Easy Shrimp and Grits Recipe

This shrimp and grits recipe is the best we’ve made! It is incredibly flavorful, the grits are outrageously creamy, and the shrimp sauce is out of this world.

This shrimp and grits recipe comes from our good friend Richard, who grew up in the South and has worked in Southern kitchens for most of his career. The moment I tasted his shrimp and grits, I fell in love and knew we needed to share it with you!

Richard’s grits are perfectly creamy (readers call them the best ever!), and the shrimp sauce is unbelievably delicious, made with garlic, bacon, and fresh tomatoes. I can’t wait for you to try this incredible recipe!

Key Ingredients

• Shrimp: I use large or extra-large shrimp in this recipe, but medium shrimp are okay (they will just take less time to cook in the sauce). If you have frozen shrimp, thaw them in the refrigerator overnight and pat them dry before using them in the recipe.
• Bacon: I love the smoky flavor bacon adds to our shrimp sauce. We cook it first to render the fat and then use that fat to cook the rest of the sauce ingredients. It’s delicious!
• Green onions and garlic: These are the aromatics in our sauce, which add flavor and texture. You’ll use the white and light green parts of the green onion in the sauce, and then you can slice and sprinkle the green parts on top of it for serving.
• Tomatoes: Fresh chopped tomatoes keep our shrimp sauce light and delicious (I love them). You can use canned diced tomatoes if needed, but I highly recommend fresh tomatoes for this recipe.
• Creole seasoning: Store-bought Creole seasoning works nicely in this recipe. I’ve also used our homemade Cajun seasoning, and I loved it. Creole seasoning is usually more herbal than Cajun seasoning, but both are lovely in this recipe.
• White wine: A splash of wine brings our sauce together. Any dry white wine will do. You can substitute a light chicken broth or veggie broth.
• Grits: We use our favorite grits recipe for the base of our shrimp sauce. We make it with stone-ground grits, stock, butter, cream, salt, and pepper. The recipe is included below.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Shrimp and Grits

Tip 1: Make the grits. To make the grits for shrimp and grits, bring the stock to a boil, then stream in the grits while whisking. After 2 minutes, turn the heat to low, whisk in the butter, cream, salt, and pepper, and cook until thick and creamy.

Depending on the brand, cooking grits takes 20 to 40 minutes. I use Bob’s Red Mill grits in the video, which take closer to 20 minutes.

Tip 2: Make the shrimp sauce. For the shrimp sauce, you’ll need a wide skillet. We will build all the flavors right in there.

1. Cook the bacon until crisp, then remove it and leave the bacon fat in the skillet. We’ll use that to cook the rest of the sauce ingredients (yum).
2. Stir in garlic and green onion, then add flour, which will help thicken our sauce later.
3. Add a splash of white wine, then add Creole seasoning, tomatoes, and any juices collected on the cutting board.
4. Cook the tomatoes for 10 to 15 minutes or until they become a sauce. Season with salt and pepper, then add your shrimp and let them gently poach in the sauce (poached shrimp turn out perfectly cooked and tender).

Tip 3: Serve it. Serve the shrimp, with plenty of the sauce, over your grits, and garnish with the reserved cooked bacon and sliced green onion. Delicious!

Serving Suggestions

Shrimp and grits do well as a stand-alone dish, but you can always add a few more dishes to the table. I love adding some vegetables. Try collard greens, sautéed spinach, my favorite corn salad, or fried cabbage.

A fresh salad is nice, too. Toss your favorite salad ingredients into a bowl, and then top with balsamic vinaigrette, honey mustard dressing, or homemade ranch.