Slow-Cooker Cassoulet
Updated February 28, 2024
Craig Lee for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 5 to 7 hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
½ pound dried small white beans, like pea or navy
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed, plus 1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 medium-large onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 cups cored and chopped tomatoes, with their juice (canned are fine)
3 or 4 sprigs fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
¼ pound slab bacon or salt pork, in 1 piece
4 sweet Italian sausages, about ¾ pound
1 pound boneless pork shoulder
2 duck legs
Chicken, beef or vegetable stock, or water, or a mixture, as needed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup plain bread crumbs, optional
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
48 grams carbs; 272 milligrams cholesterol; 1517 calories; 54 grams monosaturated fat; 17 grams polyunsaturated fat; 41 grams saturated fat; 119 grams fat; 8 grams fiber; 1943 milligrams sodium; 62 grams protein; 13 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Combine beans, crushed garlic, onion, carrots, tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves and meats in a slow cooker, and turn heat to high. (If you like, brown sausage and duck legs in a skillet before adding.) Add stock or water to cover by 2 inches. Cover and cook until beans and meats are tender, 5 to 6 hours on high heat, 7 hours or more on low.
- Step 2
When done, add salt and pepper to taste, along with minced garlic. If you like, remove cassoulet from slow cooker, and place in a deep casserole; cover with bread crumbs and roast at 400 degrees until bread crumbs brown, about 15 minutes. Garnish and serve.
Private Notes
Comments
What a delicious dish! Highly rated by my family and friends!
To me, it is crucial to brown the meats before you add the beans and liquid. Otherwise you just have stewed meat, which I find rather bland. My slow cooker has a browning feature, which makes it easier. I had a lot of chicken thighs in the freezer, so I used them instead of duck. I browned them in duck fat and, gosh! They tasted pretty ducky! I also added red wine, because I had an open bottle. I think that deepened the flavor a lot.
The first time I made this, it was truly a culinary treat. The next time I made it, I swapped the duck legs for chicken thighs (which are easier to find in rural Maine), and the result was slightly different, but equally delicious.
This is a company-worthy dish! My observations:
1. The two "optional" steps -- browning the meat before putting into slow cooker, and decanting the concoction into a pan to roast with breadcrumbs for 15 minutes -- are both well worth doing. They add a LOT to the flavor.
2. This recipe, as written, generates quite a bit of liquid. That's another advantage of the final step: one can remove meat, beans, and vegetables with a slotted spoon, leaving that extra liquid for delicious soup the next day.
This was absolutely delicious, my husband, our son, and our two young grandsons gobbled it up. I didn’t brown any of the meat. I put everything together and started cooking it.
This recipe is the reason I finally subscribed to NY Times Cooking, because I maxed out how many times I could pull this up without paying. I cheat a little and buy two duck confit legs from Zabar's. This recipe is good on the first day, but the second day leftovers are spectacular.
I’ve made a similar cassoulet but the recipe called for beef chunks instead of pork. Liquid was also beef stock. Has me curious about the flavor differences.