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Slow Cooked Southern Butter Beans

4.66 from 49 votes

Fresh or Frozen Southern Butter Beans cooked to melt in your mouth tender in the slow cooker. Serve with fried chicken, fried okra, and cornbread for a very traditional southern dinner.

Butter beans on a plate with fried chicken and cornbread.

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Fresh, green butter beans. What a southern summertime delight! This traditional side dish, served along with fried chicken, fried okracornbread, and sliced tomatoes is a perennial favorite at many southern tables.

I’ve read many opinions about butter beans and lima beans and whether they are the same thing. It appears that they are. Green butter beans are simply immature lima beans. Technically the same vegetable but two very different flavors, textures, and even a significant difference in size. 

🤔 What’s the Difference Between Lima and Butter Beans?


Butter beans and lima beans taste nothing alike to me. Lima beans, in my opinion, have a distinctly mealy quality that I dislike. Butter beans, on the other hand, have a fresh, creamy texture. Limas are pale grey to white when cooked and butter beans keep their pretty green color.

Because butter beans are the immature version (hence the green color) of the mature (white/beige) lima bean, it only makes sense that the texture, flavor, and overall appearance contribute to them being identified as two separate beans.

Butter Beans Are A Southern Staple

We always had a garden when I was a child, and we always grew butter beans. We shelled and cooked them fresh during the summer and froze the excess to enjoy the rest of the year. I still “put up” some when I can get them so I have them on hand year round.

Old-time southern cooking has a bad reputation when it comes to preparing fresh vegetables. We tend to cook our vegetables for a longer time and season them more highly than other regions of the country. I like them both ways.

I like the bright taste of quickly cooked vegetables, but I also enjoy the homestyle taste of longer cooked, well-seasoned vegetables. In my opinion, butter beans are one vegetable that really benefits from the hours-long cooking time.

Because of the long cooking time needed, I cook mine in a slow cooker. They can happily simmer away for the afternoon with little to no attention from me.

In traditional southern cooking, we would season with a bit of fatback, salt pork, smoked ham hock, or bacon fat. If you want to cut back on the fat, try substituting a mixture of chicken bouillon and butter substitute. They’ll still be great but will lack the smoky background flavor.

❤️ Why We Love This Recipe


  • It’s slow cooked and makes the perfect easy side dish
  • It’s versatile you can use fresh or frozen
  • Makes for a good meal on its own with a little ham and cornbread
  • Serve with a protein and two more vegetable side dishes for a traditional “meat and three” southern dinner

🛒 Ingredient Notes


Photo showing all the ingredients needed for the recipe.
  • Butter Beans (If you don’t have access to fresh ones, you can certainly use frozen; look for “petite” or “baby” lima beans in your grocery store’s frozen section. In my opinion, McKenzie’s brand frozen petite lima beans are the best size and taste match for fresh.)
  • Bacon Fat (Doesn’t everybody keep a jar of bacon grease in the refrigerator? Most southern cooks do. But if you don’t have it on hand you can either render the fat from about 4 slices of bacon or add a nice smoked ham hock or even smoked turkey wings to approximate the correct flavor.)

You’ll find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe at the bottom of this post.

🥄 How to Cook Southern Butter Beans


Butter beans, bacon fat, chicken bouillon, salt, and water in a small slow cooker.

STEP 1. Place the butter beans (no need to thaw if frozen), bacon fat, bouillon, salt, and enough water to cover in a small slow cooker.

STEP 2. Cook on high for 1½ hours.

Butter beans in a slow cooker.

STEP 3. Turn the cooker to low and cook for another 2-3 hours or until the butter beans are tender.

👉 PRO TIP: Add a small amount of additional water during cooking only if needed.

Butter beans in a wooden spoon.

These cooked all afternoon and are still pretty and green and firm. If you can get your hands on some fresh or frozen green southern butter beans, give this method of cooking a try. It also works great for field peas.

