Instant Pot Butter Beans

This Instant Pot Butter Beans recipe is a staple in my kitchen. Preparing them in the Instant Pot is simple and convenient, and yields delicious warm comfort food results every time. These beans are cooked with smoked sausage drippings and a flavorful seasoning blend that will leave your tummy full and happy.

Now many of you may call butter beans lima beans and that is correct. Butter beans are in fact large lima beans. But, no matter what these little velvety babies are called, I know that they are one of the best beans to pressure cook and enjoy. Once you prepare these beans following this recipe, they will quickly become one of your favorite Instant Pot meals as well.

Why this Recipe Works

• Simple – This is an easy recipe that anyone can follow.

• Convenient – You don’t have to watch the Instant Pot or stir constantly. The beans basically cook themselves while all of the flavors and seasonings infuse during the pressure cooking process.

• Repeatable – This recipe can be repeated with many other types of beans. For example: red beans (kidney beans), navy beans, great northern beans, or even black-eyed peas.

Recipe Tips and FAQs

Do I have to pre-soak the beans before cooking?

No, you do not have to soak the butter beans before cooking, however it is recommended. Beans contain indigestible sugars called oligosaccharides that can cause gas and bloating. Soaking beans helps to remove the sugars, which aids in digestion.

How do you soak butter beans?

Soaking butter beans is a very simple process. You sort the beans and remove and discard any broken or bad looking beans. After sorting, the beans should be placed in a large bowl or pot and covered in about 2 inches of water.

How long do the beans need to soak?

It is recommended to soak beans overnight, if possible, before cooking. If an overnight soak is not possible, I highly recommend a quick soak before cooking.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

• Butter Beans – These are also called large lima beans.

• Smoked Sausage – You can use whichever your preferred sausage is. I used a local Cajun brand. Turkey smoked sausage is a great option as well.

• Chicken Broth – I used chicken bouillon powder base and water. I recommend a low sodium broth for this recipe.

• Onion, celery and bell pepper – This combination of vegetable seasonings is locally called the “Holy Trinity.” This is a very popular recipe starter in many Cajun and Louisiana recipes. I use it in a LOT of my recipes.

• Green onions – I add these for additional flavor. More flavor is always a good thing.

• Minced garlic – I used jarred minced garlic for convenience. I used 2 teaspoonsful, which should be equivalent to about 4 garlic cloves.

• Bay Leaves – This adds additional flavor and aromatics to the butter beans.

• Butter – Salted or unsalted butter will work in this recipe.

• Hot sauce – It’s vinegary and spicy. Adding hot sauce takes the flavors up a notch.

• Cajun seasoning blend – Any brand of cajun seasoning is fine. I recommend using sparingly or enough to suit your taste. I added additional garlic powder, onion powder and parsley flakes.

• Oil – Any oil that can be used for sauteing will work. I used vegetable oil.

How to Make this Recipe

1. The soak. If you are soaking the butter beans before cooking, this will be your first step. Place beans in a large bowl or pot and cover with about 2 inches of water. As the beans are soaking, you should prep the other ingredients: Slice sausage; chop onions, celery, green onion, bell pepper and garlic if using fresh. Once the beans have soaked and are rinsed, move on to the next step. If you chose not to soak the butter beans, move on the step 2.
2. Turn Instant Pot on the saute setting. Once hot add oil and saute sausage in Instant Pot for 3 – 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
3. Add onion, celery, green onion, and bell pepper to Instant Pot and saute until softened. Once softened add minced garlic and saute until fragrant.
4. Turn off saute setting. Add the chicken broth, butter beans, bay leaves, and cajun seasoning blend to the Instant Pot and lightly stir.
5. Cover with lid and to sealing. Set Instant Pot to Manual Setting on high pressure for 40 minutes.
6. After 40 minutes do a quick release. Once pressure has been released, remove lid and add sausage back to pot along with the butter and a few dashes of hot sauce and stir to combine and melt butter.
7. This last step is optional. After adding sausage, butter and hot sauce, change to saute setting and stir for about 5 additional minutes. I prefer really creamy butter beans and this last step does that.

Other Instant Pot Recipes

• Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Legs

Instant Pot Butter Beans

This Instant Pot Butter Beans recipe is a staple in my kitchen. Preparing them in the Instant Pot is simple and convenient, and yields delicious warm comfort food results every time. These beans are cooked with smoked sausage drippings and a flavorful seasoning blend that will leave your tummy full and happy.

Print Pin Rate

Course: Recipes

Keyword: Instant Pot Butter Beans

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Additional Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Calories: 306kcal

Author: Shanese

Ingredients

• 1 lb package Butter Beans
• 1 lb smoked sausage sliced
• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 1 bell pepper chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 celery stalks chopped
• 2 green onion stalks chopped
• 4 cloves or 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 bay leaves
• Cajun seasoning blend details in notes
• Hot sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Vegetable oil

Instructions

• If you are soaking the butter beans before cooking, that will be your first step. To soak, place beans in a large bowl or pot and cover with about 2 inches of water. Once the beans have soaked and are rinsed, move on to the next step. If you chose not to soak the butter beans, move on the step 2.
• Turn Instant Pot on the saute setting. Once hot add oil and saute sausage in Instant Pot for 3 – 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
• Add chopped onion, celery, green onion, and bell pepper to Instant Pot and saute until softened. Once softened add minced garlic and saute until fragrant.
• Turn off saute setting. Add the chicken broth, butter beans, bay leaves, and cajun seasoning blend to the Instant Pot and lightly stir.
• Cover with lid and to sealing. Set Instant Pot to Manual Setting on high pressure for 40 minutes.
• After 40 minutes do a quick release. Once pressure has been released, remove lid and add sausage back to pot along with the butter and a few dashes of hot sauce and stir to combine and melt butter.
• This last step is optional. After adding sausage, butter and hot sauce, change to saute setting and stir for about 5 additional minutes. I prefer really creamy butter beans and this last step does that.

Notes

Cajun seasoning blend :

• 1 Tablespoon cajun seasoning
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

I recommend to adjust all seasonings to taste, especially the cajun seasoning blend as some brands can be heavy on the salt, spiciness or both.

As the beans are soaking, you should prep the other ingredients: Slice sausage; chop onions, celery, green onion, bell pepper and garlic if using fresh.

To make this recipe even more quick and convenient, use pre-chopped fresh or frozen vegetables as your recipe starter in place of the onion, celery and bell pepper.

You do not have to pre- soak the butter beans. If you choose not to soak them I recommend adding additional cooking time. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 306kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 1376mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g