Hooray for simple dishes! I came across this post for Tomato and White Bean Stew with Chicken Sausage on Domesticate Me the other day and thought, “What a wonderfully simple and delightful dish! I must make that immediately.” It reminded me of my favorite Penne Pasta with Sausage and Greens, but with beans replacing the pasta. I never thought about using beans in place of pasta, but it works so seamlessly with this dish that I might try it in more recipes in the future. Less carbs, more protein, and more fiber! White Beans with Tomato and Sausage wins!
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I made a couple of small changes to the Domesticate Me recipe, most notably the type of beans used. Cannellini beans are awesome because they’re large and hold their shape well, but they were ridiculously expensive at my grocery store and I didn’t have time to cook them from dry. My other two options were Navy beans and Great Northern. Both are smaller than Cannellini, with Great Northern being the larger of the two. Navy beans are great for soups and stews where you want the beans to thicken the mixture up because they tend to break down and release their starches. Great Northern broke down a bit too, but not quite as much as Navy, so I went with the Great Northern.
I used two links of leftover mild pork Italian sausage that I had stashed in my freezer, but you could use hot Italian sausage, sweet Italian sausage, or even chicken sausage like the original recipe. I used frozen spinach in place of the fresh (because I had it and it’s less expensive), and decided against adding any broth. I wanted my White Beans with Tomato and Sausage to be a thick, saucy compote-like mixture, so I avoided adding extra liquid. If you want it more like a stew, you can add some broth (chicken or vegetable would be best).
I ate this in a bowl with a chunk of good crusty bread to sop up the sauce, but you could also pile it over toast and maybe even add a fried egg (I did! See photos below). The White Beans with Tomato and Sausage is great with a little cheese sprinkled over top, if you have some.
White Beans with Tomato and Sausage
Servings 4 (1.25 cups each)Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 2 links Italian Sausage (about 8oz. total) ($1.99)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes ( $1.49)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper (optional) ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.03)
- 2 15oz. cans Great Northern beans ($1.38)
- 4 oz. frozen chopped spinach (1/4 of a 1 lb. bag) ($0.40)
- Salt to taste ($0.02)
Instructions
- Add the olive oil and sausage links to a large pot and cook over medium-low heat until golden brown on the outside and slightly firm (about 5 minutes). Remove the sausage to a cutting board and slice them into rounds. Return the sausage slices to the pot.
- Continue to sauté the sausage until fully browned. While the sausage is cooking, dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onions and garlic to the pot and continue to sauté until the onions are soft and transparent. The moisture from the onions should dissolve any browned bits of sausage from the bottom of the pot.
- Once the onions are soft, add the can of crushed tomatoes, dried basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, and a healthy dose of freshly cracked pepper (15-20 cranks of a pepper mill). Stir to combine.
- Empty the two cans of Great Northern beans into a colander and rinse with cool water. Let the excess water drain away, then add the beans to the pot along with the frozen chopped spinach (no need to thaw). Stir the contents of the pot and allow them to heat through, stirring occasionally
- (about 10 minutes). Taste and add salt if needed (1/4-1/2 tsp). If a thicker mixture is desired, let the pot simmer longer until the sauce has reduced. Serve hot with crusty bread for dipping.
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Nutrition
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(Served over toast and topped with a fried egg.)
How to Make White Beans with Tomatoes and Sausage – Step by Step Photos
Start off by browning two links of Italian sausage in a large pot with one tablespoon of olive oil. I did this over medium-low heat to make sure the outside didn’t brown too fast. The reason you’ll want to do this first is to firm the sausage up enough to slice it into rounds. When the sausage is raw it’s soft like ground beef, so once you slice through the casing, there’s no holding it together. Cooking it slightly helps make it firm enough to slice.
Once it’s browned on the outside, remove it to a cutting board and slice it into rounds.
