Instant Pot Butter Beans and Shrimp. Pressure cook large lima beans with sausage, vegetables, and Cajun seasoning. Then, add some shrimp to simmer until cooked through. Creamy beans, tender shrimp, and smoky sausage make a fantastic one-pot meal.
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My friend Rhonda lived in New Orleans for years, and when I mentioned bean recipes, she suggested butter beans with shrimp. When Rancho Gordo sent a bag of Large Lima Beans in my bean box, I knew it was time to work on this recipe.
Ingredients Notes
- Beans: Dry large lima beans are the backbone of this dish - they add a creamy flavor and their starchy broth thickens up the stew. Baby Lima beans will also work, but they take longer to cook, about 30 minutes under pressure.
- Shrimp: I buy 51-60 count shrimp because I can get them raw and pre-peeled at my local grocery store. Any size raw shrimp will do, as long as you thaw and peel them before cooking. (Larger shrimp will take a little longer to cook in the pot, but that's fine.) Pre-cooked shrimp don't mingle well with the other flavors, but if that's all you have, go ahead and use them.
- Sausage: Sausage adds a nice, smoky, pork flavor to the beans. I buy andouille when my local grocery stores have it, but it's hit-or-miss here in Ohio, so I substitute smoked sausage most of the time. Kielbasa is also good, with extra garlicky flavor.
- Broth: I make lots of homemade chicken broth with my Instant Pot, so I usually have it in my freezer. But, when I'm out of homemade broth, I'll substitute store-bought low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth in this recipe. Or, you can skip the broth and use water - broth is better, but enough is going on in this recipe that water will work fine.
- Cajun Seasoning: I make my own (salt-free) Cajun seasoning, and add salt to the recipe. If you buy store-bought Cajun seasoning (I like Slap Ya Mamma), it is already loaded with salt, so don't add more to the recipe.
- Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce: These also add depth to the broth; you can skip one or both of them if you want.
How to make Instant Pot Butter Beans and Shrimp in Pictures
Sort and rinse the lima beans
Sort the beans, discarding any broken beans, dirt, or rocks in the bag
Sauté the Aromatics and the Sausage
Sauté the onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, and sausage until softened
Everything in the pot
Add the sorted and rinsed beans, chicken broth, water, and Cajun seasoning to the pot
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Pressure Cook for 20 minutes with a Natural Release
Cook the shrimp, serve, and enjoy
Stir the raw shrimp into the pot, cover, and let heat for 5 minutes to cook the shrimp through. Serve and enjoy!
Sorting Beans
Beans are agricultural products, and stuff tends to creep in during processing. Beans should always be sorted and rinsed before use to remove twigs, stones, clumps of dirt, or broken beans.
To sort the beans, I pour them out onto one side of a rimmed baking sheet (a half-sheet pan This post contains Amazon affiliate links). Then I slowly run my fingers through the pile of beans, pulling them towards me on the sheet. I watch the beans as they move, looking for anything that doesn't seem right. If I see something, I poke around in the beans until I find what caught my eye and discard it. I repeat this several times until I'm satisfied that everything is out of the beans.
Then, I dump the beans into a fine mesh strainer and rinse them under cold running water to wash off any dirt or dust still on them.
Now, the beans are sorted, rinsed, and ready for soaking or cooking.
Tips and tricks
- This is more of a mixed stew, with a lot of smoked sausage and shrimp, than a bean-forward meal. If you want to focus on the beans, cut the shrimp and sausage back to ½ a pound (8 ounces).
- Thawing frozen shrimp: The quick way to do this is to put the frozen shrimp in a bowl under cold running water, and stirring them occasionally to break up any clumps of frozen shrimp. They should be thawed in about 20 minutes, so I don't have to start thawing until the recipe is started. That said, if you can plan ahead, thaw the shrimp in the refrigerator overnight. (I never remember to take it out early).
- Add a Roux for finesse: I don't add a roux to these beans, because I think the bean broth itself is enough of a thickener. But, if you want to add a roux, don't let me stop you. In a small frying pan, melt 4 tablespoons of butter, then whisk in 4 tablespoons of flour, and keep whisking until the flour browns to the color of peanut butter. Stir this roux into the pot as a finisher, after cooking the shrimp.
