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If you can’t get lima beans in your local grocery shop or you don’t like the flavor, then you’ll require an alternative. I have put together a catalog of the best lima bean substitutes in this article that is going to be highly useful for you.
Each substitute has a different flavor form, and they will all function in various recipes that require the primary element.
If you want to supplant dried lima beans in a recipe, an everyday scorched legume like fava beans, soybeans, or chickpeas will do nicely.
They’re smooth, hearty, and simple to find in stores. For allergy patients, quinoa is a delicious seed that will function in lima beans stead in salads or slow-cooked dishes.
What are Lima Beans?
The lima bean, also recognized as a butter bean, is soft and nutty with a delicate composition once cooked. Its earthy, buttery taste is wonderful for soups, casseroles, stews, or any vegetarian tasty dish.
Not everyone appreciates the flavor or texture of lima beans. Some that detest lima beans say it has a “chalky composition.”
Other people have diet allergies. They may be allergic to lima beans and be searching for an alternate ingredient that they can relish.
Some may want to decrease the starch. Fava beans or edamame may be a reasonable alternative for those who aren’t an enthusiast of the starchy thickness of lima beans.
Now, let us look at the best lima beans substitutes!
Best Lima Beans Substitutes
1. Fava Beans
Fava beans are straight, green legumes that can be consumed fresh or cooked, but you’ll have to first discard their clear skin. Also recognized as the horse or broad beans, they create an outstanding substitute for limas, with an identical form and nutty flavor.
Note that a fava delivers punchier zest with a sharp undertone – it’s also slightly starchy. Some even illustrate the taste as possessing an indication of cheese.
Although they do terrific in salads and soups, they are frequently served by themselves as a side dish. If you utilize them in any dish, you may need to decrease the quantity to prevent overwhelming the other components.
Fava beans are adaptable in the kitchen, they will be delightful when added to salads or baked in a sauce and eaten as a side. For a brilliant, raw springtime dish, make succotash with fava beans.
They’ll also supplant lima beans in Gigantes plaki, an appetizing Greek bean dish.
2. Red Kidney Beans
Red kidney beans are the most adequate alternative for lima beans even if the flavor and the tint will not be similar. The cooking process is comparable so you will not have to modify your recipe too much.
Red kidney beans are valuable for supplanting lima beans if you need more seasoning in your dish. These reddish-brown legumes have a nutty taste with a firm composition, standard for slow-cooking.
They’re outstanding when put into Brunswick stew, chili beans, soups, and Creole recipes.
These beans will bring in a sharper flavor to your food. Regardless, they make an accurate substitute for lima beans in chili beans, stews, or even salads.
3. Soybeans
Soybeans will serve as a valuable stand-in for limas in your subsequent meal. They are prominent with vegans and vegetarians because of their adaptable nature and nutritional significance.
Soybeans have a modest flavor and attract a nutty aroma, rendering them perfect for chowders, baked dishes, braised food, and hot pots.
If you boil soybeans with their skins on, attempt to graze them off before serving. Their composition is difficult and nasty.
4. Chickpeas
Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, are similar to limas, in that they don’t have a sharp “beany flavor”. They have been utilized in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking for hundreds of years.
An advantage of cooking with chickpeas is that they carry their shape incredibly well. It is vital not to overcook them as you’ll get nasty, unpleasant-tasting food.
5. Edamame Beans
Edamame beans are the raw, fresher version of the soybean. They are plucked early and are commonly fumed in their pods.
If you need to supplant limas in a bean salad, then the edamame is a considerable backup alternative.
6. Cannellini Beans
Cannellini beans, also known as white kidney beans, are a familiar ingredient that is meaty and earthy.
You can utilize them in any recipe that demands limas. They serve well in salads, stews, and chili; Italian cookery frequently uses them in minestrone.
Plus possessing a delicate taste and soft flesh, they’re prominent with those on a plant-based diet. They deliver a great basis of protein and are huge in fiber.
7. Pinto Beans
In Spanish these beans are dubbed “judías pintas’, which implies “speckled bean.” Pinto beans are the most famous beans in Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States combined.
Pinto beans are a wonderful choice if you want to substitute lima beans as they are identical in both flavor and composition. They are darker but you can simmer them in the same way.
You can also utilize the same seasoning as if you were making lima beans. Pinto beans can be a considerable alternative to lima beans in stews, stir-fries, salads, and baked dishes.
