Pesto Baby Butter Beans: Your New Fast Favorite
There are meals that require hours of devotion, and then there are meals like this, the kind that deliver maximum flavor with minimal fuss, perfect for those moments when you want something deeply satisfying without the ceremony.
Baby Butter Beans have a naturally creamy texture and delicate flavor that makes them the perfect canvas for bold ingredients. When you toss them with vibrant pesto while they're still warm, the beans soak up all that garlicky, herby goodness, creating something far more luxurious than the sum of its simple parts.
About Our Baby Butter Beans
Also known as baby lima, these are not your mom’s lima beans! Our best seller and everyone's favorite! Adapted to sunny California and never sprayed with glyphosate, our baby butter grows harmoniously with rice on a small family farm.
The Recipe:
Cook your Baby Butter Beans with kombu, salt, and a bay leaf until tender. If there is a lot of cooking liquid drain some off and take out the bay leaf. I leave the kombu in for extra nutrition but you can take it out if you want. While they're still warm, stir in your pesto, homemade if you've got it, store-bought works beautifully too. Finish with a sprinkle of chili flakes for heat and a generous shower of parmesan.
That's it. That's the whole thing.
Some nights I cook a fresh batch. Other times I reheat previously cooked beans in the microwave and just dump in the pesto and toppings for a lunch that's ready faster than you can say "ultra-processed convenience food." The beans keep beautifully in their cooking liquid all week long, waiting patiently in your fridge (or freezer) for exactly this kind of moment.
This is the kind of meal that proves real food doesn't have to be complicated. Just good ingredients, treated well, coming together in minutes to nourish you properly.
*A Note On Our Recipes:
Every recipe here was developed and tested using farm-fresh beans from Foodocracy and Primary Beans. Older beans, anything past a year in your pantry or beans from other sources may need more coaxing. Give them a soak and add extra cooking time, and they'll get there eventually.
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Pesto Baby Butter Beans
Lisa Riznikove
Quick, creamy Pesto Baby Butter Beans ready in minutes. Toss tender heirloom beans with pesto, parmesan & chili flakes for an easy, protein-packed meal.
Ingredients
1 LB Baby Butter Beans
1 four inch strip of Kombu
Pesto Sauce (home made preferred)
Calabrian Chili Flakes
Parmesan Cheese
Estate Grown Arbequina Olive Oil
Directions
Rinse and pick through the baby butter beans. Add to a pot, cover with water by 2 inches. Add Kombu, salt, bayleaf and a drizzle of olive oil. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 1-2 hours until tender.
Remove the bay leaf. I leave the Kombu in for extra nutrition but you can remove it too if you desire (you can chop it up if it’s still mostly whole). If there is a lot of liquid left you can drain some off.
Add your pesto right to the pot and stir it in. Drizzle with added olive oil, sprinkle with chili flakes and a generous amount of freshly grated parmesan.