Sausage and White Beans with Sage

This Sausage and White Beans with Sage is flavored with tomatoes and ground fennel and it can be made in the Slow Cooker or the Instant Pot. This tasty combination of sausage and beans is surprisingly not that high in carbs, but for even lower carbs just double the sausage and use fewer beans.

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Sausage and White Beans with Sage is one of my favorite slow cooker recipes that I’ve discovered can be made more quickly in the Instant Pot! And it’s fun to have recipes that can work for people who prefer different cooking options. And sausage and white beans are a classic combination that worked out perfectly in both methods.

This recipe was inspired by a lovely woman named Ilva, who lives in Tuscany. I met her online in the early days of blogging and we chatted frequently for a while. Then Ilva stopped focusing on recipes and started to focus on her beautiful food photography, and for the last few years I haven’t talked to her so much.

But I appreciate Ilva introducing me to rustic Italian dishes like this one, where the emphasis is entirely on the flavors and not on the looks of the dish. And there are a lot of ways to adapt this recipe and still get good results, but no matter how you cook it or what kind of beans you use, please do not skip the dried fennel that makes this dish so amazingly flavorful!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• dried white beans
• celery
• whole cloves garlic
• fresh sage leaves, divided
• salt
• dried Italian Herb Seasoning (affiliate link), divided
• Olive Oil (affiliate link), divided
• uncooked turkey, chicken, or pork Italian sausage
• ground fennel (affiliate link)
• canned petite dice tomatoes with juice

What sausage did I use for Sausage and White Beans with Sage?

I used uncooked Italian Sausage for this tasty combination of sausage and beans! You can use turkey, chicken, or pork Italian Sausage and choose mild or spicy Italian Sausage, whichever you prefer.

What gives this sausage and white beans recipe the Italian flavors?

Of course the Italian Sausage used here is partly what makes this a recipe with Italian flavors! But the other ingredients that add Italian flavor notes include garlic, sage, Italian Herb Seasoning, and ground fennel. And I think fennel is one of the best flavors in Italian cooking. If you haven’t cooked with fennel much, I hope this recipe will help you see why I love it.

Can you use canned beans for this sausage and white beans recipe?

Whether you use the Instant Pot or the slow cooker for this recipe featuring sausage and beans, you’ll definitely get the best flavor if you start with dried beans and cook them yourself. But if that just isn’t happening at your house, I’ll also give tips for making this with canned beans.

How high in carbs is this sausage and white beans?

If you check the nutritional information you may be surprised this has only 14 net carbs per serving, with 18 grams of protein.

How can you make this recipe lower in carbs?

If you’re strictly watching carbs,  you can double the amount of sausage and use half as many beans in this recipe for a lower-carb dish with sausage and beans.

How to make Italian Sausage and White Beans with Sage:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. If you’re cooking your own beans, start with 2 cups of fresh dried white beans. If you want to cook the beans on the stovetop, I would soak them in cold water overnight; for cooking dried beans in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot, you can skip the soaking.
2. Put dried beans, celery, garlic, sage, salt, Italian Herb Seasoning (affiliate link), and a little olive oil in the slow cooker or Instant Pot with enough water to just cover the beans.
3. Cook beans 5-6 hours in the slow cooker. (more here about How to Cook Dried Beans in a Slow Cooker.)
4. In the Instant Pot, lock the lid and cook 30 minutes at HIGH PRESSURE; then let beans NATURAL RELEASE for 15 minutes followed by quick release as needed.
5. For either cooking method, drain the beans, saving the large cloves of garlic and 1/2 cup cooking liquid.
6. While beans cook (or when they’re nearly cooked for slow cooker method) heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large frying pan and brown the sausage. Then slice into diagonal pieces and brown the sides of those pieces. (This adds flavor; please don’t skip the browning!)
7. Put the drained beans, sausage pieces, garlic, sage leaves, canned tomatoes, and ground fennel into the slow cooker or Instant Pot with 1/2 cup reserved liquid.
8. For Instant Pot cook 10 minutes at HIGH PRESSURE, then NATURAL RELEASE for five minutes, and then quick release.
9. For slow cooker, put same ingredients into the slow cooker and cook on high for 2-3 hours.
10. Serve Sausage and White Bean with Sage hot, with a little freshly-grated Parmesan if desired, although the cheese is definitely optional.

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Weekend Food Prep:

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Yield: 8 servings

Sausage and White Beans with Sage

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Sausage and White Beans with Sage gets extra flavorful when the cooked beans, Italian sausage, tomatoes, ground fennel, and sage are simmered together, and you can make this in the Instant Pot or slow cooker.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried white beans (see notes)
• 2 stalks celery
• 4 large whole cloves garlic (or more)
• 13 fresh sage leaves, divided (see notes)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tsp. dried Italian Seasoning, divided
• 2 T olive oil, divided
• 5 links uncooked turkey or pork Italian sausage (see notes)
• 1 tsp ground fennel seed (see notes)
• one 14.5 oz. can petite dice tomatoes with juice
• 1/2 cup cooking water (saved from cooking beans)

Instructions

If you're cooking your own beans, start with 2 cups of fresh dried white beans. If you want to cook the beans on the stovetop, I would soak them in cold water overnight; for cooking dried beans in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot, you can skip the soaking.

Put dried beans, celery, garlic, 3 leaves sage or a pinch of dried sage, salt, 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning, and 1 T olive oil in the slow cooker, Instant Pot, or in a pan on the stove with enough water to just cover the beans.

Cook beans 5-6 hours in the slow cooker. (more here about How to Cook Dried Beans in a Slow Cooker.)

For Instant Pot, lock the lid and cook 30 minutes at HIGH PRESSURE; then let beans NATURAL RELEASE for 15 minutes followed by quick release as needed.

To cook beans on the stove, cook at a low simmer until beans are tender; cooking time will depend on how fresh the beans are.

For either method, drain the beans, saving the large cloves of garlic and 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

While beans cook or when slow cooker beans are almost done, heat another 1 1/2 tsp. olive oil in a large frying pan and brown the outside of sausage well. Let sausage cool and then cut into diagonal pieces. Add another 1 1/2 tsp. olive oil and brown the cut sides of the sausage well. (Don't skip browning the sausage; this builds flavor.)

Chop garlic pieces and add the cooked beans, chopped garlic, browned sausage pieces, 10 sage leaves or a little dried sage,  canned tomatoes with juice, ground fennel, second teaspoon of Italian Seasoning, and the 1/2 cup cooking water from the beans to slow cooker or Instant Pot.

For slow cooker, cook 2-3 hours on high.

For Instant Pot, lock lid and then cook at HIGH PRESSURE for 10 minutes; then let the dish NATURAL RELEASE for 5 minutes followed by quick release as needed.

Serve Sausage and White Beans with Sage hot, with some freshly-grated Parmesan to add at the table if desired.

Notes

Fresher beans will cook more quickly if you're starting with dried beans, so try to get some that haven't been sitting on the shelf for a long time..

Use 3 cans (15 oz. can) if you don't want to cook beans from scratch.

If you don't have fresh sage leaves you can use dried ground sage if needed, but use it sparingly.

The ground fennel seed (affiliate link) is highly recommended; please do not skip it!

Be sure to use gluten-free ingredients if you need this to be gluten-free.

This recipe adapted from an early blogging friend and The Silver Spoon.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 222Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 44mgSodium 292mgCarbohydrates 17gFiber 3gSugar 4gProtein 18g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Sausage and White Beans with Sage would be suitable for any phase of the original South Beach Diet. South Beach would recommend turkey Italian Sausage, but lately it’s been hard to find, and pork sausage would also be delicious. Dried beans can be high in carbs if you’re following a strict low-carb eating plan, but this is probably lower in carbs than you think with 14 net carbs per serving! For a more carb-conscious version, just double the sausage and cut the amount of beans in half.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. Use Instant Pot Recipes to find more recipes like this one. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
The recipe for Sausage and White Beans with Sage was first posted as a slow cooker recipe in 2007, probably with dismal photos in those days! The recipe was updated to include Instant Pot instructions in 2017 and was last updated with more information in 2025.

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