15 Ways to Use Lima Beans

March 27, 2020
Photo: Jeffery Cross; Styling: Robyn Valarik
Don't let those lima beans in your pantry (or your freezer!) go to waste. From summer succotash (we're partial to this recipe) to comforting winter soups and stews (this Hearty Beef and Freezer Veggie Soup and this Pressure Cooker Brunswick Stew are super easy and convenient), everyone in your family will love these convenient lima bean recipes.     
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Best-Ever Succotash

Photo: Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos; Prop Styling: Christine Keely
Best-Ever Succotash Recipe
There are three must-have ingredients in a good pan of succotash. You must have fresh tomatoes, and we prefer cherry tomatoes to boost the sweetness of the dish and add a little acidity for balance. Instead of heavy cream, this recipe calls for salted butter to give the colorful vegetables richness without turning them gray.
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Mini Chicken Potpies

Jennifer Causey
Mini Chicken Potpies Recipe

Filled with tender sweet potato, meaty mushrooms, and shredded chicken, these personal potpies are a one-dish meal your family will love. Let the puff pastry thaw in the fridge for about 45 minutes before using.

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Succotash Salad with Lentils

Caitlin Bensel
Succotash Salad with Lentils Recipe

Filling lentils tag team with a garden’s bounty of vegetables to add fiber and color to this bright, seasonal salad. On the flavor playground, basil and tomatoes are best friends, so it’s no surprise this herb-loaded dressing is the perfect way to tie all of this salad’s vegetables together.

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Harry Young’s Burgoo

Greg DuPree
Harry Young’s Burgoo Recipe

This hearty stew freezes well, which is a good thing because it feeds a large crowd and you may have leftovers. It tastes even better the next day when the flavors have had time to marry.

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Sausage Minestrone

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Prop Styling: Ginny Branch Stelling; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall
Sausage Minestrone Recipe

Sausage and vegetables freeze well and taste even better the next day after the flavors have had time to meld together. If you're planning to enjoy the soup later, prepare the pasta separately so it doesn't turn mushy.

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Salmon Croquettes with Succotash

Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Karen Rankin; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
Salmon Croquettes with Succotash Recipe

You’d never believe these crispy little croquettes with veggie relish were whipped up exclusively from pantry and refrigerator/freezer staples. It’s the perfect satisfying supper for those occasions when you’re next grocery shopping trip isn’t gonna happen for a few more days. 

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Minted Bean & Pea Hummus Crudites

Minted Bean & Pea Hummus Crudites Recipe

Lunch: Keep hunger pangs away with these healthy and delicious dishes! 150 calories and under. Lose weight the 5:2 way. This healthy, quick and easy recipe is featured in the lunch section of the new 5:2 Starter's Guide to The 2-Day Diet. The book provides a selection of over 100 tasty recipes that meet the daily 500 calorie allotment for the 2 days of intermittent fasting, as required by the 5:2 Diet.

 

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Pressure Cooker Brunswick Stew

Photo: Daniel Agee; Food Styling: Robin Bashinsky; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
Pressure Cooker Brunswick Stew Recipe

 For our largely hands-off take on the classic comfort food, we create an intensely flavorful base by first pressure cooking a whole chicken on top of a combination of boxed tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and a handful of flavor power player ingredients.

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Succotash Salsa

Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez, Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food Styling: Katelyn Hardwick
Succotash Salsa Recipe
Succotash is a favorite dish in the South, a savory combination of lima beans, corn kernels, onions, and sometimes red or green bell peppers. The word "succotash" is of Native American origin, and roughly translates to “boiled kernels of corn.” That seems to fit, and, along with sweet corn, we like to add other fresh produce the South offers up during the summer months.
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Ham and Lima Bean Fried Rice

Photo: Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Ham and Lima Bean Fried Rice Recipe

This delicious Southern twist on fried rice is made with pantry and freezer staples, so you probably already have most of the ingredients on hand.

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Hearty Beef and Freezer Veggie Soup

Photo: Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Hearty Beef and Freezer Veggie Soup Recipe
Let convenience products from your grocery store help you stir up a batch of satisfying soup. Season and brown cubed stew meat, and then add vegetable broth, canned tomatoes and frozen vegetables, such as corn, beans, and okra. In just 40 minutes your family is crowded around bowls of steaming soup on the table.

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Seared Tuna with Eggplant and Edamame

Photo: Jennifer Causey
Seared Tuna with Eggplant and Edamame Recipe

You can also use regular globe eggplant instead of the Japanese variety; just peel and cut into cubes. Add a side of brown rice or soba noodles, and dinner is done.

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Refrigerator Soup

Photo: Robbie Caponetto
Refrigerator Soup Recipe
Sarah Gavigan learned this hearty soup from her Sicilian-born grandmother, who would often visit from Florida for a week at a time and who, Gavigan says, "filled the kitchen with magic."

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Three-Bean Cassoulet with Cornmeal Dumplings

Photo: Hector Sanchez; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham
Three-Bean Cassoulet with Cornmeal Dumplings Recipe

A mixture of beans gives this dish contrasting textures and colors.

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Spicy Chorizo and Lima-Bean Scramble

Photo: Jeffery Cross; Styling: Robyn Valarik
Spicy Chorizo and Lima-Bean Scramble Recipe

This Mexican-style skillet dinner makes a good brunch too. If you can find large yellow canned limas--a variety known as butter beans--choose those over the smaller green limas; they have a deeper, richer flavor.

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