Brazilian Style Beans
Today’s post is dedicated to my dear friend Laural, one of my best taste testers for this blog.
Laural and I work together and the other day she was complaining about beans. She said that she loves beans, but they make her feel bloated. I told her that I had the perfect recipe for her, and promised to send it to her as soon as possible. However, since these days my whole life revolves around this blog (even our weekly menu is based on the blog), I decided to make a post for those delicious Brazilian Style Beans so I can share it not only with Laural, but with all of you! :)
Beans are sacred for Brazilians. In Brazil we eat beans at least once a day, sometimes more. A typical lunch consists of rice, beans (we usually use carioca beans, but you’d also see other kinds of beans, like black beans for example), beef or chicken, salad and fries. I know you’re probably thinking: “Triple starch!!! What a heresy!” You can judge us, I don’t care! It’s delicious! Carbs are my friend!
So, since we eat a lot of beans, imagine if we hadn’t figured out a way to eliminate the bean’s gases. No fun, huh? Thankfully, we have a trick that will change your life (and your digestion) forever.
The trick is: the night before you plan to serve beans, wash them really well (having already picked through and discarded the damaged beans and stones. This is important!) until the water coming out is translucent. Then boil some water (enough to cover the beans) and soak over night. The washing plus soaking helps to eliminate the starch, which is the main reason for gas production.
I’m using carioca beans today, which are similar to pinto beans. But you can use any type of beans you’d like! :)
The picture above was taken the morning after soaking the beans overnight. Do you see how the water is “blurred’? That’s the starch! And sometimes you can see some gases floating in there as well!
Drain the beans and rinse them one more time. If you want, you could soak them again for a few more hours if you’re not ready to cook them.
To cook the beans, I use a pressure cooker. Every Brazilian owns a pressure cooker, mostly because we are lazy and don’t wanna stay all day in the kitchen. So if you are like me, go buy one now! :) If you don’t wanna go buy one (Why?!?), you can totally cook the beans in a regular pot but it will take you 1.5 to 2 hours.
In the pressure cooker, add the beans (2 cups), 2 bay leaves and 8 cups of water. Let it cook over high heat until the pressure cooker starts “singing”, then lower the heat to medium. It should take 30 minutes for the beans to be cooked and al dente. Just turn the heat off, wait for the pressure to come out, then open and check on them. If they are not ready yet, keep cooking in increments of 15 minutes until they are tender.
Now that the beans are cooked, the fun begins! You can pretty much put whatever you want in your beans. People put sausage, pork, tofu, etc. I put bacon! I think the bacon adds flavor to the beans without overpowering the dish, because it’s a side dish after all. If I’m eating it as a main dish, then I might add some sausage. There’s also feijoada, which is a black bean stew cooked with all kinds of pork meat, but I’ll leave that for another post.
So, in a large skillet, add the chopped bacon and let it fry in its own fat. Once the bacon is golden, add the garlic and the onion and sauté until translucent. If it’s too dry, you can add some olive oil.
Take a ladle of beans (just beans without broth) and add it to the bacon/garlic/onion mixture. Cook it for a minute or so and, with the back of a wooden spoon, mash the beans a bit until they get kinda thick. The mashed beans will help thicken your beans and they will be absolutely amazing! So don’t skip this step!!!
Now you can either transfer this mixture to the rest of the beans or transfer the rest of the beans to this mixture. I chose to add the beans to the skillet, because my skillet was big enough. But either way would work!
Let the beans cook (over medium-low heat) until they thicken to the desired consistency. That should take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes.
Season with salt, discard the bay leaves and serve with rice.
You can cook your beans ahead, freeze them and do the whole seasoning part (bacon, garlic, onions, etc) whenever you’re ready to serve them.
If I would be an organized person, I would always have beans in my freezer. Because beans are delicious, they are good for you and they make any meal better. There’s seriously nothing better than a plate with freshly cooked rice and beans. And your house/apartment will smell amazing!
