These Slow-Cooker Recipes Are the Closest Thing to a Robot Cooking for You

Slow cooker recipes for the summer, from tacos to mac and cheese to buffalo chicken sandwiches.

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It's 2015 and robots that cook for you still haven't been invented yet*, so we have to settle for the next best thing: a handy-dandy slow cooker, which you can pretend is actually Rosie from The Jetsons.

A slow cooker can make fall-apart-tender meat for tacos or macaroni and cheese while you're at work, and save you from turning on your oven until the world cools down. So get ready to do some easy prep, turn on that magical machine and come home to a delicious meal with six  slow-cooker recipes perfect for the sweltering summer.

Pulled pork is a slow-cooker staple, but there's another meat you should try going low and slow with: chicken. Kelsey Nixon's easy recipe gives you everything you love about chicken wings — spicy sauce, blue cheese and a crunch from celery — all tucked into a sandwich.

This recipe is a little backward because you slow-cook Irish oats overnight for breakfast in the morning instead of using your slow cooker all day for dinner. Make a big batch, because the cinnamon-and-sugar-spiced oatmeal basically tastes like banana bread.

Brined and slow-cooked pork chops may seem a little heavy for the summer, but when paired with fresh vegetables and a glass of fruity sangria, they'll fit right into your hot-weather meal rotation.

Transport yourself back to childhood with a healthy version of cheeseburger macaroni and cheese. Your slow cooker is basically your mom with this recipe — it has dinner ready and waiting for you when you get home.

Kelsey Nixon's Shredded Pork and Pineapple Tacos for Cooking Channel's Kelsey's Essentials

Kelsey Nixon's Shredded Pork and Pineapple Tacos for Cooking Channel's Kelsey's Essentials

Photo by: Alice Gao ©2014, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Alice Gao, 2014, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

With a recipe this easy, you can have Taco Tuesday every week. Pork shoulder slow-cooks all day in a mix of smoky spices and tomato sauce, and is ready to stuff in tortillas with fresh pineapple and homemade pickled red onions.

CC_Susan Vu Korean Nachos.tif

CC_Susan Vu Korean Nachos.tif

CC_Susan Vu Korean Nachos.tif

©2012, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

2012, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

You don't  have to make these with slow-cooked, Korean-spiced short ribs, but why not go big or go home, since they cook on their own all day? Crispy wonton skins stand in for traditional tortilla chips in this spicy and unique take on nachos.

* Robot waitstaff and mixologists are another story.

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