This French bean and sausage stew is easy to make and packed full of flavour for a great family dinner.
It uses lots of roasted vegetables and tinned beans, so it's also a balanced meal with very little preparation. You can easily swap the vegetable to your taste too.
Who doesn't like sausages and beans?
Bon appétit!
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❤️ Why you will love this dish
- Family friendly.
- Easy to make.
- Prepare the vegetables in advance to save time.
- Healthy and delicious.
This bean and sausage stew is something we eat most weeks with slight variations and is actually based on the famous French 'cassoulet' dish, which is eaten throughout France.
The actual dish takes hours to make and is comprised of duck confit, belly pork and rich garlicky sausages in a rich bean stew. The fat generated would have helped to keep the dish from going bad, before the availability of refrigerators, so it is not exactly a healthy meal by the standards of today.
In this version, I've taken the elements and flavours of a cassoulet and turned it into a week night dinner. There are also plenty of ways to vary it to your taste too.
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🥘 Ingredients
- Toulouse sausages - this style of sausage has plenty of herbs and garlic and has a really meaty flavour. They are widely available now.
- Smoked bacon lardons - these add so much flavour to the dish.
- Cannellini beans - in France people would buy their beans by the sack. I think that cannellini beans are similar, although smaller compared to white haricot beans that the French use.
The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.
🍽 Equipment
- sharp knife
- large frying pan/skillet
- wooden spoon
- measuring jug
- small roasting dish
- large roasting dish
- chopping board
🔪 Instructions
Preheat the oven to 190 C / 375 F / 170 FAN / Gas 5.
Peel the onion and cut into wedges, quarter the mushrooms, cut the peppers and courgette into 2cm pieces.
The aim is for the vegetables to cook in the same amount of time
💭 Top Tip
- Prepare the vegetables a day or two in advance and store in a container in the fridge.
Place the vegetables on a large roasting dish and drizzle over 1 tablespoon of the oil and season with the salt and pepper.
Place the sausages in the smaller roasting dish with the remaining oil, making sure that they are well spaced out.
Depending on the sausages and the dish, you may not need to use any oil for the sausages, or you could use an oil spray.
⏲️ Cooking Time
Roast the vegetables and sausages for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes.
While everything is cooking peel and finely chop the shallot and garlic.
Place the chopped garlic, shallot and bacon lardons in the frying pan and cook over a medium heat for a few minutes until softened.
There should be enough fat from the bacon, so you shouldn't need any extra oil.
Slice the tomatoes in half and add to the pan with the tomato purée and the flour.
Stir to combine and cook for a minute.
Add the stock and stir until thickened.
The tomatoes will start to cook and soften.
Add the beans, mixed herbs and salt and pepper and cook over a medium heat until the beans are hot.
Remove the vegetables and add to the stew.
Add the sausages and serve.
🥙 Substitutions
- Toulouse sausages - use any herby sausage.
- Red onion/shallots - use a brown onion.
- Bacon lardons - streaky bacon cut into small pieces.
📖 Variations
- Meat - swap or add pork chops. Shoulder chops keep really moist and chicken thighs also work well. Lamb merguez sausages also make a delicious change.
- Fish - I often serve the beans stew with some fried or baked fish for a change.
- Leftovers - if you have any leftovers from roast, just add them to the beans for a quick meal.
- Vegetables - try aubergine, halved sprouts, celery, carrots or broccoli, or any other favourites. Vegetables like broccoli can tend to burn, so keep an eye on them.
🍣 Storage
- Refrigerator - cool and cover in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezer - place in a rigid container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnigh in the fridge.
- To reheat - on the hob with the lid on or in a covered dish in the oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 until hot. Keep an eye on the liquid level and add extra stock or water if needed.
🍱 Prepare in Advance
- Get ahead by preparing the vegetables in advance.
Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais
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📋 Recipe
French Bean and Sausage Stew
Equipment
- sharp knife
- large frying pan/skillet
- wooden spoon
- Measuring jug
- small roasting dish
- large roasting dish
- chopping board
Ingredients
- 8 Toulouse sausages
- 2 tins cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoon tomato purée
- 4 cherry tomatoes
- 1 courgette medium
- 1 red pepper
- 1 red onion
- 8 mushrooms
- 1 shallot
- 1 clove garlic
- 400 ml chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon mixed herbs
- ½ teaspoon salt flaked sea salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoon oil olive oil
- 1 tablespoon flour all purpose/plain
- 100 g smoked bacon lardons
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190 C / 375 F / 170 FAN / Gas 5.
- Peel the onion and cut into wedges, quarter the mushrooms, cut the peppers and courgette into 2cm pieces.
- Place the vegetables on a large roasting dish and drizzle over 1 tablespoon of the oil and season with the salt and pepper.
- Place the sausages in the smaller roasting dish with the remaining oil, making sure that they are well spaced out.
- Roast the vegetables and sausages for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes.
- While everything is cooking peel and finely chop the shallot and garlic.
- Place the chopped garlic, shallot and bacon lardons in the frying pan and cook over a medium heat for a few minutes until softened.
- Slice the tomatoes in half and add to the pan with the tomato purée and the flour.
- Stir to combine and cook for a minute.
- Add the stock and stir until thickened.
- Add the beans, mixed herbs and salt and pepper until hot.
- Serve, with the vegetables mixed with the beans and the sausages.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article.
French Main Courses
- Easy Beef Bourguignon5 Hours 15 Minutes
- Beef Confit2 Hours 10 Minutes
- Chicken Mornay45 Minutes
- Slow Cooker Pork Normandy4 Hours 30 Minutes
Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using gas.
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