Southern Homemade Butter Beans

Southern Homemade Butter Beans is an easy recipe to make, and it doesn’t take much to get it cooking. The butter beans are the perfect side dish for dinner or at Thanksgiving and Christmas. They cook up in the slow cooker and are a great addition to any meal.

We ate a lot of butter beans growing up. In fact, I’d never even heard of baby lima beans until we moved to Colorado. I had no idea they were the same thing! I think my mom might have had stock in these beans because I do remember eating them quite often.

There are so many ways to make butter beans. I made this recipe with bacon, salt, pepper, and chicken broth, but some people like to cook them with brown sugar. You can also mash them up and fry them in some breading to make a “burger” or put them in some stew or soup. You’ve got a lot of options with butter beans.

Ingredients

• 4 cups frozen butterbeans
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2-3 uncooked slices of bacon (cut up)

Full printable recipe with measurements and instructions listed at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.

How To Make Butter Beans in the Crock Pot

Add the frozen butter beans to the slow cooker.

Next, add the chicken broth.

Make sure the beans are covered the rest of the way with water.

For this recipe, I used a very small slow cooker. It’s about 1.5 quarts. It’s perfect for side dishes like this one. I was excited about finding it at one of the local thrift stores for about five dollars. You’d be amazed at how many things you can find at thrift stores.

Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top of the beans.  

Cut up slices of uncooked bacon and add it to the slow cooker. I used two pieces of bacon, but you can always add more if you’d like to. Bacon is going to add a lot of flavor to the dish.

Give everything a gentle stir and place the lid on the slow cooker.

Cook the butter beans on low for about four hours. You can turn it on high and speed up the cooking time by half, as well.

This recipe is perfect for those holidays when you don’t want to stand over the stove for too long. You can pop these in the slow cooker and have some cooked beans a little while later.

What To Serve with Butter Beans

• Cornbread
• Fried chicken from Julia’s Simply Southern
• Ham and potatoes
• Black-eyed peas
• You can add the beans to a vegetable broth or cook with some leftover ham hocks (one of the best Southern recipes).

Optional Ingredients

Butter beans are such a versatile dish. Here are a few ingredient ideas to add to your beans.

• Garlic powder or onion powder
• Salt pork
• Red pepper flakes
• Bay leaves
• Green onions
• Bell pepper
• Ham bone (adds so much flavor)
• And so much more!

Once cooked, add a dollop of butter and serve alongside your pork chops, BBQ, or favorite main dish. It has a ton of savory flavor that everyone will love.

The easy and versatile butter bean recipe, perfect as a side, will be a hit at any dinner table.