With just 15 minutes of prep time, this Easy Slow Cooker Sausage & Bean Casserole is packed with sausages, potatoes, beans & veggies all in a rich tomato sauce, making it a super tasty midweek meal bursting with flavour!
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I love my slow cooker! (or crockpot, as it's known in the US). When winter comes, the slow cooker comes out at least a couple of times a week!
There is so much you can cook in them. Stews, casseroles, just like this easy slow cooker sausage casserole, curries, chicken noodles, brisket, desserts and even slow cooked roast potatoes. (You need to try these, trust me!)
This casserole is one of my go-tos. It's such a lifesaver on busy days, and it's also really budget-friendly, made with simple ingredients that don't cost the earth!
It only takes about 15 minutes to throw together in the morning, then by the time you're home, dinner's ready and waiting.
It started out as an old Weight Watchers recipe a friend gave me, but over the years I've tweaked it a bit and switched it over to the slow cooker - so much easier!
It's now a firm favourite with my kids, and I reckon your whole family will love it too! In fact, if you love these flavours, put this sausage & baked bean pie on your meal planner too.
As always, I've included tips further down for making it allergy-friendly and even instructions for cooking it on the hob if you don't have a slow cooker.
If you are looking more more winter dinner ideas, take a look at my Gluten Free Ikea Meatballs, Creamy Chicken & Leek Risotto, Lemon & Garlic Chicken Traybake, Easy Vegan Mixed Bean Chill & Gluten Free Chilli Con Carne.
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🍅 Ingredients You Will Need
Here is a brief overview of the ingredients you will need to make this slow cooker sausage casserole. To find out how to make it allergy-friendly, simply scroll down to the section below this one.
- Sausages - I like to use good-quality ones with a high meat content as they give the best flavour. Pork sausages work really well (like in my one pan sausage traybake), but you can easily swap them for chicken or even veggie sausages if that's what you prefer.
- Bacon - Use smoked or unsmoked bacon, depending on what you like best. I love smoked bacon as I find this gives a more intense flavour.
- Baked Beans - The store cupboard staple!
- Chopped Tinned Tomatoes - Try to buy the best quality tinned tomatoes that you can; you will notice the difference.
- Vegetables - I have used carrots, potatoes, onions and garlic. Any white potato will work, or you could also use a sweet potato if you prefer.
- Vegetable Stock - This is used to give a little more sauce to the casserole and add flavour.
- Brown Sugar - Used to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes and give a bit of sweetness.
- Worcester sauce - The secret ingredient! This really lifts the flavour of the casserole; don't skip it!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
✋ Double check all packaging for allergens ✋
🥜 How Can I Make This Allergy-Friendly?
✔️ Make It Gluten-Free: Just double check your sausages don't contain any gluten (Heck sausages are a safe bet). Make sure the stock you're using is gluten-free too.
And watch out for Worcestershire sauce - Lea & Perrins contains barley, so go for another brand instead. Biona Organics do a gluten-free one, or Henderson's Relish is a great alternative.
✔️ Make It Dairy-Free: Ensure your sausages and stock do not contain any dairy.
✔️ Make It Celery-Free: Make sure your stock cube is celery-free.
✔️Make It Fish-Free: Use Henderson's relish in place of Worcestershire sauce. You can buy this at most major UK supermarkets.
✏️ How To Make Slow Cooker Sausage & Bean Casserole
⬇️ Here you will find an overview of how to make the recipe. For full information on ingredients and quantities please see the recipe card at the bottom of the page ⬇️
Step 1: Start by chopping each sausage into three parts and slicing the bacon into small squares.
Fry them both in a frying pan ( or your slow cooker pot if it can be used on the hob) until browned on the outside.
You can skip this bit, but personally, I love the colour you get on them from frying them first, as they won't change colour in the slow cooker.
Step 2: Whilst the sausages and bacon are browning, peel and chop the potatoes into large chunks.
(About the size you would chop for a roast potato). Then, finely chop the onion and garlic.
Scrub the outside of the carrots (don't peel as the skin is where the goodness is!) and either dice into small squares or chop into rounds, whichever is your preference.
Step 3: Next, make up the stock. You will only need 100ml so why not use the rest to make my creamy, dairy free tomato soup?
Add the sausages and bacon to the slow cooker along with the vegetables and all of the rest of the ingredients and give it a good stir.
