Slow Cooker Sausage Stew

This Slow Cooker Sausage Stew has Italian Sausage, tomatoes, cauliflower rice, and kale, and it’s a tasty dinner with Italian flavors! See the link below if you prefer to make the original version with Cannellini beans.

PIN the Slow Cooker Sausage Stew to try it later!

Many readers know that I started my carb-conscious eating journey with the original South Beach Diet. Back then I ate a lot of dried beans, but for years now I’ve been creating lower-carb versions for earlier recipes that had beans. And this Slow Cooker Sausage Stew is an easy recipe with some of my favorite flavors, and I’ve updated it to be lower in carbs. 

This new slow cooker stew with Italian sausage uses cauliflower rice to replace the Cannellini beans in the original version of the recipe. (If you were a fan of that one, you can still find it by using the link.) I tested the new version with my assistant Kara, and we both loved it. And my neighbor John came over to be a taste tester, and he also pronounced it delicious!

One thing I love in this slow cooker stew is adding chopped kale to the slow cooker after the sausage, broth, tomatoes, spices, and cauliflower rice have cooked for a few hours. The raw kale softens perfectly in the last hour of cooking time. Or cook it a little bit longer if you want even softer kale. And the kale is one of my favorite parts of this dish!

I know my site has a lot of recipes that use Italian sausage, and I never get tired of it. If you’re also a sausage fan who likes the slow cooker, I hope you give this a try. And personally I’d always eat this kind of stew with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on at the table!

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.)

• pork Italian sausage (hot or mild)
• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• canned petite dice tomatoes
• Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
• Dried Basil (affiliate link)
• Dried Oregano (affiliate link)
• ground fennel (affiliate link)
• Spike Seasoning (affiliate link) or Salt Free Spike Seasoning (affiliate link)
• canned chicken broth (affiliate link) 
• frozen cauliflower rice
• kale

What sausage did I use use for Slow Cooker Sausage Stew?

I used Kirkland mild Italian Sausage from Costco for this recipe. That comes in a big package so I used six sausage links, but if you’re buying a grocery store pack with only five sausages that will be fine. You can use hot Italian sausage if you want a bit more heat.

What other greens can you use for Slow Cooker Sausage Stew?

I loved the slightly-chewy kale in this slow cooker stew, but if you’re not a fan of kale you can use other greens like spinach, Swiss chard, or collards. Softer greens will not need quite so much cooking time.

What size slow cooker did I use for the stew?

I used a 5-Quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link) for this recipe, but a slightly smaller slow cooker will work. You can use the category for Slow Cooker to see all the slow cooker recipes on my site.

How to make this sausage stew lower in sodium:

This recipe as written is not extra low in sodium, but you can decrease the amount of sodium by using low-sodium chicken broth.

How low in carbs is Slow Cooker Sausage Stew with cauliflower rice?

The updated version of this stew with cauliflower rice replacing the beans has only 9 net carbs per serving, with 14 grams of protein.

How to Make Slow Cooker Sausage Stew:

(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. I had a big package of mild Italian Sausage, so I used six links. If your store has packages with five links, that will be fine!
2. I wanted small bites of sausage all through the stew, so I used this process:
3. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and brown the sausage until it’s firm enough to cut.
4. Cut the browned sausage lengthwise, and then cut those strips into smaller pieces.
5. Put smaller pieces back into the frying pan and cook until sausage is well-browned. (Don’t rush this step; the browning adds flavor.)
6. (If this process seems too time-consuming for you, you can squeeze sausage out of the links and cook it in olive oil until fully cooked and starting to brown. Break it apart as it cooks.)
7. Transfer browned sausage to the slow cooker. Then rinse out the frying pan with the chicken broth and add that liquid to the slow cooker.
8. Add the canned tomatoes, spices, and cauliflower rice to the slow cooker.
9. Let it cook for about 2 1/2 hours on high (or 5 hours on low.) Slightly longer time won’t matter if you get busy.
10. I used a whole bunch of kale. First cut the ribs away and discard. Then chop the kale into small pieces. If needed, wash the kale and spin dry in a salad spinner (0r dry with paper towels.)
11. Add kale to the slow cooker and let it cook another hour on high (or twice as long on low.) If you prefer softer kale, you can cook it a bit longer.
12. I forgot to take a photo showing how the kale wilted down into the finished soup.
13. Serve Slow Cooker Sausage Stew hot, with a little Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top if desired.
14. This stew will keep a few days in the fridge and leftovers can be frozen. You may want to add a little broth when you reheat it. 

