Cheese Grits Recipe

Cheese grits is a simple buttery, comforting twist on a classic Southern side dish. This is an easy recipe featuring stone-ground grits cooked with butter and sharp cheddar cheese.

Grits is an essential southern side dish made with dried corn, either yellow or white. It comes in a few varieties, most common being stone-ground, quick cooking, or instant. It’s a must-have basic recipe and this cheesy grits recipe makes a wonderful side dish because:

• grits is a great side dish on it’s own but also goes with just about any main dish.
• in the south, it’s common to have it with breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
• using stone ground grits will give you the most rich flavor since it’s less processed and ground with germ still intact.
• it’s rich, buttery, comforting, and super simple to make.
• this is perfect side dish for the classic shrimp and grits but also goes great with steaks, chicken, or breakfast dishes.

How To Make Cheese Grits

• Combine water, broth, and salt in a pot and bring to simmer.
• Stir in stone ground grits and lower heat to medium-low/low heat.
• Cover and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
• When cooked, turn off heat and stir in butter and sharp cheddar cheese until smooth.

Storing and Reheating

• Storing – store leftover grits in an airtight food storage container, in the refrigerator. It should last 3-4 days.
• Reheating – you can simply reheat individual portions in the microwave. Add a tablespoon or two of broth or milk to the grits and reheat in 30-45 second increments, stirring in between.

Is Grits Different from Polenta and Cornmeal?

Yes, all three are ground from dried corn but they all have different preparations, textures, and uses.

• Cornmeal – finest texture of the three, slightly granulated but still coarse. Used for dusting baking surfaces, making cornbread, corn muffins, pancakes like Johnny cakes, fritters, and many other recipes.
• Grits – more coarse than cornmeal and made with white, yellow or a mix of corn. It’s more starchy than polenta and more creamy. It’s usually used in recipes originated from the Southern U.S.
• Polenta – even more coarse than grits, it’s less starchy, and usually made with yellow corn. Polenta is often made as a side dish or baked into cakes or crust. It’s original to Northern Italian cuisine.

Substitutions and Add-Ins

• Creamy – you can easily make your cheese grits creamy by substituting the 2 cups of water for 2 cups of milk.
• Spices – you can increase flavors based on what you will be serving with the grits. You can add spices and herbs like paprika, cayenne pepper, Cajun seasoning, parsley, thyme, dill weed, green onion,
• Mix-ins – bacon, sausage, ham, green onions, different cheeses like parmesan, pepper-jack, asiago, gruyere, gouda.

More Recipes To Try

• Shrimp and Grits
• Southern Potato Salad
• Shakshuka with Parmesan Polenta
• Jalapeno Cornbread
• Homemade Stuffed Peppers Soup

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