P.S. You can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days! :)
Brazilian Style Beans
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried carioca (or pinto) beans
- 8 cups of water, plus more for washing and soaking
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 strips of bacon, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Notes
If freezing, freeze after cooking in the pressure cooker and season on the day you plan on serving.
34 Comments on “Brazilian Style Beans”
Olivia, it is funny I was planning to make Brazilian beans and post on my blog because all my Canadian friends wants to know how to make Brazilian beans. We in Bahia just cook beans a little bit different because you know we love spicy food. So we add lots of spices like cumin, coriander and so on. But yours looks very tasty. I love the picture with the rice ;-)
There’s nothing like brazilian beans! :) In São Paulo we keep it simple. The secret is lots of garlic! :) I don’t mind spices as long as it doesn’t taste like mexican beans. The other day we went to a restaurant here in NY that claimed they had feijoada. The “feijoada” turned out to be mexican beans with brown rice. Like, seriously? lol Anyway, can’t wait for you to post your recipe so I can try that too!
I love brazilian beans but have never known how to make them before! Thanks for the recipe.. it’s definitely one that I will be making in my kitchen.
Thank you :) Let me know what you think!!
Hi Olivia
I bought some “feijao catarino” dried beans when I was in Portugal to make the rice and beans like they serve in Brazil but I didn’t understand where it said on the packaging to soak overnight. I only soaked them for 3 hours and then I have put then into the slow cooker on high for 6 hours – is it safe to eat them or should I discard.
Thanks &b Regards
Mariella, Wimbledon, London
Hi Mariella,
It is totally safe to eat. I soak mine overnight for convenience so I don’t have to wait a long time during the day and also to get rid of “gas”. But I know people that don’t even soak their beans at all… They might take a little longer to cook (and cause a little more gas! Oops!) but it’s safe. Let me know if you have any other questions! :) Best, Olivia
I’ve never had Brazilian beans, but these definitely make me want to try them. Great recipe!
Thank you, Tammy! :)
Grew up in niteroi and mom used to cook feijao manteiga. Is that the same as carioca beans? Where can i buy them? Appreciate any help. Can’t wait to try your recipes. Muitas saudades do Brasil…
Hi Irene, you can try a Brazilian grocery store. I usually just use pinto beans here in the US!
I have family from Brazil so I grew up with rice and beans!! :) Yummiest food on the planet! We usually prefer using the black beans and then I cook bacon like you do and then add fresh minced garlic and some of those little hot Brazilian bode peppers! :) I do garlic and the peppers (left whole) in my rice too. But my FAVORITE FAVORITE Brazilian side dish is the spaghetti that they call macarrao! Maybe I’ll try adding the onion to my beans next time?
I’m really happy to find this recipe. One of our 2017 goals is to eat more of the rice and beans we used to enjoy in Brazil. We lived in Maringa-PR for about 3 years and my husband still talks about the beans he would have for lunch every day. I’ve never been able to get it right so I’m definitely trying this recipe!
Still using this recipe in 2020! I’m half Brazilian and my grandma used to make the BEST beans, this recipe resembles it almost perfectly which means a lot because I miss her very much. It makes a lot of sense to mash the beans then add to the broth, definitely DONT skip that step!
Until this dish, I never knew beans could be the star of the show. We made this last week because it looked easy and interesting. We liked it so much, we made it again this week just for us and again for a dinner party last night. Each time, we added extra garlic . Every time, it’s been a crowd pleaser.
This was really easy to make but so flavorful. Will definitely be making this again!
Hi Olivia
I’ve been cooking many years -50+a and lived in Brasil some time, but had a cook and didn’t get into the refinement of beans. We loved them EVERY day. I prepared your recipe today ; they look and smell fabulous. I have big question: after the 2 cups of beans are soaked overnight in the 8 cups of water and drained, do I use just 2 cups for the recipe or use the doubled amount-around 4-5 cups to finish the cooking process?
