Slow Cooker Apple Kielbasa Bites – sliced kielbasa in a delicious sweet and spicy sauce. Only 5 ingredients and cooked in the crockpot! Perfect for a weeknight dinner or an party snack.
This recipe originally posted on August 7, 2014. Updated on March 14, 2019.
It’s that time of year!
Time to transition from Thursday margarita posts to Thursday football snack posts! Wooo! I know we have a few weeks left before football actually starts but I cannot wait any longer!
As much as I love the games, my number one favorite thing about football will always be the food. One of my favorite are my Slow Cooker Cranberry Meatballs, which are like those grape jelly meatballs everyone loves but made with cranberry sauce!
Why is food such an important part of football? Who knows. But for whatever reason, football season gives you an excuse to snack from Thursday night to Monday night.
And I like any excuse to have snacks for every meal.
I really like to make things like these Slow Cooker Apple Kielbasa Bites for games because you can just leave them in the slow cooker (on warm) and set some toothpicks next to it. People can eat whenever they want!
Ingredients
- Fully cooked polska kielbasa sausage – you can use any smoked sausage, including turkey, if you prefer
- Brown sugar
- Unsweetened applesauce – make sure it is unsweetened or the kielbasa will be too sweet
- Garlic
- Red pepper flakes – these are going to add the perfect amount of heat to the dish
Instructions
- Put all ingredients in the slow cooker and give it a good stir.
- Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.
This kielbasa is good for about 3 days in the fridge. Make sure to store it in an airtight container to keep it as fresh as possible – I love these super airtight glass containers for all our leftovers.
You can reheat on the stovetop or even put it back in the slow cooker if you have about an hour to let it warm up.
You can freeze this kielbasa for up to 3 months. Let it cool down completely and then transfer it to a freezer safe container like a freezer ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as you can and then pop it in the freezer.
When you are ready to serve it, let it defrost overnight in the fridge and then reheat right before serving.
Like I mentioned, I mostly just serve these as an appetizer straight from the slow cooker with a pile of toothpicks next to it.
However, they make a really great, easy, and inexpensive dinner, too. Put them on top of mashed potatoes or rice and drizzle some of the extra sauce on top. Seriously delicious!
They also go great with my Cole Slaw Pasta Salad and Hawaiian Macaroni Salad!
More Kielbasa Recipes:
- Slow Cooker Beer and Brown Sugar Kielbasa
- Cheesy Potato and Kielbasa Casserole
- Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Kielbasa
- Kielbasa and Potato Breakfast Burritos
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Slow Cooker Apple Kielbasa Bites
Slow Cooker Apple Kielbasa Bites - sliced kielbasa in a delicious sweet and spicy sauce. Only 5 ingredients and cooked in the crockpot! Perfect for a weeknight dinner or an party snack.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fully cooked polska kielbasa sausage, cut into 1 inch pieces
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Put all ingredients in the slow cooker and give it a good stir. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 249Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 606mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 0gSugar: 15gProtein: 7g
wendy says
this is the best tasting kielbasa when cooked in the slow cooker it actually makes a little sauce that you can serve over rice its really tasty the kielbasa has a totally different taste after the slow cooker, yum
Beth says
I just made this today! Very good!
Bunnie Williams says
Instead of toothpicks, I serve them on pretzel sticks….eat the whole appetizer..
amanda says
Love that idea!
Chelsea+@chelseasmessyapron says
Haha! Football jerseys are the best! I can’t wait for football season – I like watching football, but for me it’s the food – appetizers like this that I get excited about!!
Katie | Healthy Seasonal Recipes says
I am not much of a football fan, but when my husband does have a game on, I am a fair weather fan/ aka snacker. Lol. Love the idea of setting out this slow-cooker recipe for a crowd.
Amy @Very Culinary says
I was just about to tell you my funny football story and these kielbasa bites…and then realized you already read it. Obvi. So glad you like them! Now that soccer/dance/school are all overlapping again (a.k.a. “Fall” or “3 months where I have no life”), they’ll be making a regular appearance at the house.