Feijoada Recipe: Authentic Brazilian Black Bean Stew 2026

Feijoada is Brazil's beloved national dish: a hearty stew of black beans simmered slowly with a mix of salted and smoked meats. The combination of flavors is surprising and deeply comforting, the kind of food that turns a Sunday lunch into an event.

Making feijoada is not complicated, but like any good stew it asks for a little patience and the right ingredients. The most traditional version calls for smoked pork belly, salted ribs, snout, ear and trotters, plus dried beef and linguiça, a cured smoked sausage. This lighter version adapts to ingredients you can find in any supermarket, using fresh meats instead.

Traditionally feijoada is served with white rice, orange slices, farofa (toasted cassava flour), collard greens and a chili sauce. Those sides complement the stew beautifully, adding variety and texture. Here we simplify the garnish and serve it with just white rice and orange, the most common accompaniments.

Ingredients for Feijoada

Serves 6

• 500 g dried black beans, soaked for 12 hours
• 2 bay leaves
• 150 g smoked pork belly
• 300 g pork ribs
• 300 g stewing beef
• 1 chorizo
• 150 g chistorra
• 150 g cecina (cured beef)
• 2 spring onions
• 40 g onion
• 50 g red bell pepper
• 50 g green bell pepper
• 1 garlic clove
• 80 ml olive oil
• 50 g crushed tomato
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Ground black pepper, to taste
• Salt
• 180 g rice
• 1 orange

How to Make Feijoada Step by Step

1. Soak the beans

Wash 500 g of black beans, tip them into a bowl, cover with plenty of fresh water and leave to soak for 12 hours.

2. Start cooking the beans

When you are ready to make the feijoada, put the drained soaked beans in a wide pot, cover with water, add 2 bay leaves and bring to the heat. Let them cook for 1 hour, skimming off any impurities that rise to the surface from time to time.

3. Cut the meats

While the beans cook, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Cut 150 g smoked pork belly into cubes, cut and separate 300 g pork ribs and cut 300 g stewing beef into medium pieces. Slice 1 chorizo and 150 g chistorra, and cut 150 g cecina into cubes. Set all these meats aside.

4. Prepare the sofrito vegetables

Separately, wash, chop and set aside the sofrito vegetables: 2 spring onions, 40 g onion, 50 g red bell pepper, 50 g green bell pepper and 1 garlic clove.

5. Sear the fresh meats

In a frying pan, heat 30 ml olive oil to sear the meat. First add the pork ribs, sear on both sides and remove to a plate. Then sear the pieces of beef and, once golden, remove and set them next to the pork.

6. Brown the pork belly and chistorra

In the same pan, sauté the cubes of pork belly and the chistorra and set them aside too once golden. The chorizo and cecina will go straight into the stew without being sautéed first.

7. Make the sofrito

Next, make the sofrito. In a frying pan, heat 50 ml olive oil, add the chopped vegetables and cook them down. When they look translucent, add 50 g crushed tomato, 1 teaspoon cumin and a little ground black pepper to taste. Stir everything together and set aside until it is time to add it to the feijoada.

8. Add the meats to the beans

With all the ingredients ready, once the beans have cooked for 1 hour, add the sautéed meats and the cecina cut into pieces. Keep the chorizo back to add later.

9. Cover with water and add the sofrito

Once everything is in the pot, add a little more water to cover, a teaspoon of salt, cover the pot and wait for it to come back to a boil. When it boils, add the vegetable sofrito and stir so it mixes with the beans and meat.

10. Add the chorizo and simmer

Finally, add the sliced chorizo. At this point, taste the stew and adjust the salt if needed. Cover the pot and let it cook over medium-low heat for about 2 more hours.

11. Cook the rice

While the feijoada finishes cooking, cook the rice for serving. Wash 180 g rice with water to remove excess starch and put it in a saucepan with plenty of boiling water, add 1 teaspoon salt and cook for 15 minutes. After that time, taste it and if it is cooked to your liking, take the pan off the heat. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water. This keeps the grains separate and free of starch.

12. Prepare the orange

Next, peel 1 orange, cut it into half-centimeter slices and set them aside with the rice to serve with the feijoada.

13. Check doneness and rest

Taste the beans and check the meat is tender. When they are cooked, take the pot off the heat and let the feijoada rest for a few minutes before serving.

14. Bring it to the table

After resting, take it to the table along with the white rice and the orange, and it is ready to enjoy.

15. Plate each serving

To serve the feijoada, spoon a little white rice onto each plate, add a couple of ladles of feijoada and accompany with a few orange slices.

16. Serve

Serve the feijoada hot, with the rice and orange alongside, for a hearty Brazilian meal.

Tips for the Best Feijoada

Soak the beans properly

Twelve hours of soaking softens the black beans so they cook evenly and keeps the stew from turning starchy. Drain and rinse them before they go into the pot, and skim the surface as they simmer.

Build the flavor in stages

Sear the fresh meats first, then brown the pork belly and chistorra, and cook the sofrito until the vegetables are translucent. Adding the chorizo and cecina at the right moment keeps their cured flavor from taking over the stew.

Serve it the Brazilian way

White rice and orange slices are the classic pairing: the rice soaks up the rich broth and the orange cuts through the smoked meats. Let the feijoada rest a few minutes off the heat before serving for the best texture.

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