3 Slow Cooker Recipes from Taming Twins’ Sarah Rossi’s New Cookbook

When it comes to simple, fuss-free family meals that actually taste great, Sarah Rossi better known as @TamingTwins reigns supreme. Her fourth Sunday Times bestselling cookbook, What’s For Dinner? Slow Cooker, has just landed, and Mother+ sat down with her to talk all things slow cooking and share three exclusive recipes from the book.

Sarah’s approach is the antidote to dinnertime chaos. Her slow cooker recipes are comforting, affordable, and designed for real family life. With her guidance, even the trickiest weeknight dinners or a leisurely weekend brunch, become effortless turning the evening scramble into something that feels calm, nourishing, and entirely achievable.

Here, exclusively for Mother+ readers, are three of Sarah’s standout recipes from her new book.

Chicken Shawarma

2 HOURS

Traditionally, shawarma is thinly sliced pieces of seasoned meat, stacked and skewered on a spit and rotated as the outer layer cooks. It’s then served in wraps, with various fillings and sauce.

Here I’ve taken similar flavourings and layers of meat and made it work in a slow cooker. Be sure not to overcook the meat – a meat thermometer is handy here to take it out when it’s just ready, if it’s overcooked it can dry out very quickly.

For the Slow Cook

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 650g in total)

• 150g full-fat Greek yoghurt

• 2 tsp smoked paprika

• 2 tsp ground cumin

• 2 tsp garlic granules

• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

• ½ tsp sea salt

• pinch of dried chilli flakes

• 1 lemon, zested (save the juice for the sauce)

For the Sauce

• 100g full-fat Greek yoghurt

• 2 tsp mint sauce

• juice of ½ lemon (from the zested lemons)

• ½ tsp sea salt

To Serve

• 2 salad tomatoes, thinly sliced

• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced

• ½ red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

• 4 large flatbreads (wraps or naan breads are fine too)

Method

1. Take the chicken breasts and carefully cut them horizontally, so that each one becomes 2 or more very thin fillets. Put them into a bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients for the slow cook to the bowl and mix well until totally coated.

2. Take a large, double layer of foil and pile the chicken fillets on top of each other. Tightly roll up the foil, twisting at each end to form a big sausage shape. Place in the slow cooker. Put the lid on and cook on HIGH for 1½–2½ hours or LOW for 3–5 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through (use a meat thermometer if you have one to check the internal temperature, it should be 80°C for 6 seconds).

3. While the chicken is cooking, make the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Remove the cooked chicken from the slow cooker and allow to rest in the foil for 15 minutes.

5. While the chicken is resting, warm the flatbreads.

6. Take the chicken out of the foil and thinly slice. Drizzle over some of the cooking liquid. Spread the flatbreads with the sauce, pile in the chicken, tomatoes, cucumber and onion and drizzle more sauce over the top. Roll up and serve.

Tomato & Feta Frittata

2 HOURS 15 MINS

Eggs? In a slow cooker? I thought I’d try it, and it works! You can use any cooked leftover vegetables you like here; I’ve used peas and tomatoes as they are colourful and cook at the same time as the eggs to keep life simple. Pesto and feta add flavour. This makes an easy brunch, or when cold, pack up for a protein-filled lunch. After cooking, you can brown the top of the frittata under the grill if you’d like more colour.

Ingredients

• 100g frozen peas

• 250g cherry tomatoes, halved

• 200g feta cheese, crumbled

• 6 eggs, beaten

• 100ml milk (semi-skimmed or whole)

• 2 tbsp pesto (red or green is fine)

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Line your slow cooker pot with baking paper (even if your slow cooker is the non-stick type).

2. Put the peas and HALF of the tomatoes in the slow cooker pot, then crumble over the feta. Stir gently so everything is combined.

3. In a small jug, mix the eggs, milk and pesto and season well with salt and pepper. Carefully pour the egg mixture into the slow cooker pot. Sit the remaining tomatoes on top of the mixture. Put a clean tea towel over the top of the slow cooker (this absorbs excess water from condensation) and place the lid over it. Cook on LOW for 2–2½ hours, or until the mixture is set.

4. Leave to cool in the slow cooker pot (uncovered) for at least 5 minutes – you can turn it out sooner if you prefer, but it may be tricky to get it out.

This recipe works best in a 3.5-litre slow cooker. If yours is larger, the frittata will be very thin and cook very quickly, so you may want to try doubling the recipe. If serving vegetarians, check the pesto is suitable.

Cinnamon Buns

2 HOURS 10 MINS, PLUS PROVING TIME

You know I love a fuss-free recipe, but this, it must be said, is not fuss free. It does require kneading, proving and rolling, but I promise you, it’s such a fun weekend bake, and when the result tastes like something from a fancy bakery, I can forgive a few extra steps! Included here are options for how to prepare the day before you need them, which is very useful if you’re serving them for breakfast or brunch.

For the Dough

• 100ml milk (semi-skimmed or whole)

• 75g unsalted butter

• 150g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

• 125g plain flour

• 40g caster sugar

• 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast

• 1 egg, beaten

For the Rolling and Filling

• 100g unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 50g caster sugar

• 4 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing

For the Icing

• 100g icing sugar

• ½ tsp vanilla extract (not essence)

• 1–1½ tbsp milk (semi-skimmed or whole)

Method

1. First make the dough. In a small pan, over a medium-low heat, warm the milk and butter until it’s lukewarm (not hot!) and the butter is melted.

2. Meanwhile, sift the flours into a large bowl. Add the sugar and yeast to the flours and mix to combine. Add the milk and melted butter and stir, before adding the egg. Mix until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough (at some point during the mixing you will need to use clean hands to bring the dough together).

3. Transfer the dough to a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and knead for 5 minutes on a medium speed, or knead by hand on a well-floured surface (with well-floured hands) for 10 minutes, until the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and springy to the touch.

4. Place the dough into an oiled bowl (to prevent it from sticking) and cover with an oiled piece of cling film. Leave to rise in a warm place for 1–2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.

5. Once your dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and, using a rolling pin, roll it into a roughly 30cm square. It’s important to make sure your dough is of even thickness all over to ensure you have nice, neat buns.

6. These buns are best made in a smaller slow cooker, if you have one. If you only have a large (say 6.5-litre) slow cooker, you may want to make double the recipe and freeze the rest for another day.

What’s for Dinner? Slow Cooker Edition

What’s for Dinner? Slow Cooker by Sarah Rossi is available to buy now, get your copy here.