Southern Speckled Butter Beans Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between butter beans and speckled butter beans? ›

In the South, the small-seeded Sieva type is almost universally called a butter bean, sometimes a Dixie (green) or Henderson (speckled) butter bean after the two most widely grown cultivars. Sometimes it is called a baby lima, though it is not an immature Lima type. There are literally dozens of versions and verses.

The best way to cook butter beans is to simmer them gently in a slow cooker. I find that cooking them from dry (ie without pre-soaking) helps prevent them from going soggy, so just tip them into the pot, add plenty of water to cover, a teaspoon of salt and cook until tender.

To soak beans the traditional way, cover them with water by 2 inches, add 2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (or 1 tablespoon fine salt) per pound of beans, and let them soak for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. Drain them and rinse before using.

If you're the impatient, bean-hungry type, you can cook your beans from dry without any soaking at all. Here's the thing: Beans that have not been soaked ahead of time will always take longer to cook, but they will, indeed, cook.

They can help control blood sugar

Butter beans are high in complex carbohydrates. Your body breaks down this type of carbohydrate into glucose at a slower rate than 'simple', refined carbs like potato, white pasta and white rice.

Nutritionally, both butter and cannellini beans are high in protein and fiber and have very similar nutritional profiles. The only noticeable difference is that butter beans contain a small amount of fat while cannellini beans have none.

Navy beans also make a pretty good alternative to butter beans. Despite their name, the legumes are white. Though they're a little smaller than butter beans, the two share a similar buttery, creamy taste and texture. They have a slight earthiness to them and make a great swap for butter beans in stews and soups.

"If you rinse your beans thoroughly, you will have a consistently flavored product, but if you do not rinse them, different amounts of salt will remain in the dish each time you cook it, and it will be hard to cook consistently," he says.

But, then I learned something astonishing: You can actually skip soaking beans over night, and actually you should. Not only does it shorten the amount of time until you have ready-to-eat beans, it also produces a more flavorful end result.

If you don't think your beans are old, then perhaps your water is the problem. Beans cooked in hard water will never soften properly. If this might be your case, try cooking them in distilled water instead. That should help.

Can I cook red speckled beans without soaking? ›

It really isn't necessary to soak beans, it just speeds up the cooking time a bit. Just rinse them thoroughly and pick out any debris then cook the beans a little longer than you would if you would have soaked them. You can also cook them in a slow cooker.

Yes, canned butter beans are pre-cooked and can be eaten straight out of the can. However, cooking them further can enhance their flavor and texture.