Low Fat Sausage Casserole with Beans

Are you looking for a healthy supper you can mostly leave to cook by itself? This low fat sausage casserole with beans will hit the spot, find out more below. This post was originally commissioned by Redmond, who make multicookers. You can however make it just as easily in a saucepan on the hob and I have updated the directions to reflect this. 

Reduced-fat or low fat sausages are just one of the ways you can bring down the saturated fat content of your family’s meals. Whilst we’re not rigid about buying low-fat dairy products we avoid meat with higher levels of saturated fat.

Most supermarkets sell low fat sausages however if buying from a butcher, this is less likely. Look for chicken or venison sausages at the butcher’s, as these are made from meats that are lower in saturated fat.

Beans and sausage are a classic combination and just the job for an easy winter supper. This recipe is ideal to batch cook and freeze portions ahead or reheat in the microwave at work for a hearty office lunch. It’s a crowd-pleasing option families and single people or students alike can enjoy.

How to make low fat sausage casserole quicker to make

This recipe uses mostly store cupboard ingredients and can be made in around 60 minutes; mostly you only need to stir occasionally and then dinner is ready. Perfect for getting on with some study or homework!

Here I have used fresh butternut squash chunks and fresh onions sliced up. To save time and effort you could substitute these for frozen butternut pieces and frozen sliced onion.

You could also save time if you were using sausages that were already cooked. We sometimes have sausage sandwiches for lunch at weekends, if you cooked two batches of these at the same time, you could put the leftover ones into this and shave off some cooking time.

How to use leftovers of low fat sausage casserole

If you have leftovers of this dish these can stretched further by adding some stock, slicing up the sausages and serving as soup. Whether you puree it or leave chunky is up to you. You might want to adjust the size of the vegetable chunks according to preference.

Do I need a multicooker or kitchen gadget to make this sausage stew?

It’s not essential to use a multicooker for this recipe. I have made the same dish in a saucepan on the hob. Or you could use an oven-proof lidded casserole dish, as seen in my one pot chicken couscous casserole recipe, and put it in the oven instead of simmering.

Cooking times would vary a bit, but also you can make this recipe with various kitchen gadgets. Either a multicooker, a pressure cooker or a Ninja type machine.

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Low Fat Sausage Casserole with Beans

A hearty family meal that's low fat and healthy; suitable for families and students alike.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Main, Main Meals

Cuisine: Traditional

Keyword: low fat meals, low fat sausages, sausage casserole, sausage stew, sausages and beans

Servings: 4

Calories: 408kcal

Author: Sarah Trivuncic

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp cooking oil such as rapeseed or groundnut
• 400 g low fat sausages (around 8)
• 400 g butternut squash chopped into chunks
• 1 courgette medium, chopped into large chunks
• 1 onion large, roughly chopped
• 400 g white beans canned
• 400g g tomatoes canned, chopped
• salt to season
• pepper to season
• coriander optional, to garnish

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

• In a large saucepan, heat the oil.
• Fry the sausages for 10 minutes to brown the outsides. Remove and set aside. Next fry the onions for ten minutes until softened.
• Return the sausages to the pan. Add the vegetables, tomatoes and butterbeans.
• Bring to a simmer and leave to cook for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Serve with either mashed potato or crusty bread. Top with chopped fresh coriander if you wish.

Notes

To note here, that the automated nutritional information is based on turkey sausages as low fat sausages are not in the nutrition database and turkey sausages were the closest fat content. 

My personal estimation is that using low fat sausages from a supermarket, such as those regularly sold by Tesco or Aldi, would result in a similar calorie count per portion - around 400 calories. The exact calorie and fat content will vary greatly according to the type of sausages used. 

Generally reduced fat pork varieties are available with fat content around 5-8%. Heck Chicken sausages are a good brand to look for but supermarkets' own label versions are good too. 

To make this low fat sausage casserole vegetarian, you can use Quorn sausages - these are also low fat.

Nutrition

Calories: 408kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 613mg | Potassium: 1580mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 11637IU | Vitamin C: 48mg | Calcium: 181mg | Iron: 6mg

Can I use meat other than sausages?

Indeed you can try my very similar – and spicier – meatball casserole. If keeping the recipe low fat, you need to check the fat content of the meatballs. I like to have giant bags of IKEA chicken meatballs in my freezer as these are lower in fat than the pork ones.

Can you adapt this low fat sausage casserole for vegetarians?

To make this low fat sausage casserole vegetarian, you can use Quorn sausages – these are also low fat. I always keep some Quorn sausages and Quorn chunks in my freezer as they are both versatile vegetarian protein source foods. Both of these Quorn products can often (but not always) be used as a substitute for sausages or meat chunks in recipes.

This low fat sausage and bean casserole post was originally commissioned by Redmond who make multicookers.