Baby Lima Bean Soup
Baby Lima Bean Soup ~ My Sicilian husband loves his lima beans, so I flavored his favorite lima bean soup with fresh vegetables and pancetta and gave it a burst more flavor to his favorite soup. Loaded with veggies, and a flavorful broth including baby lima beans, this soup is so hearty and delicious tasting! It makes a great meal!
Baby Lima Bean Soup is loaded with carrots, celery, onions, pancetta (Italian-style bacon), and baby lima beans, and simmered with some chicken broth, tomato sauce, and water until the broth is reduced and thickens.
This is an old recipe, but a goodie! I posted this one year ago and thought to revive it especially since we have cold temperatures here in Charleston today, and frigid temperatures up the east coast.
These temperatures in most of the country and here in Charleston, are keeping everyone home to stay warm!
So what else do we do when we’re home? Cook up a storm – of course! And thankfully I was able to get new photos to replace some of the old ones in this post.
Getting back to my Baby Lima Bean Soup.
We love adding pancetta (and even prosciutto) into our soups because it adds wonderful aroma flavors to them; and especially in this one, since lima beans alone have no flavor whatsoever!
Nowadays, you can find pancetta already cubed in easy-to-find packages in your deli section at the local supermarket. Which is a great find!
Baby Lima Beans…
This is a great soup to make any day of the week, either on the stove-top, in your slow-cooker, or Instant pot.
- You will need some time to prepare the lima beans, either soaking them overnight or boiling them before incorporating them into the soup.
- When making lima bean soup, I used the entire bag (1 pound, 16-ounces) of the dried baby lima beans.
How To Prepare for this Baby Lima Bean Soup….
1. All you need to do is rinse, boil and then soak them for 1 hour before using the beans in this recipe.
2. Then you slow cook them with the rest of the ingredients, requiring a low simmer about for 1 and 1/2 hours. It’s definitely all worth it.
These baby lima beans become tender and luscious, making an amazingly hearty soup that is not only light and comforting but also very satisfying.
Loaded with nutrients, they’re even high in protein along with fiber, folate, and magnesium.
Best of all – this baby lima bean soup is big on flavor! Hands Down!
Even the leftovers are never a problem since this soup freezes very well for future quick meals when you need them. Be sure to allow the soup to cool completely before freezing.
A healthy soup is pure comfort food, especially on these cold winter nights.
ENJOY!!
Here’s a Great Tip:
Adding some marinara sauce adds some sweetness to this soup and other recipes. But if you don’t have any on hand, you can add some tomato paste (about 1/4 cup) and sautรฉ the paste with the beans before adding the broth.
HOW TO MAKE BABY LIMA BEAN SOUP?
*You can follow along below or jump down to the bottom of this post for our full recipe card.
Ingredients Needed for this Baby Lima Bean Soup:
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1 pound dry Baby Lima Beans
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8 cups of boiling water
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2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
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1 large sweet onion – chopped
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4 small carrots-chopped
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2 stalks celery – chopped
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2 ounces (about 6 Tbsp.) cubed pancetta
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1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
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4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
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2 cups of water
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salt and pepper to taste
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1/2 cup Mom’s Quick Marinara Sauce
Directions:
1. Rinse and sort the beans. Add 1 pound of beans to a pot filled with 8 cups of hot water and on high heat, boil beans in a rapid boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover with a lid, and set aside for 1 hour. Drain soak water and rinse beans again in cold water.
2. In a large heavy soup pot or a slow-cooked pot, sautรฉ on medium heat the vegetables and pancetta in olive oil until the pancetta are cooked and onions and celery have softened about 5 minutes.
3. Add lima beans and sautรฉ for 2 minutes. Add the broth, water, and cayenne pepper. Cover and simmer the soup on low heat, for 1 + 1/2 hours. Lima beans should be softened and tender to the bite.
4. Turn off heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 1/2 cup of cooked marinara sauce.
Serve warm.
Yields: about 2 quarts
…Thanks for Pinning!
Looking for more hearty soup recipes? You may enjoy these comforting soups:
- 15 Bean Soup with Pancetta and Basil
- Split Pea and Thyme Soup
- Black Bean and Quinoa Soup
- Easy Pasta Fagioli Soup
- Classic Italian Minestrone Soup
- Roasted Garlic, Parsnip, White Bean Soup
- Potato Broccoli & Cheddar Soup
- Potato Cauliflower Soupย
- Lentil Spinach Soup
- Spicy Carrot Soup
- Brothy White Beans Soup
And on the lighter side, try our 4 ingredientย Celery Soup!ย
Yield: 2 quarts
Baby Lima Bean Soup
Baby Lima Bean Soup is one satisfying meal that bursts with flavor! This recipe makes enough to feed a crowd, and even makes enough leftovers for the week.