Return it to the pot and continue to sauté until it’s browned on all sides. It’s okay if little bits start to stick to the bottom of the pot and turn brown. That will give the dish flavor (and will dissolve off in the next step). While the sausage is browning, dice one onion and mince two cloves of garlic.
Add the diced onion and minced garlic to the pot and continue to sauté until the onions are soft and transparent. The onions will release moisture as they cook, which will help dissolve all that delicious flavor off the bottom of the pot (that’s why they look so brown).
After the onions have softened, add one 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, a pinch of crushed red pepper (optional), and a healthy dose of cracked pepper. Stir to combine.
Rinse two 15oz. cans of Great Northern beans in a colander and let the excess water drain away. Add them to the pot along with 4oz. of frozen spinach (just estimate about 1/4 of a one pound bag). Stir them into the tomato sauce.
Let the pot simmer for about 10 minutes, or until heated through. Stir occasionally to help break up the chunks of frozen spinach and help distribute the heat. Taste and add salt if needed (1/4-1/2 tsp). You can serve the beans immediately, or let them simmer a little longer and let the sauce thicken up even more. That’s just personal preference.
I love to eat it with a chunk of crusty bread to soak up that yummy tomato sauce!
It made about 5 cups, or four servings of 1.25 cups each. It’s pretty filling!
This is one of my favorite recipes! I’ve memorized the recipe, I’ve made it so many times. It’s simple, quick, and delicious.
This is my top go-to meal! Pretty quick and super easy. I sub cannellini beans instead of Great Northern ones- that’s what was on hand when I first made this dish, and I think it works quite well!
Made this as is but subbed in Gardein Sliced S’ausage. So simple and delicious!
Hi. I came across this recipe while wondering whether sausage would go well with Middle Eastern Shakshuka (basically eggs poached in a thick sauce of, basically, tomatoes, peppers, garlic — I usually make it with garbanzo beans as well). Spoiler alert — it goes quite well!
I appreciated the suggestion that one start cooking the sausage in a pan whole before slicing it into rounds. That had never occurred to me.
I followed the recipe pretty much as written, except that based on a similar recipe I used small white beans (habichuelas) instead of the larger beans recommended by the recipe or the garbanzas I usually use. The larger beans work better. I did use the spinache, which pretty much got lost. But I would continue to use it. The eggs didn’t poach particularly splendidly, probably because I didn’t have the heat high enough/ But I will certainly make this again. (I had it for breakfast.)
I was pretty skeptical of this recipe at first but I decided to give it a try. I mostly followed the recipe except I subbed in breakfast sausage and fresh spinach. This turned out so delicious! I took it to work an all my coworkers said it smelled great! I like that this recipe doesn’t have pasta but is still really filling. It kind of reminds me of spaghetti flavored chili if that makes sense. The breakfast sausage was actually really good I would recommend it! I will be making this again. Just give it a try you won’t be disappointed!
Really warm and filling on a day when we’re under an ice storm warning locally. This is similar enough in flavour to a spaghetti dish (in my hands) that I can imagine it being an easy sell to any generally bean-hesitant family members (or people who need to go gluten-free?). Great way to add some extra fiber/nutrients for little palates that don’t stray far from pasta ;) I won’t be rushing to prepare it for company (I’d go with Shashuka in that case) but this is a great, quick workhorse for the everyday. Thanks again!
Great! I’ve made this twice now. The first time exactly as written, and I loved it! I just made it again and added a third sausage link. After I started cooking I realized I only had 1 can of beans, so I added some frozen cauliflower to bulk it up. It’s so good!
As with all Budget Bytes recipes this was extremely tasty, quick to make, and healthy. I started mine about 2 hours before dinner was to be served as it felt like something that could simmer on the pot for awhile to really let the flavors meld together even more, and it wouldn’t dry out or scorch.
I only made two small changes as it’s what I had on hand. I used ground Italian sausage, and fresh spinach. I added maybe a 1/2 cup of chicken broth so it was a little more soupy than stewie.
