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Slow-Cooker Italian Sausage and Peppers

Browned Italian sausage and a tomato-herb sauce slow-cook with peppers for a hearty sandwich filling that can also become a rigatoni supper.

Toasted hoagie roll filled with Italian sausage, red and yellow peppers, tomato sauce, and melted provolone.

Searing the sausage and building the sauce in the same skillet give the slow cooker a savory head start. Bell peppers go in later so they soften in the tomato-rich sauce while remaining easy to distinguish.

Start with a browned base

Browning the links first gives the tomato sauce a savory foundation and leaves flavorful bits in the skillet. Softening the onion and tomato paste in that same pan captures those browned notes before the slow cooker takes over.

Add peppers partway through

The bell peppers join after the sausage and tomato sauce have begun cooking, so they soften without disappearing into the sauce. Fold them gently rather than stirring hard to keep their broad strips intact.

Broad red and yellow pepper strips are folded into tomato sauce around browned sausage in a slow cooker. — Browned sausage rests in tomato sauce before the pepper strips are folded in.

Keep the sandwich branch simple

Toasted hoagie rolls catch the tomato sauce while the hot sausage and peppers warm the provolone. Spoon a little sauce into each roll, then pass the rest separately so the bread stays sturdy.

Turn it into pasta supper

Rigatoni replaces both the hoagie rolls and provolone in the alternate serving branch. Toss the cooked pasta with the sausage, pepper strips, and enough sauce to coat, adding reserved pasta water only as needed to loosen it.

Tender browned sausage and distinct softened pepper strips glisten in tomato-herb sauce with parsley. — Tender sausage and softened pepper strips sit in a glossy tomato and herb sauce.

Slow-Cooker Italian Sausage and Peppers

6 servings

275 minutes total

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 lb sweet Italian sausage links
• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch strips
• 1 large yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch strips
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• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Method

Prepare the vegetables
Slice the onion and both bell peppers into broad strips, mince the garlic, and lightly crush the fennel seeds; keep the peppers aside for later.
Look for: The peppers are in broad, even strips and the fennel seeds are cracked but not powdered.
Brown the sausage
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the sweet Italian sausage links in batches, turning until all sides are browned, then transfer them to a 6-quart slow cooker.
Look for: The links have browned patches all around but are not cooked through.
Build the skillet base
Reduce the skillet heat to medium and add the sliced onion; cook until its edges begin to soften. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste until fragrant, scraping up the browned bits.
Look for: The onion is glossy and just softening, and the tomato paste has darkened slightly.
Start the slow cook
Stir the crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, Italian seasoning, crushed fennel, kosher salt, and black pepper into the skillet, then pour the sauce over the sausage. Cover and cook on Low for 2 hours.
Look for: The sauce covers the bottom of the cooker and simmers gently around the browned links.
Add the peppers
After the first cook, add the red and yellow pepper strips around the sausage and fold them gently into the sauce so the broad pieces stay intact.
Look for: The pepper strips are coated with sauce but still hold their shape.
Finish until tender
Cover and cook on Low for 2 additional hours, until the center of a thick sausage link reaches 160 F and the peppers are tender but still distinct.
Look for: A thermometer reads 160 F at the center of a thick link, and the peppers remain visible as separate strips.
Choose the serving style
For sandwiches, toast the hoagie rolls cut-side up until golden, fill with sausage, peppers, and sauce, top with provolone, and broil until melted. For pasta, skip the rolls and cheese, cook 1 lb rigatoni until al dente, reserve 1 cup cooking water, drain, slice the sausages, and toss with sauce, loosening with the reserved water as needed.
Look for: The rolls are lightly crisp with melted cheese, or the rigatoni is coated in sauce that clings without pooling.
Finish and serve
Scatter the chopped parsley over the sandwiches or pasta and serve hot, passing extra slow-cooker sauce at the table.
Look for: Fresh parsley is distributed over the hot sausage and peppers, with extra sauce ready to spoon.