Preserving lima beans is one of the easiest vegetables to preserve via the home canning method. You’ll need to de-shell them from the pods, rinse them and then prepare them for canning. I personally use the hot pack method from my Ball Book of Canning which is outlined below. You can find over 100+ home canning recipes on The Classy Chics blog.

* This post contains affiliate links.

I recommend that you wash all of your jars ahead of time. Gather up all of your canning supplies and lay them out before you get started. The longest part of this process is de-shelling the beans from the pod. Then the rest of the process moves along rather quickly. You’ll need a pressure canner to preserve them. The recipe makes about 6 pint size or 3 quart size jars.

Home Canning Lima Beans

9 to 15 lbs. lima beans
water
salt

Prep: Wash beans under cold running water. Drain. Shell the beans. I toss them into my colander as I’m shelling them and then rinse the beans again. Let the excess water drain away.

Cook: Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Blanch beans in boiling water for 3 minutes, remove beans. Reduce heat to a simmer. Keep the water hot but not boiling.

Fill: Pack hot beans into a hot jar, leaving 1″ headspace. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a pint jar or 1 teaspoon of salt to a quart jar. Ladle the hot cooking liquid over the beans, leaving 1″ headspace. Remove air bubbles. Clean jar rim. Center lid on jar and adjust band until its fingertip tight.

Place jar on the rack in a pressure canner containing 2 inches of simmering water. Repeat this process until all of your jars are filled.

Process: Place lid on canner and turn to the locked position. Adjust heat to medium-high. Vent steam for 10 minutes. Put weighted gauge on vent, bring pressure to 10 psi (10 pounds). Process pint size jars for 40 minutes or quart size jars for 50 minutes. Turn off heat, let canner cool until it reaches ZERO pressure. Once it hits ZERO let it cool down for an additional 5 minutes. Remove lid. Let jars sit in the hot water for an additional 10 minutes. Remove jars (carefully) from the canner. Place jars on counter-top to cool for 12 hours. Don’t retighten any lose bands. Check to make sure jars sealed and label them. Store in a cool, dry place.

* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may or may not receive a small commission which helps to support this site. Thank you!

Succotash is a combination of whole kernel corn mixed with an equal amount of lima beans. It’s one of our favorite side dish vegetables to enjoy. We like to season our’s with a little bit of butter, granulated sugar, salt and ground black pepper when we prepare it.

* This post contains affiliate links.

Last month I hit the farmer’s market to buy 2 dozen ears of corn and a bushel basket of freshly picked lima beans. Thankfully, both were on sale so I got them at a great price. When can Succotash I follow the recipe in my Ball Blue Book for Home Canning. You can easily double and triple the recipe depending on your family size. The recipe below will make approximately 6 pint size or 3 quart size jars.

You’ll need a steam pressure canner, glass mason jars, seals & rings, wide mouth funnel, ladle, jar grabber, magnetic seal lifter, stirring spoons, corn stripper, old kitchen linens, cutting board, colander, bowls, large cooking pot, measuring cup and measuring spoons. Lay out all of your canning supplies ahead of time. Make sure you wash jars, seals and rings.

Home Canning Succotash Recipe

3 1/2 cups whole kernel corn
3 1/2 cups shelled lima beans
salt
water

Prep: Remove corn ears from the husk. Remove silk and rinse them under water. Strip the corn off of the cob using a corn stripper. You’ll want to do this on a clean cutting board. Measure out your kernels, you’ll need 3 1/2 cups. Place kernels in a bowl. Set aside.

Wash lima beans under cold water. De-shell beans from the pods. Toss pods or use for compost. Measure out 3 1/2 cups of lima beans. Place them into a bowl with the corn. Use a spoon to stir everything together. You should have equal parts of corn to lima beans.

Cook: Pour corn and lima beans into a large cooking pot. Add enough water to cover them. Bring mixture to a full boil, reduce heat to a gentle boil and cook for 5 minutes.

Fill: Pack hot veggies into a hot jar, leaving a 1″ headspace. Add a 1/2 teaspoon salt to eat pint jar or 1 teaspoon salt to each quart jar (optional but I think it helps to keep them crispy and not soggy plus adds flavor). Ladle hot cooking liquid (the water from the pot) over the veggies in the jar, leaving 1″ headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe the jar rim clean with a cotton cloth. Add the warm seal (lid) on top and the ring…adjusted until its fingertip tight. Place on rack in a pressure canner containing 2″ of simmering water (not boiling). Continue until all of your jars are filled.

Process: Place lid on canner and turn to locked position. Adjust heat to medium-high. Vent steam for 10 minutes. Put on weighted gauge on vent and bring the pressure to 10 pounds (psi). Process pint size jars for 1 hour or quart size jars for 1 hour and 25 minutes. Turn off heat. Keep the lid on and let pressure return to zero. Once at zero let them sit with the lid on for an additional 5 minutes. Remove lid. Let jars sit in the hot water (lid off) for 10 additional minutes. Remove jars from canner. Let them cool for 12 hours. Check to make sure they are sealed. Label and store.

Canning Tips: I save all of my old kitchen linens in a bin and use them just for canning. They will get stained up over time. Just launder them after use and place back into your canning bin. I like to lay 2 old kitchen towels out on my counter-top and place my hot jars on them to cool. This helps to protect my conter-top to the extreme heat.

I heat up all of my glass mason jars in an oven set at 170 degrees F. I place them on a cookie sheet and let them sit in the 170 degree F. oven until I’m ready to use them. I don’t recommend heating them up in a microwave oven or on the stove-top. Just my opinion. You never want to re-use seals. Always use brand new seals for the best results. Inspect all of your mason jars for chips, cracks or foggy glass. If they’re damaged in any way…discard them!

It can be messy when it comes to home canning. You’ll want to wear a kitchen apron or an old t-shirt when doing the prep work. I like to wear my husbands old t-shirts which are roomy and comfortable. I recommend cleaning up as you go along. I always start out with an empty dishwasher and fill it as I go along. This saves me time when I’m done for the day and usually exhausted. Try to keep small children and pets out of the kitchen to prevent accidents, tripping, etc.

* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may or may not receive a small commission which helps to support this site. Thank you!