Shrimp and Grits is a wonderful southern classic recipe. This dish consists of buttery, cheesy grits topped with big, juicy shrimp that’s been cooked with bacon and sun dried tomatoes. There is so much flavor to this dish, it will quickly become your favorite way to make shrimp and grits.
After enjoying my shrimp and grits, search through many other shrimp recipes that I have and find another favorite. Garlic Shrimp Rice Bowl and Shrimp Salad are some of my favorite shrimp dishes.
Table of Contents
What is Shrimp and Grits?
Shrimp and Grits is a 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. It started out at a simple breakfast staple and evolved into a beautiful dish with rich and comforting flavors and textures.
Grits are a traditional breakfast food in the South that features stone-ground cornmeal. 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!)
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.
Ingredient Notes:
Shrimp – 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.
Cornmeal – use stone-ground cornmeal, not instant grits!
Sun-dried tomatoes – you can use sun-dried tomatoes dry or in oil. Squeeze out most of the oil in using those in oil.
Lemon juice – it’s always best to use freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor.
Bacon – it’s easier to dice cold bacon so dice it right after taking it out of the refrigerator and use a sharp knife.
Chicken broth – use chicken broth or chicken stock.
See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Cooking Instructions
How To Make Cheesy Grits:
Bring water and chicken broth to boil in a medium pot and season it with some salt. Add grits (1), while stirring/slowly whisking, and lower heat to low heat.
Cover the pot with a lid and let it simmer for about 20 minutes (2). Stirring occasionally.
Once grits is cooked, take it off the heat, add in butter and cheeses (3) and stir well, until cheeses are melted and incorporated (4). Set it aside.
Cooking Shrimp:
Peel and devein shrimp if needed and prepare the remaining ingredients: dice bacon into small pieces, slice shallots, green onion, and sun-dried tomatoes, and peel, smash and mince the garlic.
In a large cooking pan, over medium heat, cook diced bacon until brown and crispy (5). 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 (6).
Pour in chicken broth (7) and lemon juice to the pan, stir and bring to simmer. Add shrimp (8) 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. Top cheesy grits 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, stone-ground cornmeal to be exact, 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 Southeastern 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, mushier texture of cooked grits. It also soaks in more water as it cooks.
Besides texture and color, taste is not much different. Since flavors are added to polenta and grits as it cooks, flavor itself won’t be compromised if you try this dish with polenta. 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.
Yes, absolutely. Shrimp has to be cleaned and deveined before cooking because that dark “vein” that you see running along the back of shrimp is actually shrimp’s waste. It’s important to clean that out.
First, take the shell off the shrimp leaving the tail intact. It’s easy to take the shell off by starting to peel at shrimp’s feet.
Make a slight incision with a paring knife along the back of shrimp, just deep enough to slice the outer skin. This will expose the “vein.” Rinse out the cavity with cold water, taking out the “vein” and any dirt, leaving shrimp nice and clean.
Of course, you can always purchase shrimp that has already been peeled and deveined at the store, saving yourself time and effort of doing it yourself.
As I mentioned earlier, shrimp and grits was originally a breakfast dish, so it is a beautiful addition to a brunch menu. It is also great to serve as a main course for dinner.
For brunch, you can serve it along with some buttermilk pancakes, buttermilk cornbread, parmesan herb biscuits, or jalapeno cornbread if you want a spicy kick.
As a main dish, 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.
Some More Recipes To Make:
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Shrimp and Grits
Ingredients
Grits:
- 1 cup stone-ground cornmeal (grits) (not instant)
- 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 cornmeal, 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.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in January, 2019.
Tiffany D says
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!
LyubaB says
Yum! I am so glad you liked it!