❓ Questions About Butter Beans


Can I cook butter beans on the stovetop?

Absolutely! That’s the more traditional method, actually. To cook butter beans on the stovetop, place all the ingredients in a medium pot, bring it to the boil and then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cook for 2-3 hours stirring periodically. Add a little more water if needed to prevent scorching.

How long do butter beans last in the fridge?

Store any leftover butter beans in an airtight container in your refrigerator for 3-4 days.

How do I reheat butter beans?

To reheat your butter beans, I recommend using the stovetop. A quick reheat on medium-low heat will work perfectly.

Can you freeze butter beans after they’ve been cooked?

You can freeze cooked butter beans but their texture will be degraded. Place in airtight containers and freeze for no more than three months.

Lana Stuart.

More Questions? I’m happy to help!

If you have more questions about the recipe, or if you’ve made it and would like to leave a comment, scroll down to leave your thoughts, questions, and/or rating!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

📖 Recipe

Butter beans on a plate with fried chicken and cornbread.

Southern Butter Beans

Southern Butter Beans cooked in the slow cooker. Serve with fried chicken, fried okra, and cornbread for a very traditional southern dinner.
4.66 from 49 votes
Print It Rate It Save Text It
Course: Vegetables
Cuisine: Southern, Vintage
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 35 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 292kcal
Author: Lana Stuart

Ingredients

  • 4 cups fresh or frozen green butter beans or substitute baby lima beans – also called "petite" lima beans
  • 2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat
  • 1 ½ tablespoons granulated chicken bouillon such as Maggi brand, or 1 cube of Knorr chicken bouillon
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  • Water to cover butter beans by one-inch

Instructions

  • Place butter beans, butter substitute, chicken bouillon and enough water to cover the butter beans by one inch in a small slow cooker.
  • Cook on high for 1 ½ hours.
  • Turn cooker to low and cook for another 2-3 hours or until butter beans are tender.
  • Add a small amount of additional water during cooking only if needed.

Notes

  • If you don’t have access to fresh butter beans, you can certainly use frozen; look for “petite” or “baby” lima beans in your grocery store’s frozen section.
  • For the bacon fat, if you don’t have it on hand you can either render the fat from about 4 slices of bacon or add a nice smoked ham hock or even smoked turkey wings to approximate the correct flavor.
  • Store any leftover butter beans in an airtight container in your refrigerator for 3-4 days. To reheat your butter beans, I recommend using the stovetop. A quick reheat on medium-low heat on the stovetop will work perfectly.

Nutrition Information

Serving 1 | Calories 292kcal | Carbohydrates 43g | Protein 13g | Fat 8g | Saturated Fat 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat 1g | Monounsaturated Fat 3g | Cholesterol 7mg | Sodium 1361mg | Potassium 1043mg | Fiber 10g | Sugar 3g | Vitamin A 551IU | Vitamin C 18mg | Calcium 62mg | Iron 4mg

Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.

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Butter beans in a serving bowl with a spoon.

This post was originally published in 2009. It was updated in 2021 with new photos and additional text. 

Update: Since this post was originally published, several people have emailed me with comments about the differences between lima beans and butter beans. They all insist that the big, white mealy beans are known as butter beans, and the small green tender beans are called lima beans.

Well, where I come from in the South, it’s the exact opposite. The big white beans are called lima beans, and the little green ones, as I have shown in the blog post, are called butter beans. That’s what I’ve heard them called all my life. Everyone that I know calls them the same thing.

Perhaps the post wasn’t written clearly, but the point I was trying to make is how different they seem. Not that they are actually two different unrelated things. Can we let this rest, please?

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Recipe Rating




116 Comments

  1. Carolyn Mcpheron says:

    5 stars
    This recipe was perfect for our frozen(from garden) butterpeas! i wanted to eat the whole crock myself!. 😛 but i thought i might not better take it that far. 🤭

    1. I’m so glad to hear that you liked the recipe, Carolyn! It’s my favorite way to cook butterbeans/peas.

  2. Mike Carrington says:

    5 stars
    I agree. Small ones ARE butter beans. I’m a Louisiana boy … an old one. 😊

    I couldn’t get your ‘Save’ button to work.

