Slow Cooker Kielbasa with Sauerkraut & Apples AND a Hamilton Beach Stay-or-Go Slow Cooker Giveaway!

If you’re an avid reader of this blog, you know that I love a good meal that I can make in my slow cooker.  In fact, Fall is my favorite time of year to put one to good use.  Days are shorter, kids are busier, and the convenience of having dinner ready to go when we walk in the door after all of our running around makes life just a little bit easier. So, when Hamilton Beach contacted me and asked if I’d like to try their new Programmable Stay or Go 6 Quart Slow Cooker, of course I said yes!

As the temperatures have crisped up and the leaves have changed, I’d been craving cozy, fall comfort food.  I wanted something deliciously warm and soul satisfying, and decided to try a dish of kielbasa, sauerkraut, and apples.  The ingredients are simple enough, but after cooking together, low and slow, the result was pretty magical.

I started by rinsing and squeezing the water out of two pounds of sauerkraut.

The dish creates plenty of liquid as it cooks, so getting as much of the liquid off of the kraut first keeps that pickled taste from being too overwhelming in the final dish.

I sliced up a pound of kielbasa into large chunks, and cut three Granny Smith apples into thin slices.

Then, it was just a matter of layering everything in the slow cooker.

I started by layering half of the sauerkraut in the bottom of the cooker, then I added the kielbasa, topped it with the apples, sprinkled in some salt and pepper, topped the apples with some brown sugar, and then layered the rest of the sauerkraut on top.

I poured some apple cider over the top of the layers, and clipped the lid into place. That’s it.

This Stay or Go Programmable Slow Cooker features a few innovative ideas that really set it apart from other slow cookers.  First off, the lid attaches to the base on a hinge.  This may seem simple enough, but anyone who has used a slow cooker before knows that when you remove the lid, condensation and food (if it’s splattered) drips all over wherever you set the lid.  With the attached lid, the drips stay where they are supposed to…in the slow cooker.  After cooking, the lid simply detaches and can either be hand washed or put right into the dishwasher.

Also, that same lid seals onto the slow cooker with a clip on the front of the cooker.

Clamping the clip down ensures that none of the heat sneaks out, and also secures the lid for spill-free travel.  Having cleaned up a few slow cooker messes off the floor of my car in the past, I’m giving this feature a huge thumbs up!

After about six hours in the slow cooker, we were ready for dinner.  I unclipped the lid, and lifted it to find that everything had cooked down perfectly.  I gave the mixture a good stir, mixing all of those cooked apples in with the kraut and perfectly tender sausage.

I heaped the kraut and sausage over creamy mashed potatoes, and we dug into the perfect family meal for a crisp, cool night.  The flavor was simply amazing, and my family gobbled up every last comforting bit of it.  It was so easy!  I didn’t even have to stir it!  This is definitely a new go-to slow cooker meal for a busy night.

And lucky you!  Hamilton Beach is offering one lucky Chew Nibble Nosh reader their own Stay or Go Programmable Slow Cooker!  Plus, just for entering to win, you’ll receive Hamilton Beach’s Top 25 Slow Cooker Recipes e-book!  Just enter the giveaway below, and I’ll be in touch soon.

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Good luck!

SLOW COOKER KIELBASA WITH SAUERKRAUT & APPLES

 *This post was written by me for Hamilton Beach.  All opinions expressed are my own.  Hamilton Beach provided the slow cooker for my use and review.