This Hairy Bikers’ Sausage Casserole is a hearty and rich recipe, which is made with good-quality pork sausages and butter beans. It’s the ultimate comfort food recipe, ready in about 55 minutes.
Hairy Bikers Sausage Casserole Recipe Ingredients
- 1–2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 12 good-quality pork sausages
- 6 rashers rindless streaky bacon, cut into 2.5cm/1in lengths
- 2 onions, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- ½–1 tsp hot chilli powder or smoked paprika
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 300ml/10fl oz chicken stock
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
- 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
- 2 bay leaves
- 3–4 fresh thyme sprigs
- 100ml/3½fl oz red or white wine (optional)
- 400g tin butter beans or mixed beans, drained and rinsed
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- rice or rustic bread slices, to serve
How To Make Hairy Bikers Sausage Casserole Recipe
- Brown the Sausages: Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and fry the sausages gently for 10 minutes, turning occasionally until nicely browned all over. Transfer to a large saucepan or a flameproof casserole dish and set aside.
- Cook Bacon and Onions: Fry the bacon in the same frying pan until it starts to brown and crisp, then add it to the dish with the sausages. Add the onions to the pan and fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes until they start to soften. Add the garlic and cook for another 2–3 minutes until the onions are pale golden brown.
- Build the Sauce: Sprinkle the chilli powder or paprika over the onions and cook for a few seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, stock, tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and herbs. If using, pour in the wine and bring to a simmer.
- Combine and Simmer: Carefully pour the tomato mixture into the pan with the sausages and bacon. Return to a simmer, then reduce the heat, cover the pan loosely with a lid, and let it simmer very gently for 20 minutes.
- Add Beans and Thicken: Stir the drained beans into the casserole and continue to cook for 10 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened.
- Season and Serve: Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve hot with rice or slices of rustic bread.
Recipe Tips
- Can I make this ahead of time? Yes, this is a great make-ahead meal. You can follow the instructions up to the first simmer (step 4), then let it cool and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Reheat it to a simmer for 10 minutes before adding the beans and finishing the recipe.
- Does this casserole freeze well? Yes, it freezes perfectly. Let the finished casserole cool completely, then store it in an air-tight container for up to 3 months. Defrost it thoroughly before reheating until it’s piping hot.
- What’s the best pan to use? A large, wide, flameproof casserole dish or Dutch oven is ideal. It provides plenty of surface area for browning and allows the sauce to reduce and thicken efficiently.
- How do you get the most flavor? When you add the wine or stock after cooking the onions, use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the browned bits of sausage and bacon from the bottom of the pan. This is a technique called “deglazing” and it adds a huge amount of flavor to the sauce.
What To Serve With Sausage Casserole
This hearty one-pot meal is fantastic on its own or with simple accompaniments:
- Creamy mashed potatoes
- Steamed green beans or cabbage
- Crusty, toasted bread for dipping
How To Store Sausage Casserole
- Refrigerate: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The flavors are often even better the next day.
- Freeze: Cool the casserole completely, then transfer to a freezer-safe container. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating gently on the stovetop.
Sausage Casserole Nutrition Facts
- Calories: 423 kcal
- Protein: 23.5g
- Carbohydrates: 16g (of which 9.5g sugars)
- Fat: 28.5g (of which 10g saturates)
- Fibre: 4.5g
- Salt: 2g
Nutrition information is per serving.
FAQs
A good-quality, meaty pork sausage like a Cumberland or Lincolnshire is perfect for this dish. They hold their shape and have a rich flavor that stands up to the sauce.
Yes, the wine is optional. If you choose not to use it, you can simply proceed with the recipe, adding a little extra stock or water to help deglaze the pan.
Absolutely. While butter beans are creamy and delicious, you could use cannellini beans, haricot beans, or a can of mixed beans. Just make sure they are drained and rinsed before adding.
Where Does This Recipe Come From?
This sausage casserole originally appeared on the BBC as part of the Hairy Bikers’ Great British Food series. Si King and Dave Myers created it as a proper midweek supper that doesn’t need any fuss. The recipe has been shared thousands of times since and is one of the most searched Hairy Bikers recipes in the UK. It’s sometimes listed as the “great sausage casserole” on the BBC Food archive, which is where the original version lives.
Why Butter Beans Work So Well in This Sausage and Bean Casserole
The butter beans aren’t just filler here. They soak up the tomato and Worcestershire sauce during the last 10 minutes of cooking and turn creamy without falling apart. This makes it a proper sausage and bean casserole rather than just sausages in sauce. If you want to lean even harder into the bean side, use two tins instead of one. Cannellini beans or haricot beans both work, but butter beans give the best texture because they’re larger and hold their shape while still going soft in the middle.
