This Lima Bean Soup recipe is warm and comforting when it’s cold outside! Made with dry lima beans, but you can use canned if you prefer, plus vegetables such as carrots, celery, and leeks. Frugal & delicious!

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Lima Bean Soup is an excellent way to feed the family. Our family has been making and enjoying this soup for many years now. Not only is it delicious, but it’s also comforting and frugal. One of the things I love about having soup for dinner is that it’s a one-pot meal. A bowl of this soup and some cornbread or a slice of crusty bread and your meal is complete!

This soup is made with the common ingredients of many soups — such as carrots and celery — but rather than onions, this recipe uses leeks. They are more mellow than onions and add an excellent flavor to the soup. This recipe also uses dry lima beans, which helps to keep this recipe inexpensive.
Ingredients Needed for Lima Bean Soup:
- Dry Large Lima Beans (1 Pound)
- Water (8 Cups)
- Olive Oil (2 Tablespoons)
- Carrots (4 – Chopped)
- Leeks (2)
- Minced Shallots (2 Tablespoons)
- Celery (2 Stalks)
- Chicken Broth (8 Cups)
- Salt and Pepper
Cooking Equipment Needed for Lima Bean Soup:

How to Soak Dry Lima Beans
If you are about to cook this fresh Lima Bean Soup, you may be wondering how you cook those dry beans!
First, go through the beans and remove any that are discolored or look a little funky. Then take the beans and rinse them very well. The next step is to decide how you will take your beans from hard and dry to tender and delicious!
When it comes to cooking your lima beans, there are two important processes. The first one is soaking your limas in water and the second is the actual cooking process. However, while these processes are simple, there are a few different ways you can go about doing each of them.

Option #1: Quick Soaking Lima Beans
For this Lima Bean Soup recipe, we recommend the quick soaking method. This method involves heating up the beans and then letting them soak in the hot water. It’s a great method if you don’t have time to soak overnight. And, this method is perfect for people like me who didn’t plan ahead for soaking overnight! LOL
To use the quick soaking method, place your 1 pound of lima beans in a large pot with 10 cups of water. Bring the water to a boil and boil the lima beans for 5-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let the lima beans soak for 2 – 2 1/2 hours. Drain and rinse beans and return to the pot. From here, you can add the sauteed vegetables, the broth, and make the soup according to the instructions.

Option #2: Overnight Soaking Lima Beans
To use this method, you’ll put the lima beans in a large bowl or pot that will allow enough room for the beans to double in size. Then, cover the beans with 10 cups of cold water. Cover up the container and put it in the fridge overnight.
When you’re ready to make your soup, drain the water from the beans and rinse them. Put your drained beans in a large pot. From here, you can add the sauteed vegetables, the broth, and make the soup according to the instructions.

How to Thicken Lima Bean Soup
If you like a thicker soup, you have a couple of options:
- When I make this Lima Bean Soup recipe, I smash some of the beans with my spoon or a potato masher at the end of the cooking process. You can also blend up some of the beans with an immersion blender.
- You can add less of the broth to ensure that your soup is thicker. If you wish to use this option, add only 6 cups of broth at first. Add more broth later for thinning out the soup, if needed.

We hope this Lima Bean Soup is a recipe that your family can enjoy for many years to come. It’s a favorite of ours and will most likely become a favorite in your household too. Let us know what you think!
PrintLima Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry large lima beans
- 8 cups water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 carrots (chopped)
- 2 leeks (white bulb only, chopped)
- 2 tablespoons minced shallots
- 2 stalks celery (chopped)
- 8 cups chicken broth (two 32 ounce cartons)
- Salt & pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Bring 8 cups of water to a boil. Add lima beans and boil for 5 – 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover. Let beans soak for 2 – 2.5 hours. Drain and rinse beans; return to pot.
- In a large pan, heat olive oil and saute all the vegetables until carrots and celery are tender-crisp.
- Add 8 cups of chicken broth to the beans in the pot. Add the vegetables. Stir to combine and simmer on low for 1.5 hours; stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
Notes
THICKER SOUP TIPS: If you wish this soup to be thicker, you can add only 6 cups of broth at first. Add more broth later for thinning out the soup, if needed. Another option is to smash some of the beans with a spoon or a potato masher at the end of the cooking process. You can also blend up some of the beans with an immersion blender.
Note: Towards the end of the cooking, I smashed some of the beans a bit with my spoon to help thicken the soup. This is purely optional, but I was happy with the result.
Judith clark says
Looks good but the receipt that my grandma did was she added a jar of sauerkraut, and a ham bone, delicious!
Lucty says
If you soak the Lima beans overnight, do you still need to let them soak for 2 or more hours in a pot of boiled water before you assemble the soup ingredients?
Jeff says
Really a killer soup. It reminded me of the old time, old fashioned soups my mom used to make when I was a kid. I’m enjoying a bowl now. Really a great recipe. Thanks
Howard Gorman says
i LOVE THIS SOUP. It brings back fond memories of B & H Dairy restaurant on 2nd avenue in NYC.
There was a fair amount of fresh dill in their soup so….I added a bunch of chopped dill to mine. It’s one of the rare times that I use dill but it really works well with this recipe. I make sure to double the recipe and freeze the rest for other meals. I’ve made it 3 times. Great soup!!!!
Skye Graham says
I love this soup!! I add pumpkin, sweet potato, zucchini, garlic and this time a sprinkle lf oregano…i sautee the leek and garlic but chuck the rest in the slow cooker and cook for 8hrs low..mash some of the soup when done to create the thick consistency ..add some spinach and voila, delicious!!!
Linda says
I alilso add some fresh chopped dill and butter at the end of cooking.
Thomad says
When I first found this recipe it had red pepper flakes in the ingredients, It tasted wonderful. Why did you get rid is the red pepper as a suggested ingredient???
brandie says
This recipe has never had red pepper flakes, but feel free to add them if you like!
David Kapral says
Consider having some hot pepper sauce such as Cholula or Sriracha on the side for folks to add when eating the soup. Seems to be a common thing for folks to do with white bean soups. I tried hot sesame oil -but just once….
Linda says
Sounds delicious. I can’t get enough homemade soup. Can I use baby limas I already have or will it change the taste too much?
David Kapral says
Baby lima beans do taste different than large limas. I prefer the taste and texture of the large lima beans. I have tried the so-called Christmas limas. Their texture is different, more firm, similar to potatoes. Back to the regular large white limas for the flavor. Rancho Gordo offers a very large ‘Royal Corona’ Lima bean that I intend to try. For cooking lima bean soup I have moved to the oven for (my) best results. I bring the soup to a boil, then transfer it into a 305F oven and let it cook covered for 2 hours at 305F, and then it sits with the oven off for ~1/2 hour. The beans are soft but remain intact with this technique. They tend to fall apart when i cook them on the stovetop. I have to add that I use a Le Creuset “Chef’s Oven” for this. Don’t know if that makes a difference, but it works well and minimizes stirring. In my soup I add a can of plain stewed tomatoes, a diced potato and a bay leaf (adds to the depth)
Jane says
Thanks for this comment. I think this is exactly what I want.
jill says
could this also be done in a crockpot..say 8-10 hours??
Marti says
I’ve made this several times. Super delicious.
Towards the end, I use my immersion blender on a few of the beans for thickness.
Marti Arthur says
This is soooo good!!!
Wendys Hat says
Yum! Sounds delicious!
Karen Chandler says
Looks delicious, Brandie!
brandie says
Thank you, Karen!