Cook lima beans for 2-2,5 hours. Cook small baby lima beans for 1 hour.
How to cook lima beans
1 cup lima beans, soaking water, 5 cups boiling water
How long to soak beans?
1. Pour lima beans into a saucepan and cover with cold water with a margin of 3 centimeters.
2. Soak lima beans for 6-12 hours in the refrigerator.
3. Put the saucepan on fire, bring to a boil over medium heat.
4. After boiling, boil the beans with a medium boil for 10 minutes, carefully watching the foam.
5. Reduce heat and cook lima beans for 2-2,5 hours, small baby – 50 minutes.
6. After cooking, drain the water, salt the beans, chop with a blender if desired.
7. Serve with herbs and vegetable oil.
Cooking tips
Soak lima beans or not
Lima beans will take twice as long to cook without soaking, but they may become soft and not as soft on the inside. It is the steeping that shortens the boil time and provides an even texture without overcooking.
How to salt lima beans
To make the beans as soft as possible, do not salt the beans during cooking. But immediately after boiling or when added to other products, lima beans can be salted.
If the beans are old (more than half a year from production), add another 20 minutes to the cooking time.
Delicious facts
Lima beans (other names for baby lima, lima beans, American beans) are large white beans with a creamy flavor, for which they are called “creamy beans”. Discovered by the Spaniards in Central and South America, then brought to Europe and North America.
Lima beans are of 2 types: large “potato” beans, which taste like starchy foods; and the baby lima is small and more dense.
Lima beans hold their shape well when boiled, and in mashed potatoes, especially if the shell is removed, they get a creamy texture.
Lima beans are quite large, while the shell is rather thin. Due to the white color and rather large size (when boiling, lima beans increase in size by 1,2-1,3 times), the dishes from it are visually very unusual and are very popular with children.
Lima beans are recommended for vegetarians and fasting people because of the huge amount of plant protein they contain.
It is recommended to store lima beans in an airtight container for 1 year.
Serve lima beans with herbs, onions and garlic, use as a side dish and in soups. For a change, you can boil lima beans in a meat broth. An original dish made from Baby Lima beans – Sukkotash.