Name: Shrimp & Grits
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: American South
Ingredients: For grits: 1 cup stone-ground grits (not instant), 4 cups water, 1 cup whole milk, 3 tbsp butter, 3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese grated, salt and pepper; 1.5 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined; 4 strips thick-cut bacon, chopped; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 3 scallions, sliced (white and green parts separated); 1 tsp smoked paprika; 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper; 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce; 1/2 cup chicken broth or shrimp stock; 1 tbsp butter; Lemon juice and hot sauce to serve

Creamy slow-cooked grits topped with plump shrimp in a smoky, spiced sauce. The Lowcountry dish that became a Southern icon.

The Cultural Story

Shrimp and grits was not always a restaurant dish. For a century, it was called "breakfast shrimp" — a Monday morning meal eaten by Black fishing families along the South Carolina and Georgia coastline, the Lowcountry. Shrimp were cheap and abundant; grits (ground dried corn) were the indigenous Muskogee people's hominy, adapted by enslaved cooks into something silky and sustaining. Chefs would have ignored it entirely if not for a 1985 New York Times article by Craig Claiborne that described the dish he ate at a fishing village on the Carolina coast. Within a decade, every upscale Southern restaurant had a version. The Lowcountry families who ate it for survival watched it become an $18 brunch item. That is America in a single story. The dish is good enough to deserve its fame — the shrimp, sauced with bacon and scallions and just enough heat, against creamy grits enriched with sharp cheddar, is one of the best things any cuisine has produced.

Ingredients

For grits: 1 cup stone-ground grits (not instant), 4 cups water, 1 cup whole milk, 3 tbsp butter, 3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese grated, salt and pepper
1.5 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 strips thick-cut bacon, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 scallions, sliced (white and green parts separated)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth or shrimp stock
1 tbsp butter
Lemon juice and hot sauce to serve

Instructions

1Start the grits: bring water and milk to a gentle boil in a heavy saucepan. Season generously with salt. Slowly whisk in grits to avoid lumps.
2Reduce heat to lowest setting. Cook grits for 25–30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until thick, creamy, and tender — no grain should be detectable. Add more liquid if they get too thick. Finish with butter, cheddar, and black pepper.
3Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove bacon, leaving drippings in the pan.
4Season shrimp with smoked paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Raise heat to medium-high. Add shrimp in a single layer. Cook undisturbed for 90 seconds until pink on bottom, then flip. Cook 60 more seconds. Remove shrimp before fully cooked — they will finish in the sauce.
5In the same pan, sauté white scallion parts and garlic in the drippings for 1 minute. Add Worcestershire and broth. Scrape up any browned bits.
6Return shrimp to pan. Add butter and toss until sauce clings. Add crispy bacon back. Squeeze lemon over.
7Spoon creamy grits into shallow bowls. Ladle shrimp and sauce over the top. Finish with green scallion tops and hot sauce. This dish should be eaten immediately, while the grits are still flowing.

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