Shrimp and Grits Recipe
Shrimp and Grits is a wonderful Southern classic recipe. This dish features buttery, cheesy grits topped with big, juicy shrimp cooked with bacon and sun dried tomatoes.
Table of contents
It’s not hard to believe that this dish is a favorite among so many people. It is full of comforting flavors from buttery and cheesy grits to shrimp cooked in bacon fat. Every bite is a flavorful spoonful of comfort. Did you know that:
- Shrimp and Grits is a U.S. Southern classic that originated in plantation kitchens of the South Carolina Lowcountry with roots in Africa.
- The main ingredients in this dish is ground cornmeal served with shellfish.
- Grits are a traditional breakfast food in the South. Originally, shrimp and grits were actually considered a breakfast dish. With time, it developed into a main course for lunch or dinner dish through the years. (So feel free to eat it any time of the day and it also goes well with other brunch dishes!)
How To Make Shrimp and Grits
How To Make Cheesy Grits:
- Bring water and chicken broth to boil in a medium pot and season it with some salt. Add grits, while stirring/slowly whisking, and lower heat to low heat.
- Cover the pot with a lid and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
- Once grits is cooked, take it off the heat, add in butter and cheeses and stir well, until cheeses are melted and incorporated. Set it aside.
Cooking Shrimp:
- Cook diced bacon until brown and crispy. Take out bacon bits only and set them aside. Drain off excess bacon grease if needed, leaving behind 2-3 tablespoons.
- Add shallots and sun-dried tomatoes to the pan with bacon grease and sauté until golden. Stir in minced garlic and sauté until fragrant.
- Pour in chicken broth and lemon juice to the pan, stir and bring to simmer.
- Add shrimp and cook until shrimp turn pink and opaque on one side. Flip shrimp to the other side and let it cook until that side turns pink and opaque. Take the pan off heat.
- Divide prepared grits among large bowls and top it off with bacon bits, shrimp with broth, and some green onions.
Tips For The Best Shrimp and Grits
- When making fast recipes, make sure to prep all the ingredients before starting to cook.
- When preparing grits, I like to flavor the water that grits is cooked in. So season water with salt before adding stone-ground cornmeal that way it will soak up the flavor as it cooks. Using water and broth mixture will also increase the flavor.
- Use a combination of cheeses to mix into the cooked grits. My favorite combination is sharp cheddar cheese and fresh grated Parmesan.
- Grits takes about 20 minutes to cook so shrimp and bacon can be made at the same time as grits. If you make both parts of this dish at the same time, the dish will only take about 30 minutes.
- Cook bacon bits first and then take them out and set them bits aside. Add crispy bacon bits to the cooked dish at the end so they don’t get soggy. If you add bacon bits of the pan with shrimp and sauce, they will soak up the liquids and be soggy.
Recipe FAQs
Both polenta and grits are made out of corn, but the difference lies in the type of corn, the way it’s ground, and region it comes from.
Polenta is native to Italian cooking and is made out of yellow corn. It’s also ground into more coarse grain of corn meal, which results is a more coarse and dense texture.
Grits is a native of cuisine in Southern region of United States and it’s made with different type of corn. It’s made with white corn and ground into a much finer grain. Finer grain results in a softer, creamier texture of cooked grits.
Besides texture and color, taste is not much different. The texture of polenta will be different and there is a slightly different water ratio. So make sure to check cooking instructions on the package.
You can serve it along with some buttermilk pancakes, buttermilk cornbread, parmesan herb biscuits, or jalapeno cornbread if you want a spicy kick.
Pair it with vegetable sides like haricots verts (French green beans), honey roasted carrots, roasted green beans and mushrooms. For heartier sides, consider roasted sweet potatoes or creamed spinach.
As far as wine, shrimp and grits goes well with full-bodied white wines that are not sweet or fruity. Pair it with chardonnay, pinot grigio, or prosecco.
Some More Recipes To Try
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Shrimp and Grits
Ingredients
Grits:
- 1 cup stone-ground grits
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups chicken broth
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Shrimp:
- 1 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)
- 8 oz bacon
- 2 shallots
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup diced green onion
Instructions
Grits:
- Bring water and chicken broth to boil in a medium pot and season with some salt. Add grits and lower heat to medium-low/low heat. Cover and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
- Once grits is cooked, take it off the heat. Stir in butter and cheeses until melted.
Shrimp:
- Peel and devein shrimp if needed.
- Prepare ingredients by dicing bacon into small pieces, slicing shallots, green onion, and sun-dried tomatoes, and peeling garlic.
- In a medium cooking pan, over medium heat, cook diced bacon until brown and crispy. Take out bacon bits only and set them aside. Pour off most of the leftover bacon grease if a lot accumulated, leaving about 2-3 tbsp in the pan.
- Add shallots and sun-dried tomatoes to the pan with bacon grease. Saute until golden.
- Smash and mince garlic and add it to the pan. Saute until fragrant.
- Add chicken broth and lemon juice to the pan. Stir and bring to simmer.
- Add shrimp and cook until shrimp turn pink and opaque on one side. Flip shrimp to the other side and let it cook until that side turns pink and opaque.
- Take the pan off heat.
- Divide prepared grits among large bowls or deep plates.
- Divide bacon bits, shrimp with broth, and some green onions among the plates, over the grits.
Video
Notes
- Grits – use stone-ground grits, not instant grits! When cooking it, flavor the water that grits is cooked in. So season water with salt before adding stone-ground cornmeal that way it will soak up the flavor as it cooks. Using water and broth mixture will also increase the flavor.
- Grits takes about 20 minutes to cook so shrimp and bacon can be made at the same time as grits. If you make both parts of this dish at the same time, the dish will only take about 30 minutes.
- Shrimp – make sure to clean and devein shrimp before cooking! If you don’t feel like taking time to do that, you can always purchase shrimp that are already cleaned. It’s best to use large shrimp and if you have access to fresh, never frozen shrimp, that will give you the best results. If you do have to use frozen shrimp, make sure to thaw them completely and drain off all excess liquids.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in January, 2019.
Categories:
30 Minute Meals, Dinner Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Most Popular Recipes, Mother's Day Recipe Ideas, Seafood Dinner Recipes, Shrimp Dinner Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Second time I have made this recipe . IT IS DELICIOUS
Made this recipe tonight. Not a fan of the Sharp cheddar cheese. My husband loved the Sharp. Overall great recipe.
I’ve cooked two or three different recipes for Southern Grits, this recipe is a forever recipe. Thank you! Deviations, yes of course. I used Dixie Lily Grits, my absolute favorite! I used tiger shrimp and I used Franks Red Hot. Perfect, loved, loved, loved it. No need to try another shrimp and grits recipe!
Yum! I am so glad you liked it!
This is my favorite shrimp and grits recipe. I’ve tweaked a little. I replaced 1 cup of chicken stock with heavy cream. Then I put sliced hot Italian sausage over the grits before ladling the shrimp and broth over it.
Love this version of shrimp and grits you developed. I always use this recipe. Made it for my daughter and son-in-law last night and they loved it. Brought the shrimp from the Gulf coast to Michigan. This time I tried Del Monte sun-dried tomatoes that were labeled “soft” instead of oil-packed. Microwaved for a minute with 1/2 cup broth (added to the “gravy”) and let them plump up. I think I like the oil-packed better.
Thanks for a great recipe.
I am so glad you like it, Laurie!
I made this tonight and it came out wonderful! I didn’t have shallots or sun dried tomatoes but used white onion and diced tomatoes and just added bullion base. Delicious!
Yum! I am so glad you liked it!