier on you.

One of the best things about slow cookers is that they are generally easy to use and can be easy to clean, even if they are not dishwasher safe. If the inner pot has a non-stick surface, then it will make your cleaning time even shorter. In our experience, it’s always best to get your slow cooker pot in to soak after you’ve served up, so that the warm water lifts up anything burned on. With a slow cooker that’s genuinely non-stick, however, you can just wipe clean.

If you’ve got a dishwasher and you can pop your instant pot straight into cleaning, then that’s all the better.

Digital Display and Countdown Timer

Digital displays really do help you to gain back some serious control over your slow cooking.

Now, not every digital slow cooker has a timer on the side, but they definitely make life easier when they do! If you are investing in a digital slow cooker, that generally means it’ll come with a display and timer and standard.

Having a built-in timer means you always know where you are at in the slow cooking process. You can easily check cooking progress based on time elapsed as well as temperature, and you can also keep track of the slow cooking setting – meaning if you want to change things up, you can.

We all live busy lives, and when two people live together, it can still be difficult to keep track of what the other person is doing! A fantastic pressure cooker or slow cooker with a digital display and timer will keep you up to speed and in the picture.

Keep Warm Setting

Just because your meal is ready does not mean that you are ready to eat it. With a keep warm function, your slow cooker will keep the hot meal nice and warm for you, ensuring that it is there, ready to eat whenever you do want it.

For couples, it’s not always easy to eat at the same time during the day. Busy people can sometimes find it hard to get together and just enjoy a nice meal! Your slow cooker can be ready to serve up when you are – and by keeping your dinner warm, it means someone else can come and enjoy a hot meal whenever they’re ready.

Oven Safe

In some cases, you may wish to speed up the cooking, or do some conventional cooking in the oven. If you’ve slow cooked enough for now, it’s a real boon to be able to put both the bowl and your ingredients in the oven cavity for a while.

Slow cookers with ceramic crock pots are, by and large, going to be oven safe. However, it pays to be careful, as many slow cookers don’t offer this extra functionality. Look for a soup or stew slow cooker that you can safely take a glass lid off and pop in the cooker for a while.

HingedLid / Glass Lid

To keep an eye on your dinner while it’s on to slow cook, it makes sense to have a flexible viewing window. A hinged lid is always going to be simple to open up and check inside with. However, a tempered glass lid might work even better.

With this type of slow cooker lid, there’s no need for you to worry about having to take the top off to look inside. You may have seen this type of lid on a rice cooker or two – but they are actually pretty common across modern slow cookers, nowadays. Just remember, they do steam up, that’s what they do, so if you remove the lid to stir, you need to remember you will lose a little heat.

Consider Your Slow Cooking Needs

The above features, functions and considerations are, of course, just general guides. The perfect slow cooker for you will come with settings, timers and space that will help you cook up a storm for two night after night.

Consider space, too, for example. How much worktop room will you actually have for your crock pot? Yes, there are plenty of slow cooker options out there that are compact and easy to move – but will that necessarily give you enough volume?