This slow cooker 3-ingredient sausage Hastings is the kind of old-school party food that earns a permanent spot in the fall and holiday rotation. It is rich, creamy, hearty, and incredibly easy to pull together, which is probably why it has stayed popular for potlucks, game days, and family gatherings for years. When life is busy, I love having a recipe like this in my back pocket because it turns a few inexpensive ingredients into a warm, crowd-pleasing dish with almost no hands-on work.
Serve sausage Hastings with buttery crackers, toasted baguette slices, tortilla chips, or sturdy celery sticks for scooping. If you are setting it out as part of a bigger spread, it fits right in with a veggie tray, pickles, olives, and a simple fruit plate. For a casual brunch table, it is also surprisingly good spooned over toasted English muffins or served alongside scrambled eggs.
Slow Cooker 3-Ingredient Sausage Hastings
Servings: 12
Ingredients
1 pound ground sausage
Directions
1. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage until it is fully browned, breaking it up into small crumbles as it cooks. Drain off any excess grease.
2. Transfer the cooked sausage to the slow cooker. Add the cubed cream cheese and the undrained diced tomatoes with green chiles.
3. Cover and cook on low for 1 to 2 hours, stirring once or twice, until the cream cheese is fully melted and the mixture is hot, creamy, and evenly combined.
4. Stir well, switch the slow cooker to warm, and serve directly from the cooker with crackers, bread, or vegetables for dipping.
Variations & Tips
Spicier version: Use hot breakfast sausage or add a few spoonfuls of chopped pickled jalapenos if you want more heat. This is a great choice for game day, especially if you are serving it with sturdy tortilla chips.
Milder version: If you are feeding kids or anyone sensitive to spice, swap the tomatoes with green chiles for plain petite diced tomatoes that have been well drained. You will still get that creamy texture with a gentler flavor.
Make-ahead tip: Brown the sausage a day in advance and refrigerate it. When you are ready to serve, add everything to the slow cooker and let it heat through, which makes party prep a whole lot easier on a busy morning.
Texture tip: Stir the mixture a couple of times during cooking so the cream cheese melts evenly and does not sit in one big block. If the dip gets thicker than you like after sitting on warm, stir in a spoonful or two of milk to loosen it up.
Stretch-it-further idea: To make it go even farther for a crowd, set it out with lots of inexpensive dippers like crackers, celery, baby carrots, and toasted bread rounds. A little scoop goes a long way because it is so rich.
