Sausage and Bean Casserole
This recipe is one of our absolute favourites, whether we are at home or on an adventure. It's a fantastic meal full of variety, that is ideal to batch-cook and freeze, or eat fresh. It’s so versatile, you can change the ingredients and method to suit your situation, and make it as simple or as complex as you like!
We find it perfect for when we’ve arrived on a campsite after a long drive, as all you need to do is heat it up and you’ve got yourself a home-cooked, hearty meal. But it’s equally as good for making from scratch in your caravan or motorhome, as you only need one chopping board and hob burner at a time!
Serves: 4 Adults — Preparation Time: 20 m — Cooking Time: 1 hour
Main Ingredients:
8 Sausages
100g smoked bacon lardons (optional)
2 medium potatoes
1 large white onion
2 medium carrots
1 small-medium leek
Sauce:
2 tablespoons of butter
Plain flour
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
400g tin of mixed baked beans
1 beef stock cube
3 cloves of garlic (or a sprinkling of dried garlic granules)
Method:
1 - Slice the onion into thin strips and place them into a frying pan with some oil. Keep on a medium-high heat until they start to sizzle, then turn down to a low-medium heat to soften slowly.
2 - In the meantime, peel and chop the potatoes into bitesize cubes, then once the onions have began to wilt down add the potatoes into the frying pan.
3 - Chop the carrots and leek into small chunks then add into the frying pan with the onion and potatoes. Leave this on a medium heat until the potatoes start to brown. Season with salt, pepper and mixed herbs, add more oil if needed and stir regularly.
4 - Whilst the vegetables are frying, slice the sausages into bitesize chunks.
5 - When the potatoes are nicely browned, pour the contents of the frying pan into a large saucepan and put to one side. Then put the chopped sausages and bacon lardons into the frying pan and return to the heat.
6 - Fry the meat until the sausages are browned, then pour them into the saucepan to join the vegetables, and set it to one side while you make the sauce.
For the sauce:
1 - Dissolve a beef stock cube into a jug of roughly 200mls of boiling water.
2 - Melt the butter in the frying pan over a low heat, then once fully melted sift in some flour and stir constantly to work out any lumps. Keep adding flour and stirring until you have a smooth/creamy texture. Top Tip: Use a tea strainer instead of a sieve, it takes up less room and it enables you to scoop the flour straight out of the packet!
3 - Pour the beef stock liquid into the frying pan and stir in until it’s combined with the buttery mixture. You can add more flour if it looks too thin and watery or more water if it’s too thick, but you shouldn’t need to.
4 - Add the tins of chopped tomatoes and beans, stir in thoroughly then season with garlic, salt, pepper and mixed herbs.
5 - Pour the saucy mixture over the cooked ingredients in the saucepan, mix it all together, then put the saucepan over a medium heat and cover. Leave to simmer for about half an hour, then serve and enjoy!
Alternatively…
There are so many ways you can adapt this recipe, but I’ve tried to keep this one simple. If you want to add a sweet and tangy flavour to the sauce, add a sprinkle of brown sugar and a dash of Worcestershire sauce when seasoning!
You can also simmer it in the slow cooker for a few hours instead of the 30 minutes on the hob.
Vegan Option
You might be surprised, but with a couple of switches this can be a completely meat-free meal!
Take out the bacon and use meat-free sausages instead (our favourite are Richmond!). You can also find plant-based butter and meat-free Oxo cubes.