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry Baby Lima Beans
- 8 cups of boiling water
- 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large sweet onion - chopped
- 4 small carrots-chopped
- 2 stalks celery -chopped
- 2 ounces (about 6 Tbsp.) cubed pancetta
- 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 2 cups of water
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup Mom's Quick Marinara Sauce or jar sauce is fine
Instructions
- Rinse and sort beans. Add 1 pound of beans to a pot filled with 8 cups of hot water and on high heat, boil beans in a rapid boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover with a lid, and set aside for 1 hour. Drain water and rinse beans again in cold water.
- In a large heavy soup pot or a slow-cooked pot, sauté on medium heat the vegetables and pancetta in olive oil until the pancetta are cooked and onions and celery have softened about 5 minutes.
- Add lima beans and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add the broth, water, and cayenne pepper.
- Cover and simmer the soup on low heat, for 1 + 1/2 hours.
- Lima beans should be softened and tender to the bite. Turn off the heat.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 1/2 cup of marinara sauce.
- Serve warm.
- Yields: about 2 quarts
Just finished putting this together, still needs to simmer for 1,5h. I already know this is going to be super fantastic as it already tastes good !
Hi Wendy!Thanks so much, I am excited you are trying our recipe. And welcome to our blog – it’s so nice to meet you! This is a terrific soup and one you’ll have plenty leftover for lunch the next day. Enjoy!! ๐
I have made this three times in the last 6 months. AWESOME! We love this for dinner with cornbread! Thank you!
Yay! So happy to hear Cathy … and thank you so much for the lovely comment, it means so much to me when you take the time to leave a comment about the recipe you made. Have a great Sunday! ๐
Iโm trying to incorporate more beans and less meat in our diet. Definitely want to try this. May add some garlic and herbs for extra flavor. Definitely bay leaves, maybe thyme? Thank you for this recipe
Soups like this one always has room for extra flavors… I LOVE bay leaves and thyme, so go for it! Thank you Diane for leaving a sweet comment.
I added garlic,thyme and poultry seasoning as well as a can oy chopped tomatoes as a box of chicken broth and a ham bone as well as bay leaves. Yum
That sounds fantastic!! We love it and don’t mind it at all when you improvise and make it your own! So glad you enjoy our recipe!
Keep cooking! ๐
My mom, born in 1918, was of Czech and Austria-Hungarian background. Anything she put into a soup pot was healthy and delicious. This is a recipe that could have been hrs. However, she added garlic, bay leaf to the pot,and then a good squirt of catsup at the final tasting! Yum. I am now in my late 70s, and will share my soup with so many friends who remember their momโs cooking the same hearty soup while growing up.
Hello Pat, and welcome to our recipe blog! It is so nice to meet you! It’s wonderful that you honor your mom every time you share her recipe for her soup with your family and friends. Thank you for the lovely comment. Your mom’s additions of garlic and bay leaf sound perfect, and I will try adding in both next time I make my baby lima bean soup. Have a splendid week! ๐
Hey Ruth! Welcome to our blog! It’s so nice to meet you.
I have two bags of baby lima beans in my freezer and this sounds like a great way to use one of them…thanks. ๐
You are welcome! Thanks so much Karen!
Something deliciously hearty for this long, cold month of January! Happy New Year!
The marinara trick sounds pretty smart! I love bean soups – but never tired it with limas. Very nice!
Thanks Tricia! This one turned out surprisingly good – I felt I had to post it. The marinara sauce is a tip from our mom. She loves to add sauce practically to everything.
And most of the time – it works!
I will have to look for the cubed pancetta – that is a great find! We love bean soups also and know this would be a winner here.
I know!~ I used to slave over cutting it all the time, but now I don't have to any more ! And that's the best part! Have a great weekend Sue! Thanks for the lovely comment.
As a little boy I would run from lima beans. As an adult, I will be running toward them to use in this wonderful soup recipe which is now bookmarked and going on our MM list. Must Make. Great post!
You know Dan I was not fond of Lima beans either but I do like them in this soup. Thank you for the lovely comment.