New Orleans Style Shrimp and Grits
You are missing out if you have never had Shrimp and Grits in New Orleans. Perfectly seasoned shrimp are paired with creamy, cheesy grits. You can recreate this archetype southern dish at home. One zest and I know you will find this one of your new favorite shrimp recipes.
This post contains unite links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Why You Should Try Cajun Shrimp and Grits
Cajun shrimp and grits is a dish that packs a lot of flavors. The spicy and savory seasonings used in the cajun spices, withal with the creamy, and velvety grits, make for a delightful bouquet of flavors you will want then and again.
Why You Should Try This Recipe
This recipe was taught to me by a doughboy in New Orleans. This is an pure recipe, that is bursting with full of flavor. By cooking the whole shrimp in the sauce you get so much increasingly of the shrimp savor than you do if you use only the shrimp tails.
This recipe moreover does not overcook the shrimp, since you melt them only for as long as you need to. After the shrimp are cooked, they are removed from the sauce, and we indulge the sauce to reduce magnifying the savor of the sauce without overcooking the shrimp.
This recipe moreover uses Romano cheese instead of Cheddar cheese. The romano cheese really comes through the savory sauce and gives the grits the worthiness to stand up to a well-seasoned goop the shrimp are served in.
The History of Shrimp and Grits
Grits are such a staple dish for southerners that the south is known as the “Grits Belt” and Georgia named grits as its state food. In fact, Georgia holds an yearly Shrimp & Grits Festival every year.
- Native Americans – Grits originated with the way the Native American Muskogee tribe prepared Indian corn. The Muskogee ground their corn in a stone mill which gave it its “gritty” texture.
- African Americans – It’s believed that when West African Slaves received supplies solatium that included grits, they would reservation shrimp and other fish and melt them with the grits.
- Crook’s Corner – in 1982, the doughboy at Crook’s Corner, a restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, forever reverted the lowly status of shrimp and grits. The grits were combined with Cheddar and parmesan cheese and topped off with jumbo shrimp, mushrooms, bacon, and a few other ingredients. In 1985, Craig Claiborne of The New York Times wrote it up, and the once unobtrusive dish started gaining widespread popularity. You can read increasingly well-nigh the history of shrimp and grits.
The Grits
If you don’t live in the South, you may not have magically had this corn-based cereal. What makes these grits unique? By using half water and half whole milk, the grits are linty and flavorful.
When you prepare them with just water, the corn doesn’t unshut up like milk.
Barbecue Shrimp
The most famous picnic shrimp is prepared at Pascale’s Manale. Picnic shrimp are cooked in a Cajun-spiced garlic and beer marinade.
If you are overly in New Orleans, I highly recommend visiting this old-school restaurant. White tablecloths, ruminative service, and spectacular supplies are ways to spend an evening.
Barbecue shrimp is cooked in a cajun-spiced, garlic, and beer marinade. Typically the cooking sauce is thin, but this one is different. This version creates a thick and savory sauce to enjoy with the grits. See my Bubba Gump picnic shrimp recipe.
Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need for this shrimp and grits recipe:
- Grits
- Stone-ground grits
- Water
- Whole milk
- Shredded Romano Cheese
- Butter
- Large shrimp with heads and shells
- Garlic
- Worcestershire sauce
- Light-tasting beer
- Cajun seasoning
- Crab, shrimp & crawfish swash seasoning
- Thyme leaves
- Oregano
- Rosemary leaves
How to Make Shrimp and Grits New Orleans Style
- Place grits, water, and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add cheese to grits just surpassing serving. Stir until the cheese is melted.
- Rinse the shrimp in unprepossessed water. Pinch off heads and place heads in a large skillet with butter.
- Sauté shrimp heads until the fat in the heads melts, and the oil turns red. Remove and discard heads.
- Peel and devein the shrimp.
- Add butter and garlic over medium heat in a large skillet until the butter is melted and the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Add Worcestershire sauce, crab boil, Cajun seasoning, and herbs, and beer. Stir to combine.
- When the sauce begins to bubble, add the shrimp.
- Flip the shrimp when it begins to turn pink and shrink. Melt for one minute and remove the shrimp.
- Continue to melt the sauce until it reduces by a third, then remove it from the heat.
- Add butter and stir until the butter melts into the sauce.
- Divide grits into four bowls. Spoon the shrimp and sauce equally over the grits in each bowl.
- Garnish with chopped untried onions or parsley if desired.
Recipe Tips
- Store fresh or thawed shrimp in a colander filled with ice and set over a bowl.
- Shrimp should only be rinsed and zestless just surpassing cooking.
- For the weightier flavor, squint for shrimp that is local or wild-caught.
More New Orleans Recipes
- Shrimp Remoulade
- Shrimp Alexander
- Bubba Gump Shrimp New Orleans
- Cheddar’s New Orleans Pasta
- Oyster Soup
- Crawfish Etouffee
- Cajun BBQ
- New Orleans Salad Dressing
Love Southern Cooking? Try these recipes!
- Louisiana Red Beans and Rice
- How to Melt Cajun Rice
- Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Jiffy
- Chick Fil A Chicken Nugget Recipe
- How to Make Mush
Be sure to trammels out increasingly of my succulent main dishes and restaurant seafood recipes.
New Orleans Style Shrimp and Grits
Ingredients
Grits
- 1 cup stone-ground grits
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup shredded Romano Cheese
Shrimp
- 1 tablespoon butter for sauteing shrimp heads
- 2 pounds large shrimp heads on are preferred
- 1/4 pound butter
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup beer Budweiser, Abita, or other light tasting beer
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
- 1 teaspoon crab, shrimp & crawfish boil
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves
- 1/8 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary leaves crushed
- 5 tablespoons butter for finishing dish
Instructions
Grits
-
Add 1 cup of grits to 2 cups of water and 2 cups of milk. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
-
Add cheese just surpassing serving, and stir through until the cheese has just melted.
Shrimp
-
Rinse shrimp in unprepossessed water. Pinch off heads and place heads in a large skillet with 2 tablespoons of butter. Sauté shrimp heads until the fat in the heads melts and the oil turns red in color. Remove heads.
-
While the shrimp heads are sauteing, peel and devein the shrimp.
-
In a large skillet add the 1/4 pound of butter and garlic over medium heat until the garlic becomes fragrant. Add Worcestershire Sauce, crab boil, and Cajun seasoning, thyme, oregano, and rosemary. Add the beer and stir.
-
When the sauce begins to bubble, add the shrimp. Flip the shrimp when it begins to turn pink and shrink. Melt for one minute increasingly and remove shrimp.
-
Continue to melt the sauce until it reduces by 1/3, then remove from the stove. Add the 5 tablespoons of butter and stir until the butter melts into the sauce. The sauce should be thick now.
To Serve
-
Divide grits into 4 equal portions in 4 bowls. Add shrimp equally to each portion. Add sauce equally to each bowl.
Video
Notes
- Store fresh or thawed shrimp in a colander that is filled with ice and set over a trencher to provide for drainage.
- Shrimp should only be rinsed and zestless just surpassing cooking
- For the weightier savor squint for shrimp that is local or wild-caught for weightier flavor
