Creamy Butter Beans have lots of smoked ham flavor. They’re so thick and creamy and make a fantastic side for any southern meal.
This recipe is adapted from Deep South Dish Cookbook and it is phenomenal. Butter beans never tasted so good.
You have to make these beans to see how much flavor they have. And while you’re at it, make a side of cornbread to serve with them. They’re so meaty and delicious, you can serve them over rice for a whole meal.
How To Make Creamy Butter Beans
To make thse Butter Beans, start by bringing 1 pound of dried lima beans, covered with water, to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover the pot, and let soak for 1 hour.
While the beans are soaking, you’re going to start to build all the flavors for the beans. Cook some onion, celery, and carrots in some bacon grease until soft. Then add chopped smoked ham, 2 ham hocks, a large container of chicken broth, 4 cups of water, 2 bay leaves, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, dried thyme, and pepper. Simmer these ingredients for 1 hour then add the beans, 4 tablespoons of butter, and some Cajun seasoning. Cook 60 to 90 minutes, until the butter beans are soft and the liquid gets thick.
You won’t believe how unbelievably meaty these beans taste!
Storage
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days.
More Southern Sides
- Southern Style Green Beans
- Creamed Corn
- Southern Cabbage
- Fried Okra
- Yellow Squash Casserole
- Super Creamy Mac and Cheese
Watch the short video below to see how easy this recipe is to make.
Creamy Butter Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried large lima beans
- 1 tablespoon bacon grease or butter
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1/3 cup diced celery
- 1/4 cup diced carrot
- 1 1/2 cups chopped smoked ham
- 2 ham hocks
- 1 (32-ounce) carton chicken broth
- 4 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon Cajun or Creole seasoning
Instructions
- Rinse and sort the beans, getting rid of any broken pieces. Place in a stockpot or Dutch oven and cover with 1-inch of water. Bring to a boil. Place lid on pot and remove from heat. Let sit 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, in a large pot or Dutch oven, heat bacon fat over medium heat.
- Add onion, celery, and carrots and saute until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add ham, ham hocks, chicken broth, water, bay leaves, garlic powder, thyme, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Bring to a boil and reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour.
- Once beans have been sitting for an hour, drain them.
- Add beans, butter, and Cajun or Creole seasoning to the chicken broth mixture after it has simmered for 1 hour. Continue to simmer for 60 to 90 minutes. If liquid level gets too low (ie not all the beans are submerged), add more water.
- Remove ham hocks. Let cool slightly and then remove any meat from the bone, chop it up and return it to the pot.
- Serve as is for a side dish or serve over rice with a side of cornbread for a main dish.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe adapted from Deep South Dish
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Originally posted January 18, 2019.
This is a great recipe! So yummy. Thank you!
5 star recipe! Thanks for sharing! This an amazing tasting dish!!!
These beans will have to cook a minimum of 4 hours to get creamy like this in a crock pot.
Holy smokes, these beans are amazing! I am not usually a huge fan of beans, but these take on the flavor profile of this wonderful cooking liquor. I cooked mine in the instant pot and they were so perfect. Am going to experiment turning them into different variations of stew, soup and a mashed potato substitute.
How did the mashed potato substitute work out?
These beans are pure heaven!
Can I use this recipe to cook them in an instant-pot?
I don’t think the ham hocks would render their fat as well.
After you soak them you take the skin off. Add water just enough to cover them and 15 minutes later…viola! Beans like butter!
Just how do you take the skin of each bean and why?
Thanks
You can put an emulsion beater in there for a few seconds and they will turn creamy. Don’t do it too long or you will not have any whole beans left. Don’t take the skin off!! Lol !!
I have two words for you. Pressure cooker. I live at 10000 feet elevation and can’t make a soft bean without a pressure cooker. Do all the steps and add all the ingredients to a pressure cooker for about 40 minutes. Uncover and then simmer until you achieve the consistency you like.
You are so right about altitude. Took me a year to figure out why my pinto beans were never ready when I thought they would be. Only at 5,000′, but its still an issue. So grateful for the instant pot!
My wife cooks dry butter beans, soaks for an hour or so and cooks them at a slow simmer for 2-3 hours and the beans are still hard, not creamy like I like them. What can be done to make them creamy? HELP please.
Thanks
I have two words for you. Pressure cooker. I live at 10000 feet elevation and can’t make a soft bean without a pressure cooker. Do all the steps and add all the ingredients to a pressure cooker for about 40 minutes. Uncover and then simmer until you achieve the consistency you like.
Cook them on low heat
Cook them in rice cooker
In my experiences with beans that never get soft, the culprit is salt and/or acid (vinegar,tomato etc) These must be added at the end of cooking when beans have softened. I suspect it could be the salt in the ham and hamhock.
Bring the beans to a boil and cook up for 30 minutes and turn down to simmer until tender
These beans were delicious. I’ve been doing butter beans in a similar way for decades, taught to me by my Grandma, but without the red pepper flakes, thyme, and creole seasoning. We really enjoyed the subtlety of the seasonings, just the right amount! Next time I will use a little less liquid, probably about a cup less, because trying to get the beans to the right consistency for our taste I had to cook them longer and they were starting to lose their shape. These beans were beautifully creamy! And who can argue about adding that butter?! YUM