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It's officially stew season and our best value slow cooker is now just £40 on Amazon
Our value pick scored 91/100
Tested by Blossom BoothroydHomes Testing Manager
From fall-apart beef joints and luxurious stews to fragrant curries and comforting soups, you simply can’t beat a slow cooker when it comes to making cosy autumnal dishes. These nifty appliances can automatically cook your food over the course of several hours, creating deep, low-and-slow flavours with zero effort.
If you want to come home to the smell of a warming slow-cooked meal, it’s the perfect time of year to invest in one of these brilliant gadgets. To help you choose a slow cooker that’s right for you, the Good Housekeeping Institute has rigorously tested a grand total of 36 models (we ate a lot of stew along the way).
Score: 94/100
It's in the name. This outstanding slow cooker really does create superior results, with our testers giving top marks to the moist, tender and flavourful dishes it created. We love the easy-clean non-stick and intuitive design, and thanks to the generous 7.1-litre capacity, it's great for families or batch cooking.
Crock-Pot Lift & Serve Digital Slow Cooker
Score: 91/100
This 4.7-litre slow cooker scored full marks on our curry, soup and stew tests, cooking meat and vegetables to perfection. Our testers liked the hinged lid, which makes stirring or checking your food easy and mess-free. The bowl and lid are both dishwasher safe, too.
Ninja Foodi 9-in-1 Multi-Cooker OP500UK
Score: 91/100
If you're concerned about collecting too many appliances, Ninja's 7.5-litre multicooker has nine functions all in one. As well as a slow cooker, it's a pressure cooker, air fryer, grill and more. It excelled in our slow cooker tests, retaining plenty of moisture whilst being impressively energy efficient. A smart investment buy.
Score: 91/100
This slow cooker is easy to use, with a 4.7-litre dishwasher-safe ceramic pot and a handy programmable timer that automatically switches to ‘keep warm’ when cooking finishes. While it doesn't have an auto-cook function, our testers were consistently impressed by the delicious curries, soups, and stews it made. A really solid buy.
Score: 89/100
Another great option from Crock-Pot. This multifunctional machine allows you to schedule your cooking up to 12 hours in advance, with plenty of customisable manual and auto-function options. It won top marks for design and scored highly in our cooking tests, too.
Score: 88/100
This clever machine allows you to customise the time, temperature and pressure level of your cooking to get the best results – with plenty of handy preset options to choose from. It's a little bulky, but it's several appliances in one (we found it an excellent slow cooker), and economical to cook with.
Score 87/100
While it didn’t score quite as highly as our runner-up Ninja model, this 8-in-1 slow cooker still impressed our testers – particularly with the moist and tender chicken curry it cooked. Overall, a reliable option if you don’t want to splash the cash on the more premium Ninja slow cooker.
Score: 85/100
This slow cooker is the perfect size for a one- or two-person household and created a pleasingly thick soup and a rich beef gravy on test. There’s no indicator light and it occasionally spat when we opened the lid, but if you’re after a compact model, this is a brilliant value option.
Score: 85/100
This sleek 4.8-litre slow cooker has an uncluttered display, which our testers found a doddle to use. There are only two cooking settings (high or low) and a 'keep warm' function, but it delivered delicious results. A great value, large-capacity buy.
Score: 84/100
The chalkboard casing on this slow cooker is a fun way to let the family know what's cooking. It performed well on test too, especially with our chicken curry. Water did collect in the rim and the lid shook at times, but these are minor niggles for an otherwise great slow cooker.
Score: 83/100
This affordable slow cooker didn't disappoint on test, cooking mouthwatering meals in its 3.5-litre dishwasher-safe pot. It was easy to operate via three simple settings – low for simmering and slow cooking, high for faster cooking, and an auto setting to keep food at serving temperature.
Hannah is our homes editor, specialising in reviewing the latest kitchen appliances, cleaning products, mattresses and bedding, and crafting equipment. Hannah has written about hundreds of products, from air fryers to smoothie makers to pillows, and is committed to finding the most reliable and best value for money buys.
Hannah is also interested in sustainability in the home and has completed a course with the University of the Arts London in sustainable textiles, so she can help cut through the noise on what’s green and what’s not. Hannah has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously worked as a freelance lifestyle and women’s sports journalist, working for Stylist, Sky Sports and more.
Hannah has also previously worked in a florist and can normally be found caring for her house plants or sewing something new for her home or wardrobe.
Megan is the Good Housekeeping Institute’s senior homes and lifestyle writer. She loves diving into the latest product releases to find the very best buys on the market and has written hundreds of product reviews on everything from the best vacuum cleaners and coffee machines to the best ice cream makers and robot window cleaners.
When she’s not writing about the newest gadgets and gizmos for your home and garden, you’ll find her running every distance from 5km to 100km or relaxing at home with her cat – there really is no in between.
Megan has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously written for Stylist, Glamour, Women's Health, TimeOut, SquareMeal, and YOU magazine. You can find Megan on Instagram @meganlouisegeall.
Blossom is passionate about finding the best home products and appliances for GH readers. As head of the homes testing team, she has led reviews across multiple categories, from pizza ovens, and smart plugs to portable fans and hobs. She enjoys delving into the intricacies of products and refining testing protocols to ensure we’re testing them against their claims. Her aim is to find the top-performing products on the market, to help take the hard work out of housework. Blossom’s most notable accomplishment in the lab has been toasting 528 slices of bread in her quest to find the best toasters money can buy. In her free time, she openly admits to being a music geek and indulges her creative side through crocheting, baking, singing and writing.
