Slow Cooker Mincemeat - Easy Christmas Recipe

This slow cooker mincemeat recipe is so easy that once you know how simple it is to make, you won't need to buy jarred mincemeat again!  I'll also show you some uses for mincemeat Christmas recipes, such as cakes, pastries, and how you can use up a glut of apples.

When I first delved into traditional Christmas baking years ago, I started off with a good old Delia mincemeat recipe.  It was delicious, fun and I'd push my brand spanking mixing bowls to their limits.

So don't be surprised if there are elements of the lovely Delia Smith slow cooker mince recipe. In fact, I became obsessed with making mincemeat.  There are actually lots of leftover mincemeat recipes you can make, which I'll show you shortly.

But now it's 2020 and I've moved on to a slow cooker mincemeat.  You'll see how I've been combining it with one of the many bags of frozen eating apples I prepped in the Summer from our tree.  And also how you can adapt this luxury mincemeat recipe almost however you wish.

Slow Cooker Ingredients in Mincemeat

Note, you'll find a full list of ingredients in a recipe card, including timings on how long to cook mince in a slow cooker further down this page.

What's in Mincemeat?

It may baffle you today, but traditional mincemeat used to have meat in it back in the middle ages.  It would be served in mince pies along with the fruit, preserved in a liquid, as to what we now know today.  However, my recipe is vegetarian mincemeat. 

And in fact, you'll now find many jars of vegan mincemeat on the market today, which I've also been making with my easy eating apple and mincemeat cake.  But let's talk more about the ingredients in mincemeat for my slow cooker version.  

Now, I think this is the best Christmas mincemeat recipe because it's full of flavour and you can adapt it for someone's taste.  For example, I chose a mixed fruit mincemeat with cranberries and apricots as my family don't like currants.  Additionally I added almond slices, but if anyone has nut allergies, you could make it an all fruit mincemeat recipe instead!

Equipment I Use to Make Easy Christmas Mincemeat Recipe

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• Slow cooker - no smaller than 3L
• Measuring jug
• Weighing scales
• apple corer
• Spatula
• Measuring spoons
• lemon juicer
• Cheese grater
• sterilized jars

Can I Make it an Alcohol Free Mincemeat Recipe?

Firstly, I've only ever made brandy mincemeat.  But I have made many jams, eating apple chutney and preserves without alcohol.  So, if I were to make mincemeat without, I would cook slow cook as usual before canning mincemeat, then:

• Ensure I sterilized the jars following my tutorial here
• Pour in the hot, sweet mincemeat into the jars while they're hot
• Fasten the lid while they're hot
• Leave to cool so the tamper button retracts
• Try and store for about a year

In my opinion, the zest and sugar should do a fairly good job in preserving the cooked mincemeat recipe. I haven't tried it, but you may also be able to make a fat free mincemeat recipe without the suet or butter. 

Feel free to let me know in the comments how it when if you tried without!

Sterilizing Jars for a Brandy Mincemeat

However, sterilizing jars for mincemeat with brandy is slightly different.  It's a little bit easier as we won't need to transfer hot mincemeat into sterilized jars while hot. 

Also, it's important that you wait until both cool to prevent cracking glass jars and ruining your apple mincemeat recipe.

Can I Make this a Vegan Mincemeat?

Unfortunately, I cannot find any confirmation that Atora vegetable Atora shredded suet is definitely vegan.  Although they do state that it doesn't contain any animal products and that it is suitable for vegetarians. 

But, to guarantee you are buying vegan suet, there are a few different brands on Amazon available.  Albeit, they're a bit pricey, so you may want to try a vegan butter instead, similar to Mary Berry's mincemeat recipe.

It's also vital to check the spirit you're using as some alcohols use animal by-products.

Gluten Free Mincemeat

To ensure your mincemeat is gluten-free, butter is your safest option, but some suets are safe. You'll need to do your research!

Calories in My Mincemeat Recipe

Firstly, my easy mincemeat recipe in the slow cooker yields approximately 6 x 411g regular jars of mincemeat. 

I'll work the the calories out for you here:

• 2.5kg of mincemeat
• = 123.3 tablespoons at 20g each
• = 59 calories per tablespoon
• If wanting an unofficial Slimming World mincemeat, this makes it 3 syns per tablespoon

Disclaimer: This is an unofficial page and has no affiliation or endorsement from Slimming World.  Slimming World's website can be found at https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/
*Any syn values are personal estimates and not verified by Slimming World.

Can I Use Bramley Apples Instead of Frozen, Then Defrosted Eating Apples?

If you haven't frozen any apples off your tree, you may first think this recipe is a little faffy. And fair play. The reason I use eating apples is because I have so many on my tree each year and I don't like to waste them.

If you have any cooking apples, you can use 600g chopped up instead (prepared weight approx 550g). But, when putting raw eating apples straight in, it will make it more watery mincemeat.

When I prep, freeze and thaw 1kg of chopped eating apples, it tends to lose 40% of its weight in water. So this means that:

• 1kg of defrosted eating apples becomes 600g of defrosted apples in this recipe

An Alternative Last Minute Mincemeat Recipe

If you're short of time and don't have hours to let your slow cooker do the work, then I have a great alternative!

Recently, I shared how to cook mincemeat on the hob in my easy mincemeat cake, which is actually a boiled fruitcake. Using a jam pan, you can combine all of the ingredients, including the brandy immediately and boil for about 10 minutes.

You can use it within 30 minutes as all the spices, sugars, and zest are infused.  Or, if giving it as a homemade Christmas mincemeat gift, I would pour immediately while hot into sterilized jars.

Baking Mincemeat in the Oven

If you're wanting to traditionally bake mincemeat, then I have:

• cooked it in the oven at 110 degrees celcius (gas mark ¼) while covered with tin foil for 3 hours - but with a slow cooker, I can leave the house unattended
• Then leave it to cool and stir in the brandy as per the rest of the instructions

Note, the reason we can cook longer and slower in a slow cooker, is because the low cooking temperature is about 95 degrees celcius.

More Recipes Using Homemade Mincemeat

• Christmas mince pie rocky road (it tastes AMAZING like fruit and nut chocolate!
• Mincemeat dump cake
• Cake recipe using mincemeat without having to buy a tonne of other ingredients you'll never use again
• Mincemeat tart (mince pies without the lids)
• Filo mincemeat parcels
• Christmas dump cake, by replacing some of the apples
• Stir in some leftover mincemeat in this Christmas chocolate fridge cake
• Apple mincemeat crumble
• Mince pie pinwheels
• How to ice a fruitcake

How to Make Mincemeat in the Slow Cooker

📖 Recipe

Pin Slow Cooker Recipe For Christmas Mince