(This Slow Cooker Sausage and Chickpea Stew is an old slow recipe that’s been updated on the site into a lower-carb version with lots of flavor-adding ingredients and fewer chickpeas. I’m keeping this printer-friendly version of the old recipe here for people who may have been fans of the original recipe. Check out the updated version of this recipe if you’d like to see how I’ve changed it.)

Ingredients

  • 1 T olive oil
  • 19.5 oz. package  turkey Italian Sausage links (hot or mild, but I used hot)
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 T minced garlic
  • 1 tsp. ground fennel (probably optional, but this adds amazing flavor)
  • 2 tsp. Italian Herb Blend
  • 2 15 oz. cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed well and drained
  • one 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
  • one 14.5 oz. can crushed tomatoes (see notes)
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup basil pesto (homemade or purchased)
  • salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan, squeeze the sausage out of the casings (discard casings), and cook the sausage over medium-high heat until it’s nicely browned, breaking it apart with a turner as it cooks.  Don’t rush this step; it will take about 10 minutes to get the sausage browned.
  2. When the sausage is nicely browned, push it to one side of the pan, add onions, and cook until they’re starting to soften, about 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the minced garlic, ground fennel, and Italian Herb Blend and cook 1 minute more. Transfer sausage/onion mixture to the slow cooker.
  4. Drain garbanzo beans into a colander placed in the sink and rinse well with cold water until no more foam appears.  Let beans drain and then add to slow cooker with the diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, and water.
  5. Cook for about 4 hours on high, checking after 3 hours. (You can also cook for 8-9 hours on low.)
  6. When the beans are quite soft and the flavors are well-combined, add the pesto and cook about 20 minutes more.
  7. Season to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper and serve hot, with Parmesan cheese to add at the table if desired.

Notes

Use all diced or all crushed tomatoes if that’s what you have on hand.

I used my six-quart Ninja Slow Cooker (affiliate link) for this recipe, but any 4-5 quart slow cooker will also work.

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