Golden Creamy Butter Beans

Why are butter beans so elusive?

Hello friends! I hope you’re doing well and eating well. I’ve been eating a ton of legumes lately, i.e. lentils, chickpeas, cannellini beans and my favourite of the legumes, butter beans. I’ve gotten a few questions about where I find them and the answer is that I’m lucky enough to shop at a grocery store sells them canned. Note that they also go by Lima Beans (actually, that’s their real name), so try looking for those in the bean aisle. If you can’t find them canned (or jarred) then you might have a better chance finding them dry at a bulk food store or in the international section of your grocery store (or even online). Besides, beans cooked from dry are usually tastier (and cheaper) so it’s not a bad thing!

All that to say, once you do get your hands on some butter beans then you have to make this because it’s the best bean dish I’ve made in a while. And that’s saying a lot because I’m constantly cooking with beans. If you absolutely cannot find butter beans anywhere, or you simply don’t feel like hunting them down, then you can definitely sub them for another white bean like cannellini, navy or great northern. Just make this with the beans you’ve got and I promise you’ll be happy.

Golden Creamy Butter Beans

(serves 3-4)

• 1-2 tbsps coconut oil or olive oil

• 1 medium onion, diced

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• thump size piece ginger, minced (about 1.5 tbsps)

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• black pepper to taste

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 2 540ml cans drained and rinsed butter beans (also called lima beans) *

• 1 cup full fat coconut milk

• 2 cups veg broth (I used 2 cups of water and dissolved 1 veg bouillon cube in it)

1. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and black pepper. Fry for about a minute until the spices and aromatics are fragrant. Stir through tomato paste and fry for another minute or so to develop some umami.

2. Add veggie broth, coconut milk and butter beans and stir to combine. I didn’t find any additional salt necessary as my bouillon cube was salty enough, but this is the time to adjust the salt to your taste preference. Bring to a simmer and turn the heat to medium low. Simmer for 15 minutes to allow the starches from the beans to thicken the sauce.

3. Remove from the heat and top with another swirl of coconut milk and some chopped cilantro. Serve with toasted bread or rice and enjoy!

*sub for another white bean like cannellini, navy or great northern. Chickpeas could work here too but they’re not as starchy so you may have to simmer them longer for the sauce to thicken.

I hope you make this because it’s truly delicious, and please let me know whether you eat your beans with rice or bread (or some other way?) I’m curious. Personally, I’m having a beans + toasted sourdough moment but I think I’ll always be a beans and rice girl at heart.

Don’t worry, bean era is just beginning. I have so many bean and legume recipes coming this winter so stay tuned. That’s all for today, thank you for being here.

-Raquel xx

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