Latin America & Caribbean

Feijoada: Brazil's Black Bean and Pork Stew

Name: Feijoada: Brazil's Black Bean and Pork Stew
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 240 min
Total time: 270 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Brazilian
Ingredients: 250 g Dried black beans (black turtle beans); 1.5 L Water (for simmering); 1 Onion (large); 6 cloves Garlic; 2 Bay leaves; 1/2 Orange (half, unpeeled); 1 tbsp Vegetable oil; 1 tsp Salt; 1/2 tsp Black pepper; 250 g Pork belly, in one piece (unsmoked); 200 g Smoked sausage (coarse-ground); 150 g Beef (stewing cut); 100 g Dried breadcrumbs; 2 tbsp Salted butter; 3 slices Bacon (thin slices); 1/4 Onion (small); 4 bowls Cooked white rice; 4–5 leaves Kale; 1 Orange

How to make feijoada, Brazil's national dish, at home: black beans simmered for about 4 hours with pork and smoked sausage, plus crisp farofa, the Saturday lunch tradition, and the debate over the dish's origins.

Published: October 24, 2026Total: 4 hr 30 minLevel: Intermediate

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 8

Soak the black beans

Black beans soaking in water; overnight they swell to twice their dried size — Before and after soaking: you can see how the beans have swelled with water

Put 250 g black beans in a bowl and cover with three times their volume of water (at least 750 ml, about 3 cups). Leave overnight at room temperature or in the refrigerator. They're ready when they've absorbed the water and swelled to about twice their size. Remove any beans that float while soaking (they're hollow and defective).

STEP 22 / 8

Prepare the meat

Put the pork belly in water and refrigerate for 8 hours. Changing the water once or twice along the way draws out excess salt and any bloody smell. It's normal for the water to turn slightly cloudy. Store-bought smoked sausage doesn't need desalting.

STEP 33 / 8

Parboil the meat

Feijoada in progress: black beans and pork simmering in a large pot, turning a deep reddish black — The start of the simmer: over the next 4 hours, the black beans and pork come together

Drain the soaked black beans in a colander and discard the soaking water (this removes the oligosaccharides that cause gas). Put the pork belly in a pot, add water just to cover and parboil over medium heat for 20 minutes, then discard the cooking water and cut the pork into 3–4 cm (1 1/4–1 1/2 in) cubes. Parboiling removes excess scum and salt, so the finished stew tastes clean.

STEP 44 / 8

Start the main simmer

Black beans, meat and sausage starting to simmer in a large pot for feijoada — Once it boils, skim, lower the heat to low or medium-low, and set the lid ajar

In a large pot of at least 5 liters (5 quarts), combine the drained black beans, parboiled pork belly, smoked sausage (cut into 2 cm / 3/4 in rounds), beef (3 cm / 1 1/4 in cubes), 2 bay leaves and the orange half (peel on). Pour in 1.5 liters of water and set over medium heat. When it boils, carefully skim the scum from the surface and lower the heat to low or medium-low. Set the lid slightly ajar so steam can escape.

STEP 55 / 8

Simmer slowly

Black beans and meat after a long, gentle simmer, with the beans now tender — Cook the beans until they hold their shape but crush between your fingers. Keep the water level up and don't scorch the bottom

Keep the heat at low to medium-low and simmer until the beans are completely tender. Check the water level every 30 minutes, and if the beans are about to poke above the surface, add water 1 cup at a time. The goal is beans that hold their shape but crush between your fingers. When stirring with a wooden spoon, make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.

STEP 66 / 8

Thicken with a bean paste

Feijoada simmering: a rich broth full of the flavor of black beans and pork — Mash the beans and combine them with the sofrito. This one extra step gives a restaurant-quality result

After 2 hours of simmering, scoop out 2 ladlefuls of beans. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet and sauté half an onion, thinly sliced, and 4 cloves of garlic, minced, over medium heat for 5–7 minutes until golden. Add the scooped beans to the skillet and roughly mash them with a wooden spoon so they come together with the sofrito. Return this mashed bean paste to the pot, and the broth quickly thickens and darkens. This is the key step that sets a great feijoada apart from an ordinary one.

STEP 77 / 8

Finish the stew

Nearly finished feijoada with pork and black beans simmered until meltingly soft — When the meat pulls apart easily, it's done

Remove the orange and bay leaves. If the meat is in large pieces, cut it into bite-size pieces. Simmer uncovered over medium heat for 10 minutes to reduce; it's done when the broth has thickened. Season with salt and black pepper. Ideally, the broth falls slowly from a spoon.