    1. I agree, too. You may have a pop-up blocker that is preventing you from “saving” the recipe post.

  3. Nancy Kim says:

    5 stars
    Recipe was easy and tasted great. Most recipes required bacon or ham. As I had plenty of bacon fat in the freezer, I decided to use your recipe . I bought a 10 pound bag of butter beans at a farmers market and kept putting off cooking them.

  4. i don’t know what part of the south you’re from but I’m from the deep south and Lima beans are green and butter beans are not. No matter what they’re called I love both of them. My grandmothers or my mother put chicken bouillon in them either but I’m going to try it.
    I love 99% of your recipes. By that I mean I’m not a sweet eating person

  5. Carolyn Mcpheron says:

    could i use butter instead of bacon fat?

    1. The purpose of the bacon is to impart a smoky flavor. You can use butter but you won’t get the same flavor.

  6. In the Food Lion grocery store, just recently, there is a product sold in the Crisco and bottled oils section…..it is bacon grease in a small container (shelf stable). Cannot remember the name, but will verify it on my next grocery store visit.

    1. Janice Gowens says:

      Virginia, the product is called “Bacon Up”. I have used when I don’t have extra in my fridge.

  7. Jim Brown says:

    Where have the large Fordhook limas gone? Can’t find them anywhere.

    1. I don’t work in the grocery supply chain so I’m afraid I have no idea. Maybe ask someone at your local grocery store.

    2. We have them in Apalachicola Fl
      Ask your grocer to get them
      They are delicious !!

  8. Edamame beans ( immature green soybeans) are a good substitute for butter beans. They grow in similar climates but edamame aren’t bothered by any insects or disease in my area( USDA zone 6b), basically no maintenance in the home garden. I don’t know where to find them outside a home garden.

    1. Edamame is available in the frozen foods sections of grocery stores here. I can’t say I’d cook them as a substitute for butter beans.

    2. cynthia browning says:

      5 stars
      Soy beans are NOT a good substitute for butter beans! I am a native Texan. My grandma Ida grew speckled butter beans in her garden. Creamy and tasty paired with hot water corn bread, collard greens and fried okra. Yum!

  9. I love butter beans. If we go to a “meat and three” type place, and if they have butter beans on the menu, your can probably count on those being on my plate. Southern butter beans are timeless and absolutely satisfying. Your recipe captures all of the goodness.
    Miss P

  10. John David says:

    I’m confused about the “butter substitute”, why not just use real butter?

    1. Well, as I said in the post, “In traditional southern cooking, butter beans are seasoned with a bit of fatback or a smoked ham hock. To cut back on the fat, I use chicken bouillon and a butter substitute for my seasonings.” Of course you can use real butter if you want.

      1. John David says:

        Ah ok, thank you, sorry I missed that part! I just thought maybe there was something to how the beans cooked that made butter less desirable.

        1. No problem! And nothing at all wrong with a little butter in your butter beans :-)

  11. Dixie Burch says:

    Lana, GOYA has a product called Ham [Jambon] Seasoning that has saved me 1000’s of calories with no loss of flavor……..I use it in Blackeyed Peas, green beans & new potatoes, and ALL kinds of my cooked greens………..as well as Butter Beans. Usually in Hispanic area in grocery store but I order from Amazon because I use so much of it.

  12. 5 stars
    Big ones are Limas. Of course you knew that. :-)

  13. Carolyn Alford says:

    Do the butter beans break down cooking them this long? I like butter beans that are not mushy. Anxious to try this recipe.

    1. The fresh/frozen, green butter beans like I use in the post do not get mushy. That’s exactly why I don’t use the dried, white type of butter beans.

