Go Back
Red Bean and Smoked Sausage Soup
Melissa Hart

Red Bean and Smoked Sausage Soup

Canned red beans keep this slow-cooker soup safe and weeknight-friendly; dry kidney beans should be boiled before slow cooking and are not worth the gamble here. Browning the sausage controls the fat. The finished broth should be red and loose, not as thick as red beans served over rice.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 6 hours 50 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 lbs fully cooked smoked sausage sliced 1/2 inch thick
  • 1 cup diced yellow onion
  • 1 cup diced green bell pepper
  • 1 cup diced celery
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 45 oz canned red kidney beans drained and rinsed
  • 15 oz canned diced tomatoes
  • 7 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp hot pepper sauce

Method
 

  1. Brown the sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat for 6 minutes, then drain the fat.
  2. Place the sausage, onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, kidney beans, tomatoes, broth, paprika, thyme and salt in a 6-quart crockpot.
  3. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours until the vegetables are tender.
  4. Mash 1 cup of beans against the crock and stir them into the broth, checking that the sausage reaches 165°F.
  5. Stir in the hot sauce and cool leftovers in shallow containers before freezing.