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These Slow cooker Amish lima beans are tender, creamy, and wonderfully simple: just dried large lima beans, low-sodium Chicken broth, salt, and garlic powder. No soaking or extra pans required—rinse the beans, add everything to the slow cooker, and let it do the work. By dinnertime, you’ll have a savory, brothy side that begs for cornbread.
These slow cooker Amish lima beans are plain in the best possible way: dried large lima beans, low-sodium Chicken broth, salt, and garlic powder. That’s it. No soaking, no sautéing onions in another pan, no seventeen spices lined up on the counter pretending we are filming a cooking show. You rinse the beans, put everything in the cooker, and let the day go by. By dinnertime they’re tender and creamy, with that savory little bit of broth that begs for cornbread.
And yes, I know “Amish-style” can mean different things to different people. I’m not claiming a specific origin for the name. I just know it tastes old-fashioned—simple, thrifty, filling, and like the sort of food that makes a house feel less empty on a rainy Tuesday.
These are especially good with meatloaf and green beans. The smell is warm and old-fashioned in the best possible way.
Why You’ll Love It
- No soaking required — rinse the dried lima beans and add them straight to the slow cooker.
- Four simple ingredients — lima beans, chicken broth, salt, and garlic powder are all you need.
- The slow cooker does the work — no stovetop hovering or extra pans.
- Creamy or brothy — mash a few beans at the end for a silkier broth, or leave them whole.
- Easy to serve — delicious with roast chicken, meatloaf, sausage, ham, Fried eggs, or cornbread.
Ingredient Notes
Use dried large lima beans here, sometimes labeled butter beans depending on where you shop. Don’t use canned limas; they’ll turn to complete mush in the slow cooker.
I prefer low-sodium chicken broth because dried beans soak up seasoning differently from one bag to the next. You can always add more salt later. You cannot un-salt a pot of beans; the Potato trick is not a magic eraser.
Garlic powder gives these a gentle savory flavor without taking them in a totally different direction. I use regular old grocery-store garlic powder. Nothing fancy. The fancy spice aisle is where my budget goes to have a nervous breakdown.
If you want this vegetarian, vegetable broth works beautifully. It changes the flavor a little, naturally, but not in a bad way at all.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried large lima beans, rinsed and picked over for little stones, broken beans, or any odd-looking bits
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste—I start here and adjust later
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
Rinse the dried lima beans under cool running water, then pick through them with your fingers for broken beans, tiny stones, or debris. I know, thrilling work. Do not skip it, though—finding a pebble at dinner is the sort of surprise nobody enjoys. You do not need to soak the beans first.
Put the rinsed lima beans in the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker and spread them into a reasonably even layer. It does not have to be perfect. They are beans, not tilework.
Sprinkle the kosher salt and garlic powder evenly over the beans. Try not to dump the garlic powder in one little clump. It still cooks, but then you get a whole garlic pocket.
Slowly pour the low-sodium chicken broth over the seasoned beans, making sure the beans are moistened and mostly submerged. A few may poke up over the top, and that is fine; they settle down as they cook.
Give everything one gentle stir so the salt and garlic powder move through the broth. Don’t stir like you’re making cement. Just enough to combine it.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours or on LOW for 7 to 8 hours, until the lima beans are very tender and creamy inside. Try not to lift the lid repeatedly. Every time you do, heat escapes and the cooking takes longer. The lid can be tempting to lift if you are nosy.
Taste the beans once they are tender and add more salt if needed. If you like a thicker, creamier broth, mash some of the beans against the side of the slow cooker with a spoon, then stir them back in. You only need to mash a small handful, not half the pot.
Turn the slow cooker to WARM and let the beans sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. They thicken a little as they rest. Spoon some of that savory broth over each serving, especially if you have cornbread waiting nearby.
Variations
Add a little smoked paprika—about 1/2 teaspoon—with the salt and garlic powder. It gives the beans a smoky edge without changing the whole personality of the dish.
You can add a small piece of cooked bacon or ham at the beginning if you want a meatier pot of beans. Just reduce the salt a bit and taste at the end, because ham in particular can take things from cozy to salt lick in a hurry. A small diced onion or 1/2 teaspoon onion powder is nice, too, though then we are technically moving beyond the four ingredients. I am not the ingredient police.
For extra richness, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter at the end. Too much butter can cover up that simple bean flavor. So I keep it restrained now. Mostly.
For a vegetarian version, swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth and leave everything else exactly the same.
Storage & Reheating
Let leftover lima beans cool within 2 hours, then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They do thicken in the fridge, which is normal. By the next day they can look a little like bean stew, and honestly, I kind of like them that way.
Reheat them in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave until steaming hot. Add a splash of chicken broth or water if they seem too thick. I usually warm mine in the microwave at lunch, covered loosely, then add a few drops of hot sauce. It is not a glamorous desk lunch, but neither is eating crackers over the sink because you forgot lunch altogether.
You can freeze the beans in portions for up to 3 months. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator before reheating. The texture may be a little softer after freezing, but they are still perfectly good—especially stirred into a bowl of rice on a tired evening when the kitchen looks like a crime scene.
Final Notes
There is something reassuring about a recipe that doesn’t ask much of you. Four ingredients. A slow cooker. A little patience. That’s all.
These beans are especially welcome when the kitchen is noisy, laundry is piled on the chair, and there is absolutely no interest in cooking dinner. But the beans are already there, quietly doing their thing. The smell drifts through the kitchen—soft garlic, warm broth, that earthy bean smell that becomes comfort later on.
Funny what becomes comfort later on.
Serve them with cornbread if you can. Roast chicken if you have it. Or just a bowl and a spoon, standing at the counter while the dinner question hangs in the air even though it can plainly be seen. That part never changes, apparently…
Slow Cooker Amish Lima Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried large lima beans rinsed and picked over for little stones, broken beans, or odd-looking bits
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Rinse the dried lima beans under cool running water, then pick through them for broken beans, tiny stones, or debris; do not soak the beans first.
- Put the rinsed lima beans in the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker and spread them into a reasonably even layer.
- Sprinkle the kosher salt and garlic powder evenly over the beans.
- Slowly pour the low-sodium chicken broth over the seasoned beans, making sure the beans are moistened and mostly submerged.
- Give everything one gentle stir so the salt and garlic powder move through the broth.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours or on LOW for 7 to 8 hours, until the lima beans are very tender and creamy inside.
- Taste the beans once they are tender and add more salt if needed; for a thicker, creamier broth, mash some beans against the side of the slow cooker with a spoon and stir them back in.
- Turn the slow cooker to WARM and let the beans sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving, then spoon some of the savory broth over each serving.