Slow Cooker Garlic & Herb Guinea Fowl with Rustic Vegetables

There’s nothing better than coming home after a busy Sunday out with the family to a warm, comforting meal waiting for you. This Slow Cooker Garlic & Herb Guinea Fowl is the perfect fuss-free dish—simply prepare it in the morning, set the slow cooker, and let it work its magic while you enjoy your day.

Guinea fowl is becoming increasingly popular and is now widely available in supermarkets. With a flavour that’s richer and slightly gamier than chicken, it makes a fantastic alternative for a hearty, home-cooked meal.

Tender, flavourful guinea fowl is infused with a delicious mix of garlic, lemon, and herbs, sitting on a bed of rustic potatoes, carrots, and celery. As it slow cooks, the juices from the bird and vegetables create a rich, natural broth that can easily be thickened into a simple homemade gravy—perfect for drizzling over your meal.

With minimal effort and maximum flavour, this dish is ideal for a stress-free, home-cooked Sunday dinner. Just serve, carve, and enjoy—no last-minute rushing, just a hearty meal ready to warm you up when you walk through the door! 🍽️✨

Ingredients

1 whole guinea fowl

Herb Mix

3 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 juice of 1 lemon
pinch maldon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano

Vegetables

4 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
3 large carrots,  cut into chunks
1 celery stalk,  cut into chunks
1 small onion, roughly chopped

3 whole garlic cloves

1 tbsp cornflour

water

Optional

Fresh parsley, chopped

Lemon wedges

Method

Prepare the Herb Mix
In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, thyme, parsley and oregano.

Prepare the Guinea Fowl

Pat the guinea fowl dry with kitchen paper.
Gently loosen the skin over the breast using your fingers or a spoon.
Spread the herb mixture under the skin, ensuring an even distribution.

Prepare the Vegetables

Place the potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic cloves and onion at the bottom of the slow cooker.

Assemble in the Slow Cooker

Place the prepared guinea fowl on top of the vegetables.
Spoon the rest of the Herb Mix over the guinea fowl.

Guinea Fowl in Slow Cooker at the start of cooking

Cook

Cover with the lid and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours, until the guinea fowl is cooked through (internal temperature should reach 75°C/165°F).

Carefully remove the guinea fowl and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving.

How to Make a Simple Gravy from the Cooking Juices

Strain the Juices

Once the guinea fowl is cooked, carefully remove it from the slow cooker and set it aside to rest.
Strain the juices into a small saucepan, removing any vegetable bits for a smoother gravy.

Thicken with Cornflour (Cornstarch) Slurry

In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) with 2 tbsp cold water until smooth.
Bring the strained juices to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
Gradually whisk in the cornflour slurry, stirring continuously until the gravy thickens (this usually takes 2–3 minutes).

Enhance the Flavour (Optional)

Add a knob of butter for a glossy finish.
Stir in a splash of lemon juice to brighten the flavours.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve

Pour the gravy over your guinea fowl and vegetables, or serve on the side in a jug.

Garnish with fresh parsley and extra lemon wedges if desired.

Enjoy your flavourful, fall-apart slow-cooked guinea fowl! 🍽️😊

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Greek Turkey with lemon potatoes - slow cooker recipe

An easy Sunday lunch or dinner, freeing up your time to spend with the family.

If you are trying to work out how to balance cooking from scratch with family life, then this is a really easy recipe that doesn't take long to prepare, and then the slow cooker looks after the rest. You can leave this unattended without any worries, returning to a hot meal.

Cheaper cuts of meat make really easy meals, but they need to cook slowly and at a lower temperature, so they will take more time. You can make the following recipe in a normal oven, but it also is really simple in a slow cooker. Slow cookers save on energy costs too.

I love my slow cooker for this. I set it to high and the timer for 5 hours before I start browning the turkey joint, put the ingredients into the pot and then put the turkey on the top, pop on the lid and your meal cooks itself. No extra water/stock is needed, but remember not to remove the lid during cooking as the steam evaporates and returns to the food to help the cooking through condensation on the lid.

There are many different types of slow cookers, but I have the Crockpot below and love it. It comes into its own at this time of year as it will take a whole chicken, large gammon joint, ox cheek, joint of brisket, as well as stews and for making stock.

