Vegetarian Feijoada Bean Stew
Dice the veg, open a few cans, and let black beans, smoked paprika and cumin simmer into something hearty. Onion, garlic, bell pepper, sweet potato and carrot go in, and 50 minutes of cooking does the rest.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 50 min
- Total
- 70 min
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
What you’ll need — tap to tick off as you go
- 500 g
- 2 tbsp
- 4 cloves
- 2 tsp
- 1 tsp
- 1 tsp
- 400 g
- 1 ¼ l
- 2 tbsp
- 1 tbsp
- 1 tsp
- ½ tsp
- 900 g
Process
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Drain the soaked black beans and rinse well. Pick out any shrivelled or broken beans.
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and red bell pepper and cook for 6 to 8 minutes until soft and lightly golden.
Stir in the smoked paprika, ground cumin, dried oregano and tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute until the spices smell fragrant and darken slightly.
Add the drained black beans, sweet potato, carrot, bay leaves and hot vegetable broth. Stir in the soy sauce, orange zest and orange juice.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans are completely tender and the sweet potato is soft.
Remove the bay leaves. Mash about a quarter of the beans and sweet potato against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon to thicken the broth, then stir through.
Season with the salt and black pepper, taste and adjust. The stew should be thick enough to hold a spoon upright briefly.
Serve hot over cooked white rice, topped with spring onions and orange slices on the side.
Kitchen notes
Kitchen notes
- The most common mistake is salting the beans at the start. Add salt only after the beans are fully tender, otherwise the skins stay tough and the stew never turns creamy.
- Soaking the beans overnight is not optional here: unsoaked beans take far longer and the sweet potato will collapse before the beans are done.
- Mashing a quarter of the beans against the pot is what gives feijoada its body without cream or flour. If it still looks thin, simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes.
- The orange is not decoration. Its zest and juice cut the smokiness and make the stew taste finished rather than flat.
Substitutions
- sweet potato→butternut squash or cassava
- vegetable broth→water plus one extra tbsp soy sauce
- smoked paprika→sweet paprika plus a pinch of chipotle powder
- cooked white rice→farofa, crusty bread or cooked collard greens
Storage & reheating
Cool the stew completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days; the flavour deepens overnight. To freeze, portion into freezer bags or containers and keep for up to 3 months, leaving 2 cm headspace. Reheat in a saucepan over medium-low heat with a splash of water or broth, stirring until steaming, or microwave covered in 1-minute bursts. Do not boil hard on reheating or the sweet potato breaks apart.
FAQ
The questions we get asked most
Why are my black beans still hard after 40 minutes?
Old dried beans or beans cooked with salt or acid too early are the usual culprits. Salt and the orange juice both firm up bean skins, so if your beans are stubborn, add the orange juice only in the last 10 minutes and simmer longer with the lid on. Beans older than a year can take double the time, so always taste one before deciding the stew is done.
Can I make this vegetarian feijoada in a slow cooker?
Yes. Soak the beans overnight, then put the drained beans, sweet potato, carrot, onion, garlic, pepper, spices, tomato paste, soy sauce, bay leaves and broth in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, then stir in the orange zest, juice, salt and pepper at the end so the acid does not toughen the beans.
Can I use canned black beans instead of dried?
Yes, use three 400 g cans, drained and rinsed. Skip the overnight soak, reduce the broth to 700 ml, and simmer for only 20 minutes so the sweet potato and carrot cook through without the beans turning to mush. Add the canned beans in the last 10 minutes if you want them to hold their shape.
How do I know when the stew is thick enough?
Drag a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pot; the trail should stay open for a second or two before the stew flows back. If it floods back immediately, simmer uncovered over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring so nothing catches. It also thickens considerably as it cools.
Is this feijoada spicy? Can I make it milder or hotter?
As written it is smoky and mild, not hot, because smoked paprika and cumin carry the flavour. For heat, add half a chopped chilli with the onion or a pinch of cayenne at the end. To keep it mild, use sweet paprika instead of smoked and skip any chilli garnish.
What do I serve with vegetarian feijoada besides rice?
Traditionally it comes with rice, orange slices and sautéed collard greens, and farofa (toasted cassava flour) for sprinkling. Crusty bread works well for mopping, and a simple tomato and onion salad adds freshness. Keep the sides plain so the smoky beans stay the centre of the plate.
Can I freeze this stew and does the texture survive?
It freezes well for up to 3 months because there is no dairy or egg to split. The sweet potato softens a little on thawing, so freeze in portions and reheat gently rather than boiling. If the texture matters a lot, cook and freeze the bean base, then add freshly cubed sweet potato during reheating.
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