This flavorful slow cooker sausage casserole is packed with healthy vegetables, beans and a flavorful sauce. Perfect as a comforting weeknight dinner.
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Why you'll love it
- This recipe contains lots of vegetables. This adds plenty of nutrients and fiber to the dish.
- You can use your favorite sausages. Pork sausages are most common, but the recipe works well with chicken or turkey sausages too.
- It's really easy to adjust this recipe. Omit or add any ingredients to suit your preferences and dietary requirements.
- Using the slow cooker allows the ingredients to cook together over a long period of time, which just makes it taste so fantastic.
- Slow cooker sausage casserole is a family favorite, and very popular among both kids and adults.
- Prepare it in the morning, and the casserole will be ready in the afternoon, right in time for dinner.
Ingredients
Sausages: Use your favorite sausages. I use pork sausages, but you can substitute these for chicken sausages for a low fat and low calorie version.
Canned diced tomatoes: This is the base of our sauce. You can use tomato sauce, or even jarred pasta sauce as a substitute.
Worcestershire sauce, thyme, oregano, paprika, salt, pepper: These function as seasoning for the casserole, and add a lot of flavor to the dish. You can omit or substitute these as you please.
Butter beans: Also known as large white beans. These add flavor, protein and texture to the casserole. You can substitute these with a can of baked beans, cannellini beans, or any other beans of your choice.
Carrots, celery, pepper, leek: Vegetables add to the flavor, and make the dish a little healthier. As they are slow cooked, the vegetables are almost mashed into the sauce, making it easy to eat extra veg without really realizing.
Onion + garlic cloves: Add to the flavor and texture of the dish.
Instructions
- Brown the sausages: Add vegetable oil to a skillet or frying pan, and sear the sausages for a few minutes on each side, until they have gently browned. Transfer them to the slow cooker.
- Saute the vegetables: Add finely diced onion, grated garlic, and diced carrots, celery, leek and red pepper to the skillet. Saute for a few minutes until the onion is soft. Transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker.
- Slow cook the sausage casserole: Add the canned diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper to the slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 3 hours, or on LOW for 6 hours.
- Add the beans: Drain and rinse the butter beans, and add them to the slow cooker. Slow cook for another 15 minutes.
- Serve: Serve the sausage casserole with your favorite side dishes.
Top tips
- If you're short on time, you can skip the steps of sautéing the sausages and vegetables. These steps add a lot of flavor to the stew, but are not strictly essential.
- Avoid removing the lid of the slow cooker as the sausage stew cooks, as this would allow a lot of heat to escape, and increase the required cooking time.
Serving suggestions
Sausage casserole can be served alone, but many prefer to enjoy it with a side dish. Here are some of my favorite recipes to pair it with:
- Healthy Mashed Potatoes - Sausage casserole and mashed potatoes are the perfect pairing.
- Air Fryer Baked Potato - These baked potatoes are a fantastic alternative to mash.
- Dill Rice - This simple, but flavorful rice recipe pair really nicely with the flavors of the casserole.
- Bread - Serve the sausage casserole with garlic bread, toasted bread, or a slice of sourdough for a more filling meal.
Variations
Vegetarian sausage casserole: You can easily make this stew vegetarian by using vegan or meat free sausages.
Extra vegetables: Feel free to add any other vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, mushrooms, peas, kale, spinach, zucchini or corn. Add hard vegetables along with the vegetables in the recipe, or add soft vegetables such as leafy greens and peas along with the beans.
Keto + low carb: Omit the beans, and replace the carrots with more peppers for a low carb version. Make sure to also use keto friendly sausages.
Leftovers
As with any stew, this dish only gets better with time. Store leftovers in a refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to 6 months.
Thaw frozen casserole in a refrigerator overnight, or in a microwave with a defrost setting.
You can reheat leftover casserole in a slow cooker, microwave or in a pot on the stove. Serve it warm with your favorite side dishes.
Frequently asked questions
No, you don't have to brown the sausages before cooking them in a slow cooker. It is however usually recommended to do so, as it improves the texture and flavor of the dish.
It is usually not recommended adding frozen meat to a slow cooker. If you have frozen sausages, you should thaw them before use.
Add a little cornstarch slurry, or instant mashed potato flakes to your casserole if you think it needs thickening up. This is usually not necessary with this recipe.
You might also like these recipes
- Slow Cooker Chicken Stew
- Slow Cooker Sausage Curry
- Sausage and Rice Casserole
- Instant Pot Sausage and Peppers
- Sausage and Bean Stew
- Slow Cooker Meatball Stew
- Slow Cooker Beef Stew
- Butter Bean and Chorizo Stew
- Sausage Meatballs
If you make this recipe, make sure to post a photo to Instagram with #hintofhealthy!
Recipe
Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 pork sausages
- 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 (15 oz) can butter beans
- 2 carrots
- 1 celery
- 1 onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 red pepper
- 1 leek
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Add vegetable oil to a skillet or frying pan, and sear the sausages for a few minutes on each side, until they have gently browned. Transfer them to the slow cooker.
- Add finely diced onion, grated garlic, and diced carrots, celery, leek and red pepper to the skillet. Saute for a few minutes until the onion is soft. Transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker.
- Add the canned diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper to the slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 3 hours, or on LOW for 6 hours.
- Drain and rinse the butter beans, and add them to the slow cooker. Slow cook for another 15 minutes.
- Serve the sausage casserole with your favorite side dishes.
Video
Notes
- Store leftover sausage casserole in a refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 6 months. The flavor of this casserole only improves over time!
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