Succotash (Corn, Bean, and Vegetable Stew) Recipe

Corn and beans are a must; the rest is up to you.

A bowl filled with succotash made with fresh summer corn.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Why It Works

  • Roasting the Poblano peppers and sautéing the bell peppers creates layers of flavor—some deeper and smokier, others lighter and sweeter.
  • Using a combination of beans creates a succotash with a more interesting range of flavors, colors, and textures.

When the Pilgrims first landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620, they had little idea of how to survive in their new environment. Disease and sickness wiped many of them out quickly; the rest faced significant hurdles, starting with the fact that they didn't know how to grow food in the challenging local soil. At the time, farming back in Europe tended to work like this: Take a handful of seeds, toss them onto a field, and wait to see what grows, weeds and all. It was not a sophisticated system.

Contrast that with how Native Americans in the Northeast farmed. In meticulously arranged fields, they would form mounds of soil by hand. In each mound, they would plant corn, often along with a fish carcass or some other type of fertilizer. Once the corn stalks started shooting up, they'd plant beans and squash seeds in each mound as well. The beans, being climbers, would wind their way up the corn stalks, which acted as a natural trellis. The beans were also nitrogen fixers, which helped keep the soil balanced and fertile, even as the other vegetables took what they needed from it. The squash, meanwhile, would sprawl around and down the mound, shading it and acting as a built-in weed suppressant.

The Foundational Trio

This trio of vegetables—corn, beans, and squash—was the foundation of many Native American diets, and they were so tightly connected to each other that they were, and remain, known as the Three Sisters.

Succotash, a vegetable stew that contains, at the very least, corn and beans, takes on a lot more significance in this light: It includes two of the Three Sisters, foods that were both nutritionally and culturally important. The third sister, squash, isn't an essential succotash ingredient, but it's also not an unwelcome one, nor is other indigenous American produce, like peppers.

Making succotash with these core crops is just one of the many things Native Americans taught Pilgrims in order to help them survive. In the centuries since, succotash's popularity has spread from coast to coast; it's a quintessentially American food, with regional variations enjoyed by communities of all backgrounds.

Building the Flavor

My version here includes corn, beans, squash, and peppers, plus a small amount of bacon, since pork fat is another traditional element of succotash. I also add some butter, since corn and butter are a perfect combo. The key with succotash, though, is to remember its history and understand the flexibility that's built into the dish. It lends itself to interpretation and variation, as long as it has the corn and beans. You can use just those two vegetables, or add more, as I do here; you can use pork fat, or some other fat to keep it vegetarian. You can make it in any season, too, shifting from fresh summer ingredients when they're available to shelf-stable ones (dried beans, winter squash, et cetera) when they're not. But no matter what you choose to put into it, what really makes succotash great is taking advantage of the best ingredients you can find. As I walk you through my recipe, you'll see what I mean.

The first step is to render some of the bacon fat. I use only a very small amount, since I don't want the smoky flavor of the bacon to be too prominent; the sweet corn and tender beans are what I want to stand out. When the bacon is beginning to brown, I add the butter and melt it, then follow it with diced onion and minced garlic, which deepen and round out the flavor of the dish.

Cutting corn off the cob into a metal bowl, with the cob end resting on an upturned small metal bowl inside the larger one.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Once the onion and garlic have started to soften, I add the corn, along with any milk I'm able to express from the cobs with the spine of my knife. I find that the easiest way to cut corn kernels off the cob is by inverting a small bowl or other container inside a larger mixing bowl, then standing the cob on the small bowl and slicing the kernels off. The small bowl raises the cob out of the bigger bowl, reducing the likelihood you'll smack your knife blade into the larger bowl's rim as you slice downward. The larger bowl helps catch the kernels, which have a way of shooting off in all directions. It's a big mess when you just do it on a cutting board.

Along with the corn, I add diced red bell peppers (orange or yellow works, too) for a light, sweet flavor. I also use a few Poblano peppers, which have a deeper, more complex flavor than basic green bell peppers, but I don't add them to the pot just yet. Instead, I char their skins for an even deeper, smokier flavor, then rub the skins off and dice up the flesh. I set it aside until the very end, since the charring process also cooks the Poblanos; the last thing they need is extended cooking after that.

Roasted Poblano peppers, ready to peel and chop.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

I add diced summer squash (third-sister alert!) as well, and cook everything together until tender.

Using a Variety of Beans

The only thing left is the beans. This is an area of the recipe where you can have some fun. The easiest thing to do is tear open a bag of frozen lima beans and dump them in the pot. That's fine—I do it, too—but there's a lot more potential to explore. In the summertime, if you live near a good farmers market, you can often find fresh shelling beans. They're the same beans you eventually buy dried, like navy beans, cranberry beans, and others, but still in their pods, just like peas, and with a vibrancy that's breathtaking.

