Lately we have made lots of soups and stews to ward off this brutal east coast winter. I had purchased a bag of 15 beans with the intention of making a hearty bean soup but wanted to add something healthier to the soup than the traditional ham.
I opted for Hillshire Farms Chicken Hardwood Smoked Sausage because I thought it would definitely add the smokiness I desire but with half the fat and sodium that I don’t. Also, Hillshire Farm smoked sausage is cleaner and easier to work with than raw chicken, that’s for sure.
Hillshire Farm smoked sausage is crafted to be better, the experts have perfected the pre-seasoning of the smoked sausage over the last 75 years.
The other reason I love soups so much is that they are super quick and easy to make. All I have to do is prep a little and throw it in the crockpot and that’s it! For this recipe I had to do minimal prep by soaking the bag of 15 beans over night to soften them up a little. Aren’t they pretty?
Next it was on to the other components to the soup: Hillshire Farm Chicken Hardwood Smoked Sausage, garlic and onion. I just roughly chopped the onion and garlic then sliced the sausage so I could lightly brown it in a pan before adding it to the crockpot.
In the crockpot I added 8 cups of water over the beans (I used half of the beans from the bag), the flavoring packet that came with the beans, and a tablespoon of dry gluten-free chicken stock. You can substitute all the water or some with your choice of stock for more flavor. Lastly I added the Chicken Hardwood Smoked Sausage, garlic and onion and placed the crockpot on 6 hours to slowly cook throughout the day.
That’s it, using Hillshire Farm smoked sausage I created a quick and easy weeknight dinner in no time! Check out all of the smoked sausage products at the Hillshire Farms web page and whip up a great meal in no time! You can also check out Sausage So Simple on Tumblr for even more recipe inspiration.
- 1 pkg of 15 Bean Soup
- 8 cups water (or use your choice of stock for added flavor)
- 1 lb. smoked sausage – I used Chicken Hardwood Smoked Sausage browned on the stove
- 1 lg. onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Optional: I can diced tomatoes
- Soak beans overnight
- Rinse beans, check for any unwanted debris and discard.
- Drain and place in a slow cooker with 8 cups of water, stock, flavor packet, onions, garlic, and Chicken Hardwood Smoked Sausage
- Set slow cooker on high and cook for 6 hours, or until beans are tender
- Serve as is, or over rice for a heartier meal
#spon: I’m required to disclose a relationship between our site and Hillshire. This could include Hillshire providing us w/content, product, access or other forms of payment.