Thank you for such a great side, or in most cases, a full meal with rice. Delicious!
Hi Kay, the 8 cups of water are for cooking the beans. To soak them overnight, just add enough water to cover them. Discard that water in the morning and cook with 8 cups of clean water. Hope that helps!
Hi Olivia! I just wanted to send you a thank you for posting all these Brazilian recipes online. I and my family were in Brazil for a Fulbright Fellowship when COVID-19 hit, and as such we’ve been stuck in a rented apartment for months. I’ve been cooking most of our meals since we can’t go out to restaurants, and your recipes have helped us to experience a little more of Brazil than we would have otherwise. Plus, I’ve been able to figure out what to do with all the unfamiliar ingredients in the grocery stores. Muito obrigado!
Hi Brian,
I’m so glad I was able to provide a little comfort in such difficult times! :) Thank you so much for the feedback.
Hi Olivia, thank you so much for this recipe! I’m amazed at how simple it is to make this crazy yummy accompaniment.
I live on the other side of the planet and have always wanted to make this at home after discovering Brazilian cuisine during some work trips to Sao Paulo.
Anyway, more recently, I decided to go on a plant based diet for health reasons. Well, it’s more like trying to eat no meat or processed meat to be honest, but I’m getting there. I wanted to ask if you had any suggestions on what would be a decent replacement for the bacon and yet preserve the taste and texture of this dish? I know there might not be any but I thought it was worth asking. (This coming from a person who once thought that even Turkey bacon was pure blasphemy! )
Thank you once again!
Hi Terry! You can just omit the bacon. 😊
Hi Olivia,
I’m looking for help to see what I did wrong as it never thickened and was super runny. I did transfer the ladle of beans (without broth) first and smashed them in the skillet. I read the instructions to say you transfer all 8 cups (broth) from the pressure cooker to the skillet. Any thoughts on what I did wrong? Thanks.
Just boil until it thickens!
Would you do anything different if you were using an electric pressure cooker rather then one on the stove?
No. But I’d still sauté the onion, garlic and bacon separately and add at the end. Check my Instagram page as I have a video where I cook beans in an Instant Pot. :)
Oi Olivia!!! What is the importance of the bay leaves? Just asking as that is the only ingredient I dont normally have available. How does it modify the flavor? Obrigada!
Hi Carol,
Some people believe that bay leaves help tenderize the beans and also aid digestion. I personally like the slightly herbal flavor it adds to the beans.
You can definitely omit them if you don’t have them on hand!
This was perfect! So simple, yet so yummy! I used kidney beans which had been soaked in water for 4 h before pressure cooking them.
Olivia, I am so excited to have come across your blog! My husband and I spent several years living in Sao Paulo, where our oldest daughter was born. We are American but speak only Portuguese in our home with our kids. Due to COVID, we have been unable to go back for a while. Que saudades!! It has been so fun to make these recipes on your blog and bring Brazil to us instead–this is the first time I’ve ever had success with Brazilian beans! I could never get them to thicken up before. I also loved your recipes for feijoada, couve, vinagrete, and pudim! Can’t wait to try some of your others. Muito obrigada!
Hi Maren, welcome! So glad you found me. I hope my recipes keep bringing you happiness!! ♥️
I made these, except I didn’t have bacon so I pan seared a pound of ground pork until it was a deep golden brown, then added onions and garlic to the pan of fond and added the lot to the bean pot, mixed it around, and let it all cook together for about 20 min. It was delicious.
So glad you loved it! ❤️
Hi. Help pls! I don’t have a pressure cooker, so soaked beans overnight and then boiled till tender, draining the water, so just have cooked beans left. ( I saw this recipe after I did that) So, my question is to get them like yours, how can I achieve the same texture now?? I don’t know how much water to add now, since they are fully cooked…
Hi Judy, sorry for the late reply. I would remove some of the beans and mash into a paste. Add water to the pot with the beans, along with the mashed beans and cook on medium-high until it thickens.