Baked Lima Bean Casserole

Baked Lima Bean Casserole is an old fashioned southern dish. The best part is a sweet sour cream and brown sugar sauce that coats each and every lima bean. It may become your new favorite side dish.

Using frozen or dried lima beans, this casserole is a great side dish option with your favorite grilled meat, like pork chops or even hamburgers.

Baked Lima Bean Casserole Recipe

Do you want to know a secret? I thought I hated lima beans up to a few years ago. When I was growing up, I remember Mom making them every so often and being totally disgusted by the texture.

I guess my first step in building a loving relationship with lima beans came from my love of Calico Baked Beans. Limas are one of the three beans found in this delicious side dish. So how could I hate them when I love that dish so much. I decided to give them another try.

Now I can say that I love lima beans. No longer are they on the bottom of my bean list; no, they are way up at top, especially since I discovered these amazing old fashioned lima beans from North Carolina.

What makes these Baked Lima Beans so amazing is the sauce. Butter, brown sugar, molasses and sour cream come together to form a sweet sassy sauce that I could eat straight from a spoon. My mind is on overdrive thinking of all the different ways I plan to use this sauce.

I’m more of a shortcut kinda gal. There’s no shame, at least I don’t feel any.  That’s why I converted the original recipe from using dried lima beans to frozen lima beans. Just in case you are a dried bean type of gal or guy, I’ll include it too.

How to Prepare Dried Lima Beans

1. Sort beans and remove any rocks or broken beans. Rinse well.
2. Cover beans with boiling water in a large saucepan.
3. Boil for 2 minutes.
4. Let stand 1 hour.
5. Cook slowly until tender, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
6. Proceed with the rest of the sour cream lima bean recipe below.

How to Make Lima Bean Casserole with Sour Cream

Step By Step Instructions

1. Cook frozen lima beans according to package directions; drain well.
2. Return cooked lima beans to warm pan and add butter, allowing the butter to melt.
3. Once melted, add salt, dry mustard, molasses, brown sugar and sour cream and stir until combined.
4. Pour into a greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

Storage Instructions

Let leftovers cool completely. Transfer to an airtight container, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Rewarm in the microwave.

For the full instructions for Old Fashioned Baked Lima Beans (with sour cream), scroll to the bottom of this post.

Recipe FAQs for Southern Baked Lima Beans

• Make this brown sugar lima bean casserole from frozen or dried lima beans. For dried, find the instructions in the text above.
• If you’re using salted butter; cut down the salt to 1 teaspoon or less.
• Dry mustard is also known as ground mustard.
• This is a saucy dish!

Recipe Variations

• Try canned beans, if desired. No need to cook according to package instructions, since they are already cooked.
• Add diced carrots with the lima beans, or buy a package of mixed veggies to use.
• Season with other dried herbs such as oregano, bay leaf, parsley, or simple salt and black pepper.
• Ketchup can be added to the sauce to make it stretch if you’re short on ingredients.

What to Serve with Lima Beans with Brown Sugar Sauce

• Grilled Pork Steak with Dry Rub
• 3-Ingredient Steak Marinade
• Vintage BBQ Burgers
• Crock Pot Brats
• Crock Pot Pulled Pork

More Old Fashioned Side Dishes

Crispy Fried Potatoes

Fried Cabbage with Bacon

Pink Lady Salad

Creamed Peas and Potatoes

Our Favorite Bean Recipes

We love using beans in our recipes. They are affordable and a great ingredient to stretch your dishes to feed a few more people. Here are some of our favorites.

• Slow Cooker Baked Beans
• Crock Pot Baked Beans with Bacon
• Red Bean Salad
• Pork Chops and Baked Beans
• Crock Pot Green Beans
• Tuscan Sausage and White Bean Soup