Mama’s Best Southern Butter Beans

My Mama made the best butter beans in the entire world. Of course, being from the South, she cooked them until they were mushy and soft. She served them just dripping with butter and lightly salted. I am pretty sure that lightly salted in the South means a totally different thing than it does up North. My DH’s parents came to visit from New Jersey and I cooked my Mama’s fried chicken, rice and gravy, and my Mama’s butter beans. My in-laws said it was the best fried chicken they had ever eaten. They also said that they generally didn’t like butter beans, but that they liked those.

I’ve always called them butter beans, but in actuality, I do believe that they are lima beans. I know lima beans have a bad reputation amongst some, but give these a try and see what you think. The recipe is extremely simple, and by making them in the crock pot, you can simply walk away and forget them.

Ingredients:

1 large bag of “fordhook” frozen lima beans

1 and 1/2 stick of butter

1/2 teaspoon of salt ( I think I actually use closer to a teaspoon, but I like salt. )

Yield: 6-8 servings

Directions:

1. Dump lima beans into the crock pot.

2. Add about 1/4-1/2 cup of water

3. Place butter on top of beans

4. Sprinkle salt over beans and butter.

5. Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.

That’s all there is to making the best butter beans in the world.

Sources: This recipe came from the author’s own recipe files.