Slow Cooker Sausage Chili – A Classic Recipe with a Twist!
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Dinners just got more interesting with this Slow Cooker Sausage Chili!
Classic chili gets a twist and uses sweet and spicy sausages instead of ground beef giving the dish a whole new dimension.
Throw in red and white beans, Tex-Mex herbs, and spices for a new family favourite. Ideal for autumnal dinners, Halloween, or Bonfire night gatherings.
For more seasonal food, check out The Ultimate List of Autumn Recipes for the Fall Season!
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Slow Cooker Sausage Chili
The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. I highly recommend reading the blog post all the way through so that you don’t miss any tips or substitution suggestions and ensure that you have all the ingredients and equipment required and understand the steps and timings involved.
Classic chili gets a nice boost of flavor by using a combination of spicy and sweet pork sausage, rather than plain ground beef.
This recipe for slow-cooker sausage chili is a perfect dish to make on a chilly autumn day. It’s hearty, satisfying, and has just enough heat to keep you warm without feeling overwhelmed by spice.
Although, to turn up the heat, even more, use all spicy sausage instead.
A little bit of prep is required – browning of the sausage and onions, but other than that, you just dump all the ingredients into the slow cooker pot and leave it to cook.
There is nothing more welcoming than coming home to a house full of cooking aromas knowing that all you have to do is serve!
Chili is the sort of dish I love to serve up at Halloween (and Bonfire Night in the UK) as it can easily be doubled or tripled to feed lots of people.
You could even set up a chili bar with sides and toppings for guests to garnish their bowls of sausage chili.
We have a collection of 70+ Mexican and Tex-Mex Recipes for you to try out! Right-click and open them in a new tab to read next.
Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe
While most ingredients can be bought in grocery stores, for your convenience, any specialized or notable ingredients (and equipment) needed for this recipe have been listed below and linked to Amazon or other stores if available online.
It does not include staple ingredients such as oil, salt, sugar, etc., as you’re likely to have those in your kitchen. The complete list of ingredients with measurements is found in the recipe card.
- Protein – Spicy Bulk Pork Sausage, Sweet Bulk Pork Sausage, Pork Sausagemeat (UK)*
- Fresh Produce – Garlic, Celery, Carrots, Red Onion, Jalapeño Peppers
- Dairy – Sharp (Mature) Cheddar Cheese
- Chicken Broth/Stock
- Canned Cannellini Beans
- Canned Red Kidney Beans
- Tomato Sauce – in the UK use passata, not ketchup!
- Tomato Paste – also known as Tomato Purée.
- Canned Tomatoes – petite-cut/finely chopped
- Chili Powder – use mild or hot depending on your personal tastes and spicy heat preference!
- Ground Cumin
- Dried Oregano
- Cayenne Pepper
Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog use both cup measurements and/or weighted measurements. American cups and kitchen food scales are handy pieces of equipment to have in your kitchen as it means you’ll be able to make all of the different recipes on my blog. I try to give American, imperial, and metric measurements in my recipes. Please note, you can mix cup measurements with weighted measurements, but never mix imperial (pounds, ounces, pints, etc.,) with metric (kilograms, grams, litres, etc.,).
Spicy Sausage
- This is an American recipe and uses two kinds of sausage – spicy, and sweet. Which is what us Brits would call sausagemeat. The spicy sausage is essentially seasoned pork – just like the spicy pork you get on top of pizzas!
- From American recipes I have made and seen over the years, spicy sausage, sweet sausage, and [simply] sausage seem to be popular.
- So what happens if you’re not in the USA and want to make this dish? Well, you totally can!
- You could buy some spicy sausages from a deli or supermarket and remove the meat from the casings to use in the recipe.
- Or you could make your own using either sausagemeat. Check the easy recipe below!
Homemade Spicy Sausage Seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp onion granules
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp fennel seeds, ground
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- Mix the seasonings above in a bowl and add to 450g pork mince or sausage meat. Use as required in the recipe.
- You could also double, triple, etc., the seasoning recipe and store in an airtight jar in a cool, dry place and seasoning meat as and when. It can also be used for beef or turkey mince.
- To add sweetness, add ½ teaspoon of brown sugar to the mix. You can experiment with different ratios to your taste too!
More Recipes Using Sausage
One of the hero ingredients in this dish is sausage, so here are some more recipes using the same:
- Potato, Sausage, and Broccoli Breakfast Casserole
- Oven-Roasted Apple & Sausage Stuffed Butternut Squash
- Savory Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms are Really the Perfect Party Appetizer
More Slow Cooker Recipes
Looking for more slow cooker dishes to make? Check these recipes out next:
- Delicious Slow Cooker Charro Beans
- Slow Cooker Beef, Bean & Pumpkin Chilli Con Carne
- Slow Cooker Spicy Pineapple Pork with Cilantro-Lime Rice
Recipe Tips
- Crumble the bulk sausage with your fingers prior to browning. This gives you better control over the size of each piece and is easier than breaking up the chunks of sausage with a wooden spoon while cooking. Another alternative is to use a potato masher, if you have one.
How Do I Make Slow Cooker Sausage Chili?
Check out the printable recipe card below with full ingredients and instructions. Any demonstration photos do not print out to save your ink.
Slow Cooker Sausage Chili
Ingredients
- 1 lb 450g spicy bulk pork sausage, crumbled
- 1 lb 450g sweet bulk pork sausage, crumbled
- ½ cup chicken or vegetable stock plus additional, if needed
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 medium white onion finely chopped
- 2 large stalks celery chopped small
- 2 large carrots chopped small
- 2 15-oz/400g cans white beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 15-oz/400g cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 28-oz/4 x 400g cans tomato sauce (passata)
- 1 6-oz/170g can tomato purée/paste
- 1 28-oz/2 x 400g can petite-cut (finely chopped) tomatoes, undrained
- 3 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp oregano dried
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 cup black coffee or water, if needed
- Sea salt to taste
Optional Garnish
- 8 oz 225g shredded cheddar cheese
- ¾ cup chopped red onion
- 2 fresh jalapeño peppers sliced
SUGGESTED PRODUCTS
Instructions
- Brown the sausage in a large pan over medium heat for 8-10 minutes until no longer pink. Remove from heat and drain excess fat from the pan. Transfer the sausage to slow cooker crock.
- Deglaze the pan over medium-high heat with chicken or vegetable stock, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
- Add olive oil, garlic, and onion to the pan and sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, or until softened.
- Add celery and carrot and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes, or until softened. Remove from heat and pour pan contents into the slow cooker.
- Add white beans, red beans, tomato sauce, tomato paste, petite-cut tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and cayenne pepper to slow cooker. If desired, add black coffee or water to thin out the mixture before cooking. Season with salt, to taste, and stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours. When complete, taste and adjust seasonings, as desired.
- To serve, spoon chili into individual serving bowls and top with shredded cheese, chopped onions, and/or sliced jalapeno peppers, as desired. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.
Make It A Halloween Dinner!
You’ve made the main dish, but what about the rest of the courses?
Here are additional recipes to make a full meal for a Halloween dinner party!
- Appetizer: Savory Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
- Soup: Easy Vegetable Soup
- Salad: Mexican Chopped Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing
- Side Dish: Cheesy Cornbread Recipe
- Beverage: Apple Cider Dark and Stormy Cocktail
- Dessert: Pumpkin Mocha Cupcakes with Pumpkin Spice Frosting
There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy – please feel free to check them out too.