Quick and Easy Feijoada – Brazilian Black Bean and Sausage Stew

Here is a weeknight-friendly version of Brazil’s so-called national dish, feijoada! Authentic feijoada takes hours to prepare. It’s fantastic, but here we take a few shortcuts to turn feijoada into a 30-minute meal. Instead of starting with dry black beans, we use canned beans along with smoked sausage and thick-cut bacon. With some aromatics and a citrus spritz, this quick and easy feijoada is a thoroughly delicious stew!

Traditional feijoada features black beans and pork in many incarnations: sausage, bacon, and salted pork (such as a ham hock). It can even include the lesser-used parts, such as pig ears, nose, or feet. Feijoada is most often served with rice, which soaks up the broth nicely, and a slice of orange. Farofa, ground cassava grains toasted in butter or oil, is also popular to serve with feijoada if you are feeling more adventurous.

The classic version takes such a long time to prepare since you have to soak the dry beans, soak the salted pork (to de-salt it somewhat), and then simmer the beans and pork for a long time. Today, Brazilians most commonly serve this dish on the weekend, when they have the time to prepare it, and for a gathering of family or friends. This quick and easy feijoada recipe, though, is the weeknight version. Canned beans and quick-cooking meats let us capture the delicious flavor of feijoada in a fraction of the time.

Feijoada is popular throughout the Portuguese-speaking world, in such countries as Mozambique, Angola, East Timor, and Macau. With each country, or even region, feijoada has different incarnations. Nonetheless, the Brazilian version is the best known. The unifying factor is beans: black, white, or red. The name feijoada itself derives from the word for bean, feijão. Besides pork, other variations may include beef or seafood.

And how do you pronounce this yummy stew? Feijoada is pronounced fayzh-oh-ahd-ah. Although, when a Brazilian colleague said it for me, I’m certain that last “a” got dropped.

I hope you enjoy my quick and easy feijoada. Bom apetite!

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Quick and Easy Feijoada

The weeknight version of Brazil's black bean and pork stew

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Brazilian

Keyword: beans, sausage

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 75 g (2.6 oz) lardons or thick-cut bacon cut into ½ cm (¼ in) strips
• 2 onions chopped
• 5 cloves garlic minced
• 4 smoked sausages about 360 g (12.7 oz)
• 820 g (29 oz) can black beans drained but unrinsed
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 500 ml (2 cups) beef broth
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp lime juice (see note)

For serving

• Cooked rice
• 4 orange slices
• 4 tbsp chopped cilantro

Instructions

• In a large pot over medium heat, cook the lardons, chopped onions, and minced garlic for about 5 minutes or until the onion softens.
• Cut the smoked sausages into bite-sized slices, about 1 cm (1/2 inch) wide.
• With a fork or potato masher, mash approximately ½ cup of black beans to help thicken the stew. Add the smoked sausages, dried oregano, bay leaf, beef broth, and drained + mashed black beans to the pot. Stir to combine and let simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
• In a small bowl, mix 1 tsp cornstarch with a small amount of cold water. Stir to dissolve, and add to the hot stew. Simmer for 1 more minute to thicken.
• Stir in black pepper to taste and a tablespoon of lime juice. Taste, and add salt if needed (I didn’t need to add any).
• Serve over rice, with a slice of orange and sprinkled with plenty of chopped cilantro.

Notes

1. Traditionally, feijoada is served with an orange slice and no lime juice. Personally, I love this recipe with lime juice. It balances the flavor wonderfully. Alternatively, you can add 2 to 3 tbsp orange juice.