Butter beans, also called lima beans and sieva beans, are the seeds of the plant Phaseolus lunatus. They are available fresh, frozen, or dried, and are sold in both younger and mature forms.
What Are Butter Beans?
Butter beans are large, creamy beans that are filling and nutritious. These legumes originate in South America and are used in a wide variety of dishes. They're available fresh during the late-summer growing season or as fresh-frozen or dried beans year-round.
Fresh young beans (sometimes called baby limas) have a thin skin surrounding a pale green bean that can be removed after cooking or left intact, depending on the application. Mature, dried butter beans have a thicker, beige-colored skin that becomes tender when fully cooked.
How to Use Butter Beans
Dried butter beans are a dependable pantry staple that can be used in soups, stews, braises, casseroles, dips, spreads, and salads, just to name a few applications. They can also be cooked on their own and served with a simple dressing of butter, salt, and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Dried butter beans can be boiled and then simmered on the stovetop or braised in the oven over a few hours. They can be soaked for several hours or overnight to shorten the cooking time. Butter beans are also an excellent option for crock pot and pressure cooker recipes. Fresh or frozen butter beans can be cooked much more quickly, typically in around 30 minutes, and are best prepared on the stovetop.
Butter beans should not be eaten raw because they contain a compound called linamarin that breaks down into poisonous cyanide when the bean is chewed or damaged. Wild butter beans have a higher concentration of this compound, but beans cultivated in the U.S. are regulated to contain very low amounts. Boiling butter beans for five to 10 minutes reduces the amount of cyanide.
What Do They Taste Like?
Butter beans have a smooth, creamy texture and mild, buttery flavor. They hold sauces and soak up the flavors they're cooked with well. Fresh butter beans will have a slightly grassy, more vegetal flavor than cooked, dried beans.
Butter Beans Recipes
Where to Buy Butter Beans
You'll find dried butter beans, often labeled as lima beans, in the pantry aisle of most grocery stores and supermarkets. They're also available precooked in cans in the canned goods aisle. Baby or mature lima beans are also available frozen in the freezer aisle.
Fresh, never-frozen, butter beans are harder to come by and are typically only available in season, typically late summer to early fall in the United States. Look for them at farmers' markets and farm stands during this time of year. Fresh beans may be sold already shelled or still in their green, fuzzy pods, which must be removed and discarded before cooking.
Butter Beans vs. Lima Beans
While they're all the same bean botanically, butter beans have different names depending on the region. In the South and in the United Kingdom, they're typically referred to as butter beans. Elsewhere in the U.S., they're known as lima beans (named for Lima, Peru, the bean's point of origin).
Storage
Store dried butter beans in an airtight, food-safe container and keep them in a cool, dry place. Use them within one year of purchase. Beyond that point, dry beans lose moisture and may take longer to cook.
Frozen butter beans can be kept in their original packaging in the freezer for up to nine months or vacuum-sealed in a deep freezer for up to 14 months. If you plan to freeze your own fresh lima beans, blanch for two to four minutes, depending on the size of the bean. Shock, strain, and cool before packaging and freezing.
Nutrition and Benefits
One cup of dry beans contains 40 grams of carbohydrates, nine grams of dietary fiber, and 12 grams of protein.
FAQs
Butter beans, also called lima beans and sieva beans, are the seeds of the plant Phaseolus lunatus. They are available fresh, frozen, or dried, and are sold in both younger and mature forms.
Why are butter beans so good? ›
They're packed full of nutrients
Butter beans are rich in vitamins and minerals, which are important for overall health. A source of potassium, magnesium, folate, iron, and zinc, they also contain calcium and protein. Both plant-based foodies and meat-lovers can really benefit from adding butter beans to their diet.
Are butter beans a protein or carb? ›
Butter Beans are a fantastically healthy ingredient – they're high in protein and fibre, and they're an excellent source of carbohydrates. Low in fat and calories but high in folate, starch and iron, they're one of the best store cupboard ingredients there is.
What are the characteristics of butter beans? ›
The lima bean is a type of legume known for its mild flavor, creamy texture, and unique color, which can range from beige to green. You may also know it as the butter bean, double bean, or wax bean. You can eat lima beans in either their immature or mature stages.
Are butter beans just white beans? ›
There are actually several different types of beans that fall into the category of “white beans.” The first are navy beans (also called pea beans, if you want to further confuse matters), then there's great northern beans (for all you Twin Peaks fans), cannellini beans (we'll get to that one a little later), and ...
Are butter beans and kidney beans the same? ›
Butter, Broad, Lima or White Kidney Beans – one and the same in taste, looks, flavour and nutritional value. They have a delicate creamy texture and taste – while being fat, cholesterol and gluten free + it has the added bonus of being a major source of protein, fibre, and iron and B vitamins.
Is it okay to eat butter beans every day? ›
To put it simply, yes, butter beans can be classed as a healthy and nutrient-dense food. If you're struggling for inspiration on how to get more of them into your diet, then we've added some tasty plant-based recipes at the bottom of this article.
Are butter beans kidney friendly? ›
Beans are in the legume family which includes dried lentils and split peas. Recent research shows the benefits of plant-based foods in the kidney diet. Beans are great for people with kidney disease to enjoy. Beans are affordable and easy to get!
Can you eat butter beans straight from the can? ›
Although you can technically eat beans straight out of the can, even low-sodium varieties can be quite salty, so it's a good idea to drain and rinse them before eating them or cooking with them (unless a recipe specifically says otherwise).
Can diabetics eat butter beans? ›
The bottom line is that beans should be a staple in your diet, especially if you have diabetes. A study published in the journal JAMA found that eating more beans, lentils, and other legumes helped people with type 2 diabetes gain better glycemic control and lower their risk of heart disease.
In conclusion, beans are a versatile and incredibly nutritious food that can benefit both your body and mind. Regular consumption of beans has been linked to a reduced risk of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, while also aiding in controlling blood sugar levels and promoting digestive health.
Are butter beans fruit or vegetable? ›
If you're not from the south, you may not be familiar with the vegetable known as a “butter bean”. Technically they are what other parts of the nation call lima beans and belong to that genus and species Phaseolus lunatusis. They are sometimes called sieve beans, calico beans or Madagascar beans.
What do Americans call butter beans? ›
In the American South and the United Kingdom, they're butter beans. For the rest of the United States, they're typically called lima, after the bean's origin city of Lima, Peru, where they've grown for over 9,000 years.
What is another name for a butter bean? ›
A lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus), also commonly known as butter bean, sieva bean, double bean or Madagascar bean, is a legume grown for its edible seeds or beans.
What's the difference between a butter bean and a lima bean? ›
Well, rest assured; the two are actually one in the same. There's no difference between lima beans and butter beans, though sometimes they're sold at different stages of maturity. As a matter of fact, our Large Lima Beans packaging actually states Butter Beans in parentheses, just to clarify.
Is a butter bean a pinto bean? ›
Lima Beans
Lima beans are also commonly called butter beans for their buttery, rich flavor, and velvety texture. Popular in Southern American dishes, lima beans are the main ingredient in a classic succotash and are common to add to casseroles, soups, or simmered with pork to serve as a savory side dish.
Are butter beans the same as green beans? ›
Butter beans are similar in shape to regular green beans but they are naturally a creamy yellow colour. Butter beans are sometimes called snap beans because of the sound they make when pods are broken—they 'snap'. The complete pod and seeds are eaten although the ends can be trimmed.
Are butter beans and soybeans the same? ›
Acclaimed in taste tests as the finest of green soybeans
Sweet, buttery, and high yielding; Butterbeans are acclaimed as the finest in green vegetable soybeans.
