Southern "Secret Sugar" Creamy Butter Beans
The Meat-and-Three: Potlikker & Produce
If you grew up around a Southern grandmother’s kitchen, the smell of a simmering pot of butter beans is the smell of home. For those who didn't, butter beans might sound like a bland afterthought, but in the South, vegetables are treated with reverence, bathed in smoky pork fat and slow-cooked until they yield a rich, savory potlikker. The secret to this weeknight version is skipping the hours-long simmering of a ham hock in favor of thick-cut bacon and rich chicken broth. Most importantly, we use a generational trick: a spoonful of sugar. It doesn't make the beans sweet, but rather performs a culinary magic trick, balancing the smoke and coaxing out the natural creamy earthiness of the beans.
Before you start
Do not thaw the frozen butter beans.
They are meant to go directly from the freezer into the hot broth to maintain their structural integrity.
Ingredients
- thick-cut bacon4 slices
- yellow onion1 med
- frozen baby butter beans28 oz
- high-quality chicken broth3 cup
- granulated white sugar2 tbsp
- garlic powder1 tsp
- onion powder1/2 tsp
- black pepper1/2 tsp
- Kosher saltto taste
- unsalted butter2 tbsp
- apple cider vinegar1 dash
Method
- 01
Cook the chopped bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until the fat renders and the meat is crispy.
This takes about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set it aside on a paper towel, but leave two to three tablespoons of the hot pork grease in the pot to serve as your foundational seasoning.
- 02
Sauté the diced onion directly in the hot bacon grease.
Cook for 5 to 7 minutes until the onions are soft, translucent, and have lifted the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- 03
Pour in the chicken broth, frozen butter beans, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper.
Give everything a good stir to dissolve the sugar, which will neutralize the aggressive saltiness of the pork and highlight the natural sweetness of the starchy beans.
- 04
Bring the pot to a rolling boil, then immediately reduce the heat to medium-low and cover tightly.
Let the beans simmer undisturbed for 35 minutes until they are perfectly tender.
- 05
Remove the lid and use the back of a wooden spoon to mash about a half-cup of the beans directly against the side of the pot.
Stir the mashed beans back into the liquid and simmer uncovered for another 5 to 10 minutes. This mechanical starch release naturally thickens the broth into a luxurious, creamy gravy without needing a roux.
- 06
Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the unsalted butter and reserved crispy bacon.
The butter emulsifies the starchy broth into a glossy sauce. Taste the potlikker, adding Kosher salt only if needed, and serve immediately with a dash of vinegar if desired.
Notes
Substitute canned butter beans with caution.
If using canned beans, simmer the broth and seasonings by themselves for 15 minutes to concentrate flavors, then fold in the rinsed canned beans during the final 5 minutes so they do not turn to mush.
Vegetarian adaptation.
Omit the bacon and swap chicken broth for vegetable broth. Sauté the onions in olive oil and butter, and add a half teaspoon each of smoked paprika and hickory liquid smoke to replicate the essential pork flavor.
From Cook Southern Food.