Butter Beans

also called lima beans · baby limas · large limas · butterbeans · speckled butter beans

Three ways to read this recipe

The table

Butter Beans: ingredients down the left, what to do with them across. Tap any cell to cross it off.
Cook these until a few of them break up and thicken the pot. Butter beans that stay whole and separate are undercooked, and the liquid is meant to go creamy with no cream anywhere in it.
3 oz(85 g; diced)salt porkrender 8 minsweat 6 minsimmer covered 1 hr 10 minbutter and salt at the end
1 medium(diced)yellow onion
1 lb(450 g; soaked overnight)dried lima beans
2 qt(1.9 L)ham hock stock
1bay leaf
1 tspblack pepper
3 Tbs(42 g)unsalted butter
2 tspkosher salt
Mash a ladleful against the side of the pot and stir it back in if the liquid is still thin. That is the only thickening this side ever gets
Tap anything to cross it off.

What to lay out

Everything the recipe asks for, sitting under the step that eats it. Tick each one as you measure it.10 things to get out.

Pans and tools

Before anything else

2render 8 min

3sweat 6 min

goes in with what step 2 made

4simmer covered 1 hr 10 min

goes in with what step 3 made

5butter and salt at the end

goes in with what step 4 made

Cooking it

Tap a step when it is done; the next one lights up.

The clock

Start to finish
at least 1 hr 24 mintwo waits that overlap count once
Needs you
14 minof the steps that give a time

One of the 4 steps never says how long it takes, so both numbers are floors. Nothing here says whether you can walk away, so all 14 min of it is counted as time you are standing over it. The recipe itself says 1 hr 40 min.

  1. render 8 min

    8 minneeds you(assumed)from the start

  2. sweat 6 min

    6 minneeds you(assumed)8 min in

  3. simmer covered 1 hr 10 min

    1 hr 10 minwalk away14 min in

  4. butter and salt at the end

    not timed1 hr 24 min in

Drawn to scale, so a long wait really does take up the room it takes. The shortest stretches keep a sliver so they stay visible; their times are printed beside them. The minutes are always the recipe’s own; a dashed edge means we worked out from the step whether you have to be there, and a dotted one means nothing was said, so we assumed you are standing over it.

You'll need Dutch oven

Goes with

See how it is written
>> title: Butter Beans
>> category: Rice, Beans & Grains
>> tags: beans, pork, southern, stew, side
>> counters: Meat and Three
>> aka: lima beans, baby limas, large limas, butterbeans, speckled butter beans
>> servings: 8
>> time: 1 hr 40 min
>> pairs-with: ham-hock-stock, skillet-cornbread, oxtails, collard-greens
>> step.1: Cook these until a few of them break up and thicken the pot. Butter beans that stay whole and separate are undercooked, and the liquid is meant to go creamy with no cream anywhere in it.
>> step.2: render 8 min
>> step.3: sweat 6 min
>> step.4: simmer covered 1 hr 10 min
>> step.5: butter and salt at the end

Cook these until a few of them break up and thicken the pot. Butter beans that stay whole and separate are undercooked, and the liquid is meant to go creamy with no cream anywhere in it.

Render @salt pork{3%oz}(85 g; diced) in a #Dutch oven{} for ~render{8%min}.

Sweat @&(~1)salt pork{} with @yellow onion{1%medium}(diced) for ~sweat{6%min}.

Simmer @&(~1)pork base{} covered with @dried lima beans{1%lb}(450 g; soaked overnight), @ham hock stock{2%qt}(1.9 L), @bay leaf{1}, @black pepper{1%tsp} for ~simmer{70%min}.

Stir @&(~1)beans{} with @unsalted butter{3%Tbs}(42 g), @kosher salt{2%tsp}.

Mash a ladleful against the side of the pot and stir it back in if the liquid is still thin. That is the only thickening this side ever gets.