This Southern butter beans recipe will get you out of your same-old-same-old weekly routine! With butter, bacon, and a secret ingredient, you’ll discover that butter beans can become a beloved vegetable in your house.
We’ve tested this recipe multiple times to guarantee you can make the best butter beans you’ve ever tasted!
Thank you for your recipe! I followed it exact and it is awesome. Add a side of fresh corn, a slice of tomato, a fried chicken leg or two and you have the ultimate meal.
Dena
As a fourth-generation Southern cook, I’ve been eating and cooking butter beans for most of my life. We grew them in the garden and froze them so we’d have butter beans all year long.
You will love this butter beans recipe
This simple vegetable is a great side dish for almost any Southern meal: Meatloaf and mashed potatoes, Southern pot roast, or our favorite, Granny’s Fried Chicken.
Like most Southern recipes, there are as many ways to cook butter beans as there are streets named Peachtree in Atlanta. However, a common denominator for most beans and greens is the addition of pork for flavor, either as fatback or bacon.
I learned how to cook butter beans from my grandmother, and her butter beans recipe is pretty simple: put water in a pot, add bacon, season with salt and pepper, add a little garlic powder, bring to a boil, and add the beans. Throw in some butter toward the end.
Our testing results
Sugar is the magic ingredient! Granny would add a little sugar to the water, not enough to make the beans too sweet, but just enough to taste and add a little more flavor. We’ve tested this recipe with and without the addition of sugar, and our tasters overwhelmingly preferred the version with sugar added.
You won’t find a meat-and-three in the South that doesn’t have butter beans on the menu because this vegetable is a favorite around here, especially in rural areas.
I hope you make this recipe. I think you’ll love it!
Ingredient notes for butter beans
The ingredients for this Southern butter beans recipe are all common pantry or fridge staples, so you should be able to cook butter beans anytime. Here are a few things to note:
➡️➡️➡️ The full ingredient amounts and instructions are listed below on the printable recipe card. Scroll below the recipe card for frequently asked questions and tips for success.
Frozen or fresh butter beans or baby lima beans: I like to get the baby version because they are smaller and more tender. Generally, if you buy fresh butter beans, you’ll get smaller ones.
Bacon: You can substitute fatback here or even a ham hock. The pork adds so much flavor to the beans. Our testing found that turkey bacon does not work well in this recipe so we do not recommend using it.
Chicken stock or water: I usually use water, but if you want a more intense flavor, you can use chicken or vegetable stock.
Sugar: This is the magic ingredient that takes these butter beans from okay to delicious! All you need is white granulated sugar.
How to cook butter beans
This simple recipe only requires a pot and a few ingredients. You’ll love how easy it is to make delicious Southern butter beans.
Prepare water and butter beans.
Start by adding water or chicken stock, salt, pepper, bacon, butter, sugar, and garlic powder to a large saucepan.
Cook the beans.
Bring the water and seasonings to a boil and cook for a minute or two until the seasonings have dissolved. Then add the butter beans and return to a boil, then turn down to simmer.
I like butter beans to be very tender, so I cook them for about an hour. Cooking time will vary if depending on whether you’re using fresh or frozen beans. Fresh beans will cook a little faster.
**Cook’s Tip: Taste the butter beans while they’re cooking so you can add additional seasonings if necessary.
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Butter Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb. butter beans fresh or frozen
- 2 slices thick cut bacon
- 2-4 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ tablespoon garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place butter beans in a large saucepan. Fill pan with enough water to cover the beans by about an inch.
- Add bacon, sugar, garlic powder, butter, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Turn down to a simmer and cook 45 minutes or until tender.
- Taste and add additional salt, pepper, and/or sugar if needed. Serve warm.
Notes
- Use fresh butter beans if they are in season. If not, frozen will work just fine.
- You can substitute baby lima beans if your grocery store doesn’t carry butter beans. They are the same thing!
- Season generously with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and don’t forget to add a little sugar. Taste frequently.
- Cook the butter beans until they’re tender.
