Feijão Tropeiro (Brazilian Beans with Sausage and Collard Greens)
If you like Brazilian food, this one is for you: Feijão Tropeiro. A traditional dish from Minas Gerais, made with beans, bacon, sausage, collard greens, eggs and manioc flour.
You guys asked for it, so here it is! ❤️
No wonder this is by far the most requested recipe on this blog to this date. Feijão Tropeiro is really to die for and is the ultimate Brazilian dish. As in, as I was eating it, I felt like I was home!
Funny how that works! I am always amazed at this insane power that food has, not only nourishing our bodies but also our souls. There is definitely something special about the act of eating: it can stimulate a wide range of feelings and transport us to all sorts of places!
Good food should be able to satisfy your hunger AND your spirit, it should improve your mood and it should connect us to one another. That, right there, is the reason I write this food blog! I celebrate the joy of food and my recipes are the projection of my heart. From me, to you, to your families and friends, to the world. We are all one, connecting from the moment an ingredient leaves the farmer’s hand to making its way onto our forks.
This might read a little “hippie”, I know, but it is so true. I guess if you, like me, are living far away from your country, it is easier to understand the solace that only a dish from home can bring.
I think that’s why Brazilian restaurants here in the U.S. are so expensive. The ingredients for the food they sell are cheap, but they know Brazilians will come no matter what, because they need that emotional connection from a plate of Brazilian food.
Did I scare you already? Are you running for the hills thinking I am completely crazy?
Hopefully not. I have a feeling we share the same passion for food and that you are now dying to make this Feijão Tropeiro, to see what could have possibly awoken all of these strong emotions in me. Am I right? ?
It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary. This dish is made from simple, easy to find (in Brazil, but we’ll get to that!) ingredients and is usually made with leftovers. If you don’t usually have leftover beans, that’s okay! Just be prepared to wash lots of dishes. Totally worth it, though!
Feijão Tropeiro translates to “Cattleman’s Beans”. I’ll explain: back in Brazil’s colonial times, troops of cattlemen – known as “tropeiros”, in Portuguese – would travel long distances to explore the inland territories of Brazil and transport cattle and commodities.
The expeditions were long and could last for months, so they carried certain staple provisions – that didn’t need any refrigeration – along with them, like dried beans, carne seca (salted dried meat) and manioc flour.
These ingredients were eventually combined into one hearty and filling dish, the Feijão Tropeiro, which since then carries the nickname of the explorers.
As the dish became popular throughout the country, many cooks have come up with their own interpretations, using different types of beans and meat or adding other ingredients. Everybody’s mother or grandmother makes a delicious Feijão Tropeiro and swear by it. I swear by my version, but feel free to modify according to your likings, so you can swear by YOUR version!
I am suggesting substitutes for the ingredients I think you won’t find as easily if you’re not in Brazil. Again, this is a very forgiving dish, so if you can’t get your hands on the right type of beans or sausage, use whatever you can find.
Some people say that a Feijão Tropeiro, to be authentic, has to have beans, meat and manioc flour. If you don’t have a Brazilian market near by, you can order Manioc flour through Amazon. If you don’t wanna do that, you can either use coarse corn meal or just omit the flour! It won’t be authentic, but it will still be delicious.
Feijão Tropeiro is traditionally served with white rice and torresmos (fried pork cracklings). It sometimes acts as the “side dish”. For me, it is the star of my table, so I served with rice and a sunny side egg on top. (I like my egg crispy on the sides, don’t judge!)
Whether you are a Brazilian living far from home, the spouse or significant other of a Brazilian living far from home who wants to cook something nice for your loved one, or just someone who is intrigued to try Feijão Tropeiro, I am 100% sure you will love this!
I am really glad you guys asked for this recipe. Keep the requests coming! They keep my creativity flowing and give me ideas of what dishes to share here with you. You don’t have to request only Brazilian dishes. Anything, from any part of the world, is fair game. ?
