What hearty stew from Madrid combines chickpeas, meats, and vegetables?

What hearty stew from Madrid combines chickpeas, meats, and vegetables? The answer is cocido madrileño.

Cocido madrileño is a traditional chickpea-based stew associated with Madrid. It is typically simmered with potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and turnips, alongside pork, beef, chicken, chorizo, morcilla, and cured ham. Recipes vary, but chickpeas are the defining ingredient.

The dish is traditionally served in separate courses, known as vuelcos. First comes the rich broth, often with noodles. Next come the chickpeas and vegetables, followed by the meats and sausages. This arrangement turns one slow-cooked pot into a multi-course meal and helps explain the stew's reputation for being both practical and substantial.

Cocido madrileño is often linked to older Iberian boiled dishes and may have evolved partly from the Sephardic Jewish stew adafina. Pork became prominent in later versions. It should not be confused with fabada asturiana, whose signature ingredient is the large white bean, or with puchero, a broader name used for several Spanish stews. Cocido simply means a boiled or cooked dish, so regional names matter.