  14. How many pounds of beans is this recipe for?

    1. As stated in the recipe, this is for one quart of fresh or frozen green butter beans.

  15. Whoever says the big white beans are called butter beans and the small greens ones are called Lima’s are completely incorrect. It’s a southern recipe, stick with what we call it!!!! BUTTERBEANS!!!!
    Also love the recipe. This was my first time doing it in a crock pot, my gramma always cooked her butter beans on the stove with tons of chicken buillon, but to try to make it a bit healthier for the kids (…. okay fine for myself, i probably shouldn’t be consuming so much sodium) I used chicken broth instead. So they are in the crock pot right now and we will see how this goes!!!!

  16. Anyone who is arguing with you about a butter beans vs a Lima are obviously not blessed to be Southern and have no idea what they are talking about. I don’t care what anyone says, the butter beans my Papa grew in his garden are nothing like Lima beans. My Memaw would boil them and drain the water and salt and pepper them and add butter to melt. That’s how we ate them and now that I am an adult who no longer lives in the South (I’m hurrying back just as soon as I can) I can tell you that I miss butter beans, hot water cornbread and sweet tea — these folks here have no idea what they’re missing.

    #teambutterbean

  17. I grew up North of the Mason-Dixon line and now live South of it. You are correct – the smaller ones are butter beans, the larger are limas. Either way, they’re delish!

  18. Butter beans and lima beans are the same thing butter beans u use the large lima beans instead of the navy beans (small lima) and this recipe is interesting bc this is no where near how we cook butter beans in the south

    1. Lana Stuart says:

      Yes, they are the same thing. One is a more mature version of the other. I have lived in the deep south my entire life (63 years worth) and have always known the green, young version to be butter beans and the large, white, mature ones as lima beans. And this method, with a few adaptations, is how everyone I grew up with cooks butter beans. I never knew anyone who cooked the large white lima beans so I can’t comment on them.

  19. Lana,
    Honey you just ignore those haters out there making rude comments to you about whether or not butter beans and lima beans are the same!
    I grew up in the south as well and I am in a hundred percent agreement with you. They ARE VERY different! These are southern butter beans!!!
    Delicious recipe! I made some today. Yummmmy! Thanks so much for sharing!

  20. I am a Southern gal myself and have always considered “butterbeans” to be the big whitish beans and the smaller green ones as Limas. You can buy frozen Limas here at the grocery store and add a bag of frozen Limas with a bag of frozen corn and voila you have succatash. My grandmother raised me and she would cook and serve a big pot of Butter beans (the big whitish bean. We never heard the term Lima back then (in my family that is).

  21. The best beans! The chicken bouillon made all the difference. Thank you

  22. Hi Lana! My grandparents always grew butter beans every summer, and my mom and I would always bring back loads whenever we went to visit them; first time my mom made butter beans for my father (a Yankee from western NY state), he sucked down his bowl of beans and asked her “Where’s the rest of dinner?” She just looked at him like he had two heads, because whenever she had butter beans for dinner as a kid… That was usually it. Just a bowl of butter beans!

    I would like to know what variety of butter bean you plant, and where you get the seed – I’ve been looking for butter bean seed for the last few years, and everyone directs me to lima beans (blerg). No one believes me when I insist that butter and lima are NOT the same!

    1. Lana Stuart says:

      Hi Charlene – I don’t grow them these days. I get my yearly supply when I go home to south Georgia during the summer. Fortunately, there are several places there where I can buy as many as I want already shelled!

  23. I’m from Georgia. At the foot of the Appalachia mountain range. Butter beans have always been the larger, more “buttery” looking and Lima beans are the younger, greener and firmer texture. I was always told they were the same, one a younger variety of the other.

    Yet there is still no clear answer if they are the same or two varieties of the same type bean.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaseolus_lunatus

  24. Martha Fincher says:

    Can these be done in an Instant Pot?

    1. Lana Stuart says:

      Hi Martha. I would think they could be, but I’ve never tried that so I don’t have info on times or anything.