Have a great week! ❤️
Feijão Tropeiro (Brazilian Beans with Sausage and Collard Greens)
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry carioca beans (substitute: pinto beans), rinsed *
- 2 bay leaves, dried or fresh
- 6 cups water
- 1 bunch collard greens, rinsed and dried
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 14 ounces calabresa sausage, sliced (substitute: chorizo, smoked kielbasa or any other smoked sausage)
- 1/2 pound thick sliced bacon, diced
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced, divided
- 5 eggs
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups toasted manioc flour
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chopped parsley and green onions to taste
Instructions
Notes
* In Brazil we soak our beans overnight (cold water), or for at least 30 minutes before cooking (hot water). Then, before cooking, we get rid of that water and use fresh water to cook the beans.
Disclosure: This post might contain affiliate links.
29 Comments on “Feijão Tropeiro (Brazilian Beans with Sausage and Collard Greens)”
This dish looks so wonderful and I love the story about how it got it’s name!
Love the background/history of the dish. It looks and sounds fantastic. I also love crispy-edged eggs, no judgement here! You got the yolk PERFECT, too!
I’ve never had Brazilian food before, but I need to. This recipe looks amazing – my mouth is watering!
Hello, I appreciate your comment. I’m Brazilian and I live in Orlando. I can do it for you, if one day when you stay here. If you try Brazilian Food, you’ll fall in love
This looks so good! I’ve never had Brazilian food before, so I’m anxious to give this a try.
PS–loved the historical background of the dish. The history major in me squealed with delight while reading it! So interesting :-D
I am not very familiar with Brazilian food but this sure looks amazing! I want to dig right in!
This looks DELICIOUS and so hearty! Never tried it before, so thanks for the introduction! I totally agree that a good homey recipe is good for the soul :)
The combination of flavors here is wonderful. I appreciate the Brazilian cattlemen history lesson here, too. Lucky me there are Brazilian and Caribbean markets near me! I must find this manioc flour you speak of and try this out! Love the egg topped one, too! :)
Hello Kevin, I can send for you some mandioc flour. Thank you appreciate it. I’m Brazilian and live in Orlando. I love to cook Brazilian food
I ‘m so happy I found your blog! I’m Brazilian and I live in Texas. Your recipes already adapted to the ingredients we can find here is a dream coming true! Thank You so much!
Get ready to get a lot of visits because I’m recommending it to all the Brazilian community here! :)
Had this today for the first time, didn’t even know a dish like this exist. Hands down a recipe keeper –
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks, Ronald.
I made this dish for a group of Brazilians in Canada and they were SO impressed! I used black turtle beans and substituted carne seca for the bacon. A LOT of dishes but well worth the effort! I served it with crispy fried pig’s ears. I was surprised at the Canadians willingness to eat them and they were a hit too!
Made this for my partner who is Brazillian, absolutely amazing, thankyou
I’m so glad to hear, Rachael! It’s one of my favorite dishes.
So good. Muito gustosso!
I made this last night (my first time making feijao tropeiro) and it was AWESOME!!! I cut it in half because we were doing a long day of churrasco. 1/2 a recipe fed 8 as a side dish, with enough leftovers for my husband to enjoy for breakfast and lunch.
I admit it…I used canned beans! For 1/2 a recipe, 1 30oz can of Pinto Beans (drained, rinsed) was plenty. If I made the full recipe, I would use 2 30oz cans Pinto Beans.
I also made it about 4 hours before serving and left it covered on the counter. I did everything except add in the farofa (I did stir in parsley and green onions when I made it ahead) – when it was time to serve, I rewarmed it, covered, on the stove. Then I stirred in the farofa, topped with additional green onions & parsley, and added lots of torresmos. We served with grilled meats, rice, and vinagrete (and Brazilian hot sauce, which I put on everything!).
My Brazilian husband and two new Brazilian friends (who now all live in the USA) absolutely loved it!!! I will definitely make this over and over again…
So glad you guys loved it! It’s one of my favorite recipes on the blog. :) I like the idea of adding torresmos. Did you make your own?