STEP 88 / 8

Make the farofa

Toasting farofa in a skillet: crisp breadcrumbs and bacon — Keep stirring the farofa constantly. Stop for a moment and it burns

In a skillet, fry the bacon (chopped into 5 mm pieces) over medium heat for 4–5 minutes until crisp. Add 2 tbsp butter to melt, then add the chopped onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the breadcrumbs all at once and keep stirring over medium heat for 10–12 minutes. It's done when the crumbs are light brown and crunchy. Season with a pinch of salt. Look for a toasty aroma and light browning.

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Ingredients

1 / 4

Black beans and basics

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Dried black beans (black turtle beans)	250 g	About 9 oz. Sold as "black beans" in supermarkets, Latin American grocers or online. Not the same as black soybeans
Water (for simmering)	1.5 L	About 6 1/3 cups. Add more if it runs low; keep the beans just covered
Onion (large)	1	Half thinly sliced (for the sofrito in step 4); the other half goes to uses such as the farofa (1/4 onion)
Garlic	6 cloves	Minced. Brazilian cooking uses garlic generously
Bay leaves	2	Dried leaves are fine; they release their aroma slowly during the simmer
Orange (half, unpeeled)	1/2	Add it peel and all. Its citrus aroma and acidity added during the simmer ease the heaviness of the fat
Vegetable oil	1 tbsp	Olive oil works too. Soybean oil is the most common in Brazil
Salt	1 tsp	Adjust at the end; the meats release salt as well
Black pepper	1/2 tsp	Coarsely ground, added at the end

2 / 4

Meats (combining three kinds is the authentic approach)

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Pork belly, in one piece (unsmoked)	250 g	About 9 oz. Slab bacon also works. Choose a piece with a good balance of fat and lean
Smoked sausage (coarse-ground)	200 g	About 7 oz. Chorizo, kielbasa or any smoked sausage works. A coarse grind is key to the texture
Beef (stewing cut)	150 g	About 5 oz. Canned corned beef (1 can) can stand in. In Brazil, carne seca (salted, dried beef) is used. Beef shank is also a good match

The meat "trio" is the heart of feijoada

Traditional feijoada uses 6 to 8 kinds of meat, such as pig's ears, beef tongue and linguiça (Brazilian sausage). In a home kitchen, pork belly, smoked sausage and beef make the best-balanced trio. Meat from different animals, prepared in different ways, creates layered savory flavor. A single kind of meat won't give you the depth of the real thing.

3 / 4

Farofa (side dish, strongly recommended)

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Dried breadcrumbs	100 g	About 3 1/2 oz. The traditional choice is cassava (manioc) flour; use it if you can find it. Fine breadcrumbs come closest in texture
Salted butter	2 tbsp	The nutty browned butter coats the crisp crumbs
Bacon (thin slices)	3 slices	Chop into 5 mm (1/4 in) pieces. Fry until crisp so the fat flavors the farofa
Onion (small)	1/4	Finely chopped

4 / 4

To serve

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Cooked white rice	4 bowls	Short-grain rice is fine. To get closer to Brazilian long-grain rice (arroz agulhinha), use a little less water
Kale	4–5 leaves	Young spring cabbage can stand in. Cut into 5 mm (1/4 in) ribbons and sauté with olive oil and garlic
Orange	1	Slice to serve alongside. Squeezing the juice over as you eat cuts the richness

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Saturday in Rio, when the smell of beans fills the noon air

Saturday in Rio de Janeiro. Once it's past 10 in the morning, the sweet smell of black beans and the smoky aroma of pork start drifting out of restaurants and homes all over the city. It's the smell of feijoada on the stove.

In Brazil, feijoada is widely known as a dish for a long, unhurried weekend lunch. Family and friends gather around a big pot, add rice, farofa, sautéed greens and orange slices, and take their time eating.

The name comes from the Portuguese feijão (beans). Black beans are slowly stewed with several cuts of pork and smoked sausage, and the result is loved as Brazil's national dish.

Part of its appeal is that it's made in a big pot and shared, everyone serving themselves. It's a dish built around gathering at the table.

This recipe uses easy-to-find ingredients and sensible substitutes to recreate the depth of the original. As a first dish for exploring the variety of South American cooking covered in our guide to South American food (in Japanese), feijoada is ideal. After a Saturday lunch of black beans and meat, if you want to head to the Bahian coast in the same country, try bobó de camarão (in Japanese), made with cassava and shrimp, where coconut and dendê oil take over from the weight of the beans.