Ingredients

Turkey Thigh Joint
3 tbsps olive oil
2 large brown onions, sliced thickly
500g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2.5 cm chunks
1 tbsp dried oregano
Juice from 1 lemon
sea salt

Method

Switch on the slow cooker and set it to high (if you have a timer, set it to 5 hours).

Put a frying pan on medium heat and then add 2 tbsps of the olive oil; carefully place the turkey joint into the frying pan, skin-side down, to start to brown. When golden brown, turn over the turkey joint to brown the base.

While the turkey is browning, put the sliced onions and potato chunks into the slow cooker with the other 1 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle over the oregano, a pinch of sea salt and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly and spread across the base of the slow cooker.

When the turkey joint has browned, carefully transfer it onto the top of the onions and potatoes in the slow cooker, pour over any fat remaining in the frying pan.

Put the lid on the slow cooker and leave untouched.

You do not need to add any liquid to the cooker, it will cook in it's own juices. The lid must remain on the pot until at least 4 hours, as the heat would be lost. 

If you don't have a slow cooker, you can use a large roasting tray, add 1/2 pint hot water and cover with foil at Gas 4/180C/350F - check after 3 hours, check that the pan isn't dry (you may need to add a small amount of water so you have some gravy. Remove foil for last 30 minutes.

I served with some green beans, but also goes well with a greek salad in hotter weather.

Turkey Thigh Joint
This is available from Tesco. It is around £3.50 and will easily serve 4 people

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Turkey meatballs in tomato and basil sauce

As we eat mainly turkey, chicken and fish, I'm always trying to think of different ways to use a pack of turkey mince.
It's easy to become stuck in a rut and keep making turkey chilli, so tonight I was determined to make a different evening meal. This is quick, simple and easy to make.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

For the tomato sauce:-

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 white onion, finely chopped

Pinch salt

1 clove garlic, finely chopped 

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tin chopped tomatoes 

1 pot (70g) tomato purée (cirio do perfect sized portions)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh basil

For the meatballs:-
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 white onion, finely chopped

Pinch salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon tomato ketchup

500g turkey thigh mince

Pack of linguini or spaghetti (check measures on side of the packet and cook amount for the appropriate number of people.)

Method

Start by making the meatballs

Using a medium bowl, add all of the ingredients for the meatballs. Mix all the ingredients together well, using a wooden spoon or your hand whichever you prefer.

Prepare a tray for your meatballs to sit on ready to fry, place a sheet of parchment paper on the tray to make them easier to transfer.

Shape the meatballs in your hands, golf ball-sized is ideal, they can be popped in the fridge if you want to make them in advance.

Make the tomato sauce

Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and fry the onions and pinch of salt gently until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and oregano and fry gently for another 2 minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, pepper, sugar and balsamic vinegar and simmer gently for about 5 minutes, add the fresh basil. 

You can also use this tomato sauce as a base for a pizza or with pasta. 

Combining the meatballs with sauce

Heat a saute pan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and fry the meatballs until browned on all sides. Be careful when you turn them, or they could break up, the trick is to leave them for about 1 minute before trying to turn them.
When they have browned all over, add the tomato sauce and enough water to cover the meatballs, stir carefully. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Turning occasionally.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.

Serve with fresh basil and parmesan to taste.

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Chicken lasagne

If you are gluten free and don't eat red meat, it's difficult to find a lasagne that you can eat. We also eat lots of veg, so I decided it was time to get a decent lasagne dish, some gluten free lasagne sheets and bone and skinless chicken thighs. I made a large lasagne as the spare portions can either be frozen or taken to work for lunch.
This uses my "all-in-one" sauce method, so you will need a balloon whisk for this.
Ingredients (serves 6)
For the bolognese
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pack chicken thighs, skinless and boneless - minced in a food processor
1 carrot, finely chopped
1/4 nutmeg, freshly grated
1/4 pint milk
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 beef stock pot (trust me, it improves the flavour)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 tin water
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 large chestnut mushrooms, halved and finely sliced.
For the white sauce
1 oz lacto free butter
1 oz plain gluten free flour
1 pint lacto free milk
Salt and pepper
Additional ingredients
12 sheets gluten free lasagne
1 tsp salt
1 large courgette, finely sliced lengthways
1/2 bag baby spinach leaves  (washed)
1 oz freshly grated parmesan