- Floating tough beans: If your beans are still tough when the cooking time is over, especially any "floaters" at the top of the pot, stir the beans, lock the lid, and pressure cook for another five minutes. Older beans take longer to cook, and if they've been sitting on the shelf at your store for a while, they may need extra time. (Or, if there aren't that many floaters, you can scoop them out with a slotted spoon and discard them.)
- Simmer to thicken: If you have the time and want thicker bean liquid, simmer the beans for 15 minutes after pressure cooking. I set my Instant Pot to Sauté mode, adjusted it to low, set the timer to 15 minutes, and left the lid off to let the broth evaporate.
What to serve with Butter Beans and Shrimp
I serve butter beans and shrimp with white rice and a green vegetable (like my Instant Pot Green Beans). I also mince some green onions for topping the beans, and serve them with a Cajun hot sauce like Tabasco or Crystal.
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Instant Pot Butter Beans and Shrimp
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 quarts 1x
Description
Instant Pot Butter Beans and Shrimp. Pressure cook large lima beans with sausage, vegetables, and Cajun seasoning. Then, add some shrimp to simmer until cooked through. Creamy beans, tender shrimp, and smoky sausage make a fantastic one-pot meal.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry large lima beans, sorted and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 pound smoked sausage (preferably andouille), quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into ¼ inch wedges
- 1 large onion, minced
- 2 ribs of celery, minced
- 1 green or red bell pepper, seeded and minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon Cajun seasoning (for the onions)
- 4 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade chicken broth, or use ham broth, vegetable broth, or water)
- 2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (for the pot)
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt (only if using homemade salt-free Cajun seasoning)
- 4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- 4 dashes Cajun hot sauce
- 1 pound 51-60 count pre-peeled raw shrimp, thawed
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (for the shrimp)
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
For serving
- Cooked long-grain white rice
- Minced parsley
- Minced green onions
Instructions
- Sort and rinse the beans: Sort the large lima beans, removing broken beans, stones, and dirt clods. Rinse the beans in a fine mesh strainer.
- Sauté the aromatics, sausage, and spices: Heat the butter in an Instant Pot set to Sauté mode adjusted to high until the butter melts. (Use medium-high heat for a stovetop pressure cooker.) Add the smoked sausage, onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic, and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of Cajun seasoning. Sauté, stirring often, until the onions and sausage start to brown around the edges, about 8 minutes.
- Beans and broth into the pot: Pour the sorted and rinsed lima beans into the pressure cooker, then pour in the chicken broth and water. Stir in the Cajun Seasoning (and 2 teaspoons of salt if you are using homemade broth and homemade Cajun seasoning).
- Pressure cook the beans for 20 minutes with a Natural Release: Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and cook at high pressure for 20 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC, or for 18 minutes in a stovetop PC. (Use Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook - Custom mode in an Instant Pot). After pressure cooking, let the pressure release naturally, about 20 minutes. (If you're in a hurry, you can quick release the pressure after 15 minutes of natural release).
- Cook the shrimp in the remaining heat: Remove the lid carefully, opening away from you - even when it's not under pressure, the steam in the cooker is very hot. Leave the pot in keep warm mode (or put a stovetop pressure cooker back on the stove over very low heat). Sprinkle the thawed shrimp with 1 teaspoon of Cajun Seasoning, then stir the shrimp and the black pepper into the beans. Cover the pot (use a non-pressure lid, or don't lock the pressure lid) and cook the shrimp until they are pink and tender, about five minutes. Serve with white rice, a sprinkling of minced parsley or green onions, and a bottle of hot sauce on the side. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Cajun
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 cups
- Calories: 372
- Sugar: 6.1 g
- Sodium: 1082.3 mg
- Fat: 16 g
- Carbohydrates: 32.6 g
- Fiber: 9.3 g
- Protein: 25.4 g
- Cholesterol: 108.8 mg
Storing Leftovers
Lima beans and shrimp make great leftovers. Store them in covered 2-cup containers, and they will last for a few days in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.
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