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Traditional Portuguese Octopus Bean Stew – Full Recipe

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Octopus Bean Stew (Feijoada de Polvo) is a traditional Portuguese dish, most commonly found in coastal regions. However, it’s not something you’ll often see on the menu at typical Portuguese restaurants.

Feijoada in Portuguese means Bean Stew, and polvo is octopus. So, feijoada de Polvo is octopus bean stew.

This comforting and hearty meal combines the flavors of the sea — thanks to the tender pieces of octopus — with white beans, carrots, tomato pulp, and fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro. It’s also a great way to make the most of octopus, which can be a bit tricky to cook, as it shrinks quite a lot when boiled.

Although it’s relatively simple to prepare, it does take some time — you should set aside at least an hour and twenty minutes from start to finish.

Below, we walk you through our version of this flavorful and traditional Portuguese octopus bean stew.

A square white plate on a red patterned tablecloth contains Feijoada de Polvo - a bean stew with visible pieces of octopus, carrots and chopped parsley.
Traditional Portuguese octopus feijoada
Contents hide
Traditional Portuguese Octopus Bean Stew
Kitchen Tools
Ingredients
Octopus Bean Stew – Step-by-Step Recipe
Serving Suggestions
Tips
Storage and Reheating
Final Thoughts
Octopus bean stew
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
Cooking the Octopus
Making the Octopus Stew

Traditional Portuguese Octopus Bean Stew

  • Servings: 4 people
  • Total time: 70 to 80 minutes (30 minutes to cook the octopus, 40 minutes to prepare the stew)
  • Difficulty: Easy

Kitchen Tools

  • Pressure cooker
  • Large pot
  • Wooden spoon or spatula
  • Knife
  • Small spoon
A red Dutch oven with a lid sits on a red-patterned tablecloth, ready for a hearty feijoada. Beside it are two spoons, a wooden spoon, and a knife.
Utensils needed to make octopus feijoada

Ingredients

  • 1 medium octopus
  • 800 g (about 28 oz) white beans
  • 2 onions
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 3 carrots
  • 400 g (about 14 oz) tomato pulp
  • Olive oil, to taste
  • Salt, to taste
  • White pepper, to taste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Fresh parsley or cilantro, to taste
A table with bowls containing white beans, diced carrots, chopped onions, minced garlic, tomato sauce, a whole cooked octopus and a bottle of olive oil, ingredients for octopus feijoada on a red patterned tablecloth.
Ingredients for making octopus feijoada

Octopus Bean Stew – Step-by-Step Recipe

  1. Cooking the Octopus
  1. Start by blanching the octopus to help keep the skin intact and improve its final texture. To do this, dip the octopus into boiling water for 3 seconds, then take it out and dip it again for another 3 seconds. Repeat this process three times.
  2. Next, cook the octopus in a pressure cooker along with one sliced onion, a bay leaf, and two garlic cloves for about 30 minutes. The octopus should be tender enough that you can easily pierce it with a fork.
Fresh octopus after being dipped in boiling water. Required for making octopus feijoada.
Dip the octopus in boiling water for 3 seconds, three times
A pot on the stovetop simmers octopus feijoada, with bay leaves, chopped onions, and garlic cloves in the water. The ingredients for that feijoada recipe are partially submerged and visible near the surface.
Cook the octopus with onion, garlic, and a bay leaf
  1. Making the Octopus Stew
  1. Once the octopus is cooked, start by preparing a base sauce (refogado) with olive oil, one chopped onion, and two garlic cloves. Let it cook until golden.
  2. Add the tomato pulp and the carrots, sliced or diced, and let them simmer until the carrots are tender. Lower the heat to medium.
A red pot sits on the stove with sautéed chopped onion and garlic—an inviting start to a classic feijoada.
Saute the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil
A hand pours chopped tomatoes from a white bowl into a red pot with sautéed onions, starting the base for a classic stovetop octopus feijoada. A wooden spoon rests inside the pot.
Add the tomato pulp
A wooden spoon rests in a red and white pot on the stove, stirring a mixture of chopped onions, carrots, tomatoes, and other vegetables—perfect for making Octopus Feijoada.
Add the carrots and let them cook
  1. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.
  2. Meanwhile, cut the octopus into large chunks.
A white plate with a floral pattern holds pieces of cooked octopus tentacles, perfect for a traditional octopus feijoada.
The octopus is cut into large pieces.
  1. Once the carrots are cooked, add the octopus and about 100 ml (about ½ cup) of the cooking water.
  2. Then, add the white beans, including the liquid from the can or jar, and let everything simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes to bring the flavors together.
A red pot on the stovetop contains octopus feijoada with octopus, tomatoes, and carrots. A black ladle rests on the rim, while two empty white bowls sit on the counter nearby.
Add the octopus and some of the cooking broth.
A red pot on a stovetop contains Feijoada de Polvo, a stew with white beans, octopus pieces, carrots, and a tomato-based broth.
Finally, add the white beans and let the flavors blend
  1. Taste and adjust the seasoning. If needed, add a bit more octopus broth to get a generous but not overly watery sauce.
  2. Turn off the heat and stir in some freshly chopped parsley or cilantro, depending on your preference.
A red pot on the stove with a boiling feijoada stew containing beans, herbs, and chunks of meat, topped with chopped fresh cilantro or parsley.
Your octopus bean stew is now ready to serve.