With it now being fall, I can see this being an quick weeknight, I don’t feel like cooking, but take it is horrible for me, recipe.
Great recipe thank you! My little changes were I used chorizo and cooked the onions and veggies in the chorizo fat, an amazing addition of flavour. I also subbed in red peppers for one can of beans as well as added a little sugar because my tomatoes were quite tart and it turned out delicious! Definitely keeping this recipe and trying out more
Yum!! Such a delicious, hearty recipe with very little effort, and easily modified if needed. I squeezed the sausage out of the casings so I’d have more sausage chunks throughout. I made this with the 2 cans of beans the first time a few weeks ago, but last night I made it with some sliced baby bella mushrooms subbed in for 1 of the cans of beans. It was super tasty! I added them with the sausage so they had time to really cook down. I’m also a huge oregano fan so I added extra – in the future I may add more sausage to get more of that flavor as well. I served this with some toasted & buttered ciabatta, and it would also be great with a sprinkle of parmesan or shredded mozzarella. It was a delicious dinner for a cold, rainy day.
Hi! I’ve made this before and loved it and would love to try to make vegetarian as I’m eating less meat. Any ideas for sausage substitution in terms of getting thay flavour? Perhaps using tomatoes that have chilies like rotel? Thanks for your help!
I would use 2 packages of muchrooms and saute them in oil, chipping into smallish peices and season them with this mix. (this mix makes 8 servings of spice, but just use 2 servings)
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed (we use whole, but you can crush the 1/2 teaspoon of whole seeds if you’d like)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon minced garlic (we use fresh if not making a big batch)
1 teaspoon minced onions (we use fresh if not making a big batch)
How much broth would you recommend adding for a more stew like consistency?
I would say about 1.5-2 cups. Maybe start with one and see how much that loosens it up, and then add more to get it to the consistency that you’re looking for.
You also could drain only one (or neither) of the cans of beans, adding their liquid to the pot. That liquid serves as an effect egg-replacement if need be, so adds liquid but also thickens the sauce slightly. Just be aware it might increase the sodium levels depending on how your beans are preserved.
Tastes as good as it looks. No wonder why it is such a great recipe, loaded with taste and health, plus no calories. Thanks so much for sharing this amazing recipe. If anyone is looking so for such great low-calorie recipes, please check this amazing healthy recipes hub.
A good, simple dish. I used chicken sausages, chickpeas and a bunch of Italian parsley (didn’t have spinach). I like this site. It’s tasty and it’s practical.
I feel like I need to whisper this- Everyone ate it. My 6 year old, my one year old and my 42 year old. It was amazing. Loved it. I did use extra sausage as I only had one can of beans.
Hi Beth – loved this recipe!! My crushed tomatoes were pretty tart so I added a little brown sugar. I’m making it again – Any suggestions for more veggies to add? I saw carrots, zucchini, and kale in the comments, wondering if you had any other ideas. Thanks!
I almost feel like potatoes would also make a good addition! You might have to boil them separately then add them, though, so they don’t soak up too much moisture.
This dish was a wonderful hearty dinner, thank you! I doubled everything in the recipe with ease. I did have to swap the white beans for chickpeas because that was what I had on hand. The chickpeas did have a more dominant flavour than I would have liked, so next time I will use white beans. I also didn’t have enough spinach, so I added chopped zucchini when the onions were just starting to become translucent. I can definitely see this being a great with pasta or roasted potatoes!
I added a splash of red wine to this and it was absolutely delicious! I could definitely see adding some pasta to it, but we like the lower carb count. This was also enough to serve about 3 people for us. I could stretch it to four with a pasta in it, or a side dish.
This is now one of our favorite meals! So much so we’re tripling the recipe to make for our family on Christmas Eve! I’ve made it word for word, and also made some variations: we like it with more sausage and such. But so good!
