15 Thanksgiving sides you can make in a slow cooker

Sweet-potato casserole topped with marshmallows is a Thanksgiving favorite, and there are multiple recipes out there explaining how to make it in a slow cooker.

One recipe by Damn Delicious explains that the residual heat from the slow cooker is the perfect method for achieving gooey, melted marshmallows on top of your casserole.

"Making a side dish in a slow cooker saves room in the oven (which usually has the turkey or ham in it)." Sarah Olson, the blogger behind "The Magical Slow Cooker," told Business Insider. "Also, if you are traveling to another house for the holidays, the slow cooker will keep your dish warm at the party."

There's nothing worse than having hungry guests hanging around the kitchen waiting for dinner to be ready. Meatballs are the perfect appetizer for parties big and small, and they are easy to make in a slow cooker. 

Place your seasoned, raw meatballs into the slow cooker, top with sauce, and let the slow cooker finish them off, says one recipe by Spend With Pennies.

Mashed potatoes are a Thanksgiving staple — the meal simply wouldn't be complete without them. However, mashed potatoes can be a hassle, from parboiling them to mashing and finding a space for them on the stove.

Don't fret: Mashed potatoes can easily be made in a slow cooker. Just make sure to add water to your pot or you won't get the desired consistency for mashing.

"Mashed potatoes are great in the slow cooker, though it does take a bit of time for the potatoes to soften, so plan ahead," Olson said.

The potatoes can take about four hours to soften, so give yourself plenty of time.

Everyone has their preferred method of making stuffing for Thanksgiving. While some might opt for oven-baked stuffing or stuffing cooked inside the turkey, it's also possible to make it in a slow cooker. 

Olson said you can use either store-bought boxed stuffing in the slow cooker or homemade stuffing, depending on your preference.

While Olson's recipe for slow-cooker mac and cheese can be made on the regular, it lends itself perfectly for Thanksgiving. Olson uses cream cheese, milk, sharp cheddar, and white sharp cheddar to make her noodles creamy and flavorful.

If you're looking to use your turkey leftovers the day after or simply want a hearty appetizer for the Thanksgiving football game, look no further than a delicious turkey chili.

Turkey chili, like this chipotle turkey chili by The Magical Slow Cooker, is easy to cook up in a slow cooker and leave simmering all day until you're ready to dig in.

This butternut-squash soup recipe from Delish advises you to buy pre-cut butternut squash cubes, sautée your vegetables first, and use a low-sodium broth. The soup should take around four hours to cook, so make sure you start early so you can have it done by the first course.

"My husband adores southern-style candied yams, and I finally took the time to make them from fresh yams, from scratch," Olson wrote in her recipe.

For Olson's Southern-inspired candied yams, you'll need peeled thick-sliced red garnet yams, cornstarch, melted butter, cinnamon, cloves, salt, brown sugar, and molasses, among other ingredients. 

The best part of this recipe is how easy they are to make. Toss the carrots into the slow cooker with a little salt, brown sugar or honey, and butter, and let sit for four to six hours, until tender.

"My family can not go without the green-bean casserole. It's pretty much the best side dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas," Olson said. 

A recipe for green-bean casserole by The Magical Slow Cooker is perfect for a large group.

One of the benefits of making a slow-cooker Buffalo-chicken dip — or any other side dish in a slow cooker — is that it can be prepared well ahead of time and reheated when you're ready to eat.

Like a lot of other Martha Stewart slow-cooker recipes, this dip only required a few ingredients, which comes in handy if you're braving the grocery store during Thanksgiving week. Martha Stewart's recipe for slow-cooker queso includes pepper jack and American cheeses, red onion, and jalapeño.

Cranberry sauce in a can is undeniably nostalgic, but slow-cooked homemade cranberry sauce is just as easy to make. Olson's recipe for slow-cooked cranberry sauce requires only a few ingredients: fresh cranberries, marmalade, and brown sugar to taste.

Olson said that being prepared is one thing slow-cooker beginners should know if they're using their pot for the first time this holiday season.

"Plan ahead and stay on schedule. Slow cooker recipes need to be prepped and set to cook early in the day," she said. "Don't wake up late and forget to start the recipe or you'll have to cook said recipe on the stove or in the oven."

You might be shocked to discover you can actually make warm, fluffy dinner rolls in a slow cooker. One recipe from I Heart Eating teaches you how to make the perfect dinner roll dough, then bake the rolls only using a slow cooker.

What Thanksgiving table would be complete without pumpkin pie? Olson's recipe for slow-cooked crustless brown sugar pumpkin pie is made using pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, eggs, brown sugar, and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom.

Olson suggests either scooping the pie out of the slow cooker and serving it warm with ice cream, or chilling the pie after it's done cooking and serving it in slices with whipped cream.