Method 
Bolognese
In a large pan, sauté the onion and celery in the olive oil over a gentle heat until the onion is translucent. Increase the heat and add the minced chicken, fry until all chicken has gone white, stir regularly. Add the carrots, nutmeg, milk and salt and pepper, cook for 1 minute,  then add the tomato puree, continue cooking until the liquid has evaporated.  Add the stockpot, oregano, tomatoes and the water, stir well, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Sauce
Take one medium pan and put all the sauce ingredients in the pan together. Put the pan over a gently heat and then keep stirring using a balloon whisk until the sauce is smooth and has thickened. Season to taste.
Pasta (only if using gluten free lasagne sheets).
Fill a large pan with water, bring to the boil and add the salt. Pop in the lasagne sheets and cook until al-dente. (I've tried using the sheets without pre-cooking and it doesn't work for the gluten free as well). If using normal quick cook lasagne sheets, you can omit this stage.
Build the lasagne
Take a lasagne dish and rub a little olive oil over the surface to prevent sticking.
Take a couple of large spoonfuls of the mince and spread them over the bottom of the dish, then drizzle over some of the white sauce, then a layer of lasagne sheets, next a layer of mince, then a handful of spinach, followed by a layer of courgette, plus another drizzle of white sauce.
Keep building the layers. You want to end with some mince and white sauce over the final layer of pasta. If you think you are running out of the white sauce, you can always add some more milk and thin it down towards the end.
Sprinkle over the parmesan cheese and then pop into a moderately hot oven Gas 5 (Electric 190C) for 40 minutes. It should be bubbly and golden on the top.
Serve with salad.

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Yoghurt Chicken

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, cut into strips

1 (4 oz.) container plain yoghurt

1/2 lime juice

1 clove garlic crushed

1 tsp. oregano

Dash of salt & pepper

Parmesan cheese

Marinate chicken in mixture of yogurt, lemon juice and seasonings. Marinating even a few minutes is fine. Place chicken in shallow greased 13 x 9 inch pan so chicken is touching, but not overlapping. Sprinkle the chicken with Parmesan cheese. Bake at Gas 6 for 25-30 minutes. After about 20 minutes of baking, drain any excess drippings and check the thickest piece, cut through the middle and see if any pink juices run, return to oven for addition 5 minutes.

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Spiced chilli pork

It's New Year's Eve, what can you make with cold roast pork, well I let my imagination go and produced this lovely dish. It was really easy and extremely yummy.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, sliced
Cold roast pork cut into .5 inch chunks
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
6 mushrooms sliced
5 tomatoes cut into chunks
1 tbsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper
Water
1/2 Savoy cabbage finely sliced

Method:
Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onions and garlic and fry gently until soft.
Add the pork and fry for 1 minute, add the paprika and chilli and fry coating all the pork and onions in the spices. This will release the flavours.
Add the mushrooms and fry for another minute. Add some water to help release the juices crusted on the bottom the pan.
Add the tomatoes and the oregano. Season well. Simmer for 10 mins, add more water if necessary.
Add the cabbage and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes.

Serve with boiled rice.

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Chicken Paprikash with dumplings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Oil

Chicken thighs

1 large red onion sliced

1 green pepper sliced

1 tin tomatoes

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt & Pepper

Dumplings

4 oz SR flour

2 oz suet

Salt & Pepper

Water

Method

Preheat oven Gas 5

Heat oil in frying pan and brown the chicken pieces. Place in casserole dish temporarily, sprinkle over half of the paprika onto the skin.

Soften onions, then add peppers and continue to fry for 1 minute. Add remaining paprika and fry for another minute. Put chicken pieces back into frying pan add tomatoes and oregano, season well. Transfer mixture back into casserole, put on lid and place in oven for 2 hours.

30 minutes before finished cooking. Mix flour and suet and seasoning. Add water to make a thick dough. Roll into small balls the size of walnuts.

Remove casserole from oven, stir well and then pop the dumplings on the surface. Cover and put back in oven for a further 30 minutes.

Serve with wilted spinach.

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