Just made this, more or less word for word, except wanted more sausage than bean. One can of beans and three sausages. Really easy, clean-up easy, slurping it down even easier. Thank you!
I made this without the sausage because I wanted a low-calorie lunch option.
For dinner, I ate it with rigatoni and mozzarella. For lunch, I ate it plain!
It is so easy, and so delicious.
So easy, rustic and delicious.
I followed the recipe closely but not to the letter and it came out great! Since I didn’t have Italian sausage links, I used a twelve ounce package of bulk breakfast sausage and seasoned more heavily. I didn’t have crushed tomatoes, so I used diced, and I omitted the greens entirely when I discovered that the kale I was planning to sub out had spoiled. Also, I guess my canned tomatoes were a bit more tangy than what was called for, because I had to add a tablespoon of sugar to balance the acid.
Let me also say that as an impecunious grad student, I was very excited to find this website! This will be a huge help in making my food budget last!
This was so good thank u
Another fabulous recipe, Beth!! Thanks!
I added a 3rd link to the recipe, and it came out to 480 calories per serving (out of 4 total servings).
This is one of my favorite recipes I’ve made from your site! And as a tight-budgeted student, it’s so easy to freeze portions of this; it tastes just as delicious reheated! All of my roommates loved this dish.
Great recipe.
Beth, since you are in Cajun country, surprised you don’t use more andouille.
I used chicken andouille and kale.
Soo good.
I made this as directed except I only had chicken tighs. It was a big hit at our house! We will have it for breakfast with an egg!
I made this with chicken andouille sausage and kale.
It was seriously goood!
I made with pinto beans and chili beans plus diced carrots and it’s so good! I also ate over rice with spicy hummus! :D
This was sooooo good. I wasn’t sure either of us were going to like it as neither of us are big fans of beans but it was a surprising winner. I ended up using more sausage in the hopes it’d mask the beans I was dubious about – But it really didn’t need it. I also used dried great northern beans that I cooked the day before and fresh spinach. It was great the next day and has frozen well too so this is definitely being added to the work lunch rotation.
I just made this recipe for the first time, and it is amazing! Very easy, inexpensive, healthy, and filling. I subbed in fresh tomatoes that were beginning to rot on my counter for the canned tomatoes. I will definitely be making this again.
I just made this, for the second time, and it’s just as good (maybe even better) than the first!
Super easy to modify, I used tofurky sausage for me and regular for my hubby. Black eyed peas, chick peas, and no spinach, because that’s what I had on hand!
Whole grain baguette and roasted veggies on the side.
Looks amazing! Might use turkey sausage when I make it, but anyone know what the calorie count looks like per serving?
Roughly 250 if you serve four, depending on what sort of sausage you use.
I made this for my husband last week and it was so good! I am making a meal for friend that just had a baby and thought this would be great but I wanted to get an opinion- Think this would keep if it were frozen? I don’t do a lot of make ahead cooking so any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!
Yes, this one will probably freeze very well. :)
Very good! And filling! Love this. :)
This was absolutely delicious! And very easy to prepare. I loved the strong Italian taste and how meaty it was. The only adjustment I made was adding Parmesan to it while it was cooking, but it was a 5 star without it as well! Will be making this often. Thanks Beth!
I made this tonight, subbing cut up cooked chicken thighs for the sausage. It turned out fantastic!
This was great! I used Italian Sausage Tofurkey and it still turned out great. It’s something I look forward to eating when I get home (I’m also in snowy Chicago). I used my new food processor to chop the onion & garlic & the whole meal took about 30 minutes for TONS of food. Can’t beat it!
Also, in case anyone is wondering, my version of the recipe (using Tofurkey which totaled 560 calories for 2 links) was about 1,720 calories for the whole thing. Beth is the best!
Holy smokes this was awesome! The spicy sausage and the beans together with that delish tomato sauce were just right. A hearty meal that was perfect for a snowy Chicago night. :)
Another trifecta winner…cheap, easy, and delicious! And, healthy too! Thanks Beth!
