Zesty Butter Beans
Zesty, creamy, and delicious butter beans can be enjoyed as is stew-style or served over rice or quinoa for a filling meal. Naturally vegan and gluten-free.
🫘 What Are Butter Beans?
Butter beans are legumes with roots in Central and South America. They are more commonly known as lima beans (named after Lima, Peru) and also go by the name sieve beans. They are mild-tasting and creamy and buttery in texture. They are also remarkably versatile and the fresh beans can be served in salads, added to stews, casseroles, dip, you name it.
💛 Why You Will Love This Recipe
- These butter beans are super quick and easy to make, yet packed with so much flavor and nutrition.
- This butter bean recipe is creamy and comforting.
- No need for dried beans or a long cooking time with this recipe.
- Butter beans make an excellent side dish, a flavorful stew as a main dish, or are also delicious served over rice or quinoa.
- These are super tasty, with zesty savory notes as well as a smoky flavor and a hint of spice. Rich and flavorful all the way!
- Much like leftover curry, these butter beans taste even better the next day.
- Naturally vegan, dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free, and gluten-free.
🧂 Ingredients and Substitutes
Oil: A neutral oil like avocado oil or olive oil will work best.
Onion and garlic: Red onion adds an additional zesty punch, but if you only have white or yellow onion, it will work in a pinch. If you do not have fresh garlic cloves, use 1 teaspoon of garlic powder instead.
Coconut milk: A can of full-fat coconut milk adds a delightful creaminess to these vegan butter beans. While broth is usually used in classic butter beans, I find the coconut milk to really enhance the delightful texture inherent in butter beans. For a non-vegan vegetarian version, you can swap it out for heavy cream instead.
Lemon juice: Lemon juice adds some of the tang and zest to this recipe. While the flavor profile is slightly different, lime juice also tastes delicious and makes a suitable substitution.
Turmeric: Ground turmeric not only adds vibrant color to these beans but also a nice earthiness and anti-inflammatory properties.
Black pepper: Black pepper helps activate the healthful compounds in turmeric, as well as adds a nice warmth and spice.
Smoked Paprika: Smoked paprika adds all the delightful smokiness to these beans. I do not recommend replacing it with any other variety of paprika.
Oregano: Dried oregano leaves add a flavor that pairs well with the other spices and lends a nice herby undertone. If you do not have oregano, while different, thyme works in a pinch for something similar.
Salt: A small touch of salt brings out all the flavors.
Optional garnishes: I like to top off these zesty butter beans with a pinch of red chile flakes and a sprinkle of hemp seeds for added nutrition, texture, and spice. Having said that, it’s positively perfect as is.
🥣 How To Make Butter Beans
- Sauté the onion and garlic in oil until softened.
- Add the remaining ingredients, then stir until all is well incorporated.
- Simmer for a few minutes, until thick and creamy.
- Serve and enjoy!
🍽️ Serving Ideas
- Serve zesty butter beans as the perfect side dish to accompany a protein and some vegetable side dishes.
- Serve alongside bread like cornbread or biscuits which make the perfect vehicle for dipping into the butter beans.
- Serve as a hearty stew.
- Serve curry-style over some rice or quinoa.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Butter beans have a very mild, neutral flavor and are great on taking on the flavors of ingredients they are cooked with.
Yes. Butter beans are a rich source of protein, fiber, iron, and folate.
While they have some similarities, cannellini beans and butter beans are different beans entirely.
Cooked butter beans make excellent leftovers. Store butter beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. Reheat on the stove until warm throughout.
🥘 More Delicious Bean Recipes
Instant Pot Chipotle Peruano Beans
Zesty Butter Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil I like to use avocado or olive oil
- 1 red onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 13.4-ounce package or can pre-cooked butter beans drained and rinsed
- 1 13.5-ounce can full fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice fresh or bottled
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- optional garnishes red chili flakes, hemp seeds
Instructions
- In a small saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat, add the oil, onion and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes or until all has softened and is beginning to turn golden.
- Add the butter beans, coconut milk, lemon juice, turmeric, pepper, paprika, oregano and salt. Stir well.
- Let the butter beans simmer, while stirring frequently, until all has thickened a a litte and is nice and creamy, about 5 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Lovely recipe which I will definitely make again.
As others have said mine was rather soupy so I needed two jars of queen butterbeans.
Always happy to have extra for further meals so no problem.
Thank you.
Hello! Thanks for the delicious recipe. It came out very nicely. I used canellini beans because that’s what I had. The spices plus lemon juice and coconut milk are a perfect balance. I added sliced roasted fennel bulbs to the mix (needed using) and served over quinoa. Thanks again!