Easy Variations to Try
Spicy sausage casserole: Double the chilli powder to a full teaspoon and add half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. You can also swap the standard pork sausages for spicy Italian sausages or add a finely chopped fresh red chilli with the onions. The tomato sauce balances the heat well.
Sausage and ale casserole: Replace the wine with 200ml of a good British bitter or brown ale. Add it after the onions have softened and let it bubble for two minutes before adding the tomatoes. The ale gives a deeper, maltier flavour that pairs brilliantly with the bacon and sausages. Newcastle Brown Ale or any traditional bitter works perfectly.
Sausage and chorizo casserole: Dice 100g of cooking chorizo and fry it alongside the bacon. The paprika oil from the chorizo colours the whole sauce a deep orange-red and adds a smoky depth you can’t get any other way. Reduce the smoked paprika to half a teaspoon since the chorizo brings its own.
Lighter version: For a lighter sausage casserole, use reduced-fat sausages (look for ones with at least 85% meat content so they still taste good) and skip the bacon. Use spray oil instead of sunflower oil, and chicken stock instead of wine. This brings the calories down to roughly 290 per serving without losing the core flavour.
For a slow cooker version of this recipe, see our Hairy Bikers Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole, which adapts this dish for 6 to 8 hours of hands-off cooking.
Sausage Casserole vs Sausage Hotpot vs Sausage Stew: What’s the Difference?
People often search for sausage hotpot, sausage stew, and sausage casserole as if they’re the same thing. They’re close, but there are real differences.
A sausage casserole like this one cooks in a deep pan or dish with a lid, and the sauce reduces until thick. The sausages stay whole. A sausage stew tends to have more liquid and often includes root vegetables like carrots and swede. The sausages are sometimes cut into chunks. A sausage hotpot is a Northern English dish that’s topped with sliced potatoes and finished in the oven until the potatoes go crispy on top, similar to a Lancashire hotpot.
This Hairy Bikers version sits firmly in the casserole camp: thick sauce, whole sausages, beans, and no potato topping.
Yes. The butter beans are a key part of this recipe, not just an optional extra. They go in for the last 10 minutes and absorb the tomato sauce. You can also use cannellini beans, haricot beans, or mixed beans if you prefer.
Yes, and it’s a popular variation. Replace the wine with 200ml of bitter or brown ale. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes after adding it to the onions so the alcohol cooks off. It gives a richer, maltier flavour to the sauce.
Double the chilli powder and add a pinch of cayenne pepper. You can also use spicy Italian sausages instead of standard pork sausages, or add diced fresh chilli with the onions.
Absolutely. Dice 100g of cooking chorizo and fry it with the bacon. The paprika-infused oil adds a smoky depth to the sauce. Cut back on the smoked paprika slightly since the chorizo provides its own.
As written, each serving is around 423 kcal. For a lighter version at roughly 290 kcal per serving, use reduced-fat sausages with at least 85% meat, skip the bacon, and use spray oil instead of sunflower oil.
Yes. Brown the sausages first, then add everything to the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 6 hours. We have a full slow cooker sausage casserole recipe with adjusted quantities and timings.
This is based on the Hairy Bikers’ great sausage casserole that appeared on BBC Food. The original was part of their Great British Food series. We’ve kept the core recipe the same: pork sausages, bacon, butter beans, and a rich tomato sauce with Worcestershire and herbs.
Try More Recipes:
- Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole
- Vegetarian Sausage Casserole
- Lancashire Hotpot Recipe
- Roasted Vegetable Lasagne
- Cassoulet Recipe
Hairy Bikers Sausage Casserole Recipe
Description
A rich and hearty one-pot casserole with browned sausages, crispy bacon, and beans all simmered in a deep, savory tomato and herb sauce.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Brown sausages in oil, then set aside. Cook bacon in the same pan until crisp, then set aside with sausages.
- Sauté onions and garlic in the remaining fat until golden.
- Stir in spices, then add tomatoes, stock, purée, Worcestershire, sugar, herbs, and optional wine.
- Return sausages and bacon to the sauce. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the drained beans and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes to thicken the sauce.
- Season to taste and serve immediately.
Notes
- This casserole freezes very well, making it a great batch-cook meal.
- Use a wide pan for a better, more efficient reduction of the sauce.
- Deglaze the pan with wine (or a splash of stock) to lift all the flavorful browned bits from the bottom.
- Serve with toasted crusty bread to handle the rich sauce.
