Chef Juliette
Haricots Blancs à l’Américaine (Lima Beans)
Lima beans, lean bacon, and tomato sauce show the quiet discipline of binding: cook the beans gently, drain them thoroughly, and coat each one until glossy, never soupy.
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Haricots Blancs au Beurre
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2152, Haricots Blancs au Beurre, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Haricots blancs au beurre proves that restraint has technique behind it: well-drained white beans, precisely seasoned, bound with their proper measure of butter, and brightened with parsley for the weeknight table.
Side Dishes
French
Weeknight
Comfort Food
10 min
Active Time
10 min cook•20 min total
Yield4 side-dish servings
Haricots blancs au beurre teaches the quiet discipline of lier au beurre, to bind with butter: the beans must be well drained before the butter touches them. Water makes a pale puddle, while properly drained beans offer just enough surface moisture and starch to catch the butter in a fine gloss. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.
The old entry assumed cooked haricots waiting hot in a service kitchen and a cook who needed only the instruction to cohere them with butter. No saucier, standing stock, or salamander was doing the work here; the brigade advantage was simply a pot of cooked beans held ready and a warmed timbale at the pass. At home, about two standard cans weighed after draining, or beans you've already cooked, provide the pound we need, and a deep serving bowl replaces the timbale. Cooking and holding a great pot was scaffolding. The careful draining, seasoning, and original ratio of two ounces of butter to one pound of beans are the dish, and they stay untouched. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Done properly, the beans remain whole and distinct, each wearing a butter-gold sheen rather than sitting in grease, with parsley supplying the final fresh edge. The step that decides everything is the draining, so give the colander its full five minutes before you meet the pan.
The preparation belongs to the cuisine bourgeoise table across France and to the classical repertory of vegetables finished au beurre, where a plainly cooked ingredient receives butter rather than being hidden beneath a sauce. It traveled easily from household bean pots into Parisian service kitchens because the method was brief, economical, and exact. The important correction lies in au beurre: the beans are not left swimming in fat; their surface moisture and starch bind with the butter into a thin, glossy coating.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
cooked white beans
Quantity
2½ cups (1 lb / 454 g)
well drained
unsalted butter
Quantity
¼ cup (2 oz / 57 g)
divided into 4 pieces
fine sea salt
Quantity
½ teaspoon (3 g), plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (0.6 g), plus more to taste
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons (8 g)
finely chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| cooked white beanswell drained | 2½ cups (1 lb / 454 g) |
| unsalted butterdivided into 4 pieces | ¼ cup (2 oz / 57 g) |
| fine sea salt | ½ teaspoon (3 g), plus more to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | ¼ teaspoon (0.6 g), plus more to taste |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 2 tablespoons (8 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Fine-mesh colander
- •10-inch (25 cm) wide sauté pan
- •Flexible heatproof spatula
- •Deep warmed serving bowl
Instructions
- 1
Drain the beans
If the beans are canned, rinse them briefly under cool water to remove the packing liquid. Tip them into a fine-mesh colander, shake once, and leave them for at least 5 minutes. Do not press or rub them, which tears the skins. A lightly damp surface is useful for binding the butter; dripping beans are not.
Measure or weigh the beans after draining. The book's proportion is exact: 2 ounces of butter for every pound of cooked beans. - 2
Warm and season
Tip the beans into a wide sauté pan and season with the salt and pepper. Warm them over medium-low heat for 3 to 5 minutes, shaking the pan or folding gently with a flexible spatula so the skins remain whole. They should be hot throughout without browning. If liquid gathers on the pan floor, keep warming until it disappears before adding butter. Ça se rattrape now; butter added to a watery pan can only make a watery finish.
- 3
Lier au beurre
Turn the heat to its lowest setting and add half the butter. Shake and fold gently until it melts around the beans, then remove the pan from the heat and work in the remaining butter one piece at a time. Keep the beans moving until the clear butter changes into a thin, even sheen that clings to every surface. Do not let it brown. If the butter remains as a greasy puddle, don't add more heat. Ça se rattrape: crush two beans against the side of the pan, fold their starch back through, and shake firmly off the heat until the coating binds.
- 4
Dish and finish
Taste and correct the salt and pepper. Spoon the beans immediately into a warmed deep serving bowl, scraping every trace of the butter coating from the pan, and sprinkle the parsley evenly over the top. Serve while the beans are glossy and the butter is fluid. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Lingot beans are splendid here, but firm Great Northern or small navy beans also hold their shape well. Technique first. A good canned bean is more useful tonight than a dried bean you didn't have time to soak and cook.
- •Two standard cans usually provide slightly more than 1 pound after draining. Weigh out 454 grams and save the remainder, or increase the butter in the same ratio. The proportion is 2 ounces of butter per pound of cooked beans.
- •Butter, not margarine. This preparation has nowhere for a substitute to hide, and the butter must both taste good and bind properly. Unsalted butter leaves you in command of the seasoning.
- •Keep the parsley dry and chop it shortly before serving. Wet parsley dilutes the butter coating; bruised parsley darkens and loses the clean green finish the plain beans need.
- •Serve beside roast chicken, a pork chop, or simply grilled sausage. The beans carry meat juices beautifully, but they need no additional sauce of their own.
Advance Preparation
- •Home-cooked beans may be prepared up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated in their cooking liquid. Drain them only when you are ready to finish the dish so their skins remain supple.
- •The parsley may be washed and thoroughly dried several hours ahead, then kept chilled. Chop it shortly before serving.
- •Finish the beans with butter immediately before they go to the table. If leftovers must be reheated, use the gentlest heat and shake the pan constantly; refrigerate them within 2 hours and use within 3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 130g)
Calories
260 calories
Total Fat
12 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0.5 g
Unsaturated Fat
4 g
Cholesterol
31 mg
Sodium
300 mg
Total Carbohydrates
29 g
Dietary Fiber
7 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
11 g
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