South America → Brazil → Rio de Janeiro
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Farofa (Brazilian Toasted Cassava Flour)
Raw cassava flour toasted in butter and bacon fat with onion and garlic until golden, sandy and crunchy, spooned over feijoada, rice and beans and churrasco.
Brazilian (Carioca) · easy · serves 6
prep 10 min · cook 15 min
~302 cal · 3g protein · 40g carbs · 15g fat · 3g fiber · 1g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Farofa is toasted flour, and there is a bowl of it on almost every Brazilian table. Diners spoon it over their food as they like: over black beans and rice, over the feijoada that Rio de Janeiro eats on Saturdays, over grilled meat at a churrascaria, where it soaks up the juices and adds a toasty crunch.
It starts with farinha de mandioca, the coarse flour made from grated, pressed and dried root. In the most common home version it is stirred in a pan with butter and the rendered fat of diced bacon, with onion and garlic, until every grain is coated and turns golden and fragrant, then finished with chopped parsley and spring onion. Families have their own versions, with sausage, egg, banana or olives, and in Bahia it is made yellow with dendê .
The texture should be like damp sand turned crunchy, never greasy and never burnt, so it is stirred constantly over gentle heat. It keeps well and is served at room temperature.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, nut- and egg-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
- 100 g (about 3 strips) smoked bacon, diced
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups (250 g) raw flour (farinha de mandioca crua)
- to taste salt
- to taste black pepper
- 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup spring onions or chives, finely chopped
Instructions
- 1Put the bacon in a cold, wide frying pan and set it over medium heat so the fat renders slowly. When it starts to fry, add the butter and cook until the bacon is golden.
- 2Add the onion and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until soft and translucent, then the garlic for a minute until fragrant.
- 3Tip in the cassava flour, season with salt and pepper, and turn the heat to medium-low. Stir constantly for 5 to 8 minutes until every grain is coated and the farofa smells toasty and turns an even golden colour.✎ Chef’s noteNever stop stirring. Cassava flour goes from golden to burnt in moments, and a burnt farofa is bitter.
- 4Take the pan off the heat, stir in the parsley and spring onions and taste for salt.
- 5Serve at room temperature in a bowl for everyone to sprinkle over feijoada, rice and beans or grilled meat.
Brazilian home tradition (Rio de Janeiro and nationwide).
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Rio de Janeiro. The story that feijoada was invented by enslaved people out of scraps the master threw away is contested rather than settled: Brazilian food historians point to European bean-and-meat stews instead and treat the scraps account as a later myth. What is certain is the ritual, Saturday, from late morning, over several hours.
🗺️
Brazil. Cassava is the oldest thing on the Brazilian table, domesticated in South America long before the Portuguese arrived and still processed by Indigenous methods: grated, pressed, and toasted into the coarse farinha that becomes farofa, or settled out as the starch sold as tapioca. Even the poisonous liquid pressed from the root is boiled down into tucupi and used as a seasoning.
🌍
South America. Migration reworked the plate within living memory. Japanese arrivals in Peru and Brazil produced Nikkei cooking, Italians made pasta and pizza entirely ordinary in Argentina, Uruguay and Sao Paulo, and West African cooking carried into Bahia by the slave trade gave Brazil dende palm oil, okra and a whole ritual repertoire.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Brazil
Moqueca Baiana (Bahian Fish Stew)Fish simmered in coconut milk, dendê palm oil, peppers, and lime in a clay pot, the taste of the Bahian coast.
Pão de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Puffs)Chewy-crisp little cheese breads made from tapioca starch, naturally gluten-free and dangerously poppable.
FeijoadaBrazil’s black-bean and smoked-meat feast, simmered for hours and served with rice, greens, orange, and farofa.
Browse all Brazil recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan.
Storing it: Best assembled just before serving. Prep the components ahead and dress at the last moment so it stays crisp.
Make it a Brazil meal
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BrigadeiroDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Farofa (Brazilian Toasted Cassava Flour)?
Raw cassava flour toasted in butter and bacon fat with onion and garlic until golden, sandy and crunchy, spooned over feijoada, rice and beans and churrasco.
Where does Farofa (Brazilian Toasted Cassava Flour) come from?
Farofa (Brazilian Toasted Cassava Flour) is a Brazilian (Carioca) dish from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Can Farofa (Brazilian Toasted Cassava Flour) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Farofa (Brazilian Toasted Cassava Flour) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Farofa (Brazilian Toasted Cassava Flour) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Farofa (Brazilian Toasted Cassava Flour) take to make?
About 25 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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