I’m so very happy to hear it! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Maybe the best butterbeans I have ever had, and I live in the South. Mine were a little soupy, but a second can of butterbeans easily fixed that.
I’m so very happy to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to share here!
This is a 10/10. lazy, tasty dinner. Will definitely run thinner with store brand beans!!! But what great opportunity to use some crusty bread to soak up the goodness. Canned coconut milk, not the coconut milk in a carton for drinks by the almond milk.
Delicious! Made this as a meal prep for lunch and can confirm it freezes/defrosts/reheats very well. For me it made 2 portions (as a main meal) and I scooped it onto some garlic naans. Lovely warmth to the dish and I just LOVE butterbeans. Thanks for sharing – will make again!
I’m so very happy to hear it!! Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
This dish is so good! The beans are so creamy and flavorful, and the spices give them a nice zesty kick. I also love that this recipe is so easy to make, it’s definitely a weeknight keeper!
I love a bit of heat and these Zesty Butter Beans are my new favorite! Will be making this again as my holiday side dish!
I adore butter beans! Sometimes they’re harder to find so I swap out cannellini beans but nothing compares to the smooth and creamy texture of butter beans. This recipe is a gem for making a vegetarian dish taste so good even my meat loving husband enjoys them!
Wow – I really wish my mother had found this recipe when I was a kid. Totally new respect for butter beans now! Love the kick of the spices. Made it for my teens yesterday and they didn’t even complain!
Made this for dinner and love it! So easy for a night when you don’t feel like cooking a lot but want a flavorful and nutritional meal.
It’s a good recipe. The sauce will take longer than 5 minutes to thicken. I let mine cook till it was the right consistency.
These are fantastic! Since some people thought it was soupy and I was concerned about calories, I only used about half the can of coconut milk. But wow! Thanks!
I’m looking at the calories in a can of full-fat coconut milk, a can of beans, two tablespoons of olive oil and an onion. I don’t think the calorie math on this recipe can be correct. Milk: 668, beans: 419, oil: 238, onion: 46 = 1371 calories / 4 servings = 343 per serving
I’m not trying to correct your math. I just want to be sure I am using coconut milk. NOT coconut cream, NOT coconut water. The recipe looks right, but the calorie count makes me think something is off. I’m making it tonight with coconut milk and trying it over oatmeal! Really looking forward to this dish.
Hi, Mel! Thank you for letting me know. I don’t actually calculate these myself. The recipe card I use (and nearly every food blog you will find) automatically calculates the nutritional information based upon the ingredients and amounts I input. Unfortunately, once in a while, it can be inaccurate. I will try to fix this, and will keep this in mind when sharing recipes with coconut milk! And yes, coconut milk is correct. I hope you enjoy the recipe and I appreciate you stopping by.:)
I am eating these right now over wild rice and really like the flavor. I did add cornstarch because they were soupy. Will surely make again!
So happy to hear it! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Slap your mama good!!! All the reviews don’t lie. I used 3 cans of butter beans. They were pre seasoned and when i drained and rinsed them, it didn’t seem like there were many there. .I will definitely make again with just regular canned butter beans. Thanks for this recipe.
I’m so very happy to hear! 🙂 I really appreciate you taking the time to share here. Thank you!!
yummy!!!! I thought it was very saucy so I added another can of beans. This would be great for a meatless meal!!
I’m so happy to hear it! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I served these as part of a meal for my sons girlfriend and her parents. They are vegan and I was a bit lost at what to make them as we are big meat eaters.
I made a chicken stew for the meat eaters and then these beans for the vegan guests, I served it all with rice and some asparagus.
They went down well. Thank you 🙂
These butter beans are delicious! I served them over a nead of quinoa. So good!
These are incredibly flavorful, creamy, and just plain delicious! I’ll be making these a ton. Thanks for the recipe!
These buttery beans were such a fun side dish! My family enjoyed this with our BBQ dinner.
Served these buttered beans over dinner last night and everyone liked them! This recipe is a great way to end the Lenten season. Worth saving!
So these are definitely the best butter beans I’ve ever had. We always have canned beans but they are never this special! Just delicious. Thank you!
This seems similar to what my grandma made ages ago and I forgot how much I love butter beans. I wanted to try this because of the coconut milk and loved the flavor of that ingredient. Great recipe.
These butter beans were such a delicious side dish! So easy and flavorful too!
I forgot how much I love butter beans! I’m a vegetarian so I’m always looking for new ways to eat beans. These were so good!
These beans are amazing! I had a can to use up and found this recipe and OMG I had no idea beans could be so good! Amazing!