How to Use Butter Beans
Dried butter beans are a dependable pantry staple that can be used in soups, stews, braises, casseroles, dips, spreads, and salads, just to name a few applications. They can also be cooked on their own and served with a simple dressing of butter, salt, and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Butter beans should not be eaten raw because they contain a compound called linamarin that breaks down into poisonous cyanide when the bean is chewed or damaged. Wild butter beans have a higher concentration of this compound, but beans cultivated in the U.S. are regulated to contain very low amounts. Boiling butter beans for five to 10 minutes reduces the amount of cyanide.
