This lima bean soup, a mainstay of Depression-era cuisine when fresh meat was scarce and soup stretched everything, was one of my father’s favorite dishes. It is stuffed with ham pieces and cooked until thick. Even those who detest lima beans like this filling soup!
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 4 hrs 10 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 5 hrs 30 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 1 ham bone with some meat
- 8 cups water, plus more as needed
- 1 (16 ounce) package dried lima beans
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 stalks celery, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- ½ pound diced cooked ham
- 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
Instructions
- Combine ham bone and 8 cups water in a large saucepan. Simmer over medium-low heat until remaining meat falls off the bone, about 2 hours. Remove and discard bone. Use a slotted spoon to transfer meat to a bowl.
- Meanwhile, place lima beans in a large pot; pour in enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil; remove pot from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add celery and onion; cook and stir until onion is translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add cooked ham bone meat, lima beans, and diced ham. Reduce heat and simmer, adding additional water as needed, until soup is thickened to desired consistency, about 90 minutes.
- Stir carrots, salt, pepper, and parsley into the soup. Let simmer until carrots are soft, about 30 minutes more.
- If you don’t have a ham bone, you can also use 1/2 pound bacon or salt pork. Add bacon or pork to the pan over medium heat, and let cook for a few minutes. Add onions and celery; cook and stir until onions are translucent and bacon is cooked, 7 to 10 minutes
- You can also soak the beans overnight: Place lima beans into a large container. Cover with several inches of cool water; let soak, 8 hours to overnight.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 296 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 41 g |
| Cholesterol | 16 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 12 g |
| Protein | 18 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 710 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 8 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I put mine in the ninja 9 in 1 pressure cooker, came out delicious in about 40 minutes, no soak required & only on pan used!
I get the dried small lima beans. Had been using them in my ham bone soup for some time now. They are delicious and bear no resemblance to the frozen light green ones my mother used to serve (not that they’re bad; just never cared for them.) They are awesome in this soup. Now I have an actual proven recipe to use instead of my estimated ingredients for my ham bone lima bean soup.
This is our favorite recipe also. I use baby Lima beans and soak over night. I will add diced potatoes to the carrots and onions also. Make with corn bread to really enjoy this soup.
Instead of the ham bone, I used a ham steak 1/2 pound, and 1.5 pounds of smoked pork jowls. (I doubled the recipe) omitted the salt, then added 1/2 of the salt 1 tsp, after 2 hours of simmering. My fathers favorite. Thank you for posting the recipe!.
I tried to make my timing more economical, starting the smoked pork hocks (couldn’t find ham hocks) 30 minutes early, then transferring onions and celery and dried beans into pot . It didn’t go smooth, lost track of timing , small limas cooked faster than anticipated, decided to pull hocks early thinking that they should be shredded and added back for better flavoring… etc. However, its still turned out great. Next time I will stick to the recipe procedure.
My wife and I love the taste of this soup. I didn’t have a ham bone so I substituted with 1/2 lb. of bacon. Also, I used chicken stock instead of water. This is the fourth time I made this wonderful soup. Thanks for the recipe, John S.
It was delious. It was helpful to have the measures. I only used two sticks of celery. All other items like the recipe. Thank you submitting it. 5 stars
After reading the reviews about the beans being undercooked I just left the beans in throughout the process and the soup was perfect with this adjustment! (I did not soak the beans overnight.)
Beans and Tators, Tators and Beans… How could life get any better…
This was delicious! One of my all time favorite meals and a way to use up that leftover ham. This bought back a childhood memory of moms beans. She made them a bit thicker w not as much broth as she loved them the next day, cold and I love them as well cold. Definitely making these these again and this recipe is a keeper. The only thing I did different was I grated my carrot and used a medium white onion. Also used drippings from the ham when I baked it. Not all of it because it can be salty. Didn’t use any extra salt. Mmmmm so good. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe
Did not need salt. After boiling the Lima beans and soaking for 1 1/2 hours, I sauted celery onions and garlic added 4 cups water 2 cups chicken stock added 2 meaty ham hocks. Simmered 2 hours added carrots simmered 30 mins. Added 6 oz chicken stock and 3 tsp of chicken boullion. Took meat off ham hocks added it and ham to the soup. Delicious! Just cut out making the ham bone stock.
wonderful recipe and pretty easy to make to use leftover ham with a vegetable favorite lima beans –
The soup is delicious but the directions are lacking some detail and missing a step or two.
Made this in a crock pot and 5 days later I’m still enjoying it!!
Made it once and making again. Fabulous !! Everyone loved it ! I used the stock broth from the ham bone instead of water….why waste that good stuff !!
My Southern grandmother made this soup for me growing up. The nostalgia points are high. I don’t have her actual recipe but this one seemed to be the closest. And it tastes spot on. It’s just perfect. I use 2 ham hocks and make my broth in the instant pot then transfer it to the stove for the rest. I’m sure I could do the whole thing in the instant pot but cooking it on the stove is like a big hug. This is a simple recipe but since it’s takes about 4 hours I don’t cook it often. It’s such a special treat when I do.
This is a delicious & easy recipe to follow! If you like Lima Beans you will love this. Plus this lowers blood sugar if you are a diabetic.
Just out early so delicious
The first time I made this, following the recipe, on the stovetop. This time, I made it in my instant pot. I did the quick soak of the beans stovetop. I cooked a smoked ham shank with water and Tbl of BTB for 90 minutes, while beans were soaking. I also sautéed the onions and celery stovetop. I used the basket insert for the shank, so it’d be easier to remove. When done, I picked the meat off the bone (lots), added it back into the pot with my onions, celery, and rinsed beans. I added a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme from the garden, and 1/2t of celery seeds. Cooked for 30 minutes on high pressure, NPR for 10, added the carrots and cooked another 8. I let it NPR for 20+. Fabulous.
Awesome recipe. Added tablespoon tomato paste to add additional flavor. Used ham steak cut up and one ham bouillon packet. Flavorful. Will make again
To Tim ~ And those who have had the occasional hard bean problem with the quick soak method. You mentioned that the beans needed the over night soak because the quick boil and simmer method did’t get the beans soft enough and some of them were still a bit hard. I have had this problem as well before and I realized that I needed to only bring them to a rapid boil for 1 min making sure there is enough water for the beans to absorb and then some for the soak, you CAN’T add more latter ~ Then remove from heat and cover with a tight lid to soak for 2 hrs There should be plenty of water to drain after the soak . When you get to the part where you want to simmer be sure the liquid is bubbling slowly not boiling and then just check for tenderness every 1/2 hr until done. and that’s it ! Believe me I have had the hard bean issue and cooked them for what seemed like forever and they did not soften so I know how frustrating it can be. I hope my advice helps you and never have to deal with the occasional hard bean ever again ~