This iconic Southern dish was traditionally served as a morning meal. We love it so much, we’d have it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. These warm, creamy grits are loaded with butter and cheddar cheese, topped with sautéed shrimp and crispy bacon. Add a dash (or more) of hot sauce and a squeeze of fresh lemon and you’ve got a bowl of Southern comfort ready in just 45 minutes.
For more Southern comfort food, try our Chicken and Dumplings or our Southern Style Red Beans and Rice.
Why Our Recipe
- We use white grits for the creamiest grits and then load them up with cheddar cheese.
- The shrimp is cooked in bacon grease and garlic to ensure it’s full of flavor.
- It’s topped off with a little lemon juice, hot sauce (of course), bacon, and green onions.
Shrimp and grits is an iconic, Southern breakfast food. Picture New Orleans and Charleston, where this humble dish is an integral part of their everyday home life. This Southern staple is easy to prepare, hearty and filling, while delivering big flavor. Buttery, cheesy grits combined with savory bacon and garlic shrimp makes our mouths water! Top it all off with a little hot sauce and you’ve got a delicious meal that is sure to become a family favorite.
Ingredient Notes
- White Grits: White grits are more versatile and take on the flavors of the dish, while yellow grits have a more assertive corn flavor.
- Chicken Broth: Using a low-sodium option allows you to best control the flavor. It’s a great chef tip.
- Butter: We use salted butter to add just the right amount of salt to enhance the flavors of the grits.
- Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese: Freshly shredded melts better than pre-shredded cheese, which contains additives to prevent clumping.
- Shrimp (peeled and deveined): Use large, raw shrimp for the best texture. Frozen shrimp can be used if thawed properly. You ca leave tails on or remove them before cooking..
- Garlic: Freshly minced garlic provides the best flavor, but jarred minced garlic works too.
- Bacon: Use standard bacon or thick-cut. You’ll want to use actual bacon, rather than pre-cooked, because you will be cooking the shrimp in the leftover bacon fat.
- Lemon Juice: Bottled lemon juice works well and keeps prep to a minimum, but freshly squeezed always has the best flavor.
- Hot Sauce: Top off with your favorite hot sauce.
Shrimp Options
You have a few options to choose from when it comes to shrimp, really it’s more than a few. There are different sizes, frozen or fresh, veined or deveined, peeled or whole, and all of them work!
For convenience, we prefer to cook with already peeled and deveined shrimp. If you use frozen, be sure to thaw them before using.
Instant vs. White Grits
Instant grits may cook up faster, however, they lack the better flavor of white grits. It’s worth it to take the time to cook up the real thing which will result in the creamiest, most flavorful, totally restaurant-quality grits you can make at home.
Avoiding Lumpy Grits
If you’re having issues with clumping, don’t worry, you aren’t alone. It’s a common problem that can be easily fixed. The most common cause of clumping is not stirring the grits immediately after adding them to the liquid. This can cause the grits to stick together and form lumps.
To prevent lumps, make sure to stir the grits continuously for the first few minutes after adding them to the liquid. Stir, stir, stir!
Add grits a little at a time while stirring to ensure that the grits are evenly dispersed in the liquid. You can just gently sprinkle them over the top of the boiling liquid.
If your grits are already lumpy, grab a whisk! Try whisking vigorously. If you can’t whisk them out, add a splash of hot water and keep whisking until the clumps dissolve. For extra stubborn clumps, you can even use an immersion blender briefly to smooth them out. Just don’t overmix.
Adjust the Heat
For less heat: If you don’t tolerate spice well, feel free to leave out the hot sauce entirely. If you want a little spice but not a lot of heat, add a pinch of paprika and chili powder instead.
For more heat: Feel free to just add more hot sauce. Or, add 1/4–1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper when cooking the shrimp for even more heat. You could also top with fresh jalapeño slices or a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Reheat leftover grits in a saucepan on low heat. Add a little bit of water or chicken broth to keep the grits from drying out, and stir occasionally to ensure that they heat through evenly.. Reheat the shrimp in a skillet over medium heat which will only take 1 to 2 minutes.
Microwave the grits in 30-second increments until warmed through. Add a small amount of water to the grits to thin out as needed. Add shrimp at the very end or reheat separately as they reheat much faster and will get rubbery when overcooked.
Freeze leftover grits in an airtight container or resealable plastic freezer bag for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to eat them, thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat as usual.