8. Navy Beans
Another incredible substitute for lima beans is navy beans. These beans also go by the title of Boston beans and they go big in baked dishes.
They are adequate for your heart because of their meager cholesterol. They are also loaded in fiber. Rather than using lima beans, use the navy beans.
Their creamy zest stands out, which would bring about them a considerable ingredient to use in a soup recipe that requires lima beans. The navy bean’s other aliases are haricot, pearl haricot bean, pea bean, or white pea bean, which is related to its small size.
You can utilize them rather than lima beans in salads and soups as they have a smooth, unique taste to them. Navy beans are abundant in fiber and low in cholesterol, therefore they will also create a decent option in your recipes.
9. Marrow Beans
Marrow beans are fascinating and maybe entertaining to experiment with.
They are tiny, white beans with a smooth texture, identical to an enormous northern bean. Their texture has also been depicted as meaty.
Nevertheless, unlike other beans, marrow beans are recognized to have a flavor identical to bacon. Marrow beans are considerably eaten by themselves or incorporated in dishes.
Marrow beans are an extremely prominent component in Mediterranean food. These beans would also be a great improvement to vegan or vegetarian dishes.
10. Borlotti Beans
They are the nicest options for lima beans in Brunswick stew.
This bean has a variation of several nicknames. It is recognized as the cranberry bean, the Roman bean, the rosecoco bean, the saluggia bean, and numerous others. Its tint is magenta and tan with indications of red and black.
These beans are familiar in Mexico and Italy. They are identical to pinto beans and red kidney beans, but they make a promising alternative for lima beans as well. They do very well in stews.
11. Great Northern Bean
Even though it’s evident what the name might indicate, these are only medium-sized beans, tinier than cannellini but bigger than the nearly related navy beans. Emerging from South America, they’re prominent beans in American cookery but can be difficult to get outside the USA.
With a very beautiful taste and a pale skin, Great Northern beans grow to take on the taste of anything that they’re simmered with. This renders them a tremendous addition to stews and soups, where they deliver a filling composition.
You’ll get them in recipes for dishes like baked beans, pork and beans, or French cassoulets.
12. Quinoa
It is a wonderful gluten-free alternative for lima beans.
Unlike the different lima bean substitutes, quinoa is not a bean. It is frequently suggested to be a grain, but it is precisely a seed.
Quinoa is a popular substitute for rice, nevertheless, it also functions in some recipes that demand lima beans. This “superseed” is considerable to utilize in salads, but I wouldn’t suggest utilizing it for soups.
Related Questions
What do lima beans taste like?
Lima beans have a regal taste, and it carries a flavor that is unlike some other legumes and has a velvety and buttery zest.
What can replace lima beans in succotash?
The best lima bean substitute in succotash is fava beans! Fava beans have an identical taste and composition to lima beans, and they also simmer the same path as lima beans.
Are lima beans and pinto beans the same?
No, lima beans is different from pinto beans! The pinto bean is a variation of the common bean. It is the most famous bean by crop production in Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States and is frequently consumed entirely or mashed and then refried.
However, the lima bean is a kind of legume recognized for its tender flavor, smooth composition, and distinctive color, which can span from beige to green.
Can you substitute cannellini beans for lima beans?
Yes, you can substitute cannellini beans for lima beans as they function well in salads, stews, and chili; Italian cooking frequently utilizes them in minestrone.
Is there a difference between butter beans and lima beans?
The major distinction between butter beans and lima beans is their size. Lima beans are generally connected with the tinier, premature bean and are mostly green. Butter beans are the more developed, white, flat beans that you typically find stored in supermarkets.
Are Lima And Kidney Beans The Same?
No, kidney beans is different from lima beans! Kidney beans commonly range from dark red to reddish-brown in hue. They are formed like small kidneys; that’s how the term came to be.
Lima beans are commonly cream or green in color. Still, it is also prevalent to discover lima beans that are white, purple, red, orange, brown, or black.
They are normally warped, flat, and oblong in impression.
Conclusion
To obtain the best effects for any bean alteration, try to use a similar format.
Any of these thirteen above-listed lima bean substitutes can be utilized in place of lima beans, and some strategies may even taste better. Some alternatives may be healthier, or you may just have several beans on hand than the lima beans that the recipe demands for.
