Slow Cooker Smoked Sausage Potatoes is a cozy crockpot meal that’s always a dinnertime winner! Easy to make, it’s simply comfort food in a bowl.
As the days start to turn chilly, there is nothing better than an easy slow cooker main course, like Slow Cooker Smoked Sausage Potatoes, to warm you right up. It’s tender potatoes and savory sausage, wrapped up in gooey cheesy deliciousness.
The first time I made this recipe, I was amazed at how tasty this one-pot meal was. The whole family loved it! With picky eaters, that doesn’t happen everyday around here! Now on busy days, it’s one of my go-to recipes.
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When you’re on the go, it’s comforting to have slow cooker recipes that you can throw into the crock pot and go about your business. After a busy day, just open the lid and serve just like a potato casserole.
If you use a slow cooker liner, there’s not even cleanup involved! How’s that for easy?
How to Make Slow Cooker Smoked Sausage Potatoes
This tasty sausage and potato recipe couldn’t be simpler to make. You can mix the simple ingredients up in the slow cooker or in a separate bowl and add to the crock pot (recommended if using a crock pot liner).
- Combine cream of chicken soup, milk and spices in the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Add the sausage, cheese and potatoes, then stir everything is coated with sauce.
- Set the slow cooker to Low heat and cook for 5 – 6 hours or High heat for 2 – 3 hours.
- When the potatoes are tender, stir the pot and serve hot.
If the mixture is too thick for your liking, stir in a little more milk
Ingredients to Make Cheesy Slow Cooker Smoked Sausage Potatoes
- Smoked Sausage Rope – we love to use fully cooked kielbasa sausage for this recipe.
- Diced Potatoes – we used frozen diced potatoes for this recipe – for convenience. Or dice your own from baby potatoes, russet potatoes or yukon gold potatoes.
- Shredded Cheese – mild flavored Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese work well in this meal.
- Cream of Chicken Soup – the workhorse of slow cooker and casserole cooking! Cream of celery soup or cream of mushroom soup are tasty substitutes.
- Milk – to dilute the soup to a rich, thick cream sauce. Substitute heavy cream to make the mixture even richer!
- Spices – chives, parsley, cayenne
Flavor Add-Ins
This recipe is totally versatile, allowing for a lot of flavor variation and veggies add-ins to kick in a some healthy to this meal. I keep my freezer stocked with bags of frozen vegetables for lots of variety. Some of our favorites:
- Corn – try adding a small bag of frozen corn in during the last hour of cooking for sweetness. Kids love it!
- Carrots – frozen crinkle-cut carrots adds lots of texture, color and are super healthy! Can be added at the beginning with all the other ingredients.
- Green Beans – so delicious with the melted cheese and sauce. Canned or fresh green beans are both fine. For fresh green beans, trim and cut into bite-size pieces.
- Green Bell Pepper or Red Pepper – tasty. earthy flavor to add another flavor element.
- Onions – definitely add onions if you love them. Frozen diced onions are very mild and are tear-free!
- Okra – adds texture and flavor, but won’t overpower the rest of the flavors.
- Peas and Carrots – a frozen veggie staple. Adds color and texture too!
- Sour Cream – add a dollop or two for extra creaminess and flavor.
- Worcestershire Sauce – add a dash or two for more savory flavory.
- Garlic Powder, Garlic Cloves, Onion Powder, Cajun Seasoning, Creole Seasoning – throw in a teaspoon or two of your favorites to amp the flavor and heat!
- Chicken Broth – replace the milk or cream with broth or stock to reduce the calories and the fat while adding more flavor.
- Cheddar Cheese Soup – try this cheesy soup instead of a cream soup for lots of extra cheesy potatoes in this recipe. Yum!
Can I Substitute Another Variety of Sausage?
You can definitely swap your favorite cooked sausage for the smoked sausage in this easy recipe! Andouille sausage, Italian sausage (casing removed) and breakfast sausage are all flavorful sausage substitutions the entire family will love!
