Slow Cooker Sausage Bean Pasta Soup

November is when the slow cooker earns its keep, and this is the soup that proves it. Italian sausage, creamy cannellini beans and twirly fusilli pasta simmer all afternoon in a rich tomato broth into exactly the pot in the photograph: sliced sausage, white beans and pasta spirals swimming in a deep orange-red broth, flecked with herbs. It is the kind of dinner you start at lunchtime and forget about until the house smells like someone has been cooking all day — because someone has, just not you.

The flavour here comes from two decisions made before anything goes into the cooker. First, the sausage is browned in a skillet, not tipped in raw, so its fat renders and its slices crisp at the edges; that fond in the pan is where the soup's savoury depth starts. Second, the pasta goes in only at the very end, so it cooks just until tender instead of dissolving into starch during six hours of simmering — the single most common mistake in slow cooker pasta soups. Diced tomatoes build the broth's body, Italian seasoning and a pinch of red pepper flakes add warmth without real heat, and the beans, mashed in part at the end, give the broth its silky weight.

This soup joins our Slow Cooker & Casseroles collection alongside our slow cooker white chicken chili and our slow cooker creamy potato soup, and it is built for the same kind of weeknight: one pot, minimal hands-on time, and leftovers that taste even better the next day. Serve it straight from the pot with grated Parmesan and crusty bread for dunking.

Brown the sausage first, always

It is tempting to skip the skillet and put raw sausage straight into the slow cooker, but the soup will taste flat if you do. Browning renders the fat, crisps the edges of the slices, and leaves browned bits in the pan that dissolve into the broth as it simmers. Cook the sausage over medium-high heat, breaking it into crumbles or slicing it into coins, until browned all over — about 8 minutes. Drain off all but a tablespoon of the fat, then soften the onion in that same pan for a few minutes before everything goes into the cooker; those few minutes are the difference between a soup that tastes assembled and one that tastes cooked.

Pasta goes in last, never first

Pasta left in a slow cooker for six hours turns to mush and thickens the broth into paste. The fix is simple: cook the soup fully without it, then stir the dried fusilli in for the last 30 minutes on HIGH, when the broth is at a good simmer. Check it at 25 minutes — fusilli should be just tender with a little bite, exactly like the spirals in the photograph. If you are serving picky eaters or packing lunches, cook the pasta separately and add it to each bowl instead; that way leftovers never go starchy in the fridge.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian sausage (450 g), sliced into coins
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (15 ml)
• 1 large yellow onion (150 g), diced
• 3 cloves garlic (9 g), minced
• 2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans (850 g), drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes (411 g), undrained
• 1 (14.5 oz) can tomato sauce (411 g)
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (960 ml)
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning (2 g)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (1 g)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt (3 g)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (1 g)
• 8 oz fusilli or rotini pasta (225 g)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (15 ml)
• Grated Parmesan and crusty bread, for serving

Amounts are for the yield below. US customary measures first, grams in brackets for scale users.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Brown the sausage. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage coins and cook until browned on both sides, about 8 minutes. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of fat.
2. Soften the onion. Add the onion to the same skillet and cook, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes, until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook 30 seconds more, until fragrant. Scrape everything, including the browned bits from the pan, into the slow cooker.
3. Load the slow cooker. Add the beans, diced tomatoes with their juice, tomato sauce, chicken broth, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper to the cooker. Stir once to combine. If you have a Parmesan rind, tuck it in now.
4. Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours, until the flavours have melded and the broth tastes rich and savoury. The soup should be a deep orange-red, like the pot in the photograph; if it tastes thin, give it another 30 minutes with the lid off.
5. Mash beans to thicken. Remove the Parmesan rind if you used one. Scoop out about 1 cup (170 g) of beans with a little broth, mash them roughly with a fork, and stir them back into the pot. This thickens the broth without cream and keeps the soup hearty while most beans stay whole.
6. Add the pasta at the end. Turn the cooker to HIGH if it is not already there, stir in the fusilli and the lemon juice, cover, and cook 25 to 30 minutes, until the pasta is just tender with a little bite. Taste and adjust the salt; sausage and broth vary in saltiness, so season at the end rather than the start.
7. Serve from the pot. Ladle into warm bowls, making sure each serving gets sausage, beans and pasta spirals, as in the photograph. Top with grated Parmesan and serve with crusty bread for dunking into the tomato broth.

Nutrition estimate

Nutrition figures are estimates calculated from standard ingredient data for the yield stated. Your actual values will vary with brands, substitutions and portion sizes — treat them as a guide, not a guarantee.

Storage & reheating

Refrigerate leftovers in a covered container for up to 4 days — the pasta will keep absorbing broth, so loosen servings with a splash of broth or water when reheating. For the best leftovers, cook the pasta separately and add it to each bowl; then the soup base freezes beautifully for up to 3 months in portions, thawed overnight in the refrigerator and reheated gently on the stove with freshly cooked pasta stirred in. Nutrition figures are estimates per serving and vary with the sausage used; estimates vary.

Slow Cooker Sausage Bean Pasta Soup

Recipe by Ahsan ul Haq, FryDaily editor · Published 1 November 2026

Hearty sausage, creamy beans, twirly pasta

Yield: 6 servings  ·  Scale: 1x2x3x

Prep20 minutes

Cook6 hours

Total6 hours 20 minutes

Servings6 servings

Calories410 kcal

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Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian sausage (450 g), sliced into coins
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (15 ml)
• 1 large yellow onion (150 g), diced
• 3 cloves garlic (9 g), minced
• 2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans (850 g), drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes (411 g), undrained
• 1 (14.5 oz) can tomato sauce (411 g)
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (960 ml)
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning (2 g)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (1 g)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt (3 g)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (1 g)
• 8 oz fusilli or rotini pasta (225 g)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (15 ml)
• Grated Parmesan and crusty bread, for serving

Tick ingredients off as you prep, and tap a step below to mark it done as you cook. Scaling adjusts the listed amounts - seasoning to taste stays your call.

Instructions

1. Brown the sausage. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage coins and cook until browned on both sides, about 8 minutes. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of fat.
2. Soften the onion. Add the onion to the same skillet and cook, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes, until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook 30 seconds more, until fragrant. Scrape everything, including the browned bits from the pan, into the slow cooker.
3. Load the slow cooker. Add the beans, diced tomatoes with their juice, tomato sauce, chicken broth, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper to the cooker. Stir once to combine. If you have a Parmesan rind, tuck it in now.
4. Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours, until the flavours have melded and the broth tastes rich and savoury. The soup should be a deep orange-red, like the pot in the photograph; if it tastes thin, give it another 30 minutes with the lid off.
5. Mash beans to thicken. Remove the Parmesan rind if you used one. Scoop out about 1 cup (170 g) of beans with a little broth, mash them roughly with a fork, and stir them back into the pot. This thickens the broth without cream and keeps the soup hearty while most beans stay whole.
6. Add the pasta at the end. Turn the cooker to HIGH if it is not already there, stir in the fusilli and the lemon juice, cover, and cook 25 to 30 minutes, until the pasta is just tender with a little bite. Taste and adjust the salt; sausage and broth vary in saltiness, so season at the end rather than the start.
7. Serve from the pot. Ladle into warm bowls, making sure each serving gets sausage, beans and pasta spirals, as in the photograph. Top with grated Parmesan and serve with crusty bread for dunking into the tomato broth.

Calories: 410 kcalProtein: 23 gCarbohydrates: 44 gFat: 17 gSaturated fat: 6 gSodium: 840 mgFiber: 7 gSugar: 6 g

Recipe by Ahsan ul Haq · FryDaily. Printing? This card is designed to print cleanly on its own.

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