  25. You have stirred up great memories of my mothers wonderful home cooking. She cook large white Lima beans with a creamy gravy that we all called butter beans. Seasoned with smoked pork, preferably ham or bacon. Being good Texans we then spooned them over tamales with corn bread on the side. Don’t laugh until you try it. Oh what a grand meal.

  26. Hi Lana. Growing up in Georgia (as kind of a picky eater as a kid) I practically lived off of these delicious little guys. But I could never find “butter” beans in the store as an adult and asked my mom if Lima and Butter beans are the same. The answer is yes and no. So, you’re right, Lima Beans are the big white mealy beans. but my mom informed me that BABY Lima beans are the little green ones. So just so you don’t think you’re going crazy, they SEEM different because they kind of are. Now i can find Baby Lima Beans in the frozen food section sometimes. But rarely canned. Great simple recipe. Thanks!

  27. cheryl slappey says:

    I really enjoyed your post. I am from Georgia, and we always used the names for lima beans and butter beans interchangeably. I really wish people would really learn to keep their mean spirited and rude comments to themselves. It is so easy to sit behind a computer and ridicule someone. Like I said, I really enjoyed your post and will be using your method to cook my Lima/butter beans!!

  28. Oi. I had this problem when I wanted to recreate a stew I ate growing up. I accidentally bought butter beans (Fordhooks) when what I wanted were baby lima beans. The taste, texture, color – everything was all wrong. Finally found I could get baby lima beans in the frozen section and have been a happy camper since.

    ” (Lima Beans)… come in two main varieties: baby lima and Fordhook. The latter is the larger and more common variety in the U.S. Although the Fordhook might appear to be a mature baby lima, the two are, in fact, separate varieties.”

    Lima beans are butter beans. Baby lima beans are not.

  29. I do not think you are stupid. People in different areas call things differently, for their areas. I am from NE Alabama, and the green ones we called lima beans and the big ones, we called butterbeans. Doesn’t matter if they are cooked right, they are all good!!!

  30. I 100% agree with you on the difference between limas and butter beans. They are NOT the same to me, and where I’m from, butter beans are the smaller of the 2. Thanks for the recipe!

  31. Butter beans and Lima beans are the same bean. The Phaseolus lunatus. So…..

  32. Debra Romero says:

    You’re not stupid. I can’t stand it when people call someone stupid, because they say things different. I grew up in Alabama. I’ve always called the large white ones butter beans. I love them. My grandmother and mother made them for me. Now my husband does. I never could make them right. Butter beans over crumbled cornbread with either sweet pickle relish, or sweet pickles or green onions. I have stage 3 chronic kidney disease and I can’t have the pickles or anything pickled anymore. I miss them. :( We called the green ones green butter or lima beans. I don’t care for the green ones unless they’re cooked and seasoned right. Now I’ve got a hankering for them. “Oh sweet heart I need to put in an order.” Ha Ha He’s to good to me.

  33. Omg!! I love butter beans :)
    If I don’t have a slow cooker may I use a regular pot? If so do you have any suggestions?

    Thank you!

    1. Lana Stuart says:

      Of course. Add your ingredients to a large pot. Bring it to the boil and then turn it down to low or so that it keep a low simmer. Cook until done – about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

      1. Thank you so much! I’ll be making this soon :)

  34. Sounds good, but use real butter, you need the fat for your body. Also, a small slab of fat back, and or six sauteed strips of bacon (drained) and a finely chopped sauteed onion are good too. If you want real fancy a touch of garlic and some Bay seed.
    My mom insist that if they aren’t fresh shelled they’re not butter beans, but frozen taste great too.