I saw this recipe on your website last week and it made my mouth water as soon as I saw it. I made a half-batch last night (I like to do this with new recipes if possible) and it was delicious! Its a very flavorful yet healthy meal. I ended up adding about 1 cup of chicken broth because I wanted a bit more sauce.
This will go in my “make again” file for sure!
I have a young family and am trying to make as many meals as possible crockpot-able. How would you suggest I do that in this case? Cook the sausage first, I’m assuming, but then I’m out of the house for 8+ hours. Is that too long for it to be on low? I find so many crockpot recipes a bust, so maybe that’s a stretch for this recipe…
Hmm, I think 8 hours on low might work for this recipe. Maybe add a cup or so of broth to make sure it doesn’t dry out?
One can of beans instead of two, and diced instead of crushed… oh, and sausage meat in bulks rather than in actual sausage form. Y’know, work with the ingredients you have on hand, rather than going out and getting the exact thing. Husband loved it, with just enough left over to mix with a bit of ricotta and pasta for a Friday night casserole. Brilliant.
Made this tonight and it was great! We make your crock-pot marinara every couple weeks and keep in the freezer for quick meals- so we used that instead of the crushed tomatoes and it was fab!
Hey Beth, this looks so good – was thinking about eating it over some brown rice! I’m only cooking for myself but I don’t want to waste the whole dish; how do you recommend keeping the leftovers? Should they be refrigerated or can I freeze them, and for how long?
This will freeze very well, even with rice. :) Just put single serving portions into resealable freezer containers (like Ziploc or Gladware) and freeze. Then you can just reheat in that same container in the microwave. The shelf life of frozen food depends on many factors, so I generally try to eat things up within a few months. After that they tend to dry out and lose flavor.
This recipe was great made it last night for dinner.I added an extra sausage since I happened to have 3. I swapped the beans for lentils as that’s all I had.Would definitely make again.
This was REALLY GOOD. I had three sausages in the freezer so I used them all, and I’m glad I did. Also used the whole package of spinach. I wondered if you hadn’t used the whole thing because it would have added so much more moisture, so I tossed it in the microwave for a bit and squooshed some liquid out in a colander, but this thickened up so well and so fast that next time I won’t bother. And extra garlic because spinach eats it. Yum.
My husband and kids loved it and it was so easy to make.
I doubled the recipe and we’ve been eating off it all week–my husband has his over white rice and I have mine over scrambled eggs. Easy, cheap and awesome! Thanks, Beth!
This looks delicious! Do you think it could be made with brown rice instead of beans if I adjusted the liquid accordingly?
Hmmm. That might be a little tricky. I think it would be much easier to cook all the ingredients without the rice and then just spoon it over rice that has cooked separately.
Just made this; smells luscious! Love how budgetbytes makes me stretch my techniques & ingredient list.
I made this tonight with what I had in my freezer and pantry: two leftover frozen sweet Italian sausages and a big can of whole tomatoes (which I pulsed briefly in my blender), one can of great northern beans, one can of garbanzos, and half a bag of frozen spinach. Turned out completely delicious. Thanks for the idea – It’s a ton of food and great for cleaning out my pantry in the best way possible!
This recipe looks great. Do you not rinse the beans before adding them to the pot? For people who complain that beans make them gassy, I always recommend rinsing the beans after you drain them! Rinsing off the bean liquid helps a lot with that problem (and gets rid of some of the sodium that’s always present in canned beans).
Yep, I rinsed them. You can see the instruction in step four. :) I don’t like the goo that canned beans are surrounded in (even though that’s really just starch and fiber).
Overall, I thought this recipe is a great quick and easy meal! I tweaked the recipe a little bit though. I added some white wine and cumin into the mix. Very yummy. I thought about maybe serving it over some polenta next time. Thanks Beth! Your always there to save the day!
Is a lot of the flavor coming from the sausage? Would like to substitute in some tofu or something to make it vegetarian friendly. Any suggestions?
Yes, a lot of the flavor is coming from the sausage. Sausage has a lot of herbs and spices. If you can find a vegetarian smoked sausage substitute, that would be best.
Field Roast makes a great meatless Italian sausage substitute!
Thanks for the suggestion! I’m not well versed in meat substitutes. :)
How about meat substitutes for those not living in the US? The only sausages available here are smoked ones. Should I use raw minced meat and add some extra spices? Or just throw any local sausage and shorten the frying time?
Smoked sausage might be pretty good, too. Here is a recipe for Italian sausage that you can make with ground meat. It’s okay if it’s crumbled instead of cut into rounds.
I’ve just remembered – the only raw sausage I can buy is something similar to Weisswurst. Can I use it?
Hmm, I’m not sure. I’m not familiar with Weisswurst.
We made it with the Tofurky Italian Sausage for dinner tonight and it was really good. It has some sun dried tomato and good spices in it.
You could also fry the spices that would go into sausage (salt, black pepper, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, paprika, red pepper flakes, fennel seed, brown sugar, oregano, and thyme being a few) in the oil until fragrant and then continue the recipe accordingly.
A little carb heavy for me, I’ll add more sausage :)
Looks great
I don’t cook with sausage often (mostly because I don’t know what to do about the casing)- should I remove the casing from the sausage before slicing it into rounds, or is the casing supposed to be eaten?
Nope you can leave the casing intact. It will fall apart if you take the casing off. If you want the sausage to be more like ground meat or a crumbled texture, you can squeeze the raw meat out of the casing before you cook it. But for this, where you want it sliced, you definitely need to leave it on. :) Great question!
Looks delicious and colorful. Thinking it might also go well with some brown rice.
This looks great! However, I’d prefer to use fresh spinach just because it’s easier to buy it in bulk at my local store. How would that change the recipe?
Very easy, you can actually just add the fresh spinach where I added the frozen and it will wilt down as you stir it into the hot mixture. :) Nothing more should be needed.
Great, thank you!
Fresh spinach is delish in this recipe. I’ve made it twice and the second time, threw in the whole package of spinach. The tomato balances out the spinach so there’s not an overly spinach flavor. Yum yum yum!
Yum this looks good.
I make a Spanish style version. I use chorizo and smoked paprika. It reminds me of the Asturian bean stew I had while traveling there. It also makes my home smell delicious. I can’t wait to try your version. It’s always good to have different flavors.
This looks perfect for this time of year. I’m wondering if I could substitute chopped kale for the spinach.
Probably, yes. You may need to cook it a little longer just to soften it up some, though. A little broth might not hurt, either.
I subbed Kale, I just washed it and tore it off the stem into small pieces that I added when the recipe called for the spinach. Cooked perhaps a little longer than recommended, until kale was soft and into the stew. Absolutely awesome – thanks again Beth!
I added some kale that I had in the fridge. I added it after the onions had cooked and before the tomatoes. Perfect!
This dish looks so Delicious and so simple! I can’t wait to make it and it reminds me of comfort food.
While this does remind me of comfort food, it more reminds me of that really good soup at the Olive Garden (i’m not a food blogger so I can admit I eat there once in a while). Beyond scrumptious. But a $1.52 a serving? I need to come back to this blog….that’s so cheap. I just discovered that I’m spending almost $700 a month on groceries and I need to tame my budget!!
That looks just like the warming, wintery dish needed at this time of the year!
Do you think it would be possible to make a large portion, and then freeze it for later?
Yes, this dish should freeze very well! :)
Thanks for the little lesson in choosing which beans to buy. This sounds like a great recipe to try.
fyi, sausages are quite easy to slice when they are frozen.
Great idea! Why didn’t I think of that! That would have saved me the trouble of remembering to take them out of the freezer the day before, too. :P