Use your crockpot to make the best Sausage and Peppers! A hands-off dinner that the whole family will absolutely love. Gluten-Free and Low Carb. Serve atop mashed cauliflower, easy Instant Pot rice, or on fresh, crusty rolls for a killer sandwich!
One of my favorite dishes growing up was Sausage and Peppers. It’s really Sausage with Peppers and Onions but nobody ever really calls it that. I have so many good memories of eating this dish as sandwich, over rice, over pasta, straight out of the pot every single time I walked by (guilty as charged) and of course, alongside a nice big salad.
Traditionally, this is a dish I make on the stovetop, slowly cooking down the onions and peppers and then the sausage. I would make a homemade red sauce in another pot and serve everything together with the sauce spooned over-top, but today we are adapting this for the crockpot to save time.
It’s a flavorful comfort food dish, that couldn’t be easier to throw together. The kick from the spiced red sauce pairs perfectly the Italian sausage and soft vegetables for a dinner you’ll want on your table tonight.
Ingredients for Slow Cooker Sausage and Peppers
All of these ingredients are simple to find, and a lot of them are pantry staples you probably already have on hand. Gathering what you need for this recipe will be a breeze!
- Garlic cloves
- Yellow onions
- Green bell peppers
- Kosher salt
- Italian Seasoning
- Dried oregano
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Canned unsalted crushed tomatoes
- Bay leaf
- Italian Sausage Links, Mild or Spicy
- Italian parsley for serving (optional but recommended)
Do I Have To Use Pork Sausage?
Nope! You can use whatever sausage you prefer. You can also use chicken, turkey, or veggie sausage. Just make sure it’s sausage that comes in links, not ground sausage.
How to make Crockpot Sausage and Peppers
1. Finely chop garlic. I used my food processor with the chopping blade to save time.
2. If you are using a food processor, swap the chopping blade for the slicing disc. Peel onions and halve. Place the onion halves cut side down in the food processor and slice. Alternately, thinly slice by hand. Remove the chopped garlic and sliced onion and place into the slow cooker insert.
3. Slice bell peppers in half from top to bottom. Remove the ribs and any seeds.
4. Proceed to thinly slice or use the food processor to slice exactly like the onions.
5. Add the sliced bell peppers to the slow cooker along with the salt, Italian Seasoning, dried oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, 1/4 cup cold water and can of crushed tomatoes. Toss until well coated and liquid is evenly distributed.
6. Remove about half of the peppers and onion mixture to a bowl. Bury the uncooked sausages in the middle and return the peppers and onions back to the slow cooker to cover the sausage. Add the bay leaf.
7. Cover, set to low and cook for 6 hours. The onions and peppers will give off a lot of water as they cook which will make the sauce liquid and spoon-able so don’t stress that there isn’t enough liquid.
8. Top with some chopped parsley, serve hot and Enjoy!
Recipe tips and tricks:
- If you use Spicy Sausage, you may want to cut back the crushed red pepper flakes just a bit and add more in at the end if you need to.
- I used all Green Bell Peppers but any combination of colors would work here!
- Note that if you leave the sausage in the slow cooker for too long, it can really lose its texture and become very soft. This doesn’t bother me for a dish like this, but if the texture is a thing for you, keep this in mind.
More Easy Crockpot Recipes
3-Ingredient Slow Cooker Salsa Dip
Slow Cooker Chicken Meatballs with Spinach
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
Use your crockpot to make the best Sausage and Peppers! A hands-off dinner that the whole family will absolutely love. Gluten-Free and Low Carb.
- 6 medium cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 large yellow onions halved and thinly sliced
- 4 medium green bell peppers halved from top to bottom, cleaned and thinly sliced
- 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 28 ounces canned unsalted crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 pounds uncooked Italian Sausage Links (approx 6 to 8 sausages)) Mild or Spicy
- chopped Italian parsley for serving optional
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Finely chop garlic. I used my food processor with the chopping blade to save time.
-
If you are using a food processor, swap the chopping blade for the slicing disc. Peel onions and halve. Place the onion halves cut side down in the food processor and slice. Alternately, thinly slice by hand. Remove the chopped garlic and sliced onion and place into the slow cooker insert.
-
Slice bell peppers in half from top to bottom. Remove the ribs and any seeds.
-
Proceed to thinly slice or use the food processor to slice exactly like the onions.
-
Add the sliced bell peppers to the slow cooker along with the salt, Italian Seasoning, dried oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, 1/4 cup cold water and can of crushed tomatoes. Toss until well coated and liquid is evenly distributed.
-
Remove about half of the peppers and onion mixture to a bowl. Bury the uncooked sausages in the middle and return the peppers and onions back to the slow cooker to cover the sausage. Add the bay leaf.
-
Cover, set to low and cook for 6 hours. The onions and peppers will give off a lot of water as they cook which will make the sauce liquid and spoon-able so don't stress that there isn't enough liquid.
Top with some chopped parsley, serve hot and Enjoy!
Recipe Video
- You can easily substitute Chicken or Turkey (Italian) Sausage if you don't eat Pork.
- If you use Spicy Sausage, you may want to cut back the crushed red pepper flakes just a bit and add more in at the end if you need to.
- I used all Green Bell Peppers but any combination of colors would work here!
- Note that if you leave the sausage in the slow cooker for too long, it can really lose it's texture and become very soft. This doesn't bother me for a dish like this, but if texture is a thing for you, keep this in mind.
Did you make this recipe? Tag @EverydayMaven on Instagram with the hashtag #EveryDayMaven and please give a star rating below.
UPDATE NOTES: This Crockpot Sausage and Peppers recipe was originally posted in February 2014 and was updated in January 2020 with step-by-step photos, better instructions, and answers to commonly asked questions.
What if you don’t have bay leaves what then?
Make it without!
Is this recipe keto friendly??
Hi Kim! It can be but will depend on how much of a serving you take of the cooked onions, peppers, and tomatoes. I recommend using a macro tracker like MyFitnessPal to input the ingredients and determine what portion will be perfect for your plan. Hope you love it!
Can we cook it on high for less time? Like half the time?
Yes! Cook on high for half the time Shelley! Hope you love it 🙂
Thank you for this recipe, it was exactly what I was looking for. I followed the recipe to a T and it turned out perfectly, the whole family enjoyed!
Perfect Andrea! Thanks for the comment <3
I’m wondering how many this recipe will serve?
I would never have thought to do this in a crockpot, and I LOVE crockpot recipes! I just got a bunch of Hatch Green Chile Chicken sausages for a Super Bowl party and was wondering how to cook them so it would stay hot and be easy- I am going to use this recipe except use Canned tomatoes with green chiles and serve with warm tortillas. Do you think I should lessen the cooking time a little for chicken? Thanks!
Sounds awesome Katherine! I wouldn’t reduce the cooking time but I would add the chicken sausage in at hour 2 so total cook time of 6 hours on low and the sausage only cooks for 4 of those hours.