  35. Thank you for the crock pot variation on these yummy beans! I’m from NE Tennessee and I was always taught that butterbeans were the bigger, paler beans and limas were the smaller, greener type… REGARDLESS, I agree with your opinion on quality! The small, greener variety are MUCH better tasting than the bigger, mushier ones (no matter what you call them! – “A rose by any other name” etc.) :)

  36. Christie Steadman says:

    I’m with you – Butter beans and Lima beans are NOT the same! Lima beans are gross – they have a chalky taste. Butter beans are delicious! I have actually “almost” argued with people at our Farmers Market about this – usually people who were not raised here! Just got some butter beans today and am going to try your crock pot method!

  37. Jean Allen says:

    I grew up in South Carolina…We would have butter beans, sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob and fried chicken for Sunday dinner. I have been looking for a recipe without using salt park and I think you have it!! I brought back to Nebraska some frozen butter beans from my cousin. Just wanted a “taste of home”!
    Will give this a try! Thanks for the posting!!

  38. I from the north and grew up with the larger white lima beans. Which some people called butter beans. The smaller green ones which I found about 10 years ago are called baby lima beans which taste great too. Mom used to cooked the white lima beans with salt and bay leaves and always thought them the best. The small green ones, I get frozen, I just cook with some butter. Will be trying this way soon.

  39. Lima Beans.. Butter beans.. Whatever you want to call it I’ve made this recipe with both & there’s no complaints at the dinner table !

  40. I live in Terre Haute, Indiana, I have been searching for dry butter beans for over a year now. I too grew up on butter beans. My mother use to servebutter beans with fried potatoes and cornbread and apple butter. Oh the memories. It is really sad that I can’t go to the store and purchase a bag of dry butter beans. If there is anyone out there that can tell me where to find fresh dry butter bean please please let me know.

  41. Judy Gilmore says:

    Hello, I’m also Southern but we call the large light colored beans butterbeans not limas which are the smaller green ones. What I’m cooking today using your delicious sounding recipe are speckled butter beans

  42. Rebecca in NC says:

    I agree that butterbeans and lima beans are two different things. I’m sorry for those of you who’ve never had a good plate of butterbeans. My grandmother used to cook them with sweet corn and they’d be the highlight of our summer lunches. I’m not much of a gardener, but I just bought some real butterbeans at a farmers market and can’t wait to cook them up!

  43. When do you add the salt? I don’t see that in the instructions. I’m making this today. It’s in the crockpot now. I left the salt out and may not need it.

    1. Lana Stuart says:

      I add the salt at the beginning of cooking, but you can toss it in most any time. It doesn’t make much difference.

  44. I just found your blog about “southern” butter beans. I’ve been gone from Mississippi for more than 40 years, but still yearn for butter beans cooked slow and long with a little fat back. My mother and grandmother always added a bit of sugar to their pot, so I like mine slightly sweet. I, too, remember sitting on the back porch or under a shade tree and helping to shell butter beans from my grandmother’s garden. We always called the small green ones butter beans and the big white ones “lima beans”. We used lima beans as dried beans. The green ones were cooked fresh or frozen and canned for later use. Out here in California today I find that I can substitute the frozen green “baby limas” for butter beans.(In fact, I am sure the baby green lima is the same thing as butter beans). I agree with you, the big limas have a mealy, chalky taste…as dried beans. I grew “baby limas” (as the seed packed called them) last year in my garden….when I cooked them fresh when green, they were butter beans. Those that dried on the vine turned into white colored “baby limas!” The bigger lima beans are just a different variety of the same plant. My opinion is that in most parts of the country they are all called “limas” , whether big or small, but in the South, we call the small ones butter beans and the big ones limas. Thanks for your blog.

  45. I love you, and your blog. I’ve commented before that finding you has brought me back to a place that reminds me of my grandmothers, my aunts and my mom. BUTTER BEANS is something that I remember eating since forever. I was almost brought to my knees when my 7 yr old niece said at Thanksgiving this year that “butter beans are my most favorite thing ever to eat”, in fact I made them again for my birthday dinner in December because I knew she was going to be there, and she hugged me and said “you made these just for me didn’t you, because you love me”, seriously I could have died at that very moment and never been happier. As a Southern girl, I have shelled these straight from my grandparents fields since I was very little and to this day, I love them as a part of my past, my culture and my family’s history. Thank you (again) for the “2013 look back”, your blog is so special to me. Happy New Year!

