This easy and addictive little smokies recipe is made even simpler thanks to the Crockpot and is perfect for game days and parties.
CrockPot Little Smokies Appetizer
Every year around this time, it’s the same thing.
The phone rings. Well, it used to ring. Now it just buzzes with texts. And then I hear read, “Heidi, can you send me your Little Smokies recipe again?”
Yep, like clockwork.
As the big game day draws near, I start hearing—make that seeing—the requests. And every year I send the same little smokies recipe out to friends who have had these sweet little barbecued sausages in the crockpot (or my new Instant Pot) on game days of years past.
They’re craving them again, but this time in the comfort of their own home where the game day bets are a little looser, and a whole lot more forgiving.
I never thought this humble lil smokies recipe was worthy of a blog post, but given the requests I still receive, and the fact that I crack open my war-torn recipe binder for the recipe each year, I realized me and my friends might not be the only ones in need of a super simple, slow cooker game day appetizer.
What’s in This Little Smokies Recipe?
These days there are a variety of cocktail weiner flavors out there. Turkey. Beef. Sausage, and combos of them all. I chose traditional pork sausages but also threw in a package of cheddar-stuffed weiners for a little once-in-a-few-bites surprise.
A basic store-bought barbecue sauce is the base for this sauce, so I choose a quality, honey sweetened version to lend the smoky, sweet flavor.
White vinegar adds tang and a puckery punch. I don’t use apple cider vinegar because it comes off a little too strong.
And then there’s beer. What would game day be like without another layer of it?
How to Make Little Smokies
This game day appetizer couldn’t be simpler. Just add everything to your slow cooker, pop the lid on, and let the cocktail weenies cook on high for 2 to 3 hours until warmed through.
Once cooked, turn the heat to “warm” to keep the lil smokies warm all afternoon.
Can I Omit the Beer?
The alcohol from the beer cooks out of the cocktail sausages, but if you’d rather not add the beer, add the same amount of water or sparkling cider in its place.
What Type of Beer Should I Use?
You want to use a light beer in this recipe. Bud Light or something similar will work.
Tips for Making Little Smokies
I add ½ cup brown sugar to the lil smokies sauce to amp up its sweet flavor. If you don’t like your little smokies to be too sweet, scale back the amount of sugar you use.
I don’t recommend using granulated sugar in place of brown sugar, as brown sugar’s caramel-y flavor pairs better with the honey barbecue sauce.
If serving this little smokies recipe to guests, be sure to plonk a serving spoon into the slow cooker so they can easily serve themselves. A stash of clean toothpicks to eat these cocktail weenies with also makes for less cutlery to clean after the big game.
More Easy Appetizers You’ll Love
- Bacon Beer Cheese Dip
- Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Cheese Dip
- Easy Yogurt Fruit Dip
- French Onion Dip
- Pigs in a Puff Pastry Blanket
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Bookmark this recipe and leave a comment below, or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Slow Cooker Little Smokies
Ingredients
- 4 14- ounce packages cocktail sausages
- 16- to 18- ounce bottle honey-flavored barbecue sauce
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 12- ounce bottle lager beer
Instructions
- Place the sausages in the bowl of a slow cooker. Add the barbecue sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, and beer and stir to combine.
- Cook on high for 2 to 3 hours or until the sausages are warmed through.
- Lower heat and keep warm to serve.
Nutrition
More Slow Cooker Recipes to Master
- Slow Cooker Healthy Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili with Quinoa
- Slow Cooker Sriracha Meatballs
- Easy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
- Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
- Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
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I take the little smokies with cheddar cheese and add them to my baked beans and mix it up and bake in a casserole dish At 375 for about 30 minutes or till hot and bubbly, Mmmm!!! I use large cans of Bush beans, whatever flavor you prefer I use maple and brown sugar or the one with onionS!!! Enjoy
I am always searching for quality posts & articles & this is what I found here, I hope you will be adding more.
Actually, I have never tried this with smokies, but have used the grape jam/chile sauce mixture to cook meatballs for cocktail parties, etc. They are yummy. Bet your little smokies were too. Still think the recipe with the beer and barbecue sauce sounds good and would be a welcome addition to a picnic or cookout.
So many options!
I have NEVER seen that many Cocktail Sausages in any one (Cooking space).
Delicous and perfect for Super Bowl Sunday!
Are you taking about white wine vinegar ?
I this sauce. The sauce will be more tasty if you increase it liquidity. Thanks for your recipe.
Delicious & super easy! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Michelle!
To the people who aforesaid the sauce was too skinny, I agree.
All I did was add some corn starch to thicken the sauce.
It over up well likeable by my friends.
These were ok but I was disappointed in how thin the sauce turns out… the sauce doesn’t stick to the little sausages in making them sorta blah when eating them …..
I have a 7 Qt crockpot. Can I double this recipe in that size pot?
I think you should be fine in that size!
To the people that said the sauce was too thin, I agree.
All I did was add some corn starch to thicken the sauce.
It ended up well liked by my friends.