How To Store this Crock Pot Sausage and Potato Meal
If you have any leftovers (we rarely do), this is how to store them in the refrigerator or freezer so leftovers stay fresh.
Refrigerator:
- Make sure the sausage and potatoes are cooled to room temperature.
- Transfer to an airtight container or plastic food storage bag.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Freezer: (works for make ahead too!)
- Cool cooked meal to room temperature.
- Transfer to an airtight freezer container or plastic freezer storage bag.
- Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Thaw in the refrigerator before re-heating.
More Easy Slow Cooker Recipes
- Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan
- Slow Cooker Herb Chicken Noodles
- Slow Cooker Garlic Honey Chicken
- Slow Cooker General Tsos Chicken
Slow Cooker Smoked Sausage and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 32 ounces frozen diced potatoes thawed in refrigerator
- 16 ounces smoked kielbasa sliced then halved
- 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese or cheddar
- 10.5 ounce condensed cream of chicken soup 1 can
- 1 cup milk whole or 2%
- 1 tbsp dried chives
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- chopped fresh parsley and red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 6 to 8 quart slow cooker. Or use a slow cooker liner.
- Add potatoes, sausage and cheese to the slow cooker insert.
- In a small bowl, stir together the cream of chicken, milk, chives, black pepper and cayenne. Pour over the potato mixture. Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on Low 5 to 6 hours, or on High 3 to 4 hours. It's done when the potatoes are tender and heated thru. Stir before serving.
Equipment Used
Nutrition Facts
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That combination sounds amazing. Let me know how it turns out:)
Hi Samantha. I would not recommend using only chicken broth for this recipe. The cream of chicken soup adds flavor, thickness and creaminess to the sauce. Chicken broth alone would add moisture but no thickening and might make the recipe have too much moisture. Hope that helps.
Hi there can I use chicken broth instead of the cream of chicken soup? Would this change the cooking time?
I am making this recipe using beef sausage, portabella mushrooms, gold potatoes, carrots, cream cheese, cream of mushroom soup, beef stock, minced garlic, celery salt, cumin, basil, thyme, oregano, cooking wine and cheddar cheese.
I have a very picky family. I made it the first time with spicy sausage and my family loved it. Making it again tonight with kielbasa. Going to get some good crusty bread and warm it up in the over. Family is too excited. New great comfort food on a budget. Thank you.
Hi Danielle, I love readers making recipes their own by substituting what they have on hand. You’re recipe version sounds amazing!
I used 6 large russet potatoes and a 22 oz can of cream of chicken (it was what I had in my pantry) and Mexican shredded cheese. Turned out great! Will be making it again!
Hi Randi, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Adding Cream cheese and sour cream sounds delicious!! Thanks for the comment and rating…I really appreciate it?.
Very good! I tripled the recipe and added sour cream and cream cheese to it for my large family of 10 and they tore it up! Thanks for the ideas!
Hi Stephanie. I’m working on testing many of our slow cooker recipes in the instant pot. This one is one my list but not perfected yet. Hopefully soon…this recipe is so delicious we’d love to have a quicker way to make it!?
Have you ever tried this in the instant pot?
I made this the other day and it was absolutely delicious! I added a small can of green chilies since we put them in about everything 🙂 I also used regular potatoes and sliced them. This got a lot of great compliments and I know we will make it again . . . and again 🙂 Thank you for a yummy easy recipe!
Hi Emily, thanks for the comment?. First let me say that slow cooker heat can be tricky depending on the size, brand, age of cooker, etc. For this recipe the only ingredient that requires “cooking” are the potatoes, so the dish is done when the potatoes are tender and everything is heated thru. Most likely the potatoes just cooked too long for your slow cooker. I would recommend checking the dish at the halfway point just to see how the potatoes are doing, and estimate how much more time they need from there.
just made this for dinner this evening – it tastes great! the only problem i’m having is my potatoes got way too mushy. so this meal is more like sausages in mashed potatoes lol
what could i have done wrong? i bought frozen diced potatoes & let them thaw before putting them in the crockpot. should i try again with fresh potatoes? thanks!