Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole

A hearty Sausage Casserole is always a family favourite and total comfort food. A great way to add some extra vegetables to your family's diet and easy to make a vegetarian version too. This Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole is quick and simple to prepare and great for batch cooking and freezing.

This is the ultimate rainy day dish. Just add your favourite sausages to the slow cooker with some crunchy vegetables, tomatoes, beans and seasoning and let it cook away. We put it on before we head out for a walk on a Sunday walk and it's the perfect dish to come home to.

Jump to:

• Why should you try it?
• What you will need
• Step by step
• What sausages to use
• What vegetables to add
• What to serve it with
• How to adapt it
• Can this be prepared in advance?
• Can it be frozen?
• FAQs
• Extra tips
• More slow cooker recipes
• Recipe

Why should you try it?

What you will need

Step by step

One: Put the oil in a frying pan and add the sausages. Brown them for 2-3 minutes, turning often.

Two: Set the sausages aside and then add the carrot, shallot, celery, leek and bell pepper to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.

Three: Put the sausages and vegetables in the slow cooker bowl.

Four: Deglaze the pan with 100ml boiling water then add the stock and tomato puree. Heat and stir. Add to the slow cooker with the chopped tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce. Cook on high for 3 hours.

Five: Add the baked beans and stir them in. Cook on high for a further 1 hour on high.

What sausages to use

Whether they are pork, chicken or vegetarian/vegan, you want to go with the best quality you can get as they really are the star of the dish here.

We used 97% pork sausages as they are nice and lean, but you can use whatever your favourite sausages are. If you are using meat sausages, go with a high meat percentage and look out for the sodium levels.

What vegetables to add

The beauty of a sausage casserole is that you can use any vegetables you have in your fridge. It's a great way to reduce food waste and use vegetables that are starting to look a bit sorry for themselves.

Dishes like this are a great opportunity to add loads of extra vegetables. We kept it classic with some carrot, celery, onion and leeks, but this is really easy to adapt. You want to stick with chunky vegetables, so peppers, courgette and aubergine would all work well.

Make sure you chop the vegetables fairly small to make sure that they are cooked through.

If you want to give this dish a green veggie boost, then stir in some spinach or frozen peas about 30 minutes before it is ready.

What to serve it with

There are a few options here when it comes to side dishes. Mashed potatoes and sausage casserole are a match made in heaven, so why not try The Best Creamy Mashed Potatoes. If you want even more veggies in this meal, then pair it with our Vegetable Mash.

Fancy something a little less traditional? Our Baked Polenta Fries, Easy Cauliflower Cheese, and The Best Air Fryer Fries are all delicious side dishes.

You could also serve this on top of pasta, rice or a baked potato. It's a really versatile dish.

How to adapt it

Apart from mixing up the vegetables you use, there are lots of other ways you can adapt it. You could swap the tin of baked beans for another canned bean like pinto or cannellini.

You could also add some small chopped up potatoes, rather than serving it on mash. If you like spicy food, add a little chopped red chilli for a kick or heat and play around with the dried herbs and swap oregano for thyme.

Can this be prepared in advance?

Yes, if you are going to put it on in the morning before you head out for the day, then you can do some prep work the night before. Simply brown the sausages and precook the vegetables the night before and then keep it in the fridge. Then, in the morning you can just mix it all together in the slow cooker and put it on.

Can it be frozen?

Yes, this is a great batch cook meal and we always make extra so that we can portion it out to keep in the freezer for an easy week night meal.

Make sure the let the casserole cool completely and then portion it out in to freezer safe containers and put in the freezer (with some mashed potato too). It will keep in there for about 3 months.

Let it defrost fully and then pop it in the microwave for a couple of minutes to reheat.

FAQs

Extra tips

• You don't have to brown the sausages first, but it really does make a big difference to the texture and it locks in the flavour.
• Give this dish a veggie boost by stirring in some spinach 30 minutes before it is cooked.
• Make sure you chop the vegetables fairly small to make sure that they are cooked through.
• To make this gluten free, make sure you use gluten free sausages and Worcestershire sauce
• Make this a more indulgent dish by cooking some chopped bacon with the sausages and adding that to the slow cooker too.
• If it is too watery once it has finished cooking, then add a couple of tablespoons of gravy granules to thicken up until the desired consistency.

More slow cooker recipes

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