Easy Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole

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The colder nights lend themselves well to using your slow cooker to make the perfect comfort meals and this easy slow cooker sausage casserole recipe hits all the perfect flavour notes and is ideal after a busy day, with minimal prep needed to get it cooking.

I have found that over the years I have used my slow cooker for the same recipes time and time again, always reverting back to either a beef stew or pulled pork and then again using it for sweet recipes such as our slow cooker kinder fudge or rice pudding. However, there are so many recipes out there to get you inspired and experimenting, there is really no reason to be stuck with the same dishes on repeat.

One of my favourite things about this recipe is it packs the flavours in without costing a fortune for expensive cuts of meat and let’s face it, sausages are usually a winner with the whole family.

Don’t be afraid to tweak this recipe to suit your family’s taste preferences, for example, if you are a vegetarian you can switch the sausages for vegetarian sausages and the stock to vegetable stock. Don’t have any leeks? Add in a veggie that you do have in the fridge.

This easy recipe came from various attempts to recreate a packet mix as I tried to move us away from convenience food to more home-cooked meals. I suffer from Colitis and am trying to eliminate food from my diet that causes flair-ups, cooking with fresh ingredients and less processed food makes it a little easier to work out what can cause a flair-up.

What to serve with your slow cooker sausage casserole

It is completely down to your preference for what you serve with your dish, however, here are some of our favourite suggestions.

• Mash potatoes – This is my favourite way to enjoy it! Sweet potato mash is also a great alternative.
• Chips
• Crusty bread
• Rice
• Just as it is!

Slow cooker sausage casserole ingredients

• 8 Sausages
• 1 Yellow onion diced (you could use red onion if this is what you have in)
• 1 Leek sliced
• 3 Carrots chopped
• 100g Frozen Peas
• 1 Tbs Tomato puree
• 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tsp Lazy Garlic (or 2 cloves of crushed garlic)
• 1 Tsp Dried rosemary
• 1 Tsp Thyme
• 500ml Beef stock made using 1 beef stock cube
• 1 Tbs Cornflour
• Seasoning – salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker apart from the cornflour, peas and sausages if you are browning these off first.
2. Gentle brown the outside of all the sausages and pop them into the slow cooker.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
4. For the last 30 minutes, take out a ladle of the liquid and combine it with the cornflour, add this back into the slow cooker and give it a good mix.
5. Add in the peas with the cornflour.
6. Serve with your favourite side dish.

For a printable recipe card, please see below.

Top tips and suggestions

Browning the sausages – You don’t need to do this if you don’t want to, they cook fine without it however I prefer to do this as it means the skin doesn’t go wrinkly in the slow cooker. It also adds a bit of colour to the dish.

Different sausages – You can mix up which sausages you use when making this recipe. Just think about the flavours in the sausages if you choose to use those with additional flavours in them as there is a lot of flavour going into the sauce. I personally prefer pork sausages but you could use chicken sausages, spicy Italian sausages or chipolata sausages if you prefer.

Thickening the sauces – If you prefer the sauce to be a little more on the runny side, leave out the cornflour step of the recipe. I personally prefer the sauce to coat all the ingredients with a thicker gravy.

For best results, try and use good quality sausages where possible. If you are on a tighter budget, if you can stretch to good quality sausages rather than cheaper brands, you could look to bulk out the meal a bit by using fewer sausages and adding in things such as a tin of cannellini beans or butter beans. You could also add in more vegetables such as red pepper or green beans.

Can you make this recipe without a slow cooker?

Absolutely! I love our Morphy Richards slow cooker but I appreciate not everyone may have one.

If you don’t, there are 2 options for cooking this, either on the hob or in the oven and the adjustments to cooking it like this are below.

Hob cooking – In a large bottom pan, brown off the sausages and onions. Add in the rest of the ingredients and leave to simmer on low heat for about an hour.

Oven cooking – In a large casserole dish, add all the ingredients above. I would still brown off the sausages first and add these in. Cook on gas mark 6 for about 45 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.

How to store leftover sausage casserole

If you have any leftovers you have two options when it comes to storing them, depending on when you plan to enjoy them.

Fridge storage – For those planning to consume their leftovers within 3 days, you can store them in the fridge in an airtight container. Just make sure you reheat it thoroughly when you go to enjoy it.

Freezer storage – If you have no plans to enjoy it within 3 days, this dish freezes just as well. Wait for it to cool completely and then pop into the freezer in either an air-tight freezer-proof container or in a ziplock bag (perfect to freeze in flat containers). This will last for up to 3 months and just make sure you defrost thoroughly before reheating.

Hopefully, this meal will become a firm family favourite as you look to enjoy comfort food with minimal effort and fuss this Autumn! Stay tuned though as we have some amazing recipes coming up that we know you are going to love. We are going to be making the most of the slow cooker and air fryer to make our lives that little easier!

If you do give this recipe a go, please leave us a comment on how you found it. Don’t forget to check out our other delicious slow cooker recipes, they are perfect for making a comforting dinner either for an easy midweek meal or relaxing weekend dinner.