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Vegan Sausage Birra - a Crock-Pot recipe for slow cooking

Vegan Sausage Birra - a Crock-Pot recipe for slow cooking

What is a birra?


You may be asking what a birra is. I did. In fact I had to Google it to find out what a birra is and it turns out it's just a recipe containing beer. So it definitely sounds much fancier than it is.

What we have here is a sort of sausage stew. The sausages and onions are slow cooked in a spicy tomato beer sauce. It's actually really tasty.

I took a quick photo of it as you can see, before I lost the light. It gets dark so quickly at this time of year, doesn't it? It's the bane of food bloggers lives. Photos taken in artificial light are just awful (unless you have a properly equipped photography studio with expensive lights), so we always take our photos in daylight and there's just not enough of it in Scotland in November.

Once I'd finished taking my photos I popped the birra back in the slow cooker to keep warm while I cooked some potatoes and peas.

Well I say potatoes and peas, but I was too busy looking at my photos and left Graham to see to the potatoes. I totally forgot to remind him about the peas, so we just ate this sausage stew with mash. It was still comforting and very tasty, even without the veg.


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veggie sausage stew in slow cooker

This recipe was adapted from a recipe created by Chef Neil Rankin for Crock-Pot. The original was made with lamb and to my mind had way too much liquid in it for a slow cooker recipe. I decided to make mine with veggie sausages and red onion and I also cut the quantity of liquids down, crumbling a stock cube into the mixture instead of adding hot stock.

I left out the cloves and lime from the original recipe, which I wasn't keen on adding and I have to say I was really pleased with the flavour. 

It was a blessing that I didn't add that extra stock the original recipe called for or it would have been more like a runny soup. It had plenty of sauce with my tweaked recipe.


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Vegan Sausage Birra - a Crock-Pot recipe for slow cooking

I created this recipe in my crock-pot. It's so good for throwing ingredients in and walking away.

 For this recipe I fried the onions until soft and the sausages until brown before adding the other ingredients to the slow cooker

The slow cooker I'm using these days is from the original Crock-Pot brand which has an aluminium inner pot which you can start off cooking in directly on the hob.

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Crock-Pot


White Crock-Pot (slow cooker)

My crock-pot is super light and has three settings. Low, high and a keep warm function.

I have the 4.5L DuraCeramic Crock-Pot Slow Cooker which is big enough for a family of four,  although sometime the recipes do stretch to six. 


The multi-purpose aluminium pot can be used on all hob types. It's easy to clean and free from PFOA and PTFE non-stick chemicals.

Crock-pot is the original slow cooker. Launched in North America in 1971 and is the leading slow cooker brand.



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Yield: Serves 4-6
Vegan Sausage Birra - a Crock-Pot recipe for slow cooking

Vegan Sausage Birra

A slow cooked veggie sausage stew cooked in the slow cooker with a spicy tomato and beer sauce. Serve with mashed potatoes and vegetables for an excellent Sunday dinner.
prep time: 20 MINScook time: 3 hourtotal time: 3 hours and 20 mins

ingredients


  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 red onions, sliced
  • 12 veggie sausages, halved
  • 200 ml passata
  • 330 ml light beer
  • 2 tbsp chipotle paste
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 vegetable stock cube, crumbled
  • a good grinding of black pepper

instructions


  1. Saute the onion in 1 tbsp of olive oil until soft, then set aside.
  2. Cook the sausages in 1 tbsp of oil until brown, turning frequently.
  3. Add the sausages and onions to the slow cooker then add all the other ingredients and stir.
  4. Set your slow cooker to high and cook for 2-3 hours or set it to low for 4-6 hours.
  5. If you don't have a slow cooker cook the same way until the sauce has reduced and thickened.
  6. Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables.
  7. Enjoy!
fat
4.5
calories
307
sugar
4.8
carbs
16.9
protein
23.9
Created using The Recipes Generator



or



If you liked this recipe, try my roast vegetable, veggie sausage and chickpea bake




Note: For the purpose of display (and looking bonnie) I photographed my birra in a small casserole dish, but my dish was cooked in my slow cooker.



For more vegetarian and vegan slow cooker recipes, check out my page Easy Vegetarian and Vegan Slow Cooker Recipes


Disclosure: I developed this recipe for Crock-Pot UK. I was not required to write a positive review and any opinions are my own.

