This easy Slow Cooker Cassoulet recipe makes a gourmet stew with smoked meats, hearty beans, and vegetables, and only takes 10 minutes of work! Try this easy cassoulet recipe for a weeknight dinner, the whole family will love it.
I am super excited to share this cassoulet recipe with you! I created it for Randall Beans several years ago and it is one of my favorite slow cooker comfort stews. But before I go on...
What is a cassoulet?
A cassoulet is a French stew made with all kinds of smoked meats and white beans. It is traditionally slow cooked. And by slow cooked, I meant old-school slow cooked, by simmering for hours and hours in a casserole pan. The world "cassoulet" actually comes from the French word for "casserole."
Neat, huh?
In this slow cooker cassoulet, I get a little help from the crock pot to make this cassoulet with only a fraction of the effort. No need to watch the pot all day, simply saute the aromatics in a skillet, transfer all the cassoulet ingredients to your slow cooker, press "cook" and walk away!
Ready to make it?
Related recipe: Slow Cooker Honey Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, diced (about 2 cups)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 stalks celery, diced (about 1 cup)
- 10 oz baby bella mushrooms, halved or quartered if large (or use white button mushrooms)
- 1 28-oz jar diced tomatoes
- 1 cup chicken broth (or water)
- 2 14-oz cans white beans, such as great northern beans (about 3 cups cooked beans)
- 1 lb smoked sausage, sliced into small pieces (Kielbasa, spicy Salami and/or Chorizo work great! Use a combination of sausages if you like) - see notes below
- 1 lb smoked ham (or other smoked meats or meats of your choice), diced or cubed
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves, plus extra for garnish
- Salt and pepper to taste
You'll also need:
- A slow cooker (I have a 6-quart one and it's perfect for this amount of cassoulet!)
- A large skillet
Related recipe: Chickpea and Chorizo Stew
Instructions
Step 1: In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the diced onion, carrots, and minced garlic for about 5 minutes. Add the celery and sauté for another 3 minutes.
Step 2: Transfer the sautéed vegetables to a slow cooker. Add the next 7 ingredients (mushrooms through dried thyme) and stir well. Cover and cook on the low temperature setting for 5 hours.
Step 3: When the time is up, carefully give it a taste and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Stir in fresh parsley and serve hot.
Related recipe: Instant Pot Sausage Jambalaya
What to serve with cassoulet
Cassoulets are pretty hearty, with lots of beans, sausage, and veggies in it. It really doesn't need more than a simple side salad (try this beet and blue cheese salad!).
However, I can't help but toast up a baguette to serve with this cassoulet. The broth is just perfect for dipping!! And if you're interested in making baguettes to really wow your family, you should really try my recipe!
Related recipe: Wild Rice Chicken Casserole
Ingredient notes
→ If you look up pictures of cassoulet, a lot of them have the whole sausage in the stew instead of slicing it. For one, I think it looks... weird (as you can see below in the picture). And second, how do you even eat that?? I prefer to slice the sausage and dice meats (as much as I can) into bite-sized pieces.
→ What kind of meats to use: Any kind of meats will work here!! Smoked sausage? Yum! Kielbasa? Amazing. Got cubed steak? Brown that and add it in. Got smoked ham? Dice it and add it. Got chicken drumsticks or thighs? Brown them in a skillet and add them to the slow cooker.
→ I sometimes substitute diced leeks instead of onions. Make sure to wash the leeks really well because they trap a lot of dirt between all those layers!
Related recipe: Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
Slow Cooker Cassoulet
Ingredients
- 1 large onion - diced (about 2 cups)
- 2 large carrots - diced (about 2 cups)
- 2 garlic cloves - minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 stalks celery - diced (about 1 cup)
- 10 oz baby bella mushrooms - halved if large
- 1 28-oz jar diced tomatoes
- 1 cup chicken broth - or water
- 2 14-oz cans white beans - such as Great Northern beans (about 3 cups cooked beans)
- 1 lb smoked sausage - sliced into ⅓ inch pieces (kielbasa, spicy Salami and/or Chorizo work great!)
- 1 lb smoked meats or other meat - such as diced smoked ham, chicken drumsticks, chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
Special equipment
- Slow cooker
- Large skillet
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the diced onion, carrots, and minced garlic for about 5 minutes. Add the celery and sauté for another 3 minutes.
- Transfer the sauteed vegetables to a large (~6-quart) slow cooker. Add the next 7 ingredients (mushrooms through dried thyme) and stir well. Cover and cook on the low temperature setting for 5 hours.
- Carefully taste and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Stir in fresh parsley and serve hot.
Notes
- You can use any kind of smoked meats you like - sausages, chunks of smoked pork shoulder, cooked bacon, smoked chicken legs, etc. 1-2 lb of meat is a good amount for this stew!
- You will need a large slow cooker. A 6-quart one works great!
- You can substitute diced leeks for onions. Thoroughly wash the diced leeks to remove any dirt.
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.
Little Cooking Tips
Wednesday 16th of March 2016
So great to read that you guys got to take Monday off and have a couple days just for you! We also managed to do something similar, as last Monday was Clean Monday here (which is the celebration of the beginning of Lent), and we both got a day off work and left Athens:) The dinner you guys had looks great, and if you like fish and chips as much as we do (WE LOVE IT!), then please, try it once with a side of skordalia (the mashed potato version of it), you'll love the combination! We laughed so hard at strikeout on the "so I did what all --lazy-- smart people do" :):) We don't have a slow cookers (the are available in the last few years here, but for some strange reason not advertised, and no one uses them), so we'll cook your yummy recipe the traditional way on a lazy Sunday:) Sending you lots of hugs, Panos and Mirella