Cheesy Grits Breakfast

Cheesy Grits Breakfast

Great Southern American breakfast full of umami flavors: grits, egg, and bacon.

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Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Cheesy grits, Grits, porridge, southern breakfast

Servings:

Calories: 473kcal

Author: Patty

Equipment

Measuring tools (cups + spoons)
Pot with lid + stirring spoon
Skillet + spatula

Ingredients

Grits

1 C Water
1 C No Fat Milk
1 t Kosher salt Seasoning for the water
1/2 C Quick Grits Alpers
1/2 C Pecorino Romano Grated
1 Scallion Thinly slice on diagonal, only green part
1 t Freshly ground pepper

Sides

4 Slices Bacon 2 per serving
2 Eggs Cook soft, hard, or scrambled, 1 per serving

Instructions

Grits

Boil salted water and milk in a pot that has a good lid.
Add the premeasured grits, and stir with a whisk while bringing back up to a boil. Stir all the while to prevent clumping.
Once boiling again, lid the pot and lower heat to a simmer for ~5 minutes.
Turn off the heat and add the cheese while stirring, so it does not stick to the bottom and melts evenly. Put the lid back on while cooking other food so it stays warm.
Serve with a sprinkling of the green portion of scallions, or chives, or ground pepper.

Eggs + Bacon

Cook the bacon in a heated skillet. Make them as soft or crispy as you prefer. Drain the excess oil (put in lidded glass jar and into the fridge for future use).
Keep some minimal amount of the bacon grease in the pan, to cook the eggs.

Serve

A portion of the grits on the plate first, then add the egg and bacon.

Notes

White grits, as opposed to yellow grits, are higher in sugar and contains less starch.

Stone-ground varieties are more nutritious than regular (~20 minutes to cook), quick (~5 minutes to cook), or instant grits (just add water). The less processing the grain undergoes, the healthier they are. I use Quick Grits because that is what I was taught to use when I lived in the South.

Historically, what makes grits such a fattening dish is the toppings, the reason is that grits by themselves are very low in flavor so people add all sorts of toppings.

SAVORY

Could cook grits in chicken or beef broth instead of water
Butter, salt and pepper
Cheddar cheese and salt
Cook grits in water and/or milk or cream to make it porridge-like
Shrimp, bacon, sausage,
Sautéed tomatoes with basil + scallions
Sautéed kale along with fresh tomatoes + parsley
Steak cooked in gravy and used as a topping

SWEET

Or you can make this sweet by cooking in milk and/or cream:

Could cook grits in milk and/or cream or portions of each
Add cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, sliced fruit + some lime or lemon zest

Nutrition