Nutrition
Tips and questions for butter beans
- If you don’t want to use bacon, you could substitute plant-based bacon or toss in some mushrooms for an earthy flavor.
- You can make butter beans ahead of time. This recipe will keep in the refrigerator for several days.
Butter beans should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The beans will be good for 3-4 days.
Are they butter beans or lima beans? Guess what? They are one and the same. What most Southerners refer to as butter beans (or butterbeans) are actually just younger, smaller versions of lima beans. So, you can buy baby lima beans or butter beans, and they are the same. They can be cooked fresh or frozen, and either will work in this butter bean recipe.
Then there are dried butter beans, which are larger and lighter in color, almost tan—still lima beans, just an older, more mature version. Those never appealed to me, but my family eats them year-round. Most people slow-cook dried butter beans for a few hours, either on the stove or in a slow cooker.
If you’re cooking dried butter beans (which is not this recipe), you’ll need to soak them before cooking. This recipe calls for fresh or frozen butter beans and does not require soaking.
Update Notes: This Butter Beans recipe was originally published May 4, 2011, and on March 9, 2025, was updated with one or more of the following: step-by-step photos, video, updated recipe, new tips.
This post is part of my favorite Southern Foods at Home collection.
Fresh from the farm butter beans are the star of the meal with this thoughtfully seasoned recipe. Followed as written, but my tender BB were done 15 min. early, so check early. Stay on low end of salt and sugar, as bacon will add salt, too. We didn’t need more sugar, either, but do NOT omit!
Made for my born and raised in Alabama husband who cooks BB and also loves any variation I make, but we both agree these are a THE BEST.
Thank you!
I grew up eating butter beans from my parent garden and mama alway used ham hock to season them but no sugar as I remember. Today my Pennsylvania garden yielded enough for dinner and I followed this recipe. My mama would approve! I was easy with the spices and sugar and the beans had good flavor anyway. Needless to say this is absolute winner and is added to our printouts of favorites. I forgot how good butter beans were or maybe they were never quite so good? Hmmm.
I’m so glad you loved the butter beans! You know Southerners love to add sugar to everything haha — except grits and cornbread!
Thank you for your recipe! I followed it exact and it is awesome. Add a side of fresh corn, a slice of tomato, a fried chicken leg or two and you have the ultimate meal.
Asking for a friend living in Atlanta USA Where to purchase dried butter beans online or supermarkets in her area.And can pass it on. Thank you.
Note – this recipe does not call for dried butter beans. Only fresh or frozen.
@Viola Travers, Your DeKalb Farmers Market in the Decatur/Avondale Estates area has fresh butter beans in the summer and frozen ones year round.
Lucy, you rock! I’m in Georgia too, and here on New Year’s Eve I was determined to find a recipe for butterbeans, as opposed to the time-honored black-eyed peas tradition, for the New Year’s good luck meal, bc I like butterbeans better and um because I forgot to get some black eyes at the grocery store, and didn’t want to make a grocery run ? … this recipe has all the good stuff my Mama used and, thanks to you, it will be my new normal New Year’s Day good luck goodie!!
Best southern recipe for butterbeans.
Best southern recipe for butterbeans.
My finance’ followed your recipe late one Thursday night…. And I must say I was impressed…. Not to mention because he isn’t the best cook… But he could have fooled me that night… 😉
My finance’ followed your recipe late one Thursday night…. And I must say I was impressed…. Not to mention because he isn’t the best cook… But he could have fooled me that night… 😉
My husband would be so delighted if he were to come home to a plate of butterbeans, sliced tomatoes, & fried okra! I think you’ve given me next Monday’s menu.
I’ve shucked a whole lotta corn and always dreaded finding big green caterpillars…yikes!
My mother use to cook utter beans in milk does anyone know this recipe they were delicious over rice
Look up “creamed Lima beans” (or, butter beans).
My husband would be so delighted if he were to come home to a plate of butterbeans, sliced tomatoes, & fried okra! I think you’ve given me next Monday’s menu.
I’ve shucked a whole lotta corn and always dreaded finding big green caterpillars…yikes!