Southern Butter Beans cooked in the slow cooker. Serve with fried chicken, fried okra, and cornbread for a very traditional southern dinner.
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 4 hourshours30 minutesminutes
Total Time 4 hourshours35 minutesminutes
Servings 4servings
Ingredients
4cupsfresh or frozen green butter beansor substitute baby lima beans - also called "petite" lima beans
2tablespoonsrendered bacon fat
1 ½tablespoonsgranulated chicken bouillonsuch as Maggi brand, or 1 cube of Knorr chicken bouillon
1 ½teaspoonssalt
Waterto 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.