For another South American pot of meat and beans, Guyana's cook-up rice (in Japanese) makes a good contrast. Where feijoada is a dark, rich pot of black beans and pork, cook-up rice is a one-pot dish in which the rice soaks up black-eyed peas and coconut milk. Cross a border, and the way beans take center stage changes too.

About the timing

Feijoada needs to be started the day before. The black beans soak overnight, and salt-cured meats take about 8 hours to desalt. On the day itself, plan on about 4 hours of cooking. Starting the night before a relaxed day off works best.

Ingredients (serves 4)

Feijoada ingredients: black beans, pork belly, smoked sausage, bacon and more — Black beans soaked the night before turn into an incredibly rich broth after 4 hours of simmering

Where to find black beans

Black soybeans won't work for feijoada. Look for "black beans," "black turtle beans" or dried black kidney beans at Latin American or international grocers, in supermarkets or online. Dried beans keep for more than a year at room temperature, so it's worth buying in bulk.

Method

Prep the day before (time: 10 minutes + overnight)

Make sure this is done before the day you cook.

Cooking on the day (time: about 4 hours)

Serving

Put white rice in deep plates and ladle plenty of feijoada over it, broth and all. Arrange the meat over the rice and pile on the farofa. Finish with the sautéed kale and orange slices.

How to sauté the kale

Cut the kale (or spring cabbage) into 5 mm (1/4 in) ribbons and sauté with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 clove garlic, minced, over high heat for 2 minutes, turning off the heat just before it wilts. The point is to keep some crunch. Overcooking makes it bitter.

Cooking tips

How long to soak

Soaking times vary from recipe to recipe, but for home cooking 8 to 12 hours is fine. What matters is that you always discard the soaking water. It contains the beans' oligosaccharides (which cause gas) and some astringency, so pouring it off makes the beans easier to digest and gives a cleaner flavor.

Add the sausage in the last hour

If the smoked sausage goes in at the start, the long simmer drives off too much of its flavor and dulls its texture. Add it for the last 1 to 1.5 hours and it keeps just the right amount of smokiness and a snappy casing. The pork belly, on the other hand, goes in from the start and simmers until its fibers fall apart.

Mashing some of the beans

To give the broth body and thickness, roughly mash about 1/4 of the beans near the end of cooking. You can crush them directly in the pot with a wooden spoon, or scoop out a little, combine it with sofrito (sautéed onion and garlic) in a skillet, and return it to the pot. The second method carries the sweetness of the onion and the aroma of the garlic into the bean paste, giving restaurant-level depth.

What the orange does

Adding half an orange to the simmering pot brings citrus aroma and acidity that ease the heaviness of the pork fat. If you add it with the peel on, take it out partway through so it doesn't turn too bitter. In Brazil, too, serving orange on the side to cut the richness is the classic way to eat feijoada.

It's even better the next day

People often say feijoada is at its best the day after. Overnight in the refrigerator, more starch from the beans dissolves into the broth and thickens it, and the savory flavor of the meat spreads through all the beans. Make extra and enjoy it on the second and third days.

Variations

Quick version (pressure cooker)

A pressure cooker cuts the total cooking time by more than half. Put the soaked beans, pork belly, beef and water in the pressure cooker and cook at pressure for 30–40 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally, open the lid, add the sausage and sofrito (sautéed onion and garlic) and simmer uncovered as you would in a regular pot for 15 minutes to reduce. A long simmer does give more complex flavor, so think of the quick version as a "weeknight feijoada."

Vegetarian version

Leave out all the meat and replace its savory depth with three things: (1) 1 tbsp smoked paprika (for smokiness), (2) one 10 cm (4 in) square of dried kombu (umami from glutamate), and (3) 3–4 dried shiitake mushrooms (guanylate, which boosts the umami further). The simmering time is the same as usual. Black beans contain 21 g protein per 100 g (dry) on their own, so it's nutritionally satisfying too. Sprinkle a little more smoked paprika on top to finish for extra smokiness.

Canned-bean version (same day, no soaking)

With canned black beans (two 400 g / 15 oz cans), there's no soaking. Drain the cans and rinse the beans in a colander before using. Put them in the pot with the meat and cut the simmering time to 45–60 minutes. The flavor is a little lighter than with dried beans, but still very good. A lifesaver on a busy weekend or when you simply want feijoada today.

Japanese-style twist

It may come as a surprise, but feijoada's slow-simmering method has a lot in common with Japanese tonjiru (pork and vegetable miso soup) and kakuni (braised pork belly). Stir in 2 tbsp miso at the end and the fermented savoriness goes remarkably well with the richness of the black beans. Serving it with grilled rice balls instead of plain rice, or topping it with chopped scallions, makes for a fun plate. Spooning it right over rice, like gapao rice (in Japanese), is an easy way to bring it to the everyday table.

