While growing up, we mostly used navy beans for stews in winter time. However, on the rare occasions that lima beans would be available, we would make lima beans salad in summer time or stews in winter time. In my native country of Albania, we call beans in general fasule but the big lima beans (butter beans), we call them fasule pllaqi. For a regular fasule stew recipe, please check out my Instant Pot Beans Stew link.
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What are Lima Beans or Butter Beans?
Lima beans or butter beans are legumes, similar to any other beans. They are unusually big in size. The ones i bought for this salad even stated Jumbo Lima Beans in the packaging, so i guess they’re even bigger.
These beans are known for their high fiber content, low glycemic index, and a very high value of iron per serving. Beans in general and specifically butter beans are recommended in diets when someone is trying to lower cholesterol levels. There are a myriad of other health benefits which make these beans a favorite food in many countries around the world.
Since we use these beans in several dishes in my home country and I have heard of several dishes in Greece and other Balkan countries, I assumed these beans originated somewhere in the Mediterranean. But I was completely wrong in my assumption!! It seems lima beans have been cultivated for at least several thousands of years in Peru (hence the name Lima from Peru’s capital).
Lima Beans Salad Recipe
It used to take me forever to prepare this salad back home. However, since I have started using Instant Pot, I have cut down on cooking time by a lot. In the recipe card below, I didn’t include soaking overnight in the cooking time since that is not active cooking.
So is it necessary to soak beans overnight? I am not sure it is necessary. I grew up with my mom and my grandparents soaking overnight all beans, garbanzos etc. So it is just the way I cook! It is said that soaking helps make beans give you less gas and it takes literally a minute to set up, so why not do it.
It is necessary to chill the salad for about an hour or two before serving. Not only it will taste better chilled, but also the flavors will marinate better.
If you like the combination of bell peppers, onions, olives and beans feel free to increase the quantity of peppers. I tend to use the leftover bell peppers in other dishes, but I’m not cooking anything else with peppers that day, I just double up and use them all.
Last note – i usually put the lima beans in the instant pot for about 45 minutes but the timing necessary might vary a bit. Older beans need to be cooked a little longer to achieve the right softness. You won’t know that ahead of time though. So that’s where you set IP to whatever time you think it’s necessary and if that is not enough, you add few more minutes.
Mediterranean Lima Beans Summer Salad
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 14 ozs dry lima beans (white)
- 0.5 red bell pepper
- 0.5 green bell pepper
- 3 tbsps sliced red onions
- 0.5 cup seedless kalamata olives I slice them in half because of choking hazard with my toddler. Otherwise, you don't need to cut them.
- 5 tbsps olive oil
- 3 tbsps red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp salt add salt to taste, so adjust accordingly
- 3 tbsps freshly chopped parsley
Instructions
- Clean the beans from any broken beans, remove stones or impurities. Rinse. Let soak overnight covered in water, room temperature.
- Rinse the beans, put them in Instant Pot, cover them in water. Cook on high setting for 45 minutes. Let the IP steam release slowly before you open the lead. Drain the beans and let cook for few minutes.
- Start chopping the bell peppers, onions, parsley and slice the olives. Put onion in cool water to remove the strong smell.
- Several of the beans might have a layer or transparent skin separated from the actual bean, you can manually remove that. But you don't need to peel all of them, just the ones with visible separation.
- Place beans in a shallow salad bowl. Add bell peppers, olives, red onion (after you drain it). Sprinkle salt to taste, pour olive oil and red wine vinegar. Mix or toss carefully so you don't break the beans. Cover with transparent food wrap, place in refrigerator for about an hour so the whole salad marinates in oil/vinegar. Add fresh parsley as decoration on top before serving. Serve chilled.
Video
Notes
- Calories are estimated based on MyFitnessPal app calorie calculator.
Nutrition Label
Nutrition
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Other Salad Recipes:
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Robert
This was very simple and tasty. I made it for a church gathering. I followed your recipe exactly and it was a hit. Thank you.
Sonila
Hi Robert, I’m so happy to ready your comment!! Glad everyone enjoyed the recipe. Hope it was a great gathering. Have a great day and thanks again for the feedback.
Sarah Winton
This salad looks perfect for hot summer nights:)
Sonila
Thank you Sarah:)). We love it, my kids make a mess trying to grab the beans by hand but if they eat half i’m happy.
Lorraine
That salad looks so delicious Sonila and perfect for summer. Will have to try it soon xx
Sonila
Thank you Lorraine:)
Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch)
Hi Sonilla, I appreciate all of the information you’ve provided about Lime/Butter beans. I have to admit, I didn’t know they were the same thing. And love all the nutrition they provide. Now I need to find them. I sometimes see canned butter beans, but not sure dried are available. I’ll have to look more thoroughly. Or order from Amazon. Nice to find your blog.
Sonila
Hi Lea Ann, I think they are the same. I researched online briefly and I found some people saying it’s the same bean and some claiming that they are different. So i’ll look further into this and edit if needed. My grocery store sells butter beans in cans and dried in bags, so it’s hard to compare exactly. They taste pretty similar to me, buttery taste. The dried ones at my store are jumbo so bigger than regular butter beans, other than that they look pretty similar. However, i promise to look more into this. Hope you can find the dried ones to make this salad and thank you for commenting:)