Brazilian Farofa Recipe for Holidays ~ Farofa de Natal

Brazilian Farofa recipe with bacon, sausage, olives, and more for a Roast Turkey is simply delicious and a traditional recipe for Christmas ~ Farofa de Natal.

Farofa is a very traditional side in Brazil and for Brazilian cuisine. This version has even more goodness since it's a Stuffing version. It has smokey bacon, salty calabrese sausage, sweet carrots, briny and salty olives, and aromatic onions and garlic. It is served with feijao (beans), meats, rice, and more. In this Brazilian Farofa recipe, it's used as a stuffing for turkey, which is also a very traditional use at Christmas, called Farofa de Natal.

Farofa is toasted cassava flour that's mixed with various flavorings, such as fat (oil or butter), pork and garlic. It has an interesting texture because it's sort of like fine breadcrumbs, but with a grainier bite.

Farofa is typically served with the traditional meal, called Feijoada, which has a bean stew, sausages, Couve or Sauteed Kale, and various other sides. The farofa is intended to be sprinkled on Churrasco, which is barbequed meats or on the feijao, bean stew. Most Brazilian families will make their own recipes, but most toast the cassava flour in a fat, such as butter or oil. Then smoked pork meat, sausage, olives, garlic, and onions are all typical additions for flavor and texture.

Ingredients and Swaps

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Protein Ingredients

• Bacon - I use a regular smoked, Nitrate-free bacon. Applewood smoked would be great here too.
• Dried or cooked Calabrese sausage - Calabrese is a common sausage that is used in São Paulo, Brazil. Any mild, hard salami or even Spanish Chorizo will work. If you use a raw calabrese or other raw sausage, make sure to cook the sausage thoroughly before adding the other ingredients.
• Eggs, hard boiled (large or extra large) - The eggs in this recipe are traditional and such a fun addition, but you can certainly leave them out. There is plenty of flavor and texture from the other ingredients.

Veggies and Aromatics

• Carrots - For this recipe, I used pre-shredded carrots, but you can certainly grate or shred your own. You can use whole carrots with the skin on or peeled and then grate them on the large side of a grater or shred them in a food processor. You can also very finely dice the carrots.
• Garlic cloves - Fresh is best when it comes to garlic. You can buy pre-minced garlic to save time or mince it in bulk and freeze it for use when you need it! You can also substitute in dried garlic flakes or garlic powder.
• Scallions (green onions) – I love scallions for the green color and mild onion-flavor. You can swap with finely chopped onions, yellow or red, or even shallots.
• Green bell pepper - Green bell pepper - Green pepper is a common ingredient in Brazilian stews, but you can substitute any bell peppers, such as red bell pepper. Other mild peppers, such as poblanos would also work. Or hot peppers, such as jalapeno or red chilis.
• Fresh Cilantro leaves - If you don't have fresh, you can use dried cilantro along with fresh parsley. You could also substitute fresh basil.

Other Ingredients

• Olive Oil and/or butter - Traditional farofa is moistened using some type of fat. I used both olive oil and butter in mine, but you can also pick one or the other. We also have the bacon and sausage fat that is rendered out, but that is usually not enough to really coat all of the farofa. You can use salted or unsalted butter.
• Cassava Flour - Cassava flour is made from Yuca and is often used in a very finely ground variation for gluten free baking. However, for this recipe, you don't want it too finely ground. It should be the texture of a fine sand. I can find it everywhere here in Brazil, but in the US, it's easiest to order it. This Farinha de Mandioca is perfect. You can also buy this version which is toasted and seasoned Farofa. Be sure to taste for seasoning before adding any additional salt.
• Olives, pitted and chopped - I used green, but kalamata are good too. If you don't like olives, you can leave them out all together.
• Salt - I use kosher salt for savory cooking, but any course salt or table salt will be fine. Seasoning the the beef before searing it is important for bringing out the most flavor.
• Ground black pepper - I used freshly ground black pepper, but pre-ground is perfectly fine.

Simple Equipment and Tools

You will see in the process photos that I started with a large frying pan, but them moved to a dutch oven. If you didn't have all of the additional ingredients in this farofa, the pan would work for just the Cassava flour. But, I ended up needing a larger pot for mixing it all together. I recommend just using a large, wide-bottom, deep pot such as a dutch oven from start to finish!

Mincing garlic is made super easy with a Garlic Press.

Brazilian Farofa de Natal Recipe Tips

Bacon ~ My tip for slicing or dicing bacon is to freeze it! Bacon is generally very fatty and therefore, difficult to cut. When it's frozen, however, it's super easy to cut off what you need, then simply dice it. Then store the rest right back in the freezer.

To make your life easier during the holiday (if you are making this as an addition to a big feast) you can make this Farofa 2-3 days ahead. BUT, leave out the hard boiled eggs and add them right after you have reheated, before you serve. If you reheat the farofa with the eggs, you risk rubbery eggs.

How to Make this Brazilian Farofa Recipe

Dice the bacon strips (See my tip under 'Recipe Tips' above for cutting bacon!).

Dice the Calabrese sausage. Mince the garlic. Slice the scallions. Finely dice the green pepper. Grate the carrot. Chop the olives. Chop the cilantro.

Hard boil the eggs by putting them in a pot of water and then bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let the eggs sit in the hot water for 7 minutes. Once cooled enough to handle, peel the eggs and then rough chop.

Preheat a pot on the stove. Add the diced bacon on medium-low heat. Stir so that the bacon doesn't burn. Render the fat and crip the bacon, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon leaving the fat behind and place on a plate lined with paper towel. Set to the side or store in the fridge if doing this in advance.

To the same pan, add the diced sausage, carrots, scallions, and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes until the carrots start to soften.

Then add the cilantro, olives, bacon, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil or butter. If butter, let it melt before moving to the next step.

Note: I realized I needed a larger pot, so that's why I moved from the pan to this dutch oven above. I recommend starting with a pot or dutch oven and only using it for this recipe.

Finally, add 1 cup of the cassava flour at a time, mixing after each cup so it is coated with fat. Drizzle in Olive oil as needed to help moisten all of the cassava flour.

Season with salt and pepper as needed.

Last, mix in the chopped eggs.

What to Serve with the Brazilian Farofa Recipe

If you are serving this as a stuffing for Christmas or another holiday or special occasion, then you can serve it with a roast. Roast turkey, roast pork tenderloin, or even a ham or roast beef, would all be delicious with this.

To round out the meal, you can also serve with Brazilian Rice {with Onions and Garlic} and Sauteed Kale with Bacon and Garlic {Couve a Mineira} and Feijão: Brazilian Beans Recipe

Brazilian Farofa Recipe FAQs