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Feijão tropeiro is the hearty trail food of the tropeiros, the mule drivers who carried goods through Minas Gerais and down to the coast. Beans are tossed with crisp bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, collard greens and toasted flour into a rich, crunchy one-pan meal. This keto version uses black soybeans and a toasted almond and pork rind crumb in place of manioc flour.
Per serving: 495 calories · 5.7 g net carbs · 29 g protein · 38 g fat (calculated from the ingredients)
What You’ll Need
Ingredients
- 6 ounces bacon diced
- 10 ounces smoked linguiça or kielbasa diced
- 1 small onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 large eggs beaten
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) black soybeans drained and rinsed
- 3 cups collard greens very thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
- 1 1/2 ounces pork rinds crushed into coarse crumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 scallions sliced
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
Instructions
- Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Add the sausage and cook for 5 minutes until browned. Lift both out with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the pan.
- Add the onion to the fat and cook for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Push the onion to the side, pour in the eggs and scramble them until just set, then break them into small pieces.
- Add the black soybeans and collard greens and toss for 3 to 4 minutes until the greens wilt and the beans are hot.
- Return the bacon and sausage. Sprinkle in the almond flour and pork rind crumbs, a little at a time, tossing over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the crumbs are toasted and coat the beans.
- Season with salt and pepper, fold in the scallions and parsley, and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
About This Dish
Tropeiros were the mule drivers who, from the colonial period onward, carried supplies and goods along trails between Minas Gerais, São Paulo, the south and the coastal ports. They needed food that kept well on the road, so beans, salt pork, bacon and manioc flour became their staples, cooked together in a single pan at camp. The dish became a symbol of Minas Gerais cooking. Feijão tropeiro is famously sold at the Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte, where fans eat it at football matches. Today it is served in Mineiro restaurants all over Brazil.
Pairs Well With
- Brazilian Arroz Branco, Brazilian-Style Garlic Cauliflower Rice
- Brazilian Purê de Mandioquinha, Silky Root Purée in the Style of Mandioquinha
This recipe is from The Ultimate Brazilian Keto Cookbook by Gisele Costello, Chapter 6: Pork (Historic Paraty). See all Brazilian recipes