Slow Cooker Rice Recipe with Sausage and Peppers
This Slow Cooker Rice Recipe with Sausage and Peppers cooks in the slow cooker in a few hours and only needs 25 minutes of prep time! And this flavorful combination with slow cooker rice has a lot of sausage and peppers and not too much rice, so it only has about 10 net carbs if you eat it for a side dish.
PIN the Slow Cooker Rice Recipe to try it later!
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in many years of food blogging, it’s that the photo can make or break a recipe! I made this completely delicious Slow Cooker Rice Recipe with Sausage and Peppers a few years ago, and even though I loved the recipe (and made it a few more times since then) I never felt like the original photo showed how tasty this dish really was.
I’m so glad to finally have new photos to show off this recipe a little better! And if you’re someone who usually doesn’t like slow cooker recipes where you have to brown the ingredients before they go into the slow cooker, I hope I can still convince you to give this one a try. Seriously, this dish of rice with sausage and peppers that gets infused with flavor in the slow cooker was so easy and good.
It only takes about 25 minutes to cut up and brown the sausage and chop the veggies and then it cooks for two hours in the slow cooker while you’re busy doing other things. If you’re a sausage and peppers fan I hope you give this a try!
What ingredients do you need?
(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.)
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- hot turkey Italian Sausage
- green bell pepper
- onion
- canned chicken broth (affiliate link) or homemade chicken stock (see notes)
- Ben’s Original Converted Rice (affiliate link)
- Spike Seasoning (affiliate link), or other all-purpose seasoning blend
- salt to taste
- cayenne pepper (affiliate link)
- green onions or chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
How to make this slow cooker rice recipe lower in carbs:
If you limit this recipe to a small side-dish serving, it comes in at about 10 net carbs per serving. If you want to make it even lower in carbs to have a bigger serving, I’d double the amount of sausage and peppers and keep the amount of rice the same.
Can you make this slow cooker rice recipe with pork sausage?
I confess to having a strong preference for turkey Italian sausage, but lately the turkey sausage is getting hard to find in Utah. And you’re browning the sausage separately so there is no danger of getting too much grease in the finished dish, so I think pork sausage will be fine for this recipe.
Can you use other vegetables for the slow cooker rice recipe?
You can definitely switch out the green pepper for red bell pepper if you prefer that. Other veggies that I think would work here include celery, shredded cabbage, chopped kale or swiss chard, or green peas.
What size slow cooker did I use?
I used my favorite 3.5 Quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link) for this recipe, but any slow cooker that’s about 3-4 quarts will work.
How to Make this Slow Cooker Rice Recipe:
(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.)
- I used Hot Turkey Italian Sausage; squeeze sausage out of the links and brown it while you chop up the green pepper and onion. (Use pork sausage if you don’t find the turkey sausage.)
- Put the sausage in the slow cooker and saute the green pepper and onion for 2-3 minutes before adding to the slow cooker.
- You’ll need one cup of Ben’s Original Converted Rice(affiliate link) and 2 cups of chicken broth or stock.
- Stir the rice and stock into the sausage, peppers, and onions that you’ve added to the slow cooker, along with the Spike Seasoning (affiliate link) or another all-purpose seasoning, salt, and cayenne pepper.
- Cook on high for 2 hours and you’ll have perfect Spicy Brown Rice with Sausage and Peppers.
- Garnish the Slow Cooker Rice with Sausage and Peppers with sliced green onions (or parsley) if desired and serve!
Weekend Food Prep:
This slow cooker rice recipe that’s loaded with flavor from sausage and peppers has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
More Slow Cooker Rice Recipes:
- Slow Cooker Brown Rice with Veggies and Feta
- Greek Slow Cooker Rice
- Slow Cooker Rice Casserole with Green Chiles and Cheese
- Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice
- Slow Cooker Turkey Taco Bowls
Slow Cooker Rice Recipe with Sausage and Peppers
This Slow Cooker Rice Recipe with Sausage and Peppers cooks in the slow cooker in a few hours and only needs 25 minutes of prep time!
Ingredients
- 2 tsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
- 19.5 oz. (5 links) hot turkey Italian Sausage (see notes)
- 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups chicken broth (see notes)
- 1 cup Uncle Ben’s Brown Rice (see notes)
- 1 tsp. Spike Seasoning (or other all-purpose seasoning blend)
- 1/2 tsp. salt (more or less to taste)
- 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (see notes)
- sliced green onions or chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a frying pan, squeeze the sausage out of the links, and brown the sausage well, breaking up with a turner and stirring until it’s brown on all sides.
- Put sausage into slow cooker.
- While sausage browns, finely chop the green bell pepper and onion.
- After you remove the sausage, add the last teaspoon of olive oil to the pan and saute the pepper and onion 2-3 minutes; then add to the slow cooker.
- Add the chicken broth, rice, Spike Seasoning (affiliate link), salt, and Cayenne pepper and stir to combine. Cook on high for 2 hours, or until rice is tender.
- Serve hot, sprinkled with sliced green onions or chopped fresh parsley to garnish if desired.
- This freezes well, so if you have a large slow cooker you might want to double the recipe.
Notes
I used my favorite Hot Turkey Italian Sausage, but you can use any Italian Sausage you prefer.
I used a can of chicken broth and added water to make 2 cups. But definitely use homemade chicken stock if you have some!