An assortment of fresh shelling beans next to their green and purple pods.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Fresh shelling beans still need to be cooked, and the process is pretty much exactly the same as for dried beans, except that there's absolutely no need to soak them. (Dried beans sometimes don't require soaking either.) Just put them in a pot of salted water and aromatics, and simmer them until tender. They lose a lot of their beautiful color after cooking, but it's worth it for their tender, subtly sweet flesh.

Fresh cranberry beans in a pot of water, with an herb sprig.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

If fresh shelling beans aren't an option, dried beans are more than adequate; when cooked properly, they can be staggeringly good. The best approach, I think, is to add more than one kind of bean, for variety's sake. In the photos here, I've included some frozen limas along with some freshly shelled red kidney beans. It gives you a much bigger payoff, in terms of flavor, color, and texture, than any one bean on its own can do. I like to add a little of the bean-cooking liquid, too, just to moisten everything up and infuse the other ingredients with a bit more bean flavor.

At the very end, I add the roasted Poblano peppers and a fresh herb, like torn basil leaves, just to pump up the aromatics a little more. Is it exactly like the succotash of centuries past? No, but then again, I'm not a Native American farmer (or even a Pilgrim), and modern conveniences make it a whole lot easier to make this dish a little fancy.

Finished bowl of succotash (corn, bean, and vegetable stew).

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

July 2018

Recipe Details

Succotash (Corn, Bean, and Vegetable Stew) Recipe

Cook 35 mins
Active 60 mins
Total 35 mins
Serves 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces (170g) Poblano peppers (about 3 small or 2 medium)

  • 1 ounce (30g) thinly sliced bacon

  • 6 tablespoons (90gunsalted butter

  • 1 medium onion (about 6 ounces; 170g), finely diced

  • 2 medium cloves garlic, minced

  • 5 pounds fresh corn in the husk (about 6 to 7 ears), shucked, kernels cut and cobs scraped of any corn milk

  • One 6-ounce (170g) medium red (or orange or yellow) bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely diced

  • 12 ounces (340g) summer squash (about 4 small yellow squash and/or zucchini), finely diced

  • 2 cups frozen and/or cooked fresh or dried beans (about 12 ounces; 340g), such as red kidney, cranberry, or lima (see note)

  • 1/2 cup (120ml) reserved bean-cooking water (if using canned beans, substitute plain water)

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • Small handful fresh basil leaves, torn

Directions

  1. Using a broiler with the rack set in the highest position, or working directly over a gas flame, char Poblano peppers, rotating them frequently, until skin is blistered and black all over. Transfer to a heatproof bowl, cover with plastic, and let stand for 5 minutes. Using paper towels, rub charred skin off peppers. Stem and seed peppers, finely dice the flesh, and reserve.

  2. In a large Dutch oven, heat bacon over medium heat, stirring, until fat has rendered and bacon is beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add butter and stir until melted. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until starting to soften, about 3 minutes.

    Side by side images showing rendering bacon fat for succotash; adding butter to melt, plus onions and garlic

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

  3. Add corn kernels and any corn milk you were able to express, along with bell pepper and summer squash. Cook, stirring, until vegetables have become tender, about 10 minutes.

    A four-image collage showing adding corn kernels to Dutch oven, followed by red peppers and squash; sautéing corn, bean, and vegetable mixture together.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

  4. Stir in beans and reserved bean liquid (or water), as well as the reserved Poblano pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking, stirring, until succotash is heated through and a buttery glaze coats the vegetables, about 5 minutes.

    Side by side images showing adding kidney beans and lima beans to corn and vegetable mixture for succotash; adding charred Poblano peppers.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

  5. Add basil leaves, remove from heat, and serve. Succotash can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. When ready to serve, you can rewarm it if desired, or serve it at room temperature.

    Closeup of the finished succotash, served in a deep ceramic bowl.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Special Equipment

Dutch oven

Notes

A mixture of at least two different types of beans produces succotash with a more interesting combination of textures, colors, and flavors. The easiest approach is to use frozen beans, such as limas, or drained canned beans, adding them to the pot as they are. For the very best results, cooking beans from scratch is the way to go. For dried beans, follow our instructions here, then drain and add to the pot; reserve some of the cooking liquid for the recipe. For fresh shelling beans (available at farmers markets in the summer), follow the same instructions as for dried beans, but skip the presoaking step. You will need about 1 1/2 pounds (680g) fresh shelling beans in the pod to yield 12 ounces (340g) once shelled and cooked. (To be safe, grab 2 pounds of shelling beans.) For dried beans, about 1/2 pound (225g) dried should yield more than enough cooked beans.

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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
233 Calories
12g Fat
28g Carbs
8g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories 233
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g 15%
Saturated Fat 6g 32%
Cholesterol 28mg 9%
Sodium 454mg 20%
Total Carbohydrate 28g 10%
Dietary Fiber 6g 21%
Total Sugars 7g
Protein 8g
Vitamin C 60mg 302%
Calcium 35mg 3%
Iron 2mg 10%
Potassium 560mg 12%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)