    1. Lana Stuart says:

      Thank you so much, Angela, for your very sweet comment. I’m always especially pleased when my recipes bring back fond memories for someone. A very happy and prosperous New Year to you!

  46. Thank you Jesus!! Finally a Butter Bean recipe with the GREEN Butter Beans! Ok, I am from NC .. and THESE are butter beans! Haha! I needed a refresh on how to make them because it had been SOO long and I am cooking these for Thanksgiving!

    Thank you! Thank you!

    1. Lana Stuart says:

      You’re welcome, Meagan! I love using this method for cooking green butter beans. Hope yours turn out good. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

  47. Amy @ The Blond Cook says:

    I’ve been craving fresh butter beans and came across your recipe. I’m from the south too, and have always called the little green beans “butter beans” and the big white beans “lima beans”… it’s a southern thing that I’m proud of! :-)

  48. Got fresh butter beans off the farm in south ga… have them in the c pot as I type this can”t wait..Thanks your for recipe…………btw i’m from way up north..VERMOMT no butter beans up there..

    1. Lana Stuart says:

      Glad you found some butterbeans, Sandi! Enjoy!

      1. Princess Hightower says:

        I grew up in Louisiana and my grandma butter beans was pale white and creamy love me some butter beans with hot skillet cornbread.

  49. I want to buy fresh butter beans. I live in NYC is there another name for them, what do I ask for? I remember helping my Mom preparing them as a child. Please help! PS I don’t like Lima beans.

    1. Lana Stuart says:

      Hi Brenda. Sorry, but I don’t know of any other name for butter beans. I have no idea where you’d look for them in New York.

  50. Ethel Washington says:

    As a child I grew up in Arkansas and spent a part of the summer shelling butter beans. Now when I return during the summer I find there are few places to purchase fresh butter beans. Do you know of a source where I can purchase fresh butter beans online?

    1. Ethel – I’m sorry I don’t know of an online source for fresh butter beans. I always get them when I go back home to south Georgia.

  51. I’m not 100% sure about slow cookers, but I’ve eaten butterbeans as a guest of some fairly accomplished regional chefs and more than once have eaten their “hard” beans. Their problem (I never said a word because it would have been rude) was that they added salt in the beginning stage of cooking. This will make all beans hard and never tender! Wait until near the end, after the beans are tender to season them with salt. Just my opinion, that of a middle aged country boy who grew up in (usually somebody else’s) garden.

  52. Love butterbeans!! I want to make this but add corn to it for a simpler succotash? Any suggestions on how to incorporate that in?

    1. I’d just add the corn right along with the butterbeans. Corn holds up well to long, slow cooking.

      1. You’re correct about corn holding up. It has a cell structure that is very resilient and often holds up to the “very end!” :P

  53. I just found this receipe. Gosh, this makes me miss having a garden.

  54. I need to know how to cook green northen beans,I planted some for the first time & just got done shelling them,do I cook them as green butter beans(lima beans)?Thanks very much,a southern girl.

    1. Gosh Kathleen, I don’t even know what “green northern beans” are!

      1. I love your recipes! But “great northern beans” are white beans with ham as we say down here in Tennessee! LOL! Don’t know why they call them northern lol!

  55. Having family over Monday for Labor Day and I will be using your butter bean recipe for the frest ones I picked up today from the market. I will let you know how they turn out. Thanks

  56. A quick question – Can I use butter vs the butter substitute?

    1. Sure. However, I used the butter substitute just to cut down on calories. If I wasn’t going to use the butter substitute, I’d add bacon grease instead of butter.

