Equipment Needed
- 6-quart or larger slow cooker
- Large skillet
- Wooden spoon or spatula
- Cutting board and knife
- Measuring cups and spoons
Step-by-Step Instructions
While this is a slow cooker recipe, I strongly recommend taking just a few minutes for a quick sauté first—it makes a world of difference. Heat the olive oil in your large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced smoked sausage and cook for 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally, until the pieces are nicely browned on both sides. This isn’t just for looks; browning caramelizes the sugars and fats in the sausage, unlocking a ton of flavor that will seep into your stew all day long. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the browned sausage directly into the bowl of your slow cooker, leaving any rendered fat behind in the skillet.
To that same skillet with the sausage drippings, add your diced onion, carrots, and celery. Sauté them for about 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until the onions become soft and translucent and the vegetables just start to soften. In the last minute, add the minced garlic and stir until fragrant—about 30 seconds. This step, called sweating the aromatics, sweetens the vegetables and builds a foundational flavor layer that raw veggies dumped into a slow cooker simply can’t achieve. Scrape this entire mixture into the slow cooker with the sausage.
Now, for the easy dump. To the slow cooker, add both cans of drained and rinsed beans (this helps reduce excess sodium and that “canned” taste), the can of diced tomatoes with their juice, and all the dried herbs: smoked paprika, thyme, oregano, and the bay leaf. Carefully pour in the four cups of low-sodium chicken broth. Give everything a gentle stir to combine, ensuring the herbs are dispersed and the sausage and veggies are nestled in. The liquid should just about cover the ingredients.(See the next page below to continue…)