Chefs Shrimp and Grits
Shrimp and grits is a very simple recipe, but make sure you have everything ready before you start cooking the shrimp.
They only take a few minutes to sauté, so you don’t have time to run and chop scallions or juice a lemon.
Once everything is assembled, this recipe is a snap. To make things even easier, you can make the grits a bit ahead since they stay hot a very long time.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
- 4 cups water
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup white grits
- ½ cup shredded white Cheddar cheese
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- ½ teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
- 2 tablespoons minced green onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Directions
- Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until almost crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer bacon to a dish, leaving drippings in the skillet.
- Whisk 1/4 cup water, cream, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce together in a bowl.
- Stir 4 cups water, butter, and 1 teaspoon salt together in a pot; bring to a boil. Whisk grits into pot, bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook until grits are creamy, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and stir white Cheddar cheese into grits.
- Place shrimp in a large bowl and season with Cajun seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
- Heat skillet with bacon drippings over high heat. Cook shrimp in hot bacon fat in a single layer for 1 minute.
- Turn shrimp and add jalapeno; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir cream mixture, bacon, green onion, and garlic to shrimp mixture; cook and stir, adding water as necessary to thin the sauce, until shrimp are cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.
- Ladle grits into a bowl and top with shrimp and sauce.
Nutrition Facts
- Servings Per Recipe 4
- Calories 434
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 20g 25%
- Saturated Fat 11g 53%
- Cholesterol 226mg 75%
- Sodium 1499mg 65%
- Total Carbohydrate 33g 12%
- Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
- Total Sugars 1g
- Protein 30g
- Vitamin C 6mg 32%
- Calcium 184mg 14%
- Iron 5mg 26%
- Potassium 328mg 7%