I'm a huge fan of Spike Seasoning (affiliate link) but use any all-purpose seasoning you have on hand. I used 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne, but my sister would have preferred it a little less spicy so adjust to your heat tolerance.
If you don't have Uncle Ben's Brown Rice (affiliate link) you can use other long-grain brown rice, but cooking time might vary.
Recipe adapted from Crock-Pot 365 Year-Round Recipes. (affiliate link)
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 540Total Fat 27gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 15gCholesterol 226mgSodium 2378mgCarbohydrates 11gFiber 1gSugar 2gProtein 60g
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:
Brown rice, turkey Italian Sausage, green peppers, and onion are healthy ingredients that make this slow cooker rice recipe suitable for Phase 2 or 3 of the original South Beach Diet. For other carb-conscious eaters, the recipe has a lot of sausage, peppers, and onions compared to the amount of rice, so it might work for low-carb diets if you limit serving size. If you want to make it even lower in carbs, I’d double the amount of sausage and peppers and keep the amount of rice the same.
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 sausage and pepper loaded Slow Cooker Rice Recipe was first posted in 2013. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2024.
25 Comments on “Slow Cooker Rice Recipe with Sausage and Peppers”
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Kaylyn, this is going on my meal plan for this week – looks deeeeelicious! And just so you know, although I agree that your latest photo is terrific and an improvement on the first (you are quite the photographer!) I actually think the original one ain't all that bad either 🙂
I've been a Kaylyn's Kitchen fan since 2009 and intend to be one for many more years to come! Thank you, Kaylyn, for sharing so many wonderful recipes with everyone.
Rennie, thanks for the kind words! I plan to keep sharing recipes for a long time. And learning about photography has been one of the most fun parts of blogging for me, so thank you! Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have.
I am one of those people who absolutely HAS to brown ingredients before using the slow cooker! I mean if you are going to embrace the lazy and use the slow cooker, the least you can do is take 5 minutes and brown a few things… right?? This spicy brown rice and sausage dish looks incredibly flavorful! Love the share of the old picture! But, it shows you how far you have come as a blogger and photographer! Bravo! Cheers and thanks for sharing the YUM!
Thanks for the kind words Cheyanne! And I could not agree more about the need to brown things first on ingredients like sausage. It has been fun re-shooting photos and seeing the improvement, but I still have a lot of bad ones to replace!
can you do this on the stove top? Love your recipes!
Glad you are enjoying the recipes! You can probably make this on the stovetop but I wouldn't be able to give recommendations for adaptations since I've never done it that way. I'm guessing you'd need more liquid though. Maybe try googling for similar recipes and use that to adapt it?
This looks delicious and easy- thanks for posting a recipe that's good for freezing! More of those please (or a recipe roundup of those would be wonderful) 🙂
Thanks April, hope you enjoy! And I have truthfully had that idea for a round-up of freezer-friendly recipes for ages. But did you know you can see them all on the Can Freeze Recipes Photo Index Page. Hope that helps. And I will move that up on my to-do list! I need it myself.
I did not know that was there, thanks for sharing! 🙂 And yes, I'm just starting to delve into the world of meals that one can freeze, so any tips you have for doing so would also be helpful. Thanks for all you do!
April, I think Fall/Winter foods are especially suitable for freezing, so I promise to work on it!
Jillian I'm guessing this would work great in the slow cooker with cauliflower rice, but that's only a guess since I haven't tried it. Would love to hear how it works if you try!
Hi Kalyn! Just started the SBD and am on Phase 1…wondering if I can make something like this w/ cauliflower rice, so that it's Phase 1 friendly…would I still put it in the crock pot? Thanks!:)
No, there are lots of reasons I said "or until rice is tender." Slow cookers all cook at slightly different temperatures, and if the rice was older (more dried out) it could take longer to cook as well. In general, older slow cookers tend to cook a bit cooler than newer ones, but there are a lot of variations even among the newer ones.
I made this today, but after 2 hours in my Crock Pot (on high) the rice wasn't done. So I had to let it cook longer.
Did I do something wrong? Was I supposed to cook the rice first?
Vicki, so glad you enjoyed it, and I'm happy to hear that variations in the sausage and rice worked out fine.
This is great! I used turkey cajun sausage from a local butcher. Sausage was plenty spicy on its own so I omitted cayenne and spike. I also used long grain store brand brown rice. The two hours on high still worked fine. I will definitely make this again.
So glad it was a hit!
I read this recipe this morning and made it for dinner tonight. My hubby loved it and went back for seconds. A real keeper! Thanks Kalyn
Michelle, I haven't tried with other types of brown rice or longer cooking times, so you'd have to experiment to see what works. I would guess if you switched to LOW setting you could probably cook 4-5 hours with good results, but that's only a guess.
This looks great! Can you use any type ofbrown rice? Also can it cook longer than 2 hours in the crockpot?
Dara, so glad you're enjoying the sausages! I loved this rice; I'm sure I'll be making it over and over again.
I'm so happy that I found out about those sausages from you…we use them as many ways as we possibly can. This rice is the perfect make-ahead meal, and I love that opening photo of it!
Lydia, I just keep finding new things to make with these delicious and healthy sausages!
Once again, your recipe makes me want to run out to Costco and find those sausages! I'm still learning how to make rice in the rice cooker. I do love keeping the kitchen cool in the summer by using my slow cookers more often.