Hearty sausage and bean casserole

This hearty sausage and bean casserole is bound to be everyone’s favourite family supper. It’s made with plump, juicy pork sausages and packed with vegetables in a thick meaty gravy. I’ve even thrown in a tin of baked beans for good measure!

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Everyone’s favourite supper

This hearty sausage and bean casserole is sure to be a big hit with the family. It’s made with everything that children love (like sausages and baked beans), but it’s packed with vegetables making it super healthy too. The veggies are chopped so finely that they blend in with the baked beans, making youngsters think they are just eating extra tasty beans.

Get your 5-a-day

This is one way of getting all 5 of your 5-a-day into the family:

• baked beans – yes, they are one of your 5-a-day – Google it if you don’t believe me. Do remember though that canned baked beans contain sugar and salt, so read the ingredients on the label. Or you can follow this recipe for homemade baked beans.
• onions – which are packed with antioxidants and are a good source of vitamin C.
• celery – did you know that celery is a member of the carrot family?
• carrots – these are a good source of vitamin A, which apparently is good for your eyesight. I remember my mother trying to get me to eat carrots when I was younger “Eat your carrots – have you ever seen a rabbit wearing glasses“.
• tomatoes – which contain vitamins A, C, E and potassium.

It’s super easy to make too. Just a few minutes of prep, then it’s into the oven, where you can leave it until you are ready to eat.

Serve this sausage and bean casserole spooned over a pile of crispy french fries or creamy mashed potato and you have a dish of comfort food that will really chase away the winter blues.

Oh – and by the way – if you are making this for adults, you can spice it up by adding half a glass of red wine to the stock 🙂 .

I served this dish to hubby when I was making it for the website, and because there are only two of us there was quite a bit leftover. His comment was “Don’t freeze it – I really enjoyed that. Let’s have it tomorrow night as well“. I call that a result (but then again, he does love this toad in the hole too, which is also made with sausages!

What you will need

Equipment

You will need a large frying pan and a 12 x 8 inch casserole dish with a lid. If you don’t have a casserole dish with a lid you can use a sheet of tinfoil to cover it.

You will also need a sharp knife and a chopping board for preparing the vegetables. I’d also recommend a knife sharpener to keep your knives in tiptop condition.

Ingredients

You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this sausage and bean casserole on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

Sausages – You can use either pork or beef sausages, but do get good quality meaty sausages. You will need 2 sausages per person, unless you are really hungry, in which case, just add a few extra sausages.

You will also need onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes, and some flavouring – Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, paprika, and garlic. I haven’t included rosemary in the picture, but you could add a sprig of rosemary to the casserole before it goes into the oven, for extra flavour. Tomato puree is highly concentrated tomatoes. You may also know it as tomato paste.

If you happen to have fresh (or packaged) beef stock you can use that, or you can just make your own stock by using a stock cube. I like the flavour from a vegetable stock cube, so I tend to use that rather than a beef stock cube. If you prefer, you can substitute half a cup of stock with half a cup of red wine (optional).

And of course – don’t forget the can of baked beans!

For thickening, you will need a spoonful of flour, and 2 or 3 tablespoons of sunflower or olive oil for frying the sausages.

How to make it

Fry the sausages and vegetables

• Fry the sausages in oil until they are just starting to brown, then transfer them to an ovenproof dish (image 1 above).
• Chop celery, onion and carrots into a fine dice, about the size of a baked bean. Fry them over a low heat in the pan the sausages were fried in, with a clove of minced garlic, until they start to soften (image 2 above).
• While the vegetables are frying, chop a tomato into similar sized pieces then add to the pan. Cover with a lid and allow to steam until the tomato has softened (image 3 above).
• Now remove the pan from the heat and mix in 1 tablespoon of plain flour (image 4 above). Try to get as many lumps out of the flour as you can.

Assemble the casserole

• Dissolve 1 beef or vegetable stock cube in 1 cup of boiling water. Once the stock cube is dissolved, add 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, and 1 teaspoon paprika.
• If you are making this for adults, add half a glass of good full-bodied red wine, otherwise just use an extra half cup of stock.
• Add the stock mixture to the vegetables in the pan and mix in a can of baked beans (image 1 above). Stir well to incorporate the flour, and allow the mixture to come to the boil. Remove from the heat.
• Taste for seasoning and add salt to taste if you think it is necessary.
• Pour the contents of the pan over the sausages in the casserole dish, and add a sprig of fresh rosemary (optional) (image 2 above). Cover the casserole dish with a lid and place it in a pre-heated oven (200C/400F) for about 40 minutes until the sausages are cooked through and the sauce has thickened (image 3 above).

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Can I freeze this sausage and bean casserole?

In the unlikely event that you have any leftovers, you can freeze them in a plastic container for up to 3 months.

To reheat, let them defrost in the refrigerator (or use the microwave) then either reheat in a covered casserole dish in the oven, or in a saucepan on the stove.

Can I make it in advance?

Yes, you can make this dish in advance. You can do one of two things:

Assemble the dish, but don’t bake it in the oven

• Allow the assembled dish to cool and then store it in the casserole dish in the refrigerator for up to 3 days until you are ready to bake it.
• Remove from the refrigerator, allow the dish to come to room temperature, and then bake for the time and temperature given in the recipe.

Bake the dish completely and save it for another day

• Once the casserole has baked, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool.
• Store it in the casserole dish, in the refrigerator for up to three days.
• To reheat, just let the dish come to room temperature (to ensure the cold dish won’t crack when you place it in a hot oven). Then place in a pre-heated oven for about 10 minutes until it is piping hot.

Other recipes

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might like to try some of my other family-friendly meals.

• Homemade hamburger helper – a delicious ground beef and pasta dish
• Swedish meatballs with creamy mustard sauce – because who doesn’t love meatballs
• Cheesy garlic bread pasta bake – the ultimate pasta pie
• Crepe cannelloni with meat sauce and cheese – pancakes stuffed with a delicious meat sauce and covered with cheese
• Easy lamb ragu with linguine – an Italian ground lamb sauce on a bed of linguine or spaghetti

The recipe

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