Serving Suggestions

Serve your octopus bean stew with plain white rice or slices of crusty bread — both are perfect for soaking up the flavorful sauce and pair well with the dish. That said, this stew is quite filling on its own, even without any additional carbs beyond the white beans.

A simple salad made with lettuce, onion, and tomato, dressed with a basic vinaigrette, is also a great match.

As for wine, we suggest a light red or, if you prefer something fresher, an aromatic and well-balanced white.

Tips

  • You can easily adapt this recipe using other types of beans, such as butter beans, black beans, or cowpeas — it’s up to your taste.
  • Paprika and/or chili flakes (piri-piri) go well with this dish, even though they’re not part of most traditional recipes.
  • You can also add sliced chouriço or shrimp to the stew — it makes the dish even richer and more flavorful.
  • If you want to make it more impressive or feed more people, use two medium-sized octopuses instead of one.
  • This is an excellent recipe for making the most of octopus. The rich flavor of the seafood combined with white beans creates a dish that’s both hearty and perfect for sharing.
  • It also works great as a starter or appetizer, especially when served in small portions.
A ceramic plate of octopus feijoada—octopus and white beans in sauce—sits on a red patterned tablecloth, surrounded by four metal forks.
Appetizer – octopus bean stew

Storage and Reheating

Octopus bean stew keeps well in the fridge for 2 to 3 days if stored in an airtight container. It’s one of those dishes that often tastes even better the next day after the flavors have had more time to develop.

You can also freeze it for 2 to 3 months. When you’re ready to eat it, reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop — it holds up well without losing flavor or texture.

A shallow white dish with a colorful rim contains a thick stew of white beans, carrots, and octopus, garnished with parsley, similar to a traditional Feijoada Recipe.
Traditional Portuguese dish – octopus feijoada

Final Thoughts

This is the perfect recipe for anyone who loves octopus and is looking for a comforting and satisfying meal. It’s easy to make, uses affordable ingredients, and yields enough to feed several people.

If you enjoyed this dish, check out some of our other favorite octopus recipes — we’re big fans of this versatile and delicious ingredient:

Bom Apetite!

Portuguese style Octopus stew
Octopus feijoada - portuguese recipe

Um prato quadrado branco numa toalha de mesa com estampa vermelha contém Feijoada de Polvo - um ensopado de feijão com pedaços visíveis de polvo, cenouras e salsa picada.

Octopus bean stew

Jorge Bastos
Octopus bean stew is a comforting and hearty meal that blends the flavors of the sea with tender pieces of octopus, white beans, carrots, tomato pulp, and fresh parsley or cilantro. It’s also a great way to make the most of octopus — a somewhat “unforgiving” ingredient, as it tends to shrink quite a bit when cooked.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings 4

Equipment

  • 1 Pressure cooker
  • 1 Large pot A Dutch oven is great for this.
  • 1 Wooden spoon or spatula
  • 1 Knife
  • Small spoons for tasting

Ingredients
  

  • 1 medium octopus
  • 800 gr white beans (about 28 oz)
  • 2 onions
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 3 carrots
  • 400 gr tomato pulp (about 14 oz)
  • Olive oil to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • White pepper to taste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Fresh parsley or cilantro to taste

Instructions
 

Cooking the Octopus

  • Start by blanching the octopus: dip it into boiling water for 3 seconds, remove it, and repeat the process two more times, dipping for 3 seconds each time.
  • Then cook the octopus in a pressure cooker with one sliced onion, a bay leaf, and two garlic cloves for about 30 minutes. The octopus should be tender enough to pierce with a fork easily

Making the Octopus Stew

  • Once the octopus is cooked, prepare a base sauce with olive oil, one chopped onion, and two garlic cloves. Let it sauté until golden.
  • Add the tomato pulp and the carrots, sliced or diced, and cook until the carrots are soft. Lower the heat to medium.
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Meanwhile, cut the octopus into large chunks.
  • When the carrots are cooked, add the octopus and about 100 ml (roughly ½ cup) of the cooking liquid.
  • Add the white beans, including the liquid from the can or jar, and let everything simmer for 5 to 10 minutes so the flavors can come together.
  • Taste and adjust the seasoning. If needed, add a little more of the octopus broth to get a nice, generous sauce, but not too watery.
  • Turn off the heat and stir in some freshly chopped parsley or cilantro, depending on your preference.

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