Step 4: That's it! Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours and you will have a delicious dinner waiting for you when you get in.
🤔 Can I Cook This Recipe In The Oven?
If you don't have a slow cooker or want to make this casserole to enjoy immediately, you can easily make it in a standard oven.
Simply sauté the sausage and bacon in a frying pan or oven-proof casserole dish that will work on your hob.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the dish, pop the lid on and bake in the oven at 180˚C for an hour, until the sausages & potatoes are fully cooked through.
💡 Lauren's Top Tips
- 🌟 Make it Ahead Of Time: This casserole actually tastes even better the next day. Keep any leftovers in the fridge and reheat gently on the hob or in the microwave.
- 🌟 Brown Sausages & Bacon First: Yes, you can just throw them straight in the slow cooker raw… but trust me, frying them off first makes all the difference. You'll get lovely golden sausages and nice crispy bacon - it just gives the dish so much more flavour. They taste much better this way, trust me!
- 🌟 Don't keep lifting the lid: I know it's tempting to peek, but every time you take the lid off your slow cooker you lose heat, and it can add 15-30 minutes onto the cooking time. If you really feel like you need to, just give it a stir once halfway through and then leave it alone to do its thing.
- 🌟 Make Into A Cowboy Pie! - Want to change it up? After about 3 hours in the slow cooker, transfer the mixture to a casserole dish, top with mashed potato and bake in the oven at 180˚C for 40-60 minutes until the top is golden and crisp.
🔨 The Meal Planning Toolbox
🗒️ Make Ahead
This casserole is a great one to prep in the morning when you know it's going to be a busy day. It only takes about 15 minutes to throw together, then the slow cooker does all the hard work. You can also cook it the day before if you like - the flavours actually taste even better the next day.
🗒️ Batch Cooking
It's easy to double up this recipe if you've got a bigger slow cooker. That way, you can enjoy one portion for dinner and save the rest for another day. I'm all about making life easier when it comes to family meals, and this one is ideal for cooking once and eating twice.
🗒️ Leftovers & Storage
If you've got any leftovers, let them cool, then pop them in the fridge in a sealed container. They'll keep for up to 3 days. To reheat, warm gently on the hob or pop in the microwave until piping hot.
🗒️ Freezing
This sausage casserole freezes really well. Once it's cooled, portion it up into tubs and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating. It's such a good one to have stashed away in the freezer for those nights when you don't fancy cooking from scratch.
💬 Recipe FAQs
The casserole is a full, hearty, nutritious meal on itself, but I love serving it with some freshly steamed broccoli or roasted carrots & green beans.
A big chunk of bread to mop up the juices is also delicious.
Can you put frozen sausages in the slow cooker?
I wouldn't. They take too long to heat through, which means they might not cook evenly and it's not the safest. It's best to defrost them first. If you're short on time, you can cook them from frozen in a pan to thaw and brown them, then add them to the slow cooker.
More Slow Cooker Recipes..
Check out these other delicious slow cooker recipes too!
If you loved this recipe, please leave me a 5🌟 rating or comment below. I really do appreciate it. 😊
📖 Recipe
Easy Slow Cooker Sausage & Bean Casserole
Equipment
- Frying Pan
- Meat thermometer optional
Ingredients
- 8 pork sausages
- 2 rashers back bacon smoked or un-smoked.
- 400 g ( 14 ounces )baked beans tin of
- 400 g ( 14 ounces) tinned chopped tomatoes one tin of
- 300 g ( 10.5 ounces) white potatoes peeled and chopped into large chunks.
- 1 medium onion diced.
- 2 medium carrots diced.
- 1 clove garlic crushed.
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 100 ml ( ½ cup) Knorr vegetable stock pot
Instructions
- Chop each sausage into three parts and chop the bacon into small squares. Fry these in a frying pan until browned on the outside. (see notes)
- Whilst the sausages and bacon are browning, peel and chop the potatoes into large chunks. (About the size you would chop for a roast potato). Then finely chop the onion and garlic.
- Scrub the outside of the carrots and either dice into small squares or chop into rounds, whichever is your preference.
- Make up the stock.
- Add the sausages and bacon to the slow cooker along with the vegetables and all of the rest of the ingredients and give it a good stir.
- Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
Video
Notes
Tracy says
My family absolutely loved this recipe!
Thank you so much for posting!
Lauren Woodger says
I's so happy they all loved it! Its one of our family favourites too! 🙂