With just 15 minutes of prep time, this Easy Slow Cooker Sausage 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 is known in the US). When winter comes, the slow cooker comes out at least a couple of times a week!
It’s so versatile, you can cook almost anything in it! Stews, casseroles just like this easy slow cooker sausage casserole, curries, desserts and even slow cooked roast potatoes. (You need to try these, trust me!)
This sausage casserole is perfect for busy days. You can throw everything together in the morning, and by the time you get home, dinner’s done and waiting for you! It’s based on an old Weight Watchers recipe that a friend passed along to me, but over the years, I’ve given it a little makeover, tweaking the ingredients and switching it from the hob to the slow cooker.
It’s now a firm favourite with my kids, and I reckon your whole family will love it 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.
Jump to:
❤️ Why You Will Love This Recipe
- ✔️Easy To Prepare: Just 15 minutes of prep time, then toss everything into the slow cooker in the morning, and dinner will be ready when you are – perfect for busy days.
- ✔️ Family-Approved: This sausage & baked bean casserole has been a hit with everyone in my house, from the kids to the grandparents!
- ✔️ Allergy-Friendly Options: I’ve included tips to tweak the recipe for different dietary needs so everyone can enjoy it without worry.
- ✔️Budget-Friendly: Made with simple, everyday ingredients that won’t break the bank.
🍅 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 - For the sausages, I recommend using good-quality ones with a high meat content for the best flavour. Pork sausages work brilliantly, as they do in this one-pan sausage traybake, but you can swap for chicken or even veggie sausages if 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! They also count towards one of your five a day!
Chopped Tinned Tomatoes - Try and buy the best quality tinned tomatoes that you can, you will notice the difference.
Vegetables - I have used carrots, potatoes, onion and garlic. Any white potato will work, or you could also use sweet potato if you prefer.
Vegetable Stock - This is used to give a little more sauce to the casserole and add flavour. I use Knorr Stock pots as they are gluten free. Be aware that the vegetable stock does contain celery. You can also use chicken stock if you prefer.
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.
🥜 How Can I Make This Allergy-Friendly?
✋ Double check all packaging for allergens ✋
- 🌟 Make It Gluten-Free: Check that your sausages don't contain gluten. ( Heck sausages are gluten-free) & that the stock you use is also gluten-free. Lea & Perrins Worcestshire sauce contains barley so use another brand. ( Biona Organics is gluten-free or Hendersons Relish is a good 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.
⚡ Variations
- ✔️ Mix Up The Veg: Add some button mushrooms chopped in half a couple of hours before the end, or chunks of red pepper to help reach your 5 a day!
- ✔️Meat Free: You can substitute the sausages for vegan sausages to make this recipe vegan. Just make sure you use a different brand of Worcester sauce than Lea & Perrins as it contains anchovies.
- ✔️ Sausages: Experiment with different flavour sausages, why not try a Cumberland, Lincolnshire or pork and leek?
- ✔️ Beans: Baked beans are haricot beans in tomato sauce, but you can throw in a tin of cannellini beans or butter beans for a nice variation.
✏️ How To Make Slow Cooker Sausage 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 45 minutes to an hour, until the sausages & potatoes are fully cooked through.
💡 Lauren's Tips
- 🌟 Make it Ahead Of Time: This dish tastes even better the next day! Store any leftovers in the fridge and reheat gently in a saucepan or in the microwave.
- 🌟 Brown The Sausages & Bacon First: Although it's perfectly ok to throw the sausages and bacon into the slow cooker raw, by frying them off in the pan first, you will get a lovely brown colour on the outside of the sausages and the bacon will be nice and crispy. They taste much better this way, trust me!
- 🌟 Don't Open The Slow Cooker! Every time you take the lid off, it can add another 15-30 minutes of cooking time! Stir once halfway through if you must, but try to just leave it to cook on its own.
- 🌟 Turn It Into A Cowboy Pie! - After 3 hours, remove the mixture from the slow cooker, put into a casserole dish and top with mashed potato. Bake in the oven at 180˚C for 40 minutes to an hour, until the mashed potato starts to crisp up.
🔪 What Slow Cooker Do You Use?
I have a Russell Hobbs slow cooker that I bought years ago. It was really reasonably priced and has never let me down.
I have cooked hundreds of meals in it & it's still going!
💬 Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can, but I wouldn’t! I like to fry the sausages in a frying pan before putting them in the slow cooker as this gives them that lovely crispy brown skin.
The slow cooker won’t colour the outside of the sausage & the texture is really soft and quite mushy, so if you want some colour in your sausages & a better texture, it’s best to fry them first.
Just be sure that the sausages reach an internal temperature of 160˚F. The easiest way to check is with a meat thermometer.
Can you put frozen sausages in the slow cooker?
No, I wouldn’t recommend putting frozen sausages straight into the slow cooker. They take too long to heat up properly, which could cause uneven cooking and isn’t the safest.
It’s best to defrost them first or, if you’re in a rush, cook them from frozen in a pan to thaw and brown them before popping them in 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 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.
Notes
- Make it Ahead Of Time: This dish tastes even better the next day! Store any leftovers in the fridge and reheat gently in a saucepan or in the microwave.
- Brown The Sausages & Bacon First: Although it's perfectly ok to throw the sausages and bacon into the slow cooker raw, by frying them off in the pan first, you will get a lovely brown colour on the outside of the sausages and the bacon will be nice and crispy. They taste much better this way, trust me!
- Don’t Open The Slow Cooker! Every time you take the lid off, it can add another 15-30 minutes of cooking time! Stir once halfway through if you must, but try to just leave it to cook on its own.
- Make Into A Cowboy Pie! - After 3 hours, remove the mixture from the slow cooker, put into a casserole dish and top with mashed potato. Bake in the oven at 180˚C for 40 minutes to an hour, until the mashed potato starts to crisp up.
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! 🙂