  57. Lorri Jeanne says:

    I was just looking for a recipe for cooking fresh butter beans and Google had your post listed. I love your recipe and cooking in a slow cooker is a perfect idea! Thanks :)

    1. I love using the slow cooker for butter beans and for field peas. Hope you enjoy the recipe!

  58. i get been following your posts for a while in the present circumstances all i can announce ‘
    is they are great . I look forward to reading more from you.

  59. Thanks for this! I just got some fresh Butter Beans this week. I used your basic recipe and technique. We’re having them for dinner tonight. I can’t wait!

  60. chayacomfycook says:

    I love your blog. You are doing a great job with it.

    Now that I have buttered you up. Smiling.

    I have a question about your header. Would you drop me a line at [email protected]? Maybe you can direct me how to resolve the issue. Thanks.

    Chaya

    1. Do I ever have photos that they have rejected!?!?! Loads of them. I saw your site a couple of days ago and thought it looked like fun. I just may send some things your way!

  61. Growing up in the south my parents loved butter beans and we had them often…I was not a big fan until I had some homemade ones on my visit back at families this past June…and yours look wonderful!

  62. Okay, now I’m inspired. I saw speckled butter beans in the frozen food section at the grocery store, do you think that would be suitable? Or maybe I need ot head out to the farmer’s market and try to get some fresh ones…

  63. Oh yum. I love butter beans and your post brings back memories of sitting under the shade tree with my grandmother, shelling them. Also of my brother passing his under the table, a few at a time, because he hated them, I loved them, and he had to clean his plate before he could get dessert.

    Congratulations on your great blog!

  64. Reginald @ Ceramic Canvas says:

    as a native son of the south (alabama),

    i am a huge fan of fresh butter beans.

    this recipe looks delish and simple.

    congrats!

  65. TasteStopping says:

    My mother is a big fan of butter beans, served with pulled pork at one of her favorite restaurants. But you’ve convinced me that we need to try them in our garden next year. Especially if they play nice in a slow cooker. What could be better?

    Anyway, I found you on TasteSpotting and am writing to say that if you have any photos that aren’t accepted there, I’d love to publish them. Visit my new site (below), it’s a lot of fun! I hope you will consider it.

    Best,
    Casey
    Editor
    http://www.tastestopping.wordpress.com

  66. Now look what you did – there’s a big pile of drool on my floor ;). I’m from the south but now live in Michigan, and I definitely miss access to butter beans. When I was visiting my parents in December, I brought back a bunch of frozen ones from the local market. I’ve never tried cooking them in a slow cooker, but it sounds like a great idea!

  67. Jannie Funster says:

    I just LOVE butter beans!

  68. You can’t fool me. I know that you have okra and tomatoes as the other side dish on that plate. Tell these folks how to cook that. You will be thanked!

    Miss P

    1. stewed tomatoes n okra was a every week end dish at mom n dads mom was calif daughter of a German immigrant butcher who sold chicken eggs to alaskan gold rush miners dad grew up as a N Carolina orphan of bootlegger single parent (mother) with his tiny garden in our Coronado, CA .small backyard so dinners were sparse and varied but pretty good just as it to much resembled animal parts like cow tongue, or tripe etc. hence I got pretty good at making excuses. being a paralyzed senior now now , never paid attention growing up to their culinary endeavors That I now regret so hearing of online southern cookin makes me drool on the keyboard like Pavlov’s dog thanks to all for your comments okra in tomatoes and soups reminds me how much I miss those days (50’s) thx

  69. I want some of those butter beans right now, Lana!!! Man, they look good. I wonder if I can even find FROZEN ones up here. Gotta look the next time I am off island. You have made me so hungry for Southern food, I might just have to open up some more Stripling sausage and cook some biscuits. Love you!

    1. What is stripling sausage?

      1. Lana Stuart says:

        Stripling’s is a store in south Georgia that makes its own homemade sausage. Stripling’s is the name of their brand.

  70. Bread + Butter says:

    Looks lovely!! This would go great mixed into a salad. Yum!