These crockpot sausage and peppers are so easy to make. No browning required!
I’m a huge fan of easy crockpot recipes. This crockpot sausage and peppers recipe is such an easy toss and go recipe. There’s no browning required, just throw everything in your crockpot and go. There’s only a few ingredients for this easy and versatile crockpot meal.
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What ingredients are needed for this recipe?
For this recipe, you will need:
- Sausages: You’ll want to use smoked sausage in this recipe. I know a lot of other recipes recommend using Italian sausage but I find these types are sausages are better if you’re short on time and don’t have time to brown anything beforehand.
- Garlic and crushed red pepper flakes: To give everything a little seasoning and spice. I like to add about a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to this crockpot recipe, but if you don’t like spice feel free to skip this ingredient.
- White onion: You’ll need one medium onion.
- Red bell pepper and orange bell pepper: I love to use orange and red bell peppers. Not only are they bright and colorful but red and orange bell peppers have a sweeter taste and are less bitter than green bell peppers. If you have green bell peppers on hand don’t worry, you can also use those as well. I would recommend mixing up your bell pepper colors with this recipe.
- Chicken stock: The liquid for the crockpot.
What type of sausage works best?
If you’re like me, you probably don’t have time to brown the sausages (it seems like every other recipe out there for crockpot sausage and peppers wants you to grill or brown them first, who has time?!). I’ve found that Polish smoked sausage or Kielbassa sausage work best if you don’t have time to brown your sausage.
What should I serve with sausage and peppers?
This recipe is so versatile! I actually made a huge of batch of this recipe recently. We had a meal of sausage and peppers on hoagie rolls with melted provolone cheese. Then the next night, I chopped the sausage and peppers up, heated up a can of diced Italian tomatoes on the stove top, and served it all over rigatoni pasta. Both were a huge hit and we didn’t feel like we were eating the same over and over again which is awesome.
This recipe also goes great over white rice. These sausage and peppers are also great on their own or with cauliflower rice if you are watching your carbs!
Can I freeze this recipe?
Yes, absolutely. This freezes great for a prep or you can also freeze leftovers if you’ve cooked too much. If you freeze leftovers, they will be good in your freezer for about three months.
I also like to prep this recipe to prep a toss and go freezer meal when sausages go on sale. Sometimes my local grocery store will have a buy one get one free sale on sausages. When they do I like to buy a few that way I can slice onions and bell peppers to freeze. Whenever I’m ready to make this meal, I let it defrost overnight and then toss it my slow cooker the morning I want to cook.
How long does this recipe cook for?
This is another fast slow cooker meal. It sounds funny since most crockpot recipes usually cook things for hours and hours. This recipe is great if you are working from home since you can throw everything in your crockpot around lunch so that it will be ready for dinner. It’s also easy after church meal on Sundays. These sausage and peppers will need to cook for 2-3 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low.
What size crockpot do I need for this recipe?
This recipe works best in a six quart or eight quart crockpot although you may be able to squeeze everything into a smaller crockpot.
Other easy crockpot recipes:
Crockpot Sausage and Peppers
Equipment
- Crockpot (slow cooker)
Ingredients
- 1 pack sausage (about 13 or 14 ounces) such as Polish or smoked sausage
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 white onion sliced into thin strips
- 1 red bell pepper sliced into thin strips with membranes removed
- 1 orange bell pepper sliced into thin strips with membranes removed
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Begin by spraying your crockpot with non-stick spray.
- Wash and cut your bell peppers. Remove the stems, membranes, and seeds then slice your bell peppers into thin strips.
- Slice your white onion into thin strips.
- Combine the bell peppers, onion, chicken stock, sausages, and garlic into your crockpot.
- Add 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, if desired.
- Cook for 2-3 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low.
Jay Avila
Good recipe. I sauté Italian sausages and the onion prior to putting in crockpot. In a different pan I will brown a tablespoon of fennel and add to crockpot. The aroma and taste is so amazing.
Thank you.
Craig
This is similar to what I already do, but I use sauerkraut instead of chicken stock. Very good!
Deanna
Cooking this in the slow cooker made it so easy. Delicious.
Jill
I love crockpot meals and even better when the flavors are already there like in sausage and peppers! Less ingredients the better!!
Genevieve | Fitty Foodlicious
These sausage peppers look delicious and super easy to make!
Ksenia
Love the simplicity of this, especially as I can just leave this to cook overnight and forget it!
Kristina
This was my first time making sausage in the crockpot and my kids loved it!
Susan
Can I use Italian sausage?
Audrey
Hi Susan, you can use Italian sausage but I would recommend searing it before you put it in your crockpot.
Raquel
Looks delicious and making it this week!
Faith
This looks delicious! Crock pot meals are my favorite.
Ramona
this is 100% my type of meal absolutely love the idea of cooking sausages in a crockpot. A mash potato to accompany and a salad and it’s plain perfection 👌🏼
Alexandra
Such a delicious and flavoursome meal for the whole family to enjoy!
Mikayla
I LOVE crockpot meals and this looks like a really tasty one! Definitely saving this for next week’s meal plan! Thank you!