Mushroom Parmesan Grits

These creamy, cheesy grits are perfect alongside breakfast, lunch, and dinner plates. They’re studded with little bits of caramelized mushrooms and made extra gooey with freshly grated parmesan cheese. If you like to think outside of the plain ol’ milk and grits box, this recipe is for you!

It’s funny, because these grits kind of happened by accident. I tend to buy mushrooms on the regular these days, whether I have a plan for them or not. But, you know the shelf life isn’t very long on these babes. So, I often end up randomly sautéing a reasonably sized batch and thought I’d figure out what to do with them later. One day, I wanted grits, I had cooked mushrooms ready to use, and the rest is history!

Let’s start with the mushrooms. We all know I need my mushrooms diced into the tiniest pieced possible, but it really works here! We want our mushrooms to almost melt into the grits, so finely chopping them is the way to go.

Once the mushrooms are cleaned and prepped, we’re going to cook them in a little olive oil with some onion for extra flavor. Then we’ll add in some garlic, because garlic and mushrooms just belong together. And, that’s it for the mushrooms.

While the mushrooms are cooking away, we can get working on our grits. I always use quick cooking grits, because they’re, well, quick cooking. You can have delicious grits in 5-7 mins of cook time, and that’s exactly the fast action I need when I’m hangry. There are multiple types of grits on the market: stone ground, instant, quick cooking...and, they all cook at different times. So, stick with quick cooking grits to follow the directions in this recipe.

We’ll get some milk and water boiling on the stovetop. Then we’ll whisk in our grits, cover the lid, and let them cook on low until most of the liquid has absorbed. From there, we’ll mix in our mushroom mix, some freshly grated parm, a little butter, and some umami seasoning for extra oomph. I love using umami seasoning when I make mushroom flavored things. I think it makes the mushrooms taste mushroomier. But, you can totally skip the umami seasoning if you want. Either way, after we stir everything together, it’s time to eat!

These grits works at all times of day. I love these the most for breakfast with a fried egg and some sauteed greens. But, they also work great as the base for shrimp and grits. They’re delish with a little crispy fried (or oven fried) chicken on the side. And if we’re being honest, I’ll sometimes eat these without any other accompaniments. They’re that good!

Ok, everyone. Tell me about the foods you used to hate but love now. How have your tastebuds changed in the last 7 years?

I hope you love this one as much as I do! Let’s eat!