Easy Classic Shrimp and Grits
This Classic Shrimp and Grits recipe is easy, simple, and the ULTIMATE Southern comfort food. This traditional low country recipe features bacon and is served with a simple sauce. It uses stone-ground grits with cheese (but it’s easy to adapt to have no bacon for a pescatarian option, or other flavors and ingredients, like peppers and onions, etc.). And the whole thing only takes 30 minutes to make!
Shrimp and grits is a Southern staple. It originated in the Low Country of the South Carolina coast, during the season when shrimp were plentiful. It’s traditionally a breakfast or brunch dish, but I love it for a quick dinner.
Other Southern regions have developed their versions of shrimp and grits- for example, you can find blackened shrimp and grits in New Orleans with a creole/cajun spin. This is where I first tasted the dish, when I lived in New Orleans.
In this version, the grits are cooked with milk, butter, and chicken broth, with cheese melted in at the end. The shrimp is cooked in bacon fat and then mixed with a simple buttery sauce, then served on top of the grits with crumbled bacon and green onions. It’s so insanely delicious!
I love the simplicity of this recipe. Often, shrimp and grits recipes are made with peppers and onions, or with blackening seasoning for extra flavor. You can make these how you want – I’ve provided options for adding different types of flavors, using other ingredients, and how to lighten it up a bit.
Hope you enjoy this recipe for one of the best dishes on the planet!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Grits – try to use stone-ground grits. If you can’t find them, polenta is the same thing! Using instant or quick grits is fine, but the texture will be different.
- Milk
- Chicken broth – water can be used instead if you want, or vegetable broth.
- Butter
- Sharp cheddar cheese – or another cheese of choice. Or omit for a lighter version.
- Bacon
- Shrimp – preferably jumbo size.
- Green onions – for garnishing at the end
- Salt and pepper – and any other seasonings you want!
What kind of grits to use for Shrimp and Grits
I used Bob’s Red Mill Yellow Corn Grits/Polenta. Make sure you don’t buy cornmeal by accident- it’s not the same! Polenta and grits are one in the same. Polenta is typically used in Italian recipes, Grits for American. Grits are often white, Polenta is yellow. Either will work!
I yellow grits to make these shrimp and grits. You can use white if you want, and they are more traditional… the only reason I used yellow is because it’s the only thing my grocery store had.
Stone ground grits are classic. They are the steel cut oats of the grit world. The texture has some bite to it, and the flavor is, for lack of a better word, super “corny.”
They do, however, take longer to cook than quick cooking grits or instant grits. If you are pressed for time, you can certainly use one of these as a substitute.
How to make Quick Cheesy Grits for Shrimp and Grits
Here’s my time-saving trick for cooking up these delicious grits: you don’t have to whisk them continuously. Many people think that you do have to whisk or stir them for almost the entire cooking time.
The thought is that the more you whisk the grits, the more starch is released, and the creamier the grits become. Kind of like when you cook risotto.
And while this may be true, I find that grits will get creamy no matter what, and it’s not worth the labor of constantly attending to them.
Instead, I whisk them every few minutes for about 10-15 minutes. Then, when they are creamy but still not quite done, I cover them and remove them from the heat to let them steam the rest of the way. It comes out perfect, with much less labor and boiling grits sputtering in your face!
This method also allows plenty of time to prepare the bacon, shrimp, and sauce portion of the shrimp and grits.
How to cook shrimp for shrimp and grits
First, cook up the bacon until it’s crispy, then remove from the skillet. You’ll crumble them after they cool a bit. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the skillet. Add the shrimp after patting dry and seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook in the bacon grease, then when they’re JUST done (don’t overcook them!), stir in a little butter and chicken broth until a nice sauce forms.
You can use other seasonings on the shrimp. I sometimes add chili powder. You can also sauté peppers and onions in the bacon grease before adding the shrimp. This is a good chance to experiment with different flavors and use things that you prefer!
To serve, pile the shrimp and sauce on top of the cheesy grits, top with the crumbled bacon. Garnish with green onions and serve.
What kind of shrimp to use for Shrimp and Grits
While we’re on the subject of what’s worth the time and what’s not, I recommend buying already peeled and deveined shrimp.
