Slow Cooker Lima Bean Soup Recipe- Recipes.net (2024)

FAQs

Do large lima beans need to be soaked before cooking? ›

Lima beans are almost always cooked. If you buy dried beans, you will need to soak them first. Before soaking beans, spread them on a flat surface and remove all debris, small stones, or damaged beans. Then, rinse the beans in a strainer under cool running water.

In a separate bowl, dissolve a teaspoon or two of cornstarch or all-purpose flour in a small amount of cold water. Add the slurry to the bubbling soup. The soup should thicken up.

Preparing lima beans

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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.

Cooking dried lima beans is simple. For a fast cooking time, just soak them in water overnight, drain and cover with fresh water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer for an hour and then use the beans however you'd like! You can also cook these tasty beans in the Slow Cooker or Multi-Cooker.

Garlic and onions will bolster the taste of bean soup. Be sure to take a portion of the beans and mash or purée them for extra texture. Aromatics like celery or carrot will add more complex flavor notes. Despite being expensive, both mushrooms and Parmesan cheese will add some real umami (i.e., mouth feel) to the soup.

Lima beans are nutritious food said to be rich in protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Some potential health benefits of lima beans include stabilizing blood sugar levels, promoting heart health, supporting weight loss, and improving digestive health.

Lima beans are rich in the mineral manganese, a key nutrient in brain development. It's necessary for the creation of neurotransmitters that help brain cells communicate, and its antioxidant properties protect against brain cell damage. In addition to fiber, lima beans are high in plant-based protein.

Overcooked beans are perfectly safe to eat, but while they may be edible, they'll be less pleasant to consume. Signs that your beans are overcooked include them being very soft and mushy.

Why are my beans still hard after slow cooking? ›

Dried beans typically have a moisture content of around 16%. However, as they age, moisture evaporates, giving pectin time to age and harden the skin. These beans can often take much longer to soften while soaking and cooking, up to twice the time!

Cornstarch, potato starch, and chickpea flour are a couple of pantry-friendly ways to thicken soups, stews, and sauces in the slow cooker. Just a tablespoon or two of any — added towards the end of cooking — will thicken sauces especially well.

It's important to note that cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. If you need to substitute cornstarch to thicken liquid in a recipe that calls for ¼ cup (four tablespoons) flour, you only need two tablespoons cornstarch.

It is possible to soak beans for too long before cooking. Beans should soak for 8 to 10 hours overnight. If they are soaked for longer than 12 hours, they can lose their familiar flavor and become overly mushy.

If you forgot to soak your beans the night before you plan to cook them, the hot soak method can come to the rescue. Cover the beans with water, bring to a boil and boil for three minutes. Remove them from the heat and let them soak in the hot water for an hour. Then drain, rinse, add fresh water and cook.

Quick Soak: This is the fastest method. In a large pot, add 6 cups of water for each pound (2 cups) of dry beans. Heat to boiling; boil for 2–3 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and soak for at least 1 hour.

While not every recipe calls for soaking beans before cooking them, if beans give you gas, soaking can help. Soaking overnight and then discarding the soaking water leaches out sugars in beans that are responsible for gas production.