Slow Cooker Sausage And Peppers

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the slow cooker sausage peppers and onions in the points below:

• Everyday ingredients: I don't think I have ever gone to the supermarket and not seen a wide array of sausages! The best thing is that this dinner recipe will work with a wide variety of flavors so you can choose your favorite.
• Set and forget: there is a joy experienced when you throw everything into your slow cooker and get the aroma of dinner wafting through the house all day! Slow cooking is known for being set and forget and hands off as dinner cooks itself!
• Comfort food: you will be spooning handfuls of this crockpot sausage and peppers recipe onto a steaming bowl of polenta before you know it. It is belly warming, heart warming and an extremely satisfying dish to delight in!
• Family favorite: we add a little bit of garlic and then some fresh herbs at the end. This means that there is no 'too strong' or 'intense' flavors that kids won't love it. They will in fact ask for seconds!! The whole family will love it 😉👌
• Taste and texture: from the soft melt in your mouth sausages to the tomato sauce that you want to slurp up and firm polenta, our taste buds take a walk through a wide variety of tastes and textures!

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the slow cooker sausage and peppers recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the recipe calls for:

• Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper for seasoning in the recipe.
• Garlic: you can use 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, chunky chopped garlic like you see in the photo above or jarred minced garlic. Whichever is the most convenient for you is the one you should go for.
• Diced tomatoes: diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes. We want a plain style with no additional herbs or flavors.
• Passata: this thick red sauce is rich in tomato flavor. It can also be known as 'tomato puree'.
• Red peppers: we need to slice the peppers, remove the seeds and then finely slice the vegetables.
• Green peppers: as above. Green and red have the most flavor so I prefer them to yellow peppers. We use 3 green bell peppers and discard their seeds as well as slicing them before using.
• Red onion: red onion is sweeter in flavor to brown onions. Hence why that is the chosen type of onion for the recipe.
• Chorizo: I like to add chorizo to this recipe for the additional flavor. We do slice these sausages before adding them to the slow cooker.
• Sausages: you can use your favorite type of sausages. Be they beef, pork, Italian sausages or chicken. Whichever is your favorite flavor will work in the recipe.

🥘 Crockpot Sausage And Peppers

• Parsley: flat leaf Italian parsley with the stems trimmed.
• Basil: basil leaves pulled from the stems.

Tasty Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making my recipes. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by preparing the peppers and onions. You will need a knife and cutting board for these initial steps.

• Slice the chorizo (Photo 1)
• Slice the onions (Photo 2)
• Then slice the red bell peppers (Photo 3)
• Slice the green peppers (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Slow Cooker Sausage and Peppers

To make the slow cooker sausage and peppers recipe, we start by preparing all of the vegetables.

Use the knife and chopping board to slice the chorizo, peel and slice the red onions and then cut, deseed and finely slice the peppers into long thin strips.

• Pour in the passata (Photo 5)
• Add the diced tomatoes (Photo 6)
• Then add the garlic (Photo 7)
• Add the salt and pepper (Photo 8)

Next we start adding the liquids to the slow cooker insert. Pour in the passata, followed by the diced tomatoes then add the garlic, salt and pepper. You can see these steps in the photos above.

Once done, start to layer in your vegetables.

Add the red onion, uncooked sausages, sliced chorizo and sliced fresh peppers. Once you have, cook these on high heat for 4 hours.

• Cook for 4 hours on high (Photo 9)
• Remove and slice sausages (Photo 10)
• Add parsley and basil (Photo 11)
• Gently stir to combine (Photo 12)

Once the 4 hours are up, use a pair of tongs to remove the cooked sausages from the slow cooker and then use a knife and chopping board to slice them into pieces like you see in the photos above.

Next add the fresh basil and parsley to the slow cooker and add the sliced sausage pieces back in also. Gently stir to combine and let the fresh herbs wilt.