Regional variations

Within Brazil, each region and household has its own style: the cuts of meat, the ratio of beans and the thickness of the broth all vary. There's no single "correct" version; every family has its own feijoada.

Turning leftovers into new dishes

Leftover feijoada can become all sorts of dishes over the following days. Reduce the liquid, mash the beans and use them as a filling for fritters, a popular snack in Brazil. Fill tortillas, top with cheese and bake for a quesadilla-style dish. Or stir-fry the leftovers with rice for a hearty skillet meal. Cook it once and you can enjoy it as something different for three days.

Black bean nutrition

For all its hearty look, feijoada is a well-balanced dish. The star, the black bean, is rich in notable nutrients.

Black beans (key nutrients per 100 g dried):

Protein: 21.6 g
Dietary fiber: 15.5 g
Iron: 5.0 mg
Folate: 444 μg

They're also rich in potassium, at 1483 mg (all figures from the USDA food composition database, per 100 g dried beans).

The black-purple color of the skins comes from pigments called anthocyanins, and they're why the cooking liquid turns black as they dissolve out. Because you eat feijoada broth and all, you lose very little of the beans' nutrition. Combining rice, beans, meat, greens and orange on one plate also makes for a balanced meal.

Watch out for the salt and fat from the sausage and bacon, though. If you're cutting back on sodium, you can parboil the sausage to draw out excess salt before using it, or halve the amount of bacon.

The story behind the dish: debates over a national dish's history

A table of traditional Brazilian dishes: the classic presentation of feijoada, farofa, rice and orange — Saturday lunch: a full plate of feijoada, loved all over Brazil

The "slave food" myth

There's one story told about feijoada more than any other: that it began when enslaved people on sugarcane plantations stewed the pig's ears, feet and snouts their masters threw away with cheap black beans.

It's a moving story, and the narrative of poor people creating a wonderful dish from discarded ingredients certainly sticks in the mind. Among historians, however, skepticism about this origin story has been growing.

According to English Wikipedia, an advertisement dated March 2, 1827, in the Recife newspaper Diário de Pernambuco announces that an eatery would serve "feijoada à brasileira" (Brazilian-style feijoada) on Thursdays. In other words, by the early 19th century at the latest, the dish was known by name as something served in restaurants.

Pig's ears and feet were traditional ingredients in Europe as well, so the very premise of "cuts the masters threw away" has also been questioned. There's also criticism that framing it as slave food turns the brutality of slavery into a pretty story.

A fusion of three cultures

Today, the common explanation is that feijoada took shape when African and Indigenous food cultures layered onto the northern Portuguese tradition of stewing beans with meat (Portuguese feijoada). Portuguese colonists brought the template of a meat-and-bean stew, and from Indigenous food culture came the practice of serving it with mandioca (cassava) flour.

The origin debate is part of the culture

The debate over feijoada's origins mirrors Brazil's whole history of colonization, slavery and cultural mixing. "Who made this dish?" overlaps with the question "What is Brazil?"

Its place as cultural heritage

Whatever its origins, feijoada's place in modern Brazil is secure. From the weekend family pot to the set lunch at a neighborhood restaurant, it's eaten widely as the dish that represents Brazil.

Like Peru's ceviche (in Japanese), many South American dishes go beyond simple meals to reflect the history and life of their land. Feijoada is one of them.

Feijoada outside Brazil

As a stew of beans and meat, feijoada isn't Brazil's alone. In Portugal, versions made with white beans are cooked in the northwest, and versions with red kidney beans in the northeastern Trás-os-Montes region. Dishes of the same name also exist across former Portuguese territories, including Angola, Mozambique, East Timor and Macau. Abroad, Brazilian restaurants in communities with large Brazilian populations are a good place to try an authentic feijoada.

How to plate it well

A well-plated feijoada: the traditional presentation with white rice, farofa, kale and orange slices — Served as a full spread, it makes a striking impression on the table

Plating in Brazil actually follows a few unspoken rules.

Arrangement: Push the white rice to one side of the plate. Spoon the feijoada, broth and all, next to the rice. Sprinkle the farofa over the rice.
Showing off the meat: Place the pork belly, sausage and beef in separate spots so each person can choose their own combinations.
The kale: Make a small mound at the edge of the plate. It contrasts beautifully with the black broth.
The orange: Set 2–3 slices on the rim of the plate. Squeezing the juice over partway through the meal resets your palate after all that richness.

