Kitchen notes · a little help before you start
Slow Cooker Sausage and Peppers
Sausage and peppers makes a generous, savory dinner that is easy to get hungry for. The peppers soften into the tomato sauce around the links, so there is plenty to spoon onto your plate. Let the cooker take its time, then come back ready to eat.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 245 min
- Total
- 255 min
- Original yield
- Serves 6
- Ingredients
- 9 listed
Make it part of your week
Recipe categories & planning details
- Meal type
- Main course
- Primary protein
- Pork
- Cuisine
- Italian
- Cooking method
- Slow cooker
- Preparation & total time
- Prep: 15 minutes or less · Total: over 60 minutes
A few quick notes
1. Brown the links first
Give the sausage its brief skillet browning before transferring it to the cooker; it will still be uncooked inside.
2. Toss vegetables with seasoning
Combine peppers, onion, garlic and dry seasonings in the cooker and toss before pouring marinara over them.
3. Set sausage over vegetables
Place the browned links on top of the seasoned, sauced vegetables before starting the covered slow cook.
Get to know the ingredients
Pepper strips
Cut the bell peppers into strips before tossing them with the onion and seasonings in the slow cooker.
Matching onion slices
Slice the onion in half-moons about the same width as the pepper strips, ready to cook with them.
Minced garlic
Mince the garlic before adding it to the vegetables and Italian seasoning so it distributes through the mixture.
Let’s make it
Choose your servings, then check things off as you go.
Original recipe: Serves 6. Original quantities shown.
Check ingredients as you prepare them. These checks stay on this page.
How to make it
0 of 4 steps completeMake room for Slow Cooker Sausage and Peppers
Review ingredients in your pantry before anything is added. Meal plans use your household size; grocery-only additions use the servings selected above.
The last little job
Cook the sausages through
Use the chosen low or high cooking window until the sausages are cooked through, then serve with the saucy vegetables.
A little more help as you go
Heat the skillet oil first
Wait for the oil to be hot before placing the sausage links in for their quick browning on both sides.
Spread the marinara evenly
Pour the sauce evenly over the tossed vegetables before arranging the browned sausage on top for slow cooking.
A few questions you might have
Must the sausages cook through in the skillet?
The first skillet stage only browns the outside. They finish cooking in the slow cooker with the vegetables and sauce.
Are low and high settings both included?
Yes. Each has its own stated window, with fully cooked sausages as the required finish before serving.
Do the peppers need an initial skillet cook?
They go straight into the slow cooker with onions, garlic and seasoning; only the sausages have a skillet-browning stage.
When should I add the Italian seasoning?
Toss it with the peppers, onions, garlic, salt and pepper before pouring the marinara over the vegetables.
What kind of sausage is listed?
Medium pork sausage links are specified, browned in the skillet before they sit over the vegetables in the cooker.
Storage & reheating safety
For cooked, perishable leftovers, refrigerate within 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F), using shallow containers for prompt cooling. Keep the refrigerator at 40°F or below, use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days, and reheat hot leftovers to 165°F, checked with a food thermometer. Follow any shorter package limit.
These are general safety limits, not a tested storage or freezing recommendation for this particular dish. USDA leftovers guidance · Safe cooking temperatures
Recipe source: wholesomeyum.com. Ingredient names and quantities may be adapted for the pantry.
Preparation notes follow the recipe shown here.
