Brazil’s black-bean and smoked-meat feast, simmered for hours and served with rice, greens, orange, and farofa.

Where does Feijoada come from?

Feijoada is a Brazilian (Carioca) dish from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Can Feijoada be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

Yes. This Feijoada recipe includes ingredient substitutions to make it vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, or egg-free — including several of those at once, such as gluten-free and dairy-free together.

How long does Feijoada take to make?

About 180 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 150 minutes cooking), serving 6.

Recipe

Name: Feijoada
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 180 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Brazilian (Carioca)
Ingredients: 1 lb dried black beans, soaked; 2 lbs assorted smoked and cured meats (pork ribs, sausage, bacon); 2 onions; 6 cloves garlic; 3 bay leaves; 4 cups collard greens, finely sliced (couve); 1 cup cassava flour (for farofa); 3 oranges, sliced; 4 cups cooked white rice, to serve; 4 tbsp neutral oil

South America → 🇧🇷 Brazil → Rio de Janeiro

Feijoada

Brazilian (Carioca) · medium · serves 6

prep 30 min · cook 150 min

~1446 cal · 50g protein · 193g carbs · 52g fat (estimated, per serving)

🍽️

Black bean and meat stew with rice, greens, and orange slices

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro

Feijoada is Brazil’s Saturday institution — a black-bean cauldron of smoked and cured meats that Rio families start in the morning and gather around by afternoon. The sliced orange isn’t decoration; it cuts the richness so you can keep going.

Make it yours

Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.

🥕 Vegetarian

🌱 Vegan

🌾 Gluten-Free

🥛 Dairy-Free

🥜 Nut-Free

🥚 Egg-Free

Ingredients

Serves 6 —

•

1 lb dried black beans, soaked

•

2 lbs assorted smoked and cured meats (pork ribs, sausage, bacon)

•

2 onions

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6 cloves garlic

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3 bay leaves

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4 cups collard greens, finely sliced (couve)

•

1 cup cassava flour (for farofa)

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3 oranges, sliced

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4 cups cooked white rice, to serve

•

4 tbsp neutral oil

Instructions

Simmer the beans with bay in plenty of water. Add the smoked meats (or tofu, mushrooms, and paprika) after 30 minutes.

Cook low 2 hours, topping up water, until the beans are creamy and the broth is dark and thick.

Fry a sofrito of onion and garlic; ladle in some beans, mash, and stir back to thicken the whole pot.

Quick-fry the collards in oil until just wilted; toast the cassava flour in oil with a little onion into golden farofa.

Serve the feijoada over rice with couve, farofa, and orange slices — and the whole afternoon ahead of you.

Rio de Janeiro Saturday tradition.

Ratings & reviews

No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.

🌏 While it simmers — know your destination

📍

Rio de Janeiro. Where feijoada earns the whole Saturday.

🗺️

Brazil. A continent-sized country with an Afro-Brazilian coastal soul.

🌍

South America. Andes, Amazon, and Atlantic all on one plate.

The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.

👩‍🍳

Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker

Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →