Grits are a porridge made from coarsely ground grain, especially hominy, that forms the basis of a popular food in the American South. Hominy grits, which date back to the 16th century, are made from dried maize kernels soaked in an alkali solution. Grits are prepared by boiling until they form a thick, porridge-like consistency and are commonly served as a breakfast item with butter, cheese, or cream gravy with ham or sausage. A popular variation is shrimp and grits. The residents of St. George, South Carolina, hold a grits festival, claiming their town consumes more grits per capita than anywhere else in the United States.

What are grits made from?

Grits, a popular food in the American South, is a porridge made of coarsely ground grain, especially hominy . Hominy is dried sweet or field maize kernels soaked in an alkali solution until they swell. Before cooking, grits should be rinsed to remove any remaining hucks (maize's version of wheat chaff). They are boiled until they form a thick porridge-like body and can be served with butter, cheese, cream gravy, ham, or sausage. The term hominy comes from an Algonquian word that refers to dried maize ground by a pestle while still raw.

How are grits typically cooked?

Grits, a popular food in the American South, are made from coarsely ground grain, especially hominy. To prepare grits, it is advised to rinse them before cooking to remove any remaining hucks. They can be soaked overnight, then boiled in salted water at a ratio of four units of water to one unit of grits until they form a thick, porridge-like consistency. Some cooks use broth instead of water, and some even use slow cookers or microwave ovens, though purists may debate these methods. Grits are commonly served as a breakfast item with butter, cheese, or cream gravy with ham or sausage. Shrimp and grits, a more recent and popular dish, appeared on the menu of an upscale restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1982.

What are common ways to eat or serve grits?

Grits, a coarsely ground grain porridge, is a popular food in the American South. Made from hominy, grits are prepared by boiling until they reach a thick, porridge-like consistency. Chefs recommend rinsing grits before cooking to remove any remaining hucks. Grits are versatile and can be served with various accompaniments such as butter, cheese, cream gravy, ham, or sausage, often as a breakfast item. A popular variation is shrimp and grits, which gained prominence in 1982 and is now celebrated at festivals. Grits are integral to the culinary traditions of Native Americans, African Americans, and European Americans.

Where in the United States are grits most popular?

Grits, a coarsely ground grain porridge particularly made from hominy, is a popular food in the American South. While grits are available outside of the South, they are most popular and ubiquitous in that region. The residents of St. George, South Carolina, claim that their town consumes more grits per capita than any other place in the United States, and they have been celebrating a grits festival since 1986. Grits figure in the culinary traditions of Native Americans, African Americans, and European Americans alike.

How do grits differ from other corn-based foods like polenta or cornmeal mush?

While grits, polenta, and cornmeal mush are all corn-based dishes, they differ in texture and the type of corn used. Grits, a Southern U.S. staple, is made from coarsely ground hominy, specifically dent corn, giving it a somewhat mushy consistency. Polenta, originating from Northern Italy, is typically made from ground flint corn, resulting in a firmer texture. Cornmeal mush is a more generic term for a porridge made from cornmeal, which can be made from various types of corn and ground to different consistencies.

grits

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Two ears of corn with husks and a wooden bowl filled with yellow corn grits on a wooden table.

Bowl of white grits topped with a pat of melting butter, served with a biscuit on the side, placed on a folded cloth napkin with a spoon nearby.

Quick Facts

Related Topics:: Corn; hominy

See all related content

grits

food

Written by

Gregory Lewis McNamee

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

History

Top Questions

What are grits?
Grits are a porridge made from coarsely ground grain, especially hominy, that forms the basis of a popular food in the American South. Hominy grits, which date back to the 16th century, are made from dried maize kernels soaked in an alkali solution.

Grits are prepared by boiling until they form a thick, porridge-like consistency and are commonly served as a breakfast item with butter, cheese, or cream gravy with ham or sausage. A popular variation is shrimp and grits. The residents of St. George, South Carolina, hold a grits festival, claiming their town consumes more grits per capita than anywhere else in the United States.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Definition of hominy grits
2. grits
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What are grits made from?
Grits, a popular food in the American South, is a porridge made of coarsely ground grain, especially hominy. Hominy is dried sweet or field maize kernels soaked in an alkali solution until they swell. Before cooking, grits should be rinsed to remove any remaining hucks (maize's version of wheat chaff). They are boiled until they form a thick porridge-like body and can be served with butter, cheese, cream gravy, ham, or sausage. The term hominy comes from an Algonquian word that refers to dried maize ground by a pestle while still raw.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Definition of grits
2. grits
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How are grits typically cooked?
Grits, a popular food in the American South, are made from coarsely ground grain, especially hominy. To prepare grits, it is advised to rinse them before cooking to remove any remaining hucks. They can be soaked overnight, then boiled in salted water at a ratio of four units of water to one unit of grits until they form a thick, porridge-like consistency.

Some cooks use broth instead of water, and some even use slow cookers or microwave ovens, though purists may debate these methods. Grits are commonly served as a breakfast item with butter, cheese, or cream gravy with ham or sausage. Shrimp and grits, a more recent and popular dish, appeared on the menu of an upscale restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1982.
1 Britannica Source
1. grits
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What are common ways to eat or serve grits?
Grits, a coarsely ground grain porridge, is a popular food in the American South. Made from hominy, grits are prepared by boiling until they reach a thick, porridge-like consistency. Chefs recommend rinsing grits before cooking to remove any remaining hucks.

Grits are versatile and can be served with various accompaniments such as butter, cheese, cream gravy, ham, or sausage, often as a breakfast item. A popular variation is shrimp and grits, which gained prominence in 1982 and is now celebrated at festivals. Grits are integral to the culinary traditions of Native Americans, African Americans, and European Americans.
1 Britannica Source
1. grits
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where in the United States are grits most popular?
Grits, a coarsely ground grain porridge particularly made from hominy, is a popular food in the American South. While grits are available outside of the South, they are most popular and ubiquitous in that region. The residents of St. George, South Carolina, claim that their town consumes more grits per capita than any other place in the United States, and they have been celebrating a grits festival since 1986. Grits figure in the culinary traditions of Native Americans, African Americans, and European Americans alike.
2 Britannica Sources
1. 13 Food Words from Mardi Gras | Grits
2. grits
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do grits differ from other corn-based foods like polenta or cornmeal mush?
While grits, polenta, and cornmeal mush are all corn-based dishes, they differ in texture and the type of corn used. Grits, a Southern U.S. staple, is made from coarsely ground hominy, specifically dent corn, giving it a somewhat mushy consistency. Polenta, originating from Northern Italy, is typically made from ground flint corn, resulting in a firