Slow Cooker Italian Sausage with Marinara Sauce
Slow Cooker Italian Sausage with Marinara Sauce is as easy as it gets for a slow cooker main dish, and this is actually quite delicious! Just add some zucchini noodles (or pasta) and you’ve got dinner!
PIN Slow Cooker Italian Sausage with Marinara Sauce to try it later!
Today I’m giving you a recipe for something I make all the time whenever I’m busy and don’t have much time to cook. And truthfully this Slow Cooker Italian Sausage with Marinara Sauce is so easy I’m not sure it should even be called a recipe, but this is so satisfying for an easy 3-ingredient dinner!
I use my favorite turkey Italian Sausage with for this, but you can certainly use pork sausage if that’s what you prefer. And although I love to use my own marinara sauce, this recipe is just as good with the Rao’s Pasta Sauce (affiliate link) I’m so fond of. And that sauce is super low in sugar, making this perfect for a ridiculously easy low-carb main dish! If you can’t find Rao’s where you shop, look at the nutritional information and pick the sauce with the lowest amount of sugar you can find!
Easy Steps for Making Slow Cooker Italian Sausage with Marinara Sauce:
(Scroll down to see complete recipe with nutritional information.)
- Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the sausage until it’s nicely browned on all sides. (The sausage doesn’t need to be completely cooked through at this point.)
- Then put the browned sausage into a small Crockpot.
- Add the sausage to the pan where you cooked the sausage, scrape to get all the browned sausage bits on the bottom mixed into the sauce, and simmer on low about 10 minutes.
- Then pour the pasta sauce over the sausage in the slow cooker and let it cook on low for about 2 hours. What could be easier?
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
This would be amazing served with Zucchini Noodles for a low-carb meal! Or one of these sausages with Mary’s Perfect Salad and some Grilled Asparagus with Parmesan would make a simple and delicious dinner.
Slow Cooker Italian Sausage with Tomato Sauce
Slow Cooker Italian Sausage with Tomato Sauce is about as easy as it gets for a slow cooker main dish, and this is delicious!
Ingredients
- 5 links uncooked Italian Sausage (see notes)
- 1 T olive oil
- one 24 oz. jar Marinara Sauce (see notes)
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in large frying pan, add sausage, and brown very well on all sides. This takes longer than you might think; don't rush this step.
- When sausage is brown, put sausage in Crockpot.
- Pour the marinara sauce into the pan you cook the sausage in and use the turner to scrape the browned bits off the pan so they're mixed into the sauce.
- Cook about 10 minutes at a low simmer.
- Then pour sauce over sausage in the slow cooker and let cook on low for about 2 hours while you're doing something else.
- That's all there is to this easy dish, enjoy!
Notes
I use my favorite turkey Italian Sausage, but use pork sausage if that's what you prefer. Either sweet or hot Italian Sausage will be delicious prepared this way. I always use Rao's Pasta Sauce (affiliate link) for this recipe, and that's the lowest-carb sauce I have found. If your store doesn't have Rao's look for a sauce that's low in sugar.
Nutritional information calculated using the products I used that are mentioned in the post.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
5Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 244Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2.5gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 790mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: ogSugar: 3gProtein: 17g
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.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Sausage cooked with low-sugar pasta sauce would be a great dish for low-carb diet plans, and for any phase of the South Beach Diet. Low-carb dieters would probably want pork sausage, but use turkey Italian sausage for the South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Slow Cooker Recipes for more recipes like this one. Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there. Click here to see Slow Cooker / Pressure Cooker Recipes on my other site!
17 Comments on “Slow Cooker Italian Sausage with Marinara Sauce”
Glad to hear you are enjoying the recipes. Thanks for letting me know.
I just wanted to drop you a line. I'm new to south beach. I love to cook and your collection of recipes and beautiful pictures are keeping me cooking, healthy and happy. Thanks for everything!
That does sound good with the picante sauce! Glad you are enjoying the recipes.
I have this recipe bookmarked! I changed it up one day. I browned the sausage with olive and onion. Once they were brown, I poured a small jar of Pace pecante sauce over them and let them simmer slowly for about an hour. My husband LOVED it. I used mild sausage and medium pecante sauce (he's not much of a spicy person). But it turned out perfect.
Thanks for all your wonderful recipes!
Thank you for this recipe! We had it the other night and it was super delish!
Kalyn,
I have never been a fan of sausage, but your pic looks inviting. 🙂
Coffeepot, I think I actually prefer the turkey Italian Sausage to the pork ones! Welcome back.
Sher, they are one of my absolute staples.
Meeta, in the oven on low would be fine, or even simmer on the stove on low for an hour or so.
Kalyn, wow! We love sausages here and living in Germany we get so many different varieties. This is an amazing, simple and delicious sounding recipe. I do not have a crockpot but I assume I can do it in the oven at a low temp – right?
Oh boy, come to mama!!! Easy AND delicious. That’s perfect!
Hey Kalyn,
I just had some turkey italian sausage tonight before I read this.
I do like it lower fat and with great taste too.
I have been away too long already and missing all those great ideas of yours.
How fun to get so many nice comments on such a simple recipe. Sometimes simple food is the best. I like everyone’s ideas for variations too.
Brady, glad tohear you liked the Dreamfields pasta, and good luck with the new baby that’s coming.
Hey ya know, that reminds me of a recipe my uncle received from a neighbor years ago. I think it would fit in with these diets ya’ll are talking about too.
Saute slices or hunks of zucchini, hot quick, no completely cook. Add tomato sauce, plain or otherwise. Add crumbled bacon and simmer until done. Serve.
Thanks for the memories!
Yet another great reason to buy that crock pot I’ve been thinking about….
This looks great!
mmm..be great with some onions and peppers 😉
Kalyn-
This has nothing to do with today’s yummy post, but I just wanted to thank you. Last night I made a big pot of what our family calls goulash (ground beef, onions, garlic, stewed tomatoes, some italian seasoning, pasta and corn). Not goulash at all, but I think every family has some version of this. Any how I used the Dreamfield’s pasta for the first time because of your suggestions and we loved it. As you know, we are not South Beachers, but we try to eat healthy. Soon I will have copious amounts of baby weight to lose so I wanted to thank you for all of your wonderful and healthy recipes.
Happy Holidays-
Brady
Kalyn, the first photo looks deliciously incredible! We eat plenty of sausages so this really caught my eyes.
These would be great sliced up and eaten with penne pasta…