This easier yet tasty cassoulet is a nod to the traditional version. It’s a simple bean dish in a flavorful tomato broth that calls for bacon, chicken thighs, and Italian sausages. It’s a truly comforting meal that can be easily accomplished on a weeknight if you have just 40 minutes to spare. Bring on the snow and cold, this cassoulet has got you covered!
How to Make Cassoulet on a Weeknight
Cook the bacon, onions, and garlic, and brown the bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and Italian sausages in a skillet. Throw them into a Dutch oven with canned beans and tomatoes. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top and pop it under the broiler for a minute or two. Walk the Dutch oven straight to the table for a beautiful presentation. It’s that easy!
The Best Beans for Easy Cassoulet
White beans are best. There are four readily available types of canned beans to choose from for this recipe. Don’t drain and rinse the beans—add the liquid in the can into the cassoulet.
Navy beans are small and oval-shaped and famous for their use in Boston baked beans. Great northern beans are slightly larger than navy beans. They hold their shape well when cooked and have a mild flavor. These are my favorite for cassoulet. Cannellini beans are the next size up from great northern beans and a little meatier than the first two. Butterbeans (aka baby lima beans) are the largest of the four.
If you prefer to cook your own dried beans, use 3 1/2 cups cooked beans with some of the cooking liquid instead of two cans of beans.
The Chicken and Sausages
This recipe calls for bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for a boost of flavor. Could you use chicken breasts or boneless thighs? Yes, you can. They tend to overcook faster, so keep your eye on them as they cook. Fresh Italian pork sausages are easy to find at the grocery store and make a good substitute for the traditionally used Toulouse pork sausages. You could also use garlic sausages or Andouille sausages. While fresh sausages are preferable, you could use precooked ones. Browning them would be purely for aesthetics, so you can skip that part and add them to the beans, cooking them just long enough to heat them through.
Serving Suggestions
Bring the whole pot of cassoulet to the table! Scoop some beans and broth into bowls and top each with a piece of chicken and a sausage. Try not to disturb the crunchy and delicious crumbs on top when you scoop. Serve it with a simple salad with this dressing and a baguette for swiping up the delicious juices.
To Store and Reheat
Store any leftover cassoulet in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat the cassoulet in a small pot on the stovetop until heated through. You could also microwave individual portions until heated through. To freeze, spoon leftovers into an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost it in the refrigerator overnight and reheat it as described above.
More Easy Casseroles to Try
Sausage, Pepper, and Potato Bake Broccoli Cheese Casserole Tuna and Tomato Pasta Casserole Marge Perry and David Bonom’s Easy Skillet Lasagna Polenta Sausage Mozzarella Casserole
Bring the cassoulet to a simmer over medium heat. Adjust the heat to a steady simmer and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes, until the chicken and sausages are cooked through. The chicken should measure 165ºF when an instant read thermometer is inserted into the thickest part of the meat.
