Greens and Beans with Sausage

Greens and Beans with Sausage is an inexpensive, healthy, and delicious dinner to make in the slow cooker. And this is a fun combination that has a lot of greens and sausage and not many beans so it only has about 11 net carbs per serving!

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This week I had lots of collard greens in my garden, so I used the slow cooker to make Greens and Beans with Sausage. My neighbor Michelle loves this combination of sausage and beans with healthy greens, and she tells me you can also cook it on the stove if you’re in a hurry or don’t have a crockpot.

I used pinto beans, but you could make this with any type of dried beans and any type of sturdy leafy greens like Swiss Chard, Kale, or even Bok Choy could replace the collards if that’s what you have.

Crockpot dishes tend to be not too photogenic, but luckily I had some leftovers to try more than once on the photos, and trust me when I say this picture is a big improvement on the previous one! If you like greens, beans, and sausage, I bet you’re going to love this tasty dish!

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.)

• uncooked dried beans, preferably Pinto Beans
• Garlic Powder (affiliate link)
• Onion Powder (affiliate link)
• uncooked hot turkey or pork Italian Sausage (see notes)
• olive oil
• large bunch collard greens
• bean cooking liquid (or water plus liquid from canned beans if using canned)
• Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
• Parmesan cheese for serving, if desired

What beans should you use for Greens and Beans with Sausage?

Most any kind beans will work for this recipe but I’d use pinto beans (shown in the photos) white kidney beans, or small white beans.

What sausage did I cook with the greens and beans?

I originally made this recipe with my favorite turkey Italian sausage. But now I sadly can’t find that sausage anywhere so I’d use pork Italian sausage. Personally I’d choose hot Italian Sausage, but if you’re cooking for kids you can use mild Sweet Italian Sausage instead.

Why is Greens and Beans with Sausage a good summer dinner?

I’m always a fan of making slow cooker recipes when it’s summer, because slow cookers are such a wonderful way to cook when you don’t want to heat up your house. That’s why I have a big collection of Slow Cooker Summer Dinners on my Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker site!

How can you make this recipe lower in carbs?

Beans and greens are both high in fiber, so if you make this Greens and Beans with Sausage into six servings as the recipe suggests it only has about 11 net carbs per servings. But if you’d like to make it even lower in carbs, just double the sausage and greens and use fewer beans for a lower-carb version that will still be delicious!

Does this Greens and Beans with Sausage freeze well?

This slow cooker dish definitely freezes well, so don’t be afraid to double the recipe if you have a large slow cooker.

How to make Greens and Beans with Sausage:

(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. Soak dried beans overnight, then drain, add fresh water, Garlic Powder (affiliate link), and Onion Powder (affiliate link), and simmer on low heat until beans are soft. Cooking time will depend on how fresh the beans are, but probably 30-45 minutes for most beans. You can also cook the beans in the crockpot or Instant Pot if you prefer.
2. You can also use two cans of canned beans, but soaked and cooked dried beans are much better.
3. When beans are almost cooked, brown the sausage well in a non-stick frying pan. (You’ll need to add a little oil for turkey Italian sausage.)
4. Get the sausage as brown as you can, then let cool and cut into slices.
5. Also slice up the collard greens.
6. Put collard greens in the bottom of the crockpot.
7. Deglaze the pan where you cooked the sausage with 1/2 cup bean cooking liquid and fresh garlic, and cook for 2-3 minutes.
8. Put drained cooked beans and sausages in the crockpot on top of the collard greens, then pour over the deglazing liquid from the pan.
9. Cook on low 4-6 hours or on high 2-3 hours, or until collard greens are quite soft. (If your crockpot is larger than I used, you may need to add a bit more water.)
10. Serve hot, with Parmesan cheese if desired. Anyone who enjoys greens, beans, and sausage will love this combination!

More Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes:

• Keto CrockPot Recipes with Eggs ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
• Keto CrockPot Recipes ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
• 50 Low-Carb and Keto Slow Cooker Dinners ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

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Yield: 6 servings

Greens and Beans with Sausage

Prep Time 50 minutes

Cook Time 6 hours

Total Time 6 hours 50 minutes

This Crockpot Greens and Beans with Sausage is a healthy and delicious comfort food dinner you'll want to make it over and over!

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked dried beans of any type, soaked overnight (see notes)
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 5 links uncooked hot turkey or pork Italian Sausage (see notes)
• 2 tsp. olive oil, for browning sausage
• 1 large bunch collard greens, cut into ribbons and washed
• 1/2 cup bean cooking liquid (or water plus liquid from canned beans if using canned)
• 1 tsp. finely minced fresh garlic
• Parmesan cheese for serving, if desired

Instructions

1. Put soaked beans in small saucepan with garlic powder, onion powder, and enough water to cover.
2. Cook for about 30 minutes, or until beans are nearly done but still have a little bite. Drain beans, saving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.
3. You can also cook the beans in the crockpot or Instant Pot if you prefer. Fresh cooked beans are by far better, but if you forget to soak some, use two cans of kidney beans, white beans, or pinto beans and save 1/2 cup of water when you rinse them.
4. While beans cook, brown sausage well in frying pan, adding a little olive oil for turkey sausage. The crock pot kind of removes the color from browned foods, so let them get very brown.
5. When sausages are nicely browned, remove from pan, cool enough to handle, and cut into slices
6. Cut stems off collard green, cut into ribbons crosswise, then cut the long ribbons into 2-3 pieces and rinse.
7. Place collard greens in bottom of crock pot.
8. Pour 1/2 cup bean cooking liquid into pan where you cooked the sausage, add fresh garlic, and cook 2-3 minutes to deglaze pan.
9. Put beans in crock pot, top with sausage, and pour deglazing liquid from pan over.
10. Cook on low 4-6 hours or on high 2-3 hours, or until collard greens are quite soft and flavors are well-combined.
11. Serve hot, with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Notes

I used my Crock-Pot 3-1/2-Quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link) for this recipe. This freezes well, so if you have a larger slow cooker I would double the recipe.

You could substitute two 15 oz. cans of beans, but freshly-cooked beans are much better!

I originally used My Favorite Turkey Italian Sausage for this recipe. Now I can't find that any more so I'd use pork Italian sausage.

Recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 202Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 35mgSodium 372mgCarbohydrates 15gFiber 4gSugar 4gProtein 14g

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:
Everything in this Greens and Beans with Sausage is a wonderfully healthful food, making this perfect for any phase of the original South Beach Diet. I didn’t tag it low-carb, but has a lot of greens and sausage and not many beans, so it has only about 11 net carbs per serving. If you want a lower-carb version, use less beans and even more sausage and greens.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Slow Cooker Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. 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:
This recipe for Greens and Beans with Sausage was created in 2010 when I had lots of collard greens in my garden. It was last updated with more information in 2023.

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