This instant pot ham and Lima beans recipe brings me back to my childhood. I remember my parents taking the leftover ham bone and adding it to Lima beans and creating a simple and delicious comfort food.
This is the instant pot version and takes less than an 1 hour to make in an instant pot, prep to finish. No soak time is require, simply rinse the beans and add to the instant pot with a few other ingredients.
This dish reminds me of the book “Stone Soup” for some reason. If you have never read that book before it’s about a city that is starving and no one wants to share their food because they don’t want to starve.
A stranger comes to the town and tells everyone that he has a “magic stone” that will create a meal for the whole city, he adds it to water in a giant pot and then asks for a bone, onions, carrots, etc. until he has a full soup with enough for everyone to eat.
Everyone is fed and then he tells them that his stone was not magic and in fact did nothing but instead sharing with your neighbor was the magic. I loved that book as a kid and the lesson from it still impacts me today.
I am a giver at heart and food is one of the ways I do that. By creating this website and sharing my recipes, my hope is that I am sharing some goodness or help on how to cook and a way for you the reader to create a connection with others in your life.
So maybe the reason this recipe reminds me of stone soup is the added ham bone or the few ingredients needed or maybe the fact that it is so simple and can be shared with others that it becomes magic.
It’s one of those dished that you want to share with the whole family and enjoy each others company, no pretenses, just being who you are and loving each other for that.
It seems I have been craving those kind of dishes lately, the ones that put the beyond-the-taste meaning in food which to me is connection, love and comfort. We are currently in quarantine from COVID-19 and it’s been a time full of mixed emotions for me.
I get to spend every day with my own kids and husband which has been wonderful but I also don’t get to spend time with extended family. So I guess dishes like this make me connect more with those I am close with now and I am loving that but they also make me miss those that I cannot spend time with physically right now.
What you need to make instant pot ham and lima beans: (printable recipe below)
Serves 4
- 2 cups dried Lima beans – rinsed
- 6 cups water
- 1 ham bone – you can leave as much of the meat on as you would like.
- 1 1/2 cups diced ham
- 1 small onion – diced
- 2 teaspoons paprika (optional)
- 1 bay leaf – Optional – adds a nice herby background flavor but not required.
- pinch of salt
- pinch of black pepper
Instructions
- Add rinsed Lima beans, water, ham bone, diced ham, small onion, paprika (optional), bay leaf (optional), pinch of salt and black pepper.
- In an electric pressure cooker or instant pot, cook on high pressure for 25 minutes with a natural release for 10 minutes, then do a quick release until instant pot unlocks.
- Remove the ham bone, scrape off any meat you want in the beans, salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.
Here are a few other instant pot recipe you may love:
- Instant Pot Paella RECIPE HERE
- Instant Pot Lemony Rice RECIPE HERE
- Instant Pot Cranberry Chicken with a Balsamic Reduction RECIPE HERE
Instant Pot Ham and Lima Beans
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried Lima beans – rinsed
- 6 cups water
- 1 ham bone – you can leave as much of the meat on as you would like.
- 1 1/2 cups diced ham
- 1 small onion – diced
- 2 teaspoons paprika optional
- 1 bay leaf optional – adds a nice herby background flavor but not required.
- pinch of salt
- pinch of black pepper
Instructions
- Add rinsed Lima beans, water, ham bone, diced ham, small onion, paprika (optional), bay leaf (optional), pinch of salt and black pepper.
- In an electric pressure cooker, cook for 25 minutes then press natural release, release pressure slowly for 10 minutes then do a quick release until pressure cooker unlocks.
- Remove the ham bone, scrape off any meat you want in the beans, salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.
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