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Home » Recipes » Quick and Easy

Lima Bean Soup

Published: Apr 4, 2021 · Modified: Apr 4, 2021 by Lexi

233 shares
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This flavorful Lima Bean Soup is packed with plenty of vegetables, like buttery baby potatoes, corn, greens and fresh herbs. It's vegan, but easy to adapt with your favorite protein for a fuller meal. It's also quick and easy to make and ready in just over 30 minutes!

overhead view of bowl of vegan lima bean soup with potatoes and corn.

Why we love this recipe

  • Quick and easy: this lima bean soup is perfect for a weeknight dinner with minimal prep and just about 30 minutes of cook time.
  • Meal prep friendly: this soup also stores well as leftovers for up to 5 days, or can be frozen for several months.
  • Vegan: this soup is naturally vegan, but you can customize in any way you'd like!
  • Vegetable-heavy: great way to get in a few servings of vegetables, and surprisingly filling.

Ingredients

Here are the key ingredients you'll need for this vegan lima bean soup:

overhead view of ingredients for lima bean soup in small prep bowls.

Ingredient Notes

  • Lima beans: we use frozen baby lima beans in this recipe, which are very easy to find and available at pretty much any grocery store. If you want to use dried lima beans, you'll want to cook them before adding to this soup. Check out this post for a cooking tutorial.
  • Potatoes: we love using baby red or yellow potatoes (aka new potatoes) in this soup. They're very small, so you only have to halve them for this soup. They also have a thin, delicate skin and a tender, creamy flesh, making them the perfect hearty addition to this soup.
    • If you can't find any baby potatoes, the next best substitute would be yukon gold potatoes – you'll just have to dice them a bit smaller. Fingerling potatoes would work, too.
  • Corn: frozen is easiest to use, but feel free to use fresh corn if it's in season! You can also use fire roasted corn for more flavor.
  • Greens: we used spinach in this lima bean soup, but you can sub with another leafy green of choice like kale or swiss chard.
side view of bowl of vegan lima bean soup with potatoes and corn.

Step-by-step instructions

(1) Melt 3 tablespoon of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add 1 diced onion and sauté for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

(2) Stir in 3 teaspoon minced garlic and 1 ½ cups celery and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.

before and after adding celery to sautéed onions and garlic in large pot.

(3) Add 1 lb. halved baby potatoes, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and stir well.

(4) Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring, until potatoes start to soften slightly.

adding in baby potatoes to lima bean soup base in large pot.

(5 & 6) Add in 6 cups vegetable broth, 1 ½ tablespoon lemon juice and 2 bay leaves. Bring soup to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes. 

pouring vegetable broth and adding bay leaves to lima bean soup on stovetop.

(7 & 8) After 10 minutes, stir in 2 cups lima beans, 1 cup corn, 3 cups chopped spinach, ⅓ cup parsley, and 2 tablespoon thyme.

adding in frozen lima beans and chopped spinach and herbs to lima bean soup on stovetop.

Cook for an additional 20 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender. Stir in remaining tablespoon of butter. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as desired. 

overhead view of vegan lima bean soup with potatoes and corn in a large pot.

Expert Tips & FAQs

  • If you or family members are not vegan, you can also consider adding shredded rotisserie chicken, spicy or sweet chicken sausage, or even ham (which is common with lima bean soup). If you want to keep it vegan but would like to add more protein, try this poultry-seasoned tofu "chicken"!
  • Storage: let soup cool to room temperature, then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for 5 days. Reheat in a small pot over medium heat.
  • Freezer storage: Let the soup cool completely before transferring to an airtight, freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 6 months. To reheat, defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then heat over medium in a pot.
overhead view of bowl of vegan lima bean soup with potatoes and corn.

Related recipes

  • White Bean Spinach Soup
  • Three-Bean Vegetable Soup
  • Wild Rice Mushroom Soup
  • Vegan Minestrone Soup

Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or by subscribing to our newsletter.

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overhead view of bowl of vegan lima bean soup with potatoes and corn.

Lima Bean Soup


★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

  • Author: Lexi
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

This flavorful Lima Bean Soup is packed with plenty of vegetables, like buttery baby potatoes, corn, greens and fresh herbs. It's vegan, but easy to adapt with your favorite protein for a fuller meal. It's also quick and easy to make and ready in just over 30 minutes!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 tbsp butter, divided (we used vegan)
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced (~1 ½ cups)
  • 2-3 teaspoon finely minced fresh garlic (2-3 cloves)
  • 1 ½ cups thinly sliced celery 
  • 1 lb. baby yellow or red potatoes, halved or quartered
  • 1 tsp fine kosher salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 6 cups vegetable broth 
  • 1 ½ tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 large bay leaves
  • 2 cups frozen baby lima beans
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 3 cups chopped spinach, kale or chard
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme

Instructions

  1. Melt 3 tablespoon of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  2. Stir in garlic and celery and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add potatoes, salt and pepper and stir well. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring, until potatoes start to soften slightly.
  3. Add in broth, lemon juice and bay leaves. Bring soup to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes. 
  4. After 10 minutes, stir in lima beans, corn, chopped greens, parsley, and thyme. Cook for an additional 20 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender. Stir in remaining tablespoon of butter. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as desired. 
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 minutes
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 bowl
  • Calories: 215
  • Sugar: 9.4 g
  • Sodium: 1218.1 mg
  • Fat: 12.5 g
  • Carbohydrates: 24.5 g
  • Fiber: 5.7 g
  • Protein: 4.3 g

Keywords: lima bean soup

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Susan hattendorf

    May 04, 2022 at 1:58 pm

    I just made this recipe and it was delicious thank you so much! I did as some chopped carrots to it but that’s the only change I made!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Lexi

      May 04, 2022 at 4:59 pm

      So glad you enjoyed!

      Reply

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