If you have never eaten Portuguese beans, you’re in for a treat! Made with pinto beans, Portuguese linguica sausage, and bacon, these bean pots are a meal all by themselves.
This was my mother’s go-to dish for every spring and summer barbecue when I was growing up. Dad would grill lamb chops topped with his special marinade, and my mother would cook a big pot of Portuguese beans on the stove.
Her recipe was handed down to her from her mother, Rosa, who was born and raised on the island of São Jorge in the Azores archipelago. Most of the Portuguese in the Central Valley of California have roots in the Azores Islands.
I have been on a mission to make all the bean dishes on calbeans.org that need a photograph to go with the recipe. (If you are like me, you want to see a photo of the dish!) I hadn’t made this dish in a long time and the beans were just as delicious as I remembered.
Portuguese Beans
Ingredients
1 pound dried pinto beans
4 strips bacon, chopped
1/2 pound linguica, cut in 1/4” slices
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small can tomato sauce
Cooking Steps:
Soak beans overnight or use the hot soak method. Cook until tender. Saute onions, garlic, bacon and linguica. Drain off fat. Add to beans. Add remaining ingredients. Cook another hour or so. Adjust seasonings to taste.