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

This tasty slow cooker stew with sausage and kale would be delicious served with one of these:

• Almond Flour Savory Bread
• Low-Carb High Fiber Savory Muffins
• Olive Bread 

Weekend Food Prep:

This Slow Cooker Sausage Stew 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!

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 8 servings

Slow Cooker Sausage Stew

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours 45 minutes

Total Time 4 hours 15 minutes

Slow Cooker Sausage Stew has Italian sausage, tomatoes, cauliflower rice, spices, and kale, and this is a tasty slow cooker stew that's great for a family dinner! .

Ingredients

• one 19.5 oz. package Italian sausage (see notes)
• 1 T olive oil
• two 14.5 oz. cans petite dice tomatoes, not drained
• 2 T minced garlic
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. ground fennel
• 2 tsp. Spike Seasoning (see notes)
• 3 cups canned chicken broth (see notes)
• 2 cups frozen cauliflower rice
• one bunch of kale

Instructions

1. I had a big package of sausage so I used six sausage links. If you have a package with five links, that will be fine!
2. I used a few steps to get small bites of sausage all through the stew.
3. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and brown the sausage until it's starting to get firm, but not fully cooked.
4. Cut the partially-cooked sausage lengthwise into two pieces, and then cut those into smaller pieces.
5. Put the smaller pieces back into the frying pan and cook until sausage is well-browned. (Don't rush this step; the browning adds flavor.
6. (If this seems too time-consuming, just squeeze the sausage out of the links and cook it in olive oil until it's cooked and starting to brown, breaking it apart as it cooks.)
7. Remove the cook sausage and add to the slow cooker. Then rinse out the pan with chicken broth and add that liquid to the slow cooker.
8. Add the canned tomatoes, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, ground fennel, Spike Seasonign, and cauliflower rice to the slow cooker.
9. Let it cook for about 2 1/2 hours on high (or 5 hours on low.) Slightly longer time won't matter if you get busy.
10. I used a whole bunch of kale for this stew. First cut the ribs away and discard.
11. Then chop the kale into small pieces. If needed, wash the kale and spin dry in a salad spinner (0r dry with paper towels.)
12. Add kale to the slow cooker and let it cook another hour on high (or twice as long on low.) If you prefer softer kale, you can cook it even longer.
13. Serve Slow Cooker Sausage Stew hot, with a little Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top if desired.
14. This stew will keep a few days in the fridge and reheats well in the microwave or in a pan on the stove. You may want to add a little more broth when you reheat it. The leftovers can also be frozen.

Notes

I used pork Italian sausage from Costco. I originally made this recipe with turkey Italian sausage, so use that if you prefer.

Use any all-purpose seasoning blend if you don't have Spike Seasoning.

If you'd like the recipe to be lower in sodium, use low-sodium chicken broth.

Recipe created by Kalyn and Kara.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 332Total Fat 26gSaturated Fat 8gUnsaturated Fat 18gCholesterol 91mgSodium 1033mgCarbohydrates 13gFiber 4gSugar 5gProtein 33g

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.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This sausage stew made with cauliflower rice is great for low-carb diet plans. I’m not tagging it Keto, but with only 9 net carbs some people who follow Keto might eat it for a one-dish meal. The recipe could would be approved for all phases of the original South Beach Diet if you use turkey Italian sausage. 

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:
The Slow Cooker Sausage Stew was first posted in 2012, when I was doing lots of experiments in my slow cooker. The recipe was updated with a lower-carb version that replaced the beans with cauliflower rice in 2026. You can see the original version back in the archives if you like.