The slow cooker is billed as a foolproof piece of equipment for one-pot meals, but "dump your ingredients in and you're done" isn't the best method for a delicious dinner. The order in which you add your ingredients to your crock pot matters, lest you end up with dry, overcooked meat and undercooked veggies.

The USDA notes that vegetables take longer to slow-cook than meat, so add your veggies to the pot first, especially root veggies like potatoes and carrots; no one wants to bite into hard chunks of these. Food Network also suggests lightly sautéeing your veggies first for extra flavor, just like you would for some meats.

Not all slow cooker recipes are created equal, and you'll want to familiarize yourself with the time it takes for each individual ingredient to cook, including ones that have been sautéed or parcooked versus ones that are added to the pot raw. And don't forget to keep that lid on tight until your recipe is done cooking.