Bringing the whole pot to the table and letting everyone help themselves is also popular. Gathering around and sharing is the right way to eat feijoada. As with borscht (in Japanese), stews somehow taste better when shared with a crowd. For a light bite before or after a heavy black bean stew, freshly baked pão de queijo works with coffee or as an early-evening snack.

FAQ

For people with allergies

Feijoada contains the following allergens: pork and beef (the meats), wheat (the breadcrumbs in the farofa; it may also be in smoked sausage) and dairy (the butter in the farofa). Anyone with a legume allergy should take care with the black beans. If you use canned corned beef, check the product label.

Can I use black soybeans instead of black beans?

No. Black soybeans are Glycine max (a soybean variety), while the black beans used in feijoada are Phaseolus vulgaris (common beans), a different species. Their flavor, texture and cooking time are fundamentally different: soybeans don't break down easily, and their skins turn tough. Look for "black beans" or "black turtle beans." You can substitute red kidney beans, but the color and flavor change considerably.

Does canned corned beef really work as a substitute?

Yes, it's a practical substitute. Traditional carne seca is salt-cured, sun-dried beef and can be hard to find outside Brazil. Canned corned beef (100–180 g) is already cooked, so the trick is to add it in the last 30 minutes of simmering. Put it in at the start and it dissolves completely. The flavor differs from the original, but it adds plenty of beefy savoriness.

Can I make it all on the day, without prepping the day before?

With dried beans it's difficult, since they need 8 hours of soaking. However, a pressure cooker plus canned black beans lets you do it all on the day. Combine the rinsed canned beans with the other ingredients in a pressure cooker, cook at pressure for 30 minutes, let the pressure release naturally, then simmer uncovered in a regular pot for 30 minutes to reduce. You can have it on the table in about 1.5 hours total.

Can I skip the farofa?

The dish still works without it. But farofa soaks up feijoada's rich broth and creates a contrast of crunchy and silky textures. For many Brazilians, feijoada without farofa feels like something is missing. The breadcrumb version takes only about 10 minutes, so do give it a try.

How long does it keep?

It keeps 3–4 days in the refrigerator and 2–3 months in the freezer. Feijoada is a classic example of a dish that's better the next day: overnight, the flavors of the beans and meat meld and the broth gets even richer. If freezing, portioning it into single servings makes thawing easier. After thawing, reheat in a pot and add a little water to adjust the thickness.

Can children eat it?

Yes. Feijoada itself contains nothing spicy, so it suits children. Some sausages are quite salty, though, so for kids, focus on the pork belly and black beans and use less sausage. If you mash the beans well into a paste, you can also try small amounts in the later stages of weaning (from about 1 year old). In Brazil, it's common to give children beans (feijão) from an early age as a nourishing food.

How is feijoada different from French cassoulet?

Both are stews of beans and meat, but their character is fundamentally different. French cassoulet uses white beans with duck, lamb and Toulouse sausage and is baked in the oven, forming a crisp crust on top. Feijoada uses black beans and is simmered on the stove until silky. If cassoulet is "baked," feijoada is "stewed." Cassoulet is served with bread, while feijoada comes with a whole range of sides: rice, farofa, kale and orange. Among the many bean-and-meat stews around the world, feijoada stands out for the contrast between the deep color of its black beans and the freshness of orange.

Sources

Wikipedia contributors. "Feijoada (Brazilian dish)." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feijoada_(Brazilian_dish) (checked October 22, 2026)
Barbosa, Lívia. "Feijão com arroz e arroz com feijão: o Brasil no prato dos brasileiros." Horizontes Antropológicos, 13(28), 87–116, 2007. https://www.scielo.br/j/ha/a/3dBn939KJKHnfncbdTFjJPn/abstract/?lang=en (checked October 22, 2026)
Olivia Mesquita. "Feijoada Recipe (Brazilian Black Bean Stew)." Olivia's Cuisine, 2024. https://www.oliviascuisine.com/feijoada-recipe/ (checked October 22, 2026)
Amigo Foods. "Feijoada -- Brazilian Black Bean Food." Amigo Foods Blog, 2023. https://blog.amigofoods.com/index.php/brazilian-foods/feijoada-brazilian-black-bean-food/ (checked October 22, 2026)

Food culture and other:

Foreign Fork. "Farofa: Toasted Cassava Flour." The Foreign Fork, 2024. https://foreignfork.com/farofa/ (checked October 22, 2026)
Sauce and Bites. "Why Is Feijoada Important in Brazil?" Sauce and Bites, 2023. https://sauceandbites.com/why-is-feijoada-important-in-brazil/ (checked October 22, 2026)