Try this super easy way to make Crock-Pot Easy Italian Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches in your slow cooker. Great lunch or dinner recipe for families on the go! Just a few simple ingredients in this recipe that everyone will love!
Slow Cooker Easy Italian Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches
Whenever I need a quick and easy recipe that I can toss in the slow cooker, let it cook away while I am busy doing other things this recipe for Italian sausages and peppers is one of my go-to recipes. It is so stinking easy that you almost don’t need a recipe.
But because this is a food blog…a recipe IS kind of important.
But basically you throw some Italian sausage links (hot or mild…up to you!) into your slow cooker along with some sliced bell peppers and onions, and a jar of your favorite marinara sauce.
Let that all cook away for 6 to 8 hours and then serve the sausage links on your favorite submarine/hoagie roll with some cheese. I like grated Parmesan but I hear that sliced provolone or mozzarella is nice too and ends up being more melty than Parmesan is. But I think the tang and sharpness that Parmesan cheese has is just divine.
My kids really like this recipe too and in fact last time I made it my 12 year old son Liam said that it was “the BEST” and asked for seconds.
I usually serve this with a quickly tossed together salad and usually some chips. Chips are a treat in our house but we adhere to the “everything in moderation” philosophy in life.
Also…this recipe can also be prepped ahead of time as a slow cooker freezer meal…it is SO EASY and I have included the instructions for the freezer meal in the notes section of the recipe below.
And one more thing…if you are on a gluten free diet…look for gluten free options on the sausages and use your favorite GF marinara sauce and serve on GF rolls (Schär and Udi’s both make them).
Equipment Needed For Crock-Pot Easy Italian Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches Recipe:
- 5 Quart, 5.5 Quart, 6 Quart, 6.5 Quart Or 7 Quart
- Large Skillet
- Tongs
- Dry Measuring Spoons
- Cheese Grater (Optional)
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use any type of Italian sausage links that you wish to use in this recipe. If you are serving this recipe to children you may wish to use sweet Italian sausages or mild Italian sausages. If you prefer to add a little spice to the dish cooking up some hot Italian sausages is the way to go.
Some people prefer to have their Italian sausages without the marinara sauce. If that is the case feel free to omit the marinara sauce in this recipe. There is no need to add any additional water or liquid because as the sausages, peppers and onions cook they will release enough liquid to ensure there is a moist cooking environment inside the slow cooker.
This recipe as written without the bun is indeed Keto diet friendly with just 12 net carbs per serving. The formula for calculating net carbs is:
Carbohydrates minus Fiber minus Sugar Alcohols equals Net Carbs
So in this recipe you have 14 carbohydrates minus 2 grams fiber and zero sugar alcohols. So the net carbs in this recipe is 12.
Because ingredients can vary greatly you may be able to get the net carb count even lower by using a more keto diet friendly marinara sauce.
As for buns or rolls, you can use keto hot dog buns or use lettuce leaves to make a lettuce wrap with your Italian sausage.
More Italian Slow Cooker Recipes To Try!
Crock-Pot Spaghetti
Learn how to make a delicious Slow Cooker Spaghetti with this kid-friendly recipe. First you make a yummy and meaty sauce, then, you cook the pasta in the slow cooker!
Crock-Pot Meatball Sandwiches
If you need a recipe for a fun lunch, a party or get together or just dinner, this recipe for Slow Cooker Meatball Sandwiches is the ticket!
Crock-Pot Minestrone Soup
A hearty Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup that will warm you, and fill you up. It has delicious satisfying ingredients that will make you want more.
Crock-Pot Tomato & Spinach Pasta
This recipe for Slow Cooker Tomato & Spinach Pasta is packed with flavor & veggies. The family is going to love this easy recipe. Serve with garlic toast!
Special Diets
Gluten Free | Keto | Low Calorie | Low Carb | Low Fat | Paleo
This recipe for Crock-Pot Easy Italian Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches is Weight Watchers Friendly on the new Personal Points plan. You can see the WW personal points for this recipe here on the Weight Watchers website. Click here for MORE of our Weight Watchers Recipes
Recipe Collections:
- 5 Quart Slow Cooker Recipes
- Entrée Recipes
- Freezer Meal Recipes
- Kid Friendly Slow Cooker Recipes
- Pork Crock-Pot Recipes
Crock-Pot Easy Italian Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Package Italian Sausage Links (Usually Comes In A 5-Pack)
- 14.5 Ounces Frozen Sliced Bell Peppers And Onions (*See Vegetable Note Below)
- 1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 24 Ounces Jarred Marinara Sauce (Or Our Homemade Crock-Pot Marinara Sauce)
Instructions
- In a large skillet on the stove-top brown the sausage links on all sides. The sausages do not need to be cooked through just browned. You may skip this step, however, browning the sausages adds additional flavor to the dish.
- Remove the sausages from the skillet using tongs and transfer them to a 5 quart or larger slow cooker.
- Add the peppers and onions to the top of the sausages.
- Sprinkle the Italian seasoning, garlic powder and black pepper over everything in the slow cooker.
- Pour the marinara sauce over everything in the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or on LOW for 4 to 6 hours or until the sausages are fully cooked.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or on LOW for 4 to 6 hours or until the sausages are fully cooked.
- Eat and enjoy!
Notes
Freezer Meal Instructions:
- Place all ingredients into a 1 gallon size zippered freezer bag OR FoodSaver bag.
- Place bag on flat surface and seal bag closed while pressing out as much excess air as possible OR use your FoodSaver sealing system to vacuum seal the bag closed.
- Label bag with date prepared, name of recipe, ingredients and cooking instructions.
- Lay bag flat in freezer and allow to freeze for several hours. At that point you can stand the bags upright in your freezer if desired.
- Remove freezer meal bag from freezer and place either in refrigerator overnight OR in a clean kitchen sink filled with cool water for several hours just until the freezer meal is partially thawed enough to dump the contents of the bag into the slow cooker.
- Cook according to the recipe directions adding 1 additional hour cooking time (in this case 5 to 7 hours on LOW or 4 to 5 hours on HIGH from the partially thawed state ).
Nutrition information based on recipe as written and does not include the rolls or optional cheese. You can make this recipe a little healthier by using turkey or chicken Italian sausages.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in March, 2017. We have polished it off and given it an update in September, 2021. We hope you enjoy!
I’m trying this recipe today, just put everything in the crockpot. So quick and easy to prepare. Looking forward to dinner when I get home from work today.
Hope you enjoy the recipe Jackie! Please come on back and rate the recipe and let us know how you liked it!
This looks really good and I am now craving for sausage sandwiches. Will make sure I make this one tomorrow.
Thank you for sharing all these slow cooker recipes — it’s life-saving.
You’re welcome Sheila! Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Making this one as I type, it’s in the crockpot now.
So when do you add the marinara sauce? I don’t see that in the recipe.
Sorry about that Tonja, somehow step #4 got doubled and skipped step #5 which is when you add the marinara sauce. We have fixed the recipe to fix that.