Wow…it only took me 6 months to answer your question…I’m so sorry about that! I do not make my own torresmos. Here in Columbus, we have Mexican markets that sell them. They’re called ‘Chicharrones’ and they’re amazing! I’ve since been back to Brazil yet again. We are hosting a dinner party next weekend with some friends (one who goes to Brazil often for business) and I will be making your fabulous feijao tropeiro recipe for them. Let me know if there’s anything else you think I should make?? I was thinking mandioca frita, pao de queijo (I use a blender recipe too!), feijao tropeiro, rice, caipirhinas (duh…), and then I think my husband will make bife. But if you have additional suggestions I would love to hear them.
Hi Olivia.. My son married a woman from Brazil and she’s been here in the states for a few years now.. Well I thought I would try my hand with this recipe for her 30th birthday.. I made her cry.. Lol. She absolutely loved it. She said that I nailed it for sure.. Thanks for helping me to give her a wonderful birthday..
Oh, that’s so sweet! I’m so glad I could help bring her a little bit of home. Thanks for letting me know. ♥️
Hi and thank you for this recipe! A colleague of mine if Brazilian and inspired me to try cooking Brazilian food. But I have a little problem : I’m French and I live in France. I never even heard of collard greens before reading this. It happened that I do have a Portuguese store in my little town but I’m not sure they’ll have any. What can I use instead? I thought of chicory pan di zucchero which I can easily have. It’s between cabbage and endive, very good cooked and is very slightly bitter. I love using it when I cook a risotto so it’s should be a good replacement, what do you think?
@belette670:
Ask at the Portuguese store for couve tronchuda. That’s what you’e looking for.
My stepdad (Brazilian born) has been making this for us for 4 years and we still can’t get over how delicious it is, he usually makes it for when we have a “Brazilian BBQ”. Anyways me and my stepdad made some last night and here’s what we used: Pinto beans, manioc flour, bacon, Brazilian sausage, onions, garlic, and of course, collard greens. Let me tell you this, it’s really messy (along with all those dishes to watch afterwards) but it’s all worth it. Anyways i hope y’all are doing well during quarantine!
Hi, does anyone know how I could adapt this recipe for ninja foodi? I am not sure if I should just go use it with medium pressure for 20 minutes or if I should use a little less time and use hi-med
Looks and sounds delicious ! I look forward to trying this !
Hahahaha..
I feel happy to find not only a recipe but the history of Feijao Tropeiro as the reason (main one) for its existence.
Being more than 18 years far from my birthplace Sao Paulo Capital and the Higienopolis neighbourhood where i grew up, Feijao Tropeiro is always in my mind, tell you why; i use to travel a lot and long ago i drove 1000km+ with my gf to meet her dad in Goias state.. after a day drivin’ we had a warm reception from her dad and his wife.. was almost late and we slept.. next day at lunch time her dad’s wife did feijao tropeiro and some other local goiana food, along with shots of top grade aguardente and local beer… it was my most memorable lunch in my life due to the exquisite taste yet heavy calorie beans and pork (she added also ‘carne seca’ [jerky beef dried on sun]) to it… :-P the beans were kinda moisty and the pork was fried at right timing making it crunchy yet succulent and the jerky beef added another layer of voluptous flavours making me drool ’til this day even if i just had some good food.
The collard is not easy to find especially if u want an organic one but it adds the missing link to a robust pork dish and for my taste buds is a MUST.
I am happy to find this recipe here and translated with wise words from the writer/chef in a comprehensive recipe not found anywhere in the net (i didnt found a better recipe yet!) so hands on and work it out this delicious genuine Brazilian recipe!
It is a 100% satisfaction guaranteed!
Unless you are the kind who agree to feed your kids with synthetic meat :-o
Haha Happy to see that you are passionate about feijão tropeiro! The best foods are the ones that bring us memories. ♥️
Que delícia! Ficou muito gostoso e eu comi demais. 😅