Butter Bean Mash - My Gorgeous Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you thicken canned butter beans? ›

In fact, red beans & rice fans have spoken when it comes to their secret ingredients, and quite a few swear by the addition of butter – throughout the cooking process, as well as at the end. The exact amount varies from cook to cook, but when in doubt, you can't go wrong by adding a little more.

Unless the recipe tells you to keep the canned beans in their liquid, you should drain your can and give the beans a good rinse before using. This will improve the flavor and texture of your finished dish. Open your cans of beans using a can opener. There may be sharp edges from opening the can.

I also like to add a peeled, smashed clove of garlic, or maybe a bay leaf or a few sprigs of thyme. After 10 to 15 minutes, the beans will be warm and fragrant, ready to be spooned over a piece of garlicky toast, or served alongside grilled sausages and sautéed greens.

Butter beans, or lima beans, are not particularly heat tolerant. Temperatures above 86º F, especially when the relative humidity is low, may cause bloom and pod drop. Any other type of stress will also cause the plant to drop its leaves and pods.

Cook the Beans

After soaked beans have been rinsed, add fresh water about two inches to cover. Bring to a boil, and then turn the heat down to just a simmer. If you boil them too rapidly, they will split and fall apart. Stir them regularly and gently, add more water if necessary.

Well, rest assured; the two are actually one in the same. There's no difference between lima beans and butter beans, though sometimes they're sold at different stages of maturity. As a matter of fact, our Large Lima Beans packaging actually states Butter Beans in parentheses, just to clarify.

If you have hard water that can help keep them hard the calcium ions tend to bind to the beans and keep them hard. Sodium ions from water softeners don't do that. So if you have a water softener, you should soften the water you use to soak and cook them.

Overcooked beans will have an undesirable texture, but they may not be harmful if eaten. Furthermore, most people will spit them out rather than swallow them and ingest overcooked food. So, [overcooking] certainly can take away from the flavor and make beans taste bad. But, if you overcook your beans, don't worry!

But most people can enjoy more beans with less gas with the help of these tips: Soak beans overnight in water, then drain, rinse and cook in fresh water. This decreases the oligosaccharide content. Cooking the beans in a pressure cooker may reduce the oligosaccharides even further.

How to fix watery beans? ›

Starch-based thickeners are a reliable way to achieve the perfect consistency in refried beans. For immediate results, one can create a slurry by mixing equal parts of cornstarch, all-purpose flour, or arrowroot powder with water, and then gradually stirring the mixture into the simmering beans.

The starchy leftover liquid from canned beans or simmered dried beans can also be used as a substitute for any stock or broth or added to thicken soups, stews and sauces. Freeze extra liquid for later use. Caveats: If you're using aquafaba from canned beans, consider these health suggestions.

Mash some of the beans: Use a potato masher or immersion blender to mash some of the cooked beans in the soup. This will release the starches in the beans and thicken the soup. Add a roux: In a separate pan, melt butter and stir in flour to make a roux.

You can also make a slurry of 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and about a cup or so of cool water, or some of the bean liquid.