Honestly I never intended to share this recipe, not because it’s not good (it’s amazeballs), but because when I made it, I was a MySpace blogger and the friend I got it from had already posted it on her own MySpace blog. We had the same group of foodie friends that all read each others blogs, so it seemed redundant to repost the recipe. Now I wish I had, as I now forget exactly how I did it. I like to give very specific measurements & instructions, but Cheryl gave measurements like, “a mess of shrimp.” You could never tell she’s from the south, right? :) I kept the instructions in her voice, but did change a few things for clarity.
To give you an idea of how good this dish is, Dennis, who refuses to eat shrimp, ate an entire plate and enjoyed it. He has only eaten shrimp in my presence on one other occasion (on this pizza, which is also amazeballs, if I do say so myself) and he told me he would never do it again unless it was these shrimp ‘n grits. I think that qualifies this as life-changing. :)
Southern Shrimp & Cheese Grits
Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture
5 slices of bacon
1 mess of fresh shrimp (I used a bag of frozen shrimp, thawed)
4-8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
3 scallions, chopped
3 garlic gloves
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Fresh cracked pepper
Salt
2 tablespoons flour (for roux)
A few slices of ham
2 cups of coarse home-style grits, plus ingredients called for on box
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish
Start off by frying your bacon. While that’s going, clean and peel your fresh shrimp and set them aside.
Remove the bacon from the pan and set it aside. Drain all but 2-3 tablespoons of bacon grease from the pan, and add your mushrooms. Saute for a few minutes until starting to soften, then add the shrimp, scallions, garlic, and red pepper flakes, if using.
While that cooks, in another pot start your grits by the directions given on the bag. Cook until thick, stirring constantly (nobody likes lumpy grits-lol). Stir in the cheese, and set aside.
Meanwhile lets gets back to the Shrimp! After shrimp is done (it will turn pink), season with salt and pepper, then take it out and set it aside. Now we are starting on the roux (gravy). In the same pan add your flour then add your water and stir till thickened. I do this using a wire whisk or wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper.
Dice up your ham and break up your cooked bacon. I guess my mixture was watery (I remember adding the mushrooms to the skillet at the same time as the shrimp, and I think that prevented the water from them evaporating) and I drained it and added the ham, cooked bacon, and red pepper flakes while it was in the colander. If you follow these updated instructions, hopefully you won’t have to drain yours.
Add your grits to a plate, put your sautéed shrimp & mushrooms, ham, mushrooms, on top of grits then spoon gravy on top and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Enjoy!
Recipe source: Cheryl D.
Veronica's Cornucopia 
This does sound amazeballs! :)
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I have never eaten grits! I don’t eat shrimp a lot but i do like it, it sounds good!
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A good shrimp and grits is one of God’s gifts to the world, I think. This one looks amazing. And now I want some! :)
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Hi Veronica. :) I am glad you and Dennis liked this recipe. It is one of my favorites. Sorry about my “Southern” measuring Ha Ha! :) “A mess of shrimp!” Ha Ha! I have to admit I was laughing like crazy when I read this post on that part. Girl, you made my day. I needed the laugh! :) This dish turn out awesome! Love the pics! :)
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LOL, yeah I love that too. Love you ladies from the south! :)
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this looks awesome! i have some grits & need to put ’em to good use! :)
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Oooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhh yeah. =) I needs me “a mess of shrimp” !
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This looks great! I’ve never seen grits here though, remember I live in the Twilight Zone. I think it would work over some rice though :)
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LOL! Seriously, wow. Well, you are up north after all and grits seems to be a more southern thing. We do have them here, but all I could find was the quick kind so I don’t know if they were as good as they should have been. Rice would be perfect, though! Great idea.
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The shrimps look delicious. I have never taste cheese grits, but it is worth trying if it is accompanied by these shrimps. Have a fantastic day :)
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Amazeballs!! Love it. You know V, I’ve never had grits in my life – and my parents are both from the south! I’ll have to give it another go, it’s been years since I’ve tried it. Have an awesome weekend!
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That’s just wrong, Biz. You gotta get on that! ;)
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Oh, boy!.I know I’d love this dish. It looks and sounds delicious. Have a great day. Blessings…Mary
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lost on part of the ingredients but it does look delicious. love shrimps but it is a while I don’t buy them. here in Sweden there’s a big thing about shrimps, the big one especially, how is it in US?
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Sorry Barbara, what part lost you? Shrimps are well-loved here as well, though I don’t buy or cook them as often as I would like since Dennis doesn’t like them.
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oh is a long story. here in Sweden they are boycotting shrimps as they say that they are not eco-friendly and contains antibiotics. stuff like that. had people looking down on me when ordering king shrimps here :) insane, I know
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It sounds like you’re talking about farm-raised shrimp, not caught in the ocean? I didn’t even know they farmed shrimp but it makes sense. No, I haven’t heard anything like that here, though I do try to buy wild seafood if possible. The conditions for fish on farms here in the US is atrocious (same for most animals raised for consumption), and that’s why the antibiotics–b/c they’d die quickly without. But there is no boycotting going on. Basically groups like PETA get the word out and individuals make their own choices on what to buy.
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also here the “boycotting” is individual. but Swedes are very good at influencing each other and are very eco-concerned. they say, anyway, that small shrimps here are ok.
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and about myspace… don’t you miss it? it was so handy to get all the blogs in the same window. still have not found a good enough substitute.
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I don’t miss it any more but you’re right, it was so nice to have all our friends in one place and all following each other’s blogs. In blog land it’s harder to get to know one another, but on Myspace we were not only reading the blogs but commenting and messaging one another so when you got comments, you knew every commenter quite well. That was cool.
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One of the perks of blogging is recording those recipes for yourself! I have lots of drafts saved for future publication (like my last post which I saved from April), but I also have those that just have a title saved. I have no idea what I was saving or meant. I lost a balsamic strawberry panna cotta that was “amaze balls” too. Doh!
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I love shrimp and grits! Was in Hilton Head recently, and saw it on every restaurant menu we went to, it was literally screaming my name. I was sooo disappointed with the end result. Made me really crave my own version! Will need to give this version a try real soon!!!
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Aw, that’s too bad. You should definitely try making your own!
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This has gotta be one of my FAVORITE things to get in Charleston…I love your addition of mushrooms—this whole dish looks AMAZING!
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Hi Veronica, I made your shrimp and grits tonight and it was delicious but one question. How much water do you add to the roux? I guessed but not sure if I made it correctly. Thank you.
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Yikes, my bad! I made this so long ago I really don’t remember! I’m glad it turned out good for you despite that omission.
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Looking at this pic from far, I thought it was a recipe for candy cookies….
then I realized its a grit…hmmmm….very nice presentation….very catchy!
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Wow I’m all about life-changing foods. This looks and sounds amazing. I can stand beside all the ingredients in this dish.
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*behind?? nevermind! you get my drift :)
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LOL, beside, behind, it’s all good.
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