Once done, call everyone to the table as 'dinner is ready!' and grab some bowls, forks and spoons for serving.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

When it comes to serving your sausage and peppers, my recommendation is over a creamy bed of freshly cooked polenta.

The polenta offers an excellent (and different) texture to the softness of the cooked sausage and vegetables. It is also handy to sop up the extra sauce.

Mashed potato is a good choice, but polenta in my opinion is the best choice!

Throw some fresh basil leaves on there for a pop of colour, a sprinkling of black pepper and you are good to go!

A glass of pinot gris, chilled rose or smooth red like a pinot gris is the perfection finishing touch to the dish 😄👍.

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Let the dish fully cool. Then portion the cooled sausage and peppers into an airtight container (you can freeze the polenta also). Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 3 days and need to be reheated before being consumed.

How to Freeze

Or place the portioned containers into the freezer and freeze these for up to 3 months.

How to Reheat

For refrigerated leftovers, add them to a bowl and cover with cling wrap. Use high heat and microwave for 1 minute increments until warmed through. It will help to give the dish a stir after each minute to ensure that the heat is consistent.

Or allow frozen portions of the dish to fully thaw. Once thawed use the method above to reheat the sausage and peppers in the microwave

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• If you prefer to use dried herbs you can add 1 teaspoon of dried parsley and 1 teaspoon of dried basil to the recipe (at the start).
• You can use whichever type of sausages you would like too!
• Crushed tomatoes can be used in place of the diced tomatoes.
• Or you can use marinara sauce, add some red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning.
• Beef sausages, pork sausages, chicken sausage, lamb sausages or sweet Italian sausage will work! So will chipolatas!
• White rice, brown rice or cauliflower rice are alternate serving suggestions that you can choose.
• Your favorite pasta will work too, simply cook till al dente, then spoon over the top.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• My preference is to add the raw sausages to the slow cooker (no extra pan to clean up) However, if you want to brown the sausages before adding them to the slow cooker, you can. Simply do so in a large frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. When the outside is golden brown, transfer them in and continue with the other steps.
• Try and keep the slow cooker lid on throughout the duration of the cook time (no peaking!). This will ensure that the cook time stated is accurate.
• If you want to keep the sausages 'whole' and not slice them before adding back to the slow cooker, you can.
• You can reduce the portion size to feed less people. To do so, I recommend using only 1 chorizo sausage, 1 red onion and 1-2 of each of the green or red peppers.
• If you want to add the cooked recipe to hoagie rolls, you can...however you will need to drain some of the sauce so that they don't become too soggy 😉👌.
• If you love slow cooker recipes, you might also like the Slow Cooker Roast Pork With Crackling, Slow Cooker Chicken Spaghetti, Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup, Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup or the Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese 😄👍.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

When should you add bell peppers to slow cooker?

Add the bell peppers to the slow cooker at the beginning. Then let the dish cook without removing the lid until the cook time is up.

Can you reheat sausage and peppers in slow cooker?

You can use the slow cooker to reheat sausage and peppers, however, you will have the fastest most convenient results if you simply use the microwave.

What side goes with sausage and peppers?

Polenta, mashed potatoes, pasta, crispy potatoes or a toasted slice of bread or 2 are the best sides for sausage and peppers.

Can you cook sausages low and slow?

Yes. You can use the slow cooker to cook sausages low and slow for 8 hours.

😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes

The best dinners are the ones that cook themselves! But it would be a bit boring if we slow cooker every night (it would it! 😂). So here are some recipes when you have a bit more energy and you want to cook up a storm:

• Thai Minced Pork
• Roast Pork Shoulder
• Lamb Fried Rice
• Garlic Chicken Parmesan Pasta
• Satay Lamb
• Scallop Linguine
• Tuna Fried Rice
• Pork Leg Roast

It is time to slow cook our sausage and peppers for an easy weeknight dinner my friend! You can also find all of my family favorites and dinner recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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