You’ve probably heard of grits. You might even have been lucky (or misfortunate) enough to try Danforth’s twist on the southern classic with shrimp. This versatile side dish, made of dried, ground corn, traditionally pairs well with chicken, pork and veggies. But we thought we’d elevate our grits by adding real corn and cheddar cheese to kick up the flavor and texture. The recipe is easy to scale up for parties, or scale down to a single serving. If you are so inclined, you can even upgrade this with bacon, but more on that later…

Easy

Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 22 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1/4 cup slow cooking or old-fashioned grits
1/4 cup corn
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and Pepper
Oil

Directions:

1. Combine the milk and butter in a saucepan and bring it to a light boil. Add the grits and bring the heat down to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

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Photo by Parse Lotfi

2. In a separate pan, saute the corn in a little oil until lightly brown.

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Photo by Parsa Lotfi

3. Add the corn and cheese to the grits, and stir until the cheese melts and combines.

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Photo by Parsa Lotfi

4. Cook the grits for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with a little sprinkle of corn and cheese if you are feeling extra fancy.

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Photo by Parsa Lotfi

If you are interested in adding bacon (who wouldn’t be), here are some additional instructions:

  • In step 2, sauté two slices of bacon in a pan.
  • Remove from the pan and dry on a paper towel.
  • Cook the corn in the leftover bacon grease for extra flavor.
  • Crumble the bacon and top your grits with it at the end of step 4.

Get down and gritty with it:

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