ThisSlow Cooker Sausage & Peppersrecipe is a great pasta crockpot meal! Italian sausage, sweet bell peppers, and rich marinara sauce with perfectly al dente pasta, all covered with a decadent cheesy layer. Serve with crusty garlic bread, and you have Italian night!

A white plate with slow cooker sausage and peppers with pasta covered in melted cheese and tomato sauce, served with a fork. Another plate of pasta and a slow cooker are visible in the background.

🍝 This recipe strikes the perfect balance betweensophisticated Italian flavorsand kid-approved comfort food. The sweet bell peppers become tender and mild, while the creamy sauce coats everything in pure deliciousness!

My 2 Best Tips For Making Slow Cooker Sausage and Peppers

Brown the Sausage Properly:Don’t skip the browning step – it creates incredible flavor! Cook the sausage until it’s well-browned on all sides – those golden bits add so much depth to the final dish. Break it into bite-sized pieces as it cooks for the perfect texture.

Choose the Right Pasta Shape:Penne and rigatoni are your best friends here. Their hollow shapes trap the creamy sauce, and their sturdy structure holds up beautifully during slow cooking. Avoid delicate pasta shapes like angel hair or thin spaghetti – they’ll turn to mush.

🩷

This is a 15-minute prep meal that can be left to cook slowly in the crockpot for several hours and then finished off when you’re about ready to serve.

Pasta is sometimes a tough ingredient to work into slow cooker recipes, but this one turned out just right – al dente, flavorful from the sausage, peppers, and seasonings, and, of course, cheesy!

A great meal when you have a few minutes in the morning and a few near dinnertime but not so much in the middle of the day.

How To Make Slow Cooker Sausage and Peppers With Pasta

A cast iron skillet on a stovetop contains raw ground meat, chopped yellow bell pepper, green bell pepper, and diced onions, ready to be cooked.

Step 1:Spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray. Brown sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat with the onion and bell peppers until the sausage is browned and cooked through.

A cast iron skillet on a stovetop contains ground meat, chopped vegetables, tomato sauce, and uncooked penne pasta, being stirred with a wooden spoon. White tile backsplash is visible in the background.

Step 2:Add the garlic and oregano, and cook for 1 additional minute, until fragrant. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, heavy cream, uncooked pasta, salt, and pepper. Mix well to combine.

A white slow cooker filled with lasagna ingredients, topped with tomato sauce, sits on a white countertop next to a wooden cutting board.

Step 3:Pour the mixture into the slow cooker. Spread the tomato sauce over the top without stirring. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours, or until the pasta is tender.

A close-up of baked penne pasta with tomato sauce and melted cheese in a white slow cooker, with a wooden spoon resting inside.

Step 4:Gently stir the pasta. If the sauce is too thick, stir in a bit of hot water to loosen it to your liking. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top. Cover and let sit for 5–10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Serve warm

Recipe FAQs

Can I use frozen peppers instead of fresh?

Yes, frozen bell peppers work wonderfully in this recipe. No need to thaw them first – just add them directly to the skillet when browning the sausage. They might release a bit more liquid, but the slow cooking process will concentrate those flavors beautifully.

What if I don’t have heavy cream?

You can substitute the heavy cream with half-and-half, whole milk, or even cream cheese for extra richness. If using milk, add it during the last 30 minutes of cooking to prevent curdling.

Can this recipe be made on LOW instead of HIGH?

I don’t recommend cooking this on LOW because the pasta tends to become mushy with longer cooking times. The HIGH setting for 3 hours gives you perfectly tender pasta with just the right texture. Trust me on this one – I’ve tested it both ways!