Shrimp and Grits Recipe (2024)

I've done this a number of times and suggest not cooking the shrimp until all the ingredients in the sauce have been combined. Adding the shrimp before this point will likely result in overcooked, tough shrimp. Saute the onions, peppers, garlic in half the butter (2 tbs). When cooking shrimp in a sauce, do it as slowly as possible (bare simmer). Refrigerate the remaining 2 tbs butter so it gets cold and somewhat hard, and add toward the end to produce a silky glaze over the shrimp.

You have to salt the water before the girts go in the pot or else they will have no flavor. People who grew up eating grits knows this. This is one of the reasons people up north don't like grits. Salt does nothing for already cooked grits. This is an important fact people need to know~!

I adore shrimp and grits! This looks like a great version. I ran a couple of restaurants that had them on the menu. I live in FL I'm a shrimp snob. Not everyone can do this, but I have a "shrimp guy." I only buy wild caught shrimp. They can even be frozen, but NO products from Asia. Nothing farm raised. Also, if you like spinach, this dish is fantastic with cheddar grits, a bed of wilted spinach, topped with shrimp...sprinkled with chives! You can even throw a poached egg on top.

Growing up I always heard only a Yankee would cook grits for less than 1 1/2 hours. That's when they get creamy. Let them stick to the bottom of the pot; it's like the crust at the bottom of a cheese fondue. Bring the grits to a boil, 1c grits/4c water (salt to taste), then turn the heat to low. Stir and add water for the desired consistency over the next 1-2 hours. A typical meal is shrimp, grits, hush puppies and okra or if you must butter beans. Enjoy!

Nowhere on this page do I see mentioned the importance of using real grits — not “instant,” not “quick.” One might as well use waterlogged cardboard. Stone-ground, real stuff, please.

From a GRITS: a Girl Raised In The SouthUse a double boiler for the grits - they get thick and creamy without sticking to the pot. And replace the cheddar cheese with some heavy cream. Shrimp and cheese do not belong together.

This is a tasty dish, but, I believe, a Low Country thing, not "Southern". I was born and raised in Louisiana, and never heard of it until 10-15 years ago. Similarly, I discovered that black-eyed peas for luck on New Year's Day was a Southern tradition when we went on vacation in Colorado. Heck, we ate them all the time. I wish I knew what part of the South to blame for "sweet tea".

Polenta is simply corn (maize) meal (preferably coarse and stone-ground). Grits is ground hominy -- which is produced from dried corn ( maize) kernels that have been soaked in a dilute lye or slaked lime solution, then washed, dried, and ground.

This was indeed delicious. If preparing with previously frozen shrimp, omit the juice of the tomatoes and maybe increase the flour to 1.5-2 Tbsp (previously frozen shrimp will release more water). I would NOT prepare this for breakfast unless you had help in the kitchen -- it's just too much work to keep the grits from sticking while getting everything else ready. For dinner, though, it's a winner!

First, whenever is see flour in a Cajun recipe, I make a roux. I corsely diced about a quarter pound each of bacon and Spanish chorizo, and started here. After removing the meats, I sautéed the garlic and onions. Then added the green pepper and a half stalk of chopped celery. The tomatoes and paste went in next. After a few minutes one cup of the stock was added, and I tossed in the shrimp, butter, and cajun spices after it began to boil. I followed the remainder of the recipe. Awesomeness!

This was really yummy! I did change a few things: I added mushrooms, didn't put in the shrimp until the veggies were cooked, shortly before the cream, and cooked the grits on low heat for a couple hours (1 part grits to 4 parts water). The grits were creamy, and the shrimp/veggies very flavorful and saucy. I think the shrimp stock adds a lot of flavor. Everyone loved it!

Flour entirely unnecessary, and Southerners would use corn starch, making this dish effortlessly gluten free.

I make shrimp and grits with polenta instead of grits! Delish!

Congratulations on buying American caught shrimp. Between China's overfishing, Indian and Japanese sea harvesting, Indonesian and Vietnamese shrimp farming, there's not much left for American fishers. You are to be commended.

Oh it appears my original note did not send... it was just saying, THANK YOU to David for your comments re gulf harvested vs imported and "farm" raised shrimp and noting that it is surprising to still see imported shrimp of questionable origin in "healthy" food markets, and at the same time hard to find nice clean gulf shrimp. Where to get in NYC?

I used oat milk. Turned out fine!

Used oat milk. The republic still stands

I don't like bell peppers so I use two cans of Ro-Tel tomatoes, one original and one hot, in lieu of ordinary canned tomatoes. They are magic!

Reduce the cream to a couple tablespoons.

Of all the T Cooking recipes for shrimp and grits, this one seemed least likely to kill my husband who has heart disease. No bacon or sausage. Grits made with water instead of milk. Easy to substitute (and halve) vegetable oil for butter, yogurt for heavy cream. One indulgence was the cheese in grits to which I didn't add butter. So delicious... and maybe even healthy!

Used the slow cooker for the grits. Added some cheddar and cream.

With all respect to the much-loved-and-lamented Julia Reed, I prefer parmesan in my grits for this dish. If you substitute whole milk (or cream!) for at least some of the water when cooking the grits, they'll be lusciously smooth. DEFINITELY not the "instant" or "quick" variety! Cook 'em low and slow. 30 minutes will do it.

Yum

Fantastic recipe! I made this for my neighbors from the South and they loved it. Did the grits in a slow cooker as some commenters suggested and they came out great. I plan to add this to my regular rotation!

While you were making the dish, boil down the shrimp, shells with vegetable or chicken broth to make a shrimp broth

Made this twice now. Used Beechers Flagship for the cheese, which went nicely (kind of a cheddar Gruyere flavor). I also used Bob's Red Mill grits and Bob's recommended 1c grits to 3c water. 2nd time I did the shrimp after step 1 using a hot pan in order to get more color on them. Set them aside and mixed them in after step 6. Outstanding combination of flavors. Making it again tonight, but tailored to use cajun sausage for a non-shrimp eater.

I really loved the flavor of the sauce on this recipe! I substituted chicken stock for the shrimp stock. The grits were perfect. I didn’t have fresh shrimp, so I used frozen shrimp that i thawed out. I didn’t love the texture of the shrimp, maybe i overcooked them; but the sauce on the grits was so tasty. I would make this again and coat the shrimp in some cajun seasoning, and cook them separately; not in the sauce.

Pretty sure this is Chef George Stevenson's recipe, Chef de Cuisine at Pearl's and later Executive Chef at The Sewanee Inn in Sewanee, Tennessee -- a genius with food, especially Southern soul food recipes, due to his roots in Jackson, Mississippi and my partner (now deceased). I love seeing this and I'm sure Julia discovered it during his tenure at Pearl's.

Can this be made the day before (without shrimp) to develop flavor or nah?

Good! Made pretty much as written except added bacon (partially cooked in microwave first), celery and jalapeño. Added tomato paste after sautéing veggies, then flour, then tomatoes etc. Splash of half and half at the end.