Portuguese Feijoada is a hearty and delicious bean stew that combines a variety of preserved sausages, pork meat, and vegetables. When describing Portuguese gastronomy, we often mention the typical features of a Mediterranean diet, ingredients like fish, olive oil, peppers, tomatoes, and wheat. A cuisine full of light and fresh ingredients that suits sunny Portugal, its beach resorts, and warm temperatures.
What most people don’t know, is that the Portuguese also love a hearty meal. Even more, those that include their incredible selection of preserved meats. Feijoada is one of them! A bean stew that combines a variety of preserved sausages, pork meat, and vegetables. Traditionally, this was a good way to use as much as possible from the pig. Cuts with lesser commercial value were prioritized, including the ears, feet, and the head. As the more modern feijoada became quite customisable, these parts are not as frequently used.
What is Feijoada?
As the name suggests, feijoada is a stew made with beans, called feijão in Portuguese. Although today we focus on the Portuguese Feijoada – Feijoada à Portuguesa, the dish is popular across most former Portuguese colonies, like Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and quite famously, in Brazil! Yet, they can vary significantly from country to country and even within a country. In Portugal there are a couple of different recipes: Feijoada à Transmontana is usually made with kidney beans, while Feijoada Poveira calls for cannellini beans. In Brazil, black beans are preferred.
The Origins of Feijoada
In Brazil, some popular theories explain feijoada as a dish created by African slaves. In this theory, the dish was invented with some of the scarce ingredients accessible to them: black beans, and parts of the pork rejected by the slave-masters. Although black beans are native to the Americas, this theory has been already challenged, since it’s highly improbable that the slaves would have access to any meat at all.
Instead, it’s more plausible that it emerged from Portuguese attempts to recreate something familiar with the ingredients they had in South America. As hearty stews combining meat and vegetables were very common in Europe. They can be traced back to the Roman Empire, and they are the source of creations like the French cassoulet, and the Portuguese cozido. The bean stew created by the Portuguese would then spread to the colonies, adapting to the local taste and ingredients, which in most cases became very different from the Feijoada à Portuguesa.
About Our Portuguese Feijoada Recipe – Feijoada à Transmontana
Feijoada à Transmontana is how feijoada is prepared in the North of the country, with kidney beans that add a beautiful reddish-brown hue to the stew. The meat used can vary, but traditionally it comprises different types of chorizos, including a local type known as chouriço mouro, bacon, and pork cuts such as ribs, shank, feet, and ears. Everything is slow cooked in the same pot to which carrots and cabbages are added balancing out the heavy meat.
Like most stews, preparing this recipe can take a couple of hours, so it’s perfect for days where you have more time to spare. Since you are going for the effort to cook a feijoada from scratch, it makes sense to use dry beans instead of tinned! We always favour more practical options, but in this case it’s highly recommended you use dry beans. Our tip is to soak them prior to use, this will not only reduce the cooking time significantly, but will also help eliminate some of the phytic acid it contains. Plus, it will make your stew much creamier and more delicious!
The meat we used in our Feijoada à Transmontana were chorizo, morcela which is a type of blood sausage, bacon, and pork ribs. This can be adapted depending on what ingredients are available to you! This classic Portuguese comfort food is perfect for a family dinner and we guarantee it will make you want to try more of the Portuguese hearty food!
How to Make Feijoada à Transmontana
Portuguese Feijoada à Transmontana – Portuguese Bean Stew
8
servings30
minutes40
minutes751
kcalPortuguese Feijoada is a hearty and delicious bean stew that combines a variety of preserved sausages, pork meat, and vegetables.
Ingredients
200 g Chorizo
200 g Morcela
600 g Pork Ribs
150 g Whole Bacon
2 tbsp Olive Oil
500 g Kidney Beans
2 Medium Onions – Sliced
3 garlic Cloves – minced
2 tbsp Tomato Paste
2 Medium carrots – sliced
300 g Cabbage – Roughly Chopped
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1/4 tsp Chili Powder
2 Bay Leaves
Salt
Pepper
Fresh Parsley – roughly chopped
Directions
- Place a large pot with a thick base over medium to high heat. Once hot, add the olive oil. Add the whole chorizo and blood sausage to the pot. Make sure to remove the metallic ends of the sausages. Sear it on both sides until golden, remove it from the pot. Then fry the whole piece of bacon and pork ribs. Set everything aside.
- Use the same pot to fry the onions and garlic until soften. Add another drizzle of olive oil if necessary. Add the tomato paste.
- Drain the soaked beans, add it to the onion and garlic mixture, fry everything for about 5 minutes. Add in the seasonings: paprika, cumin, coriander, chilli powder, and bay leaves. Season it with salt and pepper. Return the meat and preserved sausages to the pan. Add enough water to cover everything.
- Bring it to a boil, then let it simmer for about 1h15m or until the beans start to soften . Stirring occasionally and adding more water if necessary.
- Pull the whole sausages from the pan. Slice them, then put them back in the stew. Do the same with the bacon piece, dicing it.
- Add in the chopped carrots. Continue to stew everything for about 30 minutes or until the carrots and beans are completely cooked. Add the cabbage. Cook for another 5 minutes.
- Season it with more salt and pepper if necessary, top it with roughly chopped fresh parsley. Serve it with white rice!
If this sparkled your curiosity with the more hearty Portuguese food, perhaps you want to try this Portuguese Duck Rice or these Portuguese Pork and Clams. Have you tried this Portuguese Feijoada? Let us know in the comments!
