One Pot Wonders: The Magic of Cooking Simply and Reducing Waste

There’s something quietly wonderful about a one-pot meal. The kind that fills your home with delicious smells, feeds the whole family, and leaves you with only one dish to wash up. Simple, nourishing, and perfect for busy weeks, or lazy summer days when you’d rather be outside than standing over a stove.

At Happy Scraps, we love a meal that works as hard as we do: one that stretches ingredients, saves time, and makes the most of what you already have. Enter the humble slow cooker, a scrappy cook’s secret weapon.

These two summery slow-cooked dishes are perfect examples of how less fuss can mean more flavour. One’s rich and meaty, the other fresh and plant-powered. Both are easy, flexible, and made to share.

Slow-Cooked Brisket Tacos

Tender, juicy, and packed with flavour, these tacos are summer in slow motion.

You’ll need:

• 800g beef brisket (or chuck roast)

• 1 onion, sliced

• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 tin diced tomatoes

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 tbsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

• Salt and pepper

• Juice of 1 lime

To make:

1. Place onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices in your slow cooker.

2. Add brisket, turning to coat it in the sauce.

3. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours, until the meat is tender enough to shred.

4. Shred the brisket with two forks and stir it back into the sauce.

5. Serve in soft tortillas with fresh salad, avocado, lime wedges, and herbs.

Scrappy tip: Any leftover brisket makes incredible toasties or nachos the next day.

Lemon, Chickpea & Veggie Stew

A bright, vegetarian one-pot dish that’s perfect warm or cold — and even better served with a crisp summer salad or crusty bread.

You’ll need:

• 1 onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

• 2 cups mixed chopped vegetables (carrots, zucchini, beans, capsicum — whatever’s on hand)

• 1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

• 1 cup cooked lentils (or another tin of beans)

• 2 cups vegetable stock

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• Zest and juice of 1 lemon

• A handful of spinach or other greens

• Salt, pepper, and herbs to taste

To make:

1. Add everything except the lemon and greens to your slow cooker.

2. Cook on low for 6–7 hours or high for 3–4 hours, until the veggies are tender.

3. Stir in the lemon zest, juice, and greens just before serving.

4. Serve with salad, couscous, or bread — and a drizzle of olive oil on top.

Scrappy tip: This stew freezes beautifully, or can be turned into wraps or pie filling the next day.

The Joy of Simple Cooking

The beauty of one-pot cooking is how it brings things (and people) together. It’s food without fuss, where every ingredient gets a chance to shine. Whether it’s a pot bubbling away while you work, or a dish you set in the morning and forget until dinner, slow cooking reminds us that good things take time, and that delicious doesn’t have to be complicated.

So dust off that slow cooker, raid your fridge, and let the magic happen. One pot, zero stress, and a whole lot of flavour.