16 Lima Bean Recipes That Will Make Them Your New Favorite

Long the maligned member of the bean family, lima beans somehow fetch double-digit prices when served in fancy restaurants, stewed with aromatics and drizzled with olive oil, (as long as they’re called 'butter beans'). Don’t you want all that creamy, slightly sweet flavor, without the markup? Let’s get over those shuddery memories of tinny, too-salty beans coming out of the can from our childhoods, and become reacquainted with these delights, the anchor of American staples like succotash—and just a great contender for soups, sides and mains that nourish with comfort and deliciousness.

Kardea Brown brings everything you need to these stewed veggies—the assertive punch of tomatoes, peppers and bacon, carried through by the mellow flavors of lima beans. It’s a dish that turn into dinner on its own, but it also complements a meat main as a starch and vegetables together in one skillet.

This refreshing twist on the classic Caesar salad takes the dish in a healthy main-course direction. It’s vegetarian, egg-free and packed with protein from tender white Navy beans and a zesty yogurt-and-Parmesan dressing.

A hot bowl of everything green is what you need when you’re feeling spring but the weather outside still suggests otherwise. The beans make for a toothsome texture amid the chewy, salty bits of pancetta and more mellow escarole and asparagus. Ditalini and a shower of Parmesan over the top file this firmly with the best comfort foods.

With all the players that add up to succotash—tomatoes, lima beans and corn—but reimagined as a fresh summer dip, this might be the perfect appetizer: a little filling, to take the edge off your hunger, but not so rich as to ruin your appetite.

The flavor profile here is so crisp and fresh, you’ll be shocked that most of the beans came out of cans (even if you’re the one who opened them!). This salad is all about texture, from the four kinds of beans to the crunch of almonds and little hits of sweet in the form of dried cranberries.

A pot of gumbo is an instant party. No one makes gumbo for one. The slow cooking is key—browning the roux just right takes time, and loading the pot with generosity, in the form of veggies, stocks, meat and seafood, turns it into a serious treat. If you want to have people over for a dinner they’ll love, make gumbo. If you get invited to a dinner where they’re serving gumbo, go.

On the other side of the spectrum is a salad that tastes of bright freshness, with a tangy vinaigrette and lots of crunch. Make it once, for lunch or dinner, then feast on the leftovers, which just continue to improve in flavor, until it’s gone.

A truly soul-feeding soup requires time and love, here in the form of taking the care to make a briny-sweet homemade shrimp broth (yielding some for your freezer, too—score!) and then layering in vegetables, beans and okra, and finishing with some plump shrimp. A most satisfying weekend meal, to be sure.

When you’re ready to graduate from run-of-the-mill beef stew, oxtail takes it to the next level—deeper, richer and beefier than other cuts of meat. Lima beans are a classic partner, although in this case they can rightfully be called butter beans. Simmered from dried right in the stew’s juices, they truly take on that unctuous quality that earned them that name.

We love this change of pace from traditional succotash, a festive green and white, beans and greens all together in one pot. It would be right at home on, yes, a Thanksgiving table, or any time you want your side to pack a serious punch of flavor. Any leftovers? Put an egg on it.

This recipe is a boon to anyone pressed for time, which is pretty much everyone. Start with cans and frozen, throw everything in a slow cooker, and enjoy this vegetarian chili with couscous for dinner and all week long.

Trust us, the haters will be several pita chips in before even asking what this lemony, garlicky, bacon-studded dip is made of, and by the end of the party, everyone will be converted to Camp Lima Bean.

To be clear: this dish has more in common with chili than a classic pot of baked beans, but it tastes special enough, sweet and smoky and very meaty, to try even if you already have a beloved chili recipe in your back pocket. The reviews rave, but if you need more convincing, listen to this one: "The kids loved it even after we told them that yes, those ARE lima beans."

Lima beans get the fine-dining treatment in combination with fresh crabmeat. Corn, too, works in this trio of gently sweet ingredients, and savory touches like celery, chives and a balanced herb vinaigrette add up to a very sophisticated, very unexpected take on pasta salad.

If you want to start a fight in the South, you might bring up the origin of Brunswick stew, claimed by both Brunswick County, Virginia, and the city of Brunswick, in Georgia, as their own. Believe it or not, lima beans aren’t even the most eyebrow-raising ingredient in the stew, whose classic meat is actually squirrel. No worries, none of your bushy-tailed backyard friends were harmed in the making of this rich chicken stew that captures the best of the Brunswick stews, smoky and barbecue-y and packed with meat and beans.