This Crock Pot Lit'l Smokies® Smoked Sausage can be a main course, a side, or an appetizer. Just toss two or so packages of Hillshire Farm® Lit'l Smokies® into a crockpot with water and a bottle of your favorite beer and a few choice seasonings — we suggest light brown sugar and ground cayenne pepper. Then let your slow cooker do its thing for about two hours. Even if you don’t have a crock pot, you can make this recipe on the stovetop in a Dutch oven.

Tip: Add a teaspoon of cornstarch to the water and beer so it thickens into a heartier broth base. When ready to serve, drizzle the broth over the cooked sausages, white rice or mashed potatoes.

In case you’re worried about using beer in a recipe the kids will eat, you definitely do not need to sweat it. Cooking with wine, spirits, and beer enhances the flavor and aroma of your recipes, but the actual alcohol content will evaporate and boil away before you dish out a single serving. There’s also the option of cooking with non-alcoholic beer.