Slow cookers are a simple way to prepare hearty meals with minimal effort. Just add your ingredients, set the temperature and let it cook. It's perfect for busy households, meal prep and tenderising cheaper cuts of meat.
Buy the best slow cooker or multi-cooker for your kitchen
Compare price, brands, cooking performance, ease of use and more to help find the best slow cooker for your home and budget.
Best slow cookers and multi-cookers of 2026
Whether you’re after a basic slow cooker, or a versatile multi-cooker that pressure cooks as well, our expert picks have you covered. Whether it’s size, versatility, budget or performance, find out which slow cooker or multi-cooker is best for you.
Top-performing slow cooker
Top-performing multi-cooker
Best budget slow cookers
Best People’s Choice multi-cooker
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How to choose a slow cooker or multi-cooker
With so many options on the market, it can be challenging to pick a slow cooker. See what to look out for in our buying guide.
Type: There are standard slow cookers, digital slow cookers and multi-cookers. Consider if you want something basic, or one with more settings and features.
Size: Choosing the right size helps overfilling or inefficiency. If you have a big family, think about getting a slow cooker with a higher capacity.
Other features: See what other components slow cookers can have.
Which brand is most reliable?
We ask thousands of Consumer members about their products to find out which brands are most reliable and satisfying to own. The results are available to members and Digital Pass holders.
Complete your kitchen set up
Get everything you need for your kitchen with our range of top-tested products. Whether you’re looking for a good fridge, reliable cooktops, durable frying pans, or air fryers. Check out our test results and find the right items for your kitchen.
How we test slow cookers and multi-cookers
We test a range of slow cookers that are available in New Zealand to find the best models.
The test involves:
Cooking performance - how well the appliance cooked rice.
Ease of use - if the rice cooker was easy to use in terms of controls, labels, and cleaning.
Find out more about our test below.