Patrick, did you add corn starch in the crockpot before, during, or after? Plus, did you mix the corn starch first with water (or another liquid) then dump it in there or just straight into the crockpot? Thanks in advance.
I used to make somewhat the same thing back in the 70’s. A package of smokies or cocktail franks, a small jar of apple jelly, and a small jar of ketchup. An easy dump and heat appetizer. I never had any left.
We made this using Grape jelly instead of Apple. Delicious!
I have to agree with the previous review. The sauce turned out too way thin for our liking. It had a watery consistency. Way too thin to coat the little smokies. None of us cared for it. We like a sauce that is thicker. Think bbq sauce consistency, I would halve the vinegar and beer, or not use the beer at all. It also needs more seasoning and flavor. Sorry, this was a fail.
I did not like this. The sauce was very thin and a very liquidity consistency so it did not coat the smokies. It’s not like the little smokies I’m used to which are cooked in a thicker sauce of ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, vinegar and spices that coat the smokies nicely. I felt the sauce was too soupy, probably because of so much liquid with the beer.
If you don’t want to use beer or root beer. What can be used in its place.
nice food if i test that, how can i get that ? i want it very much
Can I use a smallet amount of regular sized hot dogs
Dave, I don’t see why not! I would cut them up into smaller chunks so they flavor well. Enjoy!
What size crockpot did you use?
Wow, I like, I like!
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Love the smell wow amazing cooking well done. Made it for a get together and everyone loved it. Would not change a thing. Thank you for posting.
These were the hit of our National Champsionship Work Tailgate! Love these.
I never thought about using this combination but since jelly and chili sauce combine well (and I didn’t believe that either) I’m game! Thanks for the idea :)
Might I edit the recipe and say that it calls for ONE bottle of 16 OR 18 ounces of BBQ sauce. Not 16 18 ounce bottleS….. I may have made that mistake as a rookie chef and I may have purchased seven 40oz bottles of BBQ sauce… yup.
Merry Christmas!
Would bud light be ok to use in this recipe?
Yes, Bud Light would work great.
I’ve always made lil smokies using a jar of chili sauce and a jar of grape jelly. Sooooo good. Sounds like an odd combination but delicious!!
Could you use this sauce recipe for meatballs as well??
Yummy recipe! Made these yesterday for a cookie decorating party and it was a great way to offset all of the sweets we were consuming. :-)
I’m sorry for sounding stupid but 16 bottles of BBQ sauce sound a lot. It’s not a typo right?
It says 16-18 ounce bottle….a single bottle of sauce
I made that mistake and purchased 16 bottles… never again.
I’ve always made lil smokies using a jar of chili sauce and a jar of grape jelly. Sooooo good. Sounds like an odd combination but delicious!!
Used the same its sooo good!
What beer did you use in this please. I am not familiar with lagers
Hi Cindy, you can use a regular Bud Light or something of that style. A lighter beer, nothing too heavy.
how long do you cook these in your instant pot? and slow release??
Thanks
I would also like to know this! Or do you just use the slow cooker setting on your instant pot?
Instant pot for 1 minute on manual and natural release for 5 minutes.
How many people does this serve? It looks amazing!
Better capturing these photography . Like these so much .
how many people wud one batch serve? i’m using for a wedding for an appetizer. 200 people.
Target’s Little Smokies 14 oz pk says it serves 7 people at 5 links each. 4 pks x7 = 28 people per recipe as a generous appetizer serving per this recipe. For 200 people you’d have to increase this recipe by 7.5 or 8 times. I’d go 8 or 9 times since there always seems to be more eaten than one would expect.
That’s a lot of smokies! Awesome.
Would bud light be ok to use in this recipe?
Bud Lite is already mentioned as a beer to use.Read the whole thing instead of skimming
I made these for a party last weekend. I used root beer instead of regular beer and they were delicious!
Thanks for the comment Dawn, and glad the root beer worked just fine.
A basic store-bought barbecue sauce is the base for this sauce so I choose a quality, honey sweetened version to lend the smoky, sweet flavor.
White vinegar adds tang and a puckery punch. I don’t use apple cider vinegar because it comes off a little too strong.
By the way I have cooked by that recipe and it appeared to be the best meal I have ever cooked.
Looks good and I have all ingredients in hand, so I will try it today. Thanks for the recipe.
I love seeing this! My mom has always made little smokies for every holiday “for the kids” and everyone gobbles them up. I’m thinking these little smokers would be a delicious on next weekend!
Little smokies are my husband’s favorite! I swear he’s always talking about them every Sunday when a football game is on. I’m thinking I might have to surprise him with these next Sunday, I’m pretty sure he could eat that whole slow cooker full of them himself! :-)
This is the perfect recipe for the office Super Bowl Potluck! I can fix it at home and take to the office to cook! Thanks for sharing.
Wishes for tasty dishes,
Linda
Hi! Making these tonight. Can you share the instant pot instructions?
Lil smokies are one of my favorite appetizer. I normally have them in pigs in a blanket but these look good on their own.
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
I do these also as pigs in s blanket. A lil messy but good
Love this recipe! I recently did something like this but I like your recipe better.- pinning this immediately!