I spent a good 20 minutes peeling and deveining the shrimp myself, and while I may have saved some money, I didn’t think the time spent peeling them was worth it.
You can save a bit of money buying shrimp with the peels on, but I don’t think it’s worth it. The grits are so cheap, so spend a little more money on some already peeled and deveined shrimp.
I DO recommend buying large or jumbo shrimp. They are easier to cook, and have a meatier texture that holds up well with the creamy soft grits. And I think the flavor is better, since they are harder to overcook.
How to make shrimp and grits
Cooking shrimp and grits is easy- just cook the grits and add some cheese. While they’re cooking, sauté some bacon, cook the shrimp in the bacon grease, then make a simple butter sauce in the same pan!
- Cook the grits in a mixture of chicken stock and milk. I also added a little butter for extra richness.
- Then, cook up some bacon until it’s crispy, then remove it from the pan and chop it up when it’s cool.
- Pat the shrimp dry and season it with salt and pepper, and sauté the shrimp in the bacon fat. This will only take a few minutes, since shrimp is really fast to cook.
- Add some butter and chicken stock to the shrimp. Once the butter is melted, turn off the heat so the shrimp doesn’t overcook. The butter will melt into everything and the chicken stock will help deglaze the pan, making a super flavorful sauce to spoon over the grits. SO GOOD!
- Stir in some shredded cheese into the grits. YUM. I used cheddar.
To serve, spoon some grits into a shallow bowl, and scoop some of the shrimp and some of the sauce on top. Then, sprinkle with the chopped bacon and some sliced green onions. It’s so simple and delicious!
FAQs and Variations
This is a dish best eaten immediately. But if you do have leftovers, they are salvageable! The grits may clump together, so I recommend reheating them on the stovetop with a little extra water or chicken stock to thin them out. Reheat the shrimp in the microwave for only a few seconds, so they don’t get rubbery/overcooked.
Absolutely! You can make it completely meat-free by sautéing the shrimp in olive oil or butter instead of bacon fat. You may want to season the grits and shrimp with a little extra salt, since bacon is salty. And you can always add some other meat, such as andouille sausage or chorizo.
This would be great with sautéed mushrooms or other veggies such as peppers and onions. I recommend cooking them in the bacon fat before adding the shrimp.
Yes! Use all chicken stock for the grits instead of milk, and omit the cheese.
You can make a thicker, more luxurious sauce by making a simple gravy. Remove the shrimp from the skillet and sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of flour into the leftover bacon fat along with a tablespoon of melted butter. Whisk together for a minute or so to make a roux. Then, add one cup of chicken stock and whisk together, continuing to cook until heating.
I love adding chili powder to the seasonings. You can add any other spices you love – cayenne or other hot pepper for heat, herbs, etc.
The History of Shrimp and Grits
Like so many Southern recipes, the origins of Shrimp and Grits can be traced back to the enslaved African Americans of the region. It was originally a lighter dish involving peppers and onions in a simple sauce, without any added bacon, cream, and cheese. Like so many foods, the dish has evolved over time and passed through many hands, as well as other regions. This is a great article that covers a more in-depth history of shrimp and grits.
(And a quick shoutout to Michele, a reader who chimed in with this history in the comments! Thank you!)
If you want a lighter version…
This recipe for shrimp and grits is admittedly on the richer side – a result of the aforementioned evolution over time! If you want to lighten it up a bit, replace some or all of the whole milk with more chicken broth (or water, or vegetable or seafood stock) when cooking the grits, and omit the cheese. You can stir in a couple pats of butter if you want a bit of richness in the grits.
Also, instead of sautéing bacon as a starting point, sauté some peppers, onions, and maybe some sliced mushrooms in butter or oil, along with some spices (Cajun seasoning would be great here!), then add the shrimp and cook, serving the shrimp and veggie mixture over the grits.
Other Southern Comfort Food Recipes
Other Easy Shrimp Recipes:
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Easy Classic Shrimp and Grits
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Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth preferably low sodium, divided
- 2 cups whole milk
- 4 tablespoons butter divided
- 3/4 cup grits I used Bob's Red Mill, see notes
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 4 strips bacon (or 2-3 thick-cut slices)
- 1 lb. jumbo shrimp peeled and deveined
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- thinly sliced green onions for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Bring 2 cups of the chicken broth, the milk (2 cups), 3 tablespoons of the butter, and a pinch of salt to a gentle boil in a medium sized pot. Add the grits and whisk together. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until grits are soft and creamy, whisking every few minutes. Cover and set aside off heat – they will finish softening up while they sit.
