Crockpot Brown Sugar Little Smokies
Cocktail sausages in a sticky brown sugar, barbecue and mustard glaze. A party appetizer that takes five minutes to start and stays warm for hours.
- Crockpot
- Slow cooker
- Pork
- Snack
- 155 min total
- Serves 12
Ingredients
Ingredients for servings
Enter a number of at least ½, in steps of ½.
Original recipe serves 12. Ingredient amounts adjust automatically. Cooking times and pan size may need adjusting separately.
- 2 lb cocktail smoked sausages, two 14 oz packages, such as Lit'l Smokies
- 1 cup barbecue sauce
- 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp cayenne, optional
Steps
Step 1: Stir the barbecue sauce, brown sugar, mustard, vinegar and cayenne together in the slow cooker.
Step 2: Drain any liquid off the sausages and add them. Stir to coat.
Step 3: Cover and cook on Low 2.5 hours, stirring once halfway, until hot and the glaze is bubbling around the edges.
Step 4: Switch to Warm and serve with toothpicks.
Swaps
- Sausages: Sliced kielbasa in 1-inch rounds works the same way.
- Mustard: Spicy brown mustard adds more bite.
- Sweetener: Swap half the brown sugar for maple syrup.
Tips
- The small slow cooker keeps them in a deeper layer of sauce, so they stay glazed.
- Wrap each smokie in a third of a slice of bacon for an over-the-top version. Cook the bacon a little first so it isn’t flabby.
- A splash of water loosens the glaze if it thickens too much on Warm.
The story
HAM Cooking. Let’s fire it up.
Little smokies are the official food of the folding table. Family reunions, game days, office parties, church potlucks. If there’s a paper plate and a slow cooker on an extension cord, these are probably nearby.
They’re also one of the easiest things you can make. The sausages are fully cooked already, so your only job is to heat them up and coat them in something sticky and delicious.
Here’s why this glaze works. Brown sugar brings deep, molasses sweetness. Barbecue sauce adds smoke and tomato. Then the mustard and vinegar step in to balance the sugar. Without that acid it would be sweet on top of sweet, and you’d stop at three. With it, you keep coming back.
The slow cooker on Low melts the sugar into a glossy sauce. Cracking the lid at the end lets some of the moisture escape, so the glaze thickens up and clings to every sausage instead of sliding off.
Grab a toothpick. Then another one. Nobody’s counting.
HAM out.
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