Instant Pot Lima Beans and Ham… so easy to prepare and tastes like it slow cooked all day!
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The best part is that soaking your dry lima beans is not required when using your pressure cooker… a win-win! 
I was a little skeptical at first because I’ve always soaked my beans when cooking them on the stove top or in my slow cooker, but nope, it’s not required!
Now I realize that this is a cold weather food and it’s spring, right? Well some days it still feels like winter around here. The other day I was craving a hot bowl of lima beans and I had leftover Easter ham in the freezer, so what else was I to do? 
I didn’t include salt in this recipe because it was salty enough with the chicken broth and ham, but feel free to add salt to your personal preference. Enjoy!
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Instant Pot Lima Beans and Ham
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: Approximately 10-½ cups
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry baby lima beans
- 4 cups cubed, chopped or shredded fully cooked ham
- 1–½ cups chopped yellow onion (about 1 medium onion)
- 1 tablespoon freshly minced garlic
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- Optional: fresh chopped parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Rinse and sort beans in a colander, removing and discarding any debris.
- Place beans and remaining ingredients (except parsley) in the insert of your Instant Pot (I used an 8 quart) and stir well to combine.
- Place the lid on and lock. Steam release knob should be set on “sealing”.
- Cook on manual setting (high pressure) for 25 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes, then quick release remaining pressure.
- Carefully remove lid and stir. Remove and discard bay leaf. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, if desired.
Notes
- Cook time includes the time it took my pot to come to pressure and natural pressure release time.
- I used an Instant Pot LUX80 8 quart in this recipe.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 50
Was wondering how canned great northern or canned navy beans will work with this recipe. Will they become mush? Spouse bought them instead of dry ones. Thanks!
★★★★★
Hi Kathleen, I wouldn’t use canned beans in this recipe – they would definitely turn out “mushy”. I hope you enjoy it if you make it!
Can I use Ham hocks for this recipe?? Thanks.
I drained and added a can of corn to the pot when it was done. I enjoy succotash anyway; so it was a great addition for me
★★★★★
Very forgiving recipe that you can play around with using what you have on hand. I added a smoked Turkey leg instead of the ham, 2 bay leaves, and 2 sprigs of thyme. I used large lima beans and I had to cook another 20 minutes. (I did not soak) They were great and not overcooked at all. The best thing about this recipe is that you can throw everything in the pot and start it without sauteing anything. This makes for a super easy meal. I served them with jalapeño cornbread.
★★★★★
Have fixed this many times. So easy and good! Can other types of dry beans be used…..I think I would prefer navy or pinto? Thanks!
★★★★★
Hi Kathleen, I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it! I haven’t tried navy or pinto beans, but I do have Instant Pot recipes for white beans and ham and black-eyed peas and ham. Let me know how it turns out with the other beans if you try it!
Thank you! Will try!!
Pintos are easy too. I like to use a ham hock and about 6 cups broth per lb of dry pintos, pre-cook the hock in the broth about 30 min (pressure / high) then toss everything in (onion, garlic, jalapeños, a little chili powder and cumin, salt and pepper) and let r rip for an hour. Yum! Tried this Lima recipe today, delish!
Would you need to add time if you were using large lima beans instead of baby limas? I’m talking big fat limas.
Hi Brad, I can’t say with 100% certainty because I have not tested this recipe with large lima beans. I’d love to hear how yours turn out if you try it using large lima beans, though. I hope you enjoy them!
I used the large lima beans. They needed an extra 10 minutes. This recipe is so good and very easy! I used a hambone for the meat flavoring.
★★★★★
Can I use a frozen ham bone? I forgot to take mine out of the freezer.
Hi Patty, I haven’t tested this recipe using a frozen ham bone so I can’t say with 100% certainty. I wouldn’t hesitate to try it, though. I’d love to know how it turns out if you try it!
I made this and it’s fantastic. A really deep, rich flavor with so few ingredients. Tossed in a bit of Benton’s bacon, too, and that smokey flavor really made it!
★★★★★
I did this in a big pressure cooker. I stuck exactly to the recipe, although I soaked the Lima beans for 8 hours and added some red pepper flakes. I will save the recipe for the future. Very tasty.
Thanks
★★★★★
Thank you, Mike… so glad you enjoyed it!
My mom made ham and lima bean soup..I always loved her simple recipe! She always soaked her beans, but I’m not good at planning so the instant pot method works best for me. She passed away 5 years ago, and didn’t leave her recipe, but lately I’ve been craving her soup. I’m currently making this recipe in my instant pot, but 25 minutes have passed, plus the 10 natural release and the beans were still hard. I put it back on for another 10, and eagerly waiting for it to finish! The broth tasted perfect so I know this will be amazing. For whatever reason, we always added ketchup to the soup mixture before eating it. Sounds weird I know but it creates an amazing flavor (remember the movie ratatouille)? You never know until you add one flavor to another. Thank you blonde cook
★★★★★
My parents would only soak the other types of dry beans but never bothered with Lima beans. My dad who was a chef always said lima beans don’t need to be soaked.
Hi Amy. I lost count of how many times I have cooked this dish on my Instant Pot. This is our favorite meal because we can use the lima beans from our garden. This year, my garden gave us lots of lima beans, so I frozen them and I now I can use them. This recipe is so simple, but yet delicious! Thank you!!!
★★★★★
Hi Amy. I made it today, and since I had bacon and ham, I added both to the IP. It was so delicious that I am planning to make it again, and again…etc… Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Grace – So glad you enjoyed the lima beans!
Hi, Amy: I just made this recipe with bacon instead of ham. I also put two bay leaves. Tastes so good. thanks for sharing. I am posting from Fresno CA.
Hi Robert, thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Sounds delicious with bacon!
Amy, I fixed this recipe tonight minus the bay leaf and they were absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing! I’m from Carteret Co. and haven’t had the opportunity to meet you but hope to share stories some day!
★★★★★
Just made this with smoked turkey and baby Lima beans. I always double the bay leaves in any recipe. Used 1 smoked turkey neck and one smoked drumstick. Didn’t add any salt since the chicken stock and smoked turkey has enough. Also added thyme and Herb de Provence (since I like marjoram in any soup and we were all out!!) Followed the timing exactly. As I pulled out the bones from the turkey, I see it thickening up without mashing up any beans. Just told my husband if he doesn’t want to eat any now, it may be ALL GONE. That’s JUST how good it is. Going to save this recipe for the rest of the winter.
★★★★★
That sounds AMAZING, Bonnie! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
Hi Bonnie!! You mentioned Herb de Provence!! How much should I use? I plan on tripling the recipe! Thank you!