I once ate baked lima beans, made the Greek way, at a Mediterranean restaurant in Baltimore city. It came as a “mezze,” an appetizer, served at a restaurant of the same name. I was hooked. Although I tend not to love anything drowning in a tomato sauce, this dish was different. The creaminess of the lima beans was the perfect foil to the tangy tomatoes, reduced in the oven to a rich, mellow sweetness.
I have since made this dish many times, and although I can’t claim that it is a rip-off of the original, I daresay it is pretty good.
Limas are among my favorite beans to cook in a hurry because they get tender on the stovetop in no time at all– unlike most other beans that require hours, or, if you have a pressure cooker, at least a few dozen minutes. These lima beans are cooked to perfect doneness in no more than 25 minutes on the stovetop, without any soaking time. Now beat that.
There are also only just a bare minimum of ingredients in this recipe, and nearly everything comes out of a can or a jar, making it perfect winter food. I needed a can of tomatoes, a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste, an onion, a few cloves of garlic, and a couple of jarred herbs– I used oregano and thyme, although dill features quite often in other recipes for this dish which is called Gigantes in Greece.
I have once again been having email troubles, and I am apologizing again for those of you who are not getting the alerts when I post a new recipe. I am working on it and I think I have it resolved now, but meanwhile, I hope you will check in on the blog for new recipes.
Bye now!
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More recipes from the archives:
Lemony Greek Potatoes
Lima bean mashed potatoes
Pasta with greens and beans
Mushroom lima bean stew
Butternut Squash Soup
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Greek style baked lima beans recipe:
Greek style baked lima beans
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place the dry lima beans in a large pot and cover with two inches of water. Bring the water to a boil, cover, and let the beans simmer until the beans are tender, but not mushy. It took me under 30 minutes to do this, but it might take longer, so be patient. Add more water at any point if needed. Drain the beans and set aside
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In the same pot used to cook the beans, heat the oil and add the onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 3-4 minutes until the onions soften but don't brown.
- Add the thyme and oregano, stir to mix, and add the tomatoes and tomato paste with 1/2 cups water. Stir well to mix and bring to a boil.
- Add the lima beans, mix, and add more salt and ground black pepper if needed.
- Pour out the lima bean-tomato mixture in a large baking dish and spread in an even layer.
- Bake, uncovered, for 60-75 minutes or until the top is slightly crusty.
- Garnish, if desired, with some fresh parsley and serve.
Nutrition
The flavor is great. I found a bag of limes in pantry and made it. Unfortunately they were OLD and never softened. The flavor was so good we tried to eat them anyway. My 3rd batch is on the oven and we can’t wait. SIMPLE AND DELICIOUS.
I made this exactly as published. It’s very satisfying, filling and flavorful. I will definitely be making this again soon.
If I use frozen lima beans would I cook them first or no? ( can’t find dry lima beans in my local store)
Made this several weeks ago and so eager to serve it again for the family tonight. My youngest asks for a bit more tomatoes so we opened a larger can of diced tomatoes and measured out 20 oz of diced tomatoes. Also heaped our 2 Tbsp of tomato paste. Thanks for this recipe! I am a fan of beans in general but not normally Lima beans. This is a great way for us to use the giant Lima beans in our dried bean subscription from Rancho Gordo. I was glad for the Instant Pot suggestion above, too. Since our dried beans are almost twice the normal size of Limas, I set the IP for 35 minutes to start.
Just made this—it was wonderful. I used frozen limas, and also added sliced kalamata olives and some white mushrooms that I had on hand. If you are craving supreme pizza, this will take care of you!
Awesome!
Just made this and we loved it. I’ve been looking for a similar recipe for years; maybe I’d eaten it in a former life, who knows, but this fit the bill. It will for sure go on our repeat list.
Fantastic recipe that was very easy! I cooked my beans in my Instant Pot on high for 25 minutes with a 10 minute natural release, then drained them and did the rest of the cooking in the Instant Pot. No need to dirty another pan for the stove top! I served it with a Greek salad and Gruyere chicken sausages for the carnivores in my house while I had mine with vegan meatballs. A great alternative to spaghetti that I will be making again.
So great to hear! Thanks for the feedback and great idea to covert this to an IP.
I will make this today with leek, celery and carrot added. Can’t wait to try it.