- Cook the 4 bacon strips until crispy in a nonstick or cast iron skillet. Set aside on a paper towel lined plate. Once cool, chop into small pieces.
- Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the skillet.
- Rinse the shrimp with cold water and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper (if your shrimp is treated already with sodium – check the ingredients! – then only use a little bit, if any, of added salt), and any other spices you want to add (optional). Cook in the bacon grease until only just cooked- about 2 minutes per side.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and 1/2 cup of chicken broth to the shrimp and stir until melted and broth is heated. Taste and add salt if necessary.
- Stir in the cheese to the grits (1 cup) until melted. Taste and add salt if necessary.
- Serve the shrimp mixture over the grits, making sure to spoon some of the liquid from the skillet over the grits, and sprinkle with the bacon pieces and sliced green onions, if using. Serve immediately.
Notes
- A note on grits: I use Bob’s Red Mill grits / polenta, which are widely available around the country. These tend to cook faster than other stone-ground grits, especially artisan or smaller brands typically sold in Charleston and that area. They may take longer to cook because they tend to be coarser. So keep in mind, you may need to adjust timing depending on what brand of grits you’re using!
- Grits and polenta are one in the same – Grits is the American word, Polenta is Italian. Polenta is usually yellow, grits are usually white (and have a sweeter flavor). Use either one!
- Money Saving Tip: Buy frozen shrimp and defrost them yourself. Most “fresh” shrimp you buy at the store has actually been previously frozen, but is marked up anyway.
- This recipe is best served right away, since shrimp get rubbery from reheating and grits turn more solid after they cool. If you have leftovers, the grits can be reheated on the stovetop with some extra water to break them up, whisking them as they reheat. Heat the shrimp only for a few seconds in the microwave- as little as possible. Or, enjoy the leftover grits plain and add the cold cooked leftover shrimp to a salad to prevent overcooking.
- You can use water instead of chicken broth to cook the grits.
- To save time, you can use quick cooking grits instead of stone-ground (but the texture will be different).
- I used yellow grits, since it’s all I could find. You can use white if you want to!
- Spice it up! Add other seasonings, herbs, or hot pepper to the shrimp with the salt and pepper. You can also serve it with hot sauce.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Outstanding. We’re in SC, where good shrimp and grits is very common. I’ve made the dish many times, using many recipes, this is the best, by far.
The butter in the shrimp and grits ….. that was new to me. I’m going with using butter is a game changer.
So glad you liked it! I like butter with everything haha!
My family is from the Charleston Low Country and shrimp and grits is one of our traditional foods. This is a dish invented by the African American people who lived in the Lowcountry along the marsh and in the sea islands. Shrimp was not eaten by whites, it was considered waste food. So a dish was created to use this food source that was available to poor African Am people.
You’ve appropriated a recipe without giving credit to the people who created it. It wasn’t southerners, it was African Americans. And you’ve changed the traditional recipe into a rich man’s dish with cream, butter and cheese. It is supposed to have a simple brown gravy made with a roux and peppers and onions. The grits we eat are simple with salt and maybe a tad of butter, but with a rich fatty gravy that would be an overkill. I find that most European Americans’ versions of this dish too heavy and fatty and it upsets my stomach.
Michele, thanks so much for chiming in about this! I’ve edited the post to include two more sections: one about the history/origin of shrimp and grits, and another about how to lighten the recipe up by omitting the milk, cheese, and bacon (I also find that heavier foods like this can upset my stomach as well lately – which was not as much the case seven years ago when I wrote this post originally!). This was a fun bit of research, and this article which interviewed Michael Twitty on this very topic was full of good information. I always appreciate feedback like this and I am grateful to you for taking the time to leave this comment :-)
I tried this today and it was very tasty. I did not use the bacon but overall it was a great taste , very Flavorable.My man loved it 😍
So glad you both liked it!
Excellent! 👌
I used oat milk homemade chicken bon broth, extra sharp white and cheddar cheese, and added a little Creole and Louisiana shrimp boil seasoning and a 1/2 teaspoon corn starch. Yummy 😋
So glad you liked it!
This was my very first time making shrimp and grits and it came out wonderful!!
71 year old New England transplant living in the south for 47 years…
So glad you liked it! And hello from your homeland (I’m in Rhode Island) :-)
First time making this at home and turned out perfectly!
So glad you liked it!
The best meal I have ever had!
So glad you liked it!
Loved it! Only changed was seasoning shrimp with Old Bay. Simple comfort food and this is my third time making it and love it every time. Maybe more bacon and cheese 😂
So glad you liked it! I love adding Old Bay, or Cajun seasoning!
Loved this and so simple, I used Instant Grits and made it even simpler.
The Yankee in me added some Old Bay to the shrimp to zip it up a bit.
So glad you liked it! Old Bay is a great addition here. Yum, now I want Utz crab chips….
My husband loves shrimp and grits. Me? Meh. Never loved grits. I couldn’t get over the “cream of wheat” of it all. I know, I know…Not the same. But, I digress. I made this and could actually tolerate the texture! That doesn’t sound like a compliment, but if you knew me and knew my hatred for all things “hot cereal” this is the highest honor! Thanks for allowing me to avoid making myself a separate dinner 😘
I will take this as the highest compliment! Thanks so much and I’m so glad you liked – well, tolerated – it! :-)
If I use instant grits, should I substitute the water for chicken broth?
Yes this is a good idea, so you maximize the flavor! Or you could do half and half.
Fantastic recipe. Huge hit with everyone. Made as stated.
So glad you liked it!
Delicious! First time making grits. I used smoked Gouda and it was amazing. They were a bit wet. Anyone use less liquid? Any help Would be greatly appreciated .
So glad you liked it! Love the idea of using smoked gouda. Yours may have just needed a bit more time to cook. In the future, erring on the side of less liquid, then adding more if needed, might be the way to go, especially because grits vary depending on brand, freshness, and other factors!
Excellent base! Here are the additions/changes I made: only added .5 cup of cheese (smoked gouda), added liquid smoke to the grits, made caramelized onions and peppers, used chicken andouille instead of bacon. ☺️
Oh yum!! All of those changes sound delicious. Thanks for sharing, and glad you liked it!
Bland and inauthentic. On the upside, it is simple.
Happy to help you troubleshoot if you can be more specific. This recipe has overwhelmingly positive reviews, so there could have been something that went wrong when you made it – it definitely shouldn’t have been bland! Some readers have added things like Cajun seasoning or peppers and onions to the mix – perhaps that would have been a welcome addition for you. And I’m unsure what part is “inauthentic” to you. Anyway, feel free to respond with more details so we can troubleshoot this together, if you want!
“Good” is an understatement!
So glad you liked it!
This dish was amazing! I used some Old Bay, Saxon, and a tiny bit of creole seasoning for a bit of heat. Will definitely make this again!
So glad you liked it!
One word Delicious !!
So glad you liked it!
Absolutely fantastic. I’ve never had shrimp and grits before and this blew me away. Yum
So glad you liked it! Shrimp and grits is one of the best things out there – I’m glad you got to try it!
So easy, quick, and delicious! I was proud of the result.
So glad you liked it, and it makes me feel so happy to know that you felt proud after cooking this! Doesn’t it feel good to be successful with cooking something new? 👏
Our extended family went on vacation last week and we were assigned a dinner for each evening. My brother and I chose this recipe for Tuesday. We went right to where the shrimp boats come in on Tybee Island, Georgia . They were huge. We went with the Polenta you recommended, added a little Slap Ya Mama seasoning for kick and everyone raved about our dinner night. A part of me thinks they expected us to screw it up and order pizza but we this recipe was a hit! Thank you!
Oh I love this story, and I’m glad you could show them that you weren’t going to order pizza, hah! So glad you and everyone else liked it.
This recipe was delicious. I’m not sure what I do wrong with grits, but it takes me twice the time to remove the grainy taste. Any suggestion would be truly welcome. Thanks!
It probably has a lot to do with the brand of grits. You might try playing around with different brands – sometimes if grains are older (like they’ve been sitting on the shelf at the store or in your pantry for a while since harvest), they can take longer to cook. Same with dried legumes. Hope that helps!