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.
What is a good substitute for butter beans? ›
Some alternatives to butter beans in recipes include cannellini beans, great northern beans, navy beans, or even chickpeas. These beans have a similar texture and can be used interchangeably in many dishes.
Are butter beans and cannellini beans the same? ›
The only noticeable difference is that butter beans contain a small amount of fat while cannellini beans have none. Now that you know the main differences between these two popular beans, how do choose the right variety for your next main course?
Are butter beans the same as kidney beans? ›
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 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.
What is the American equivalent of butter beans? ›
Other than what they're called and sometimes their color, butter beans and lima beans are exactly the same. Their species is called Phaseolus lunatus and the difference in their name is only a matter of geography.
Are Great northern beans like butter beans? ›
Why are butter beans so popular? Butter beans, also called lima beans, are part of the white bean family, alongside cannellini beans, great northern beans, and navy beans. They all have similar properties and can be used interchangeably in recipes.
What is the healthiest bean? ›
Some of the healthiest beans to consume include:
- Black beans: Often known as turtle beans, black beans are inexpensive and widely available in supermarkets. ...
- Kidney beans: ...
- Lima beans: ...
- Soybeans: ...
- Chickpeas: ...
- Pinto beans: ...
- Navy beans:
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.
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.
Which is better butter beans or lima beans? ›
Lima Beans vs. Butter Beans. 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.
Are butter beans like chickpeas? ›
Perhaps the best substitute for chickpeas across the board is white beans. They have both a similar taste and look to chickpeas. Any white bean will do, including cannellini beans (white kidney beans), lima beans (butter beans), great northern beans, and navy beans.
Is a Great Northern bean a butter bean? ›
Butter beans, also called lima beans, are part of the white bean family, alongside cannellini beans, great northern beans, and navy beans. They all have similar properties and can be used interchangeably in recipes.
Are butter beans and navy beans the same? ›
Butter beans (baby lima beans) and Cannellini Beans are two more common types of white beans. If your recipe calls for white beans, you can often use Cannellini Bean as an excellent substitute for Navy or Great beans. They are slightly larger, have a meaty texture, and have thicker skin.
Are butter beans just white lima beans? ›
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.