27 comments

  1. Totally agree about photos this time of year! Yours seems fine though. I am permanently mortified about the quality of a lot of my pics, but when you have day job, you cook in the evening and it is then eaten, what can you do? X

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    1. It's a nightmare, isn't it. I end up waiting until my days off but I end up not posting as many recipes as I'd like.

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  2. This looks super-tasty Jac - my kind of supper! I don't have a slow-cooker but getting the right amount of liquid has always struck me as being the most difficult aspect of using one. Such a handy way of cooking for all the family, I really should get one!

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    1. Yes that is always the tricky part. It need so much less than a casserole made on the cooker top would. It doesn't really thicken as much either. This was super tasty though. I was really pleased with it.

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  3. Ooh this sounds tasty. Beer adds so much flavour to things like this! Love a good slow cooker stew.

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    1. Yes, I often forget about adding beer to dishes like stews. I'll definitely have to try more dishes like this.

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  4. This looks like a lovely winter warmer. I'd never heard of a Sausage Birra before so thank you for enlightening me! ☺️ I do have a slow cooker but I must admit that it's been tucked away in my stationery cupboard for a couple of years. Definitely time I dusted it off and put it to good use xx

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    1. Yes definitely time to brush off that slow cooker. They really come into their own in the winter months.

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  5. I didn't know what a Birra was either? But now I do. Sounds so warm and comforting and I should get my slow cooker out again. Lovely Jac (and I hear you on the light - even down South!)

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    1. We are all learning together Ceri and yes the lack of light is hellish, especially if you have a day job too.

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  6. This looks like the perfect veggie Autumn dish. I often use beer when slow cooking, even in soups! I think the flavours sound amazing and it's always great to have a tasty slow cooker recipe for these cold months x

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    1. Ah you are ahead of me there Laura, but I'll definitely be trying it in the future.

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  7. I had never heard of Birra before either, but this stew looks delicious and so so comforting! Lovely shots :D

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    1. Oh yes it was super tasty Nadia and very comforting.

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  8. Ha, for once, as an Italian, I'm ahead of the game here (birra is Italian for beer)! LOL!

    This casserole looks so hearty and warming - so perfect for this time of year. I do love a good sausage stew. :-)

    I did chuckle at your comment about the light - this is the best time of year for me to photograph food! No, really; in the summer, I have to cover up all of the windows, and block out as much light as possible. (Or either shoot just after dawn, or wait until dusk.) In autumn and winter, I don't have to do that, so photoshoots are really quick now because there's almost no set-up! Ha ha! At this time of year, I do most of my shoots between 4 and 5pm, just as the sun starts going down. :-)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Haha, excellent Nic and yes a sausage stew is great family food. It goes down a treat.

      I can imagine the problems you had with too much sun actually, I sometimes have that too in the summer. You won't have that problem now you are moving back to the UK. Welcome to short dark days.

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  9. Birra is also in slang "beer" in Argentina. :) Laura.

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    1. Ah thanks for the heads up. You really do learn something new every day.

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  10. This is my first time to your blog! LOVING it! mind if I link up!? ALways looking for veggie buddies and blogs!
    Jennifer @ http://MyBlissfulJourney.com

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  11. These are sooo good. Very nostalgic and looks delicious!

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  12. i made it with field roast chipotle sausages, a couple of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce from a can (tin), poblano pepper, 3 carrots, one stalk celery, yellow and red onion (didn't have enough red), and 4 cups of chopped kale - plus a touch of maple syrup because the beer was bitter, some braggs aminos because i didn't have any veg bouillon, and some lemon juice to finish off - and fresh cilantro (coriander). came out terrific!

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    Replies
    1. Good for you adapting it to what you had. I am so glad it was such a success and you enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by to let me know.

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  13. This is good. Best eat with rice then can eat more of it.

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  14. What the heck is a veggie sausage?

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    Replies
    1. A veggie sausage is the common term for a sausage suitable for vegetarians. These are often soya, tofu or vegetable based.

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I love reading comments, so thank you for taking the time to leave one. Unfortunately, I'm bombarded with spam, so I've turned on comment moderation. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can and respond to them. Don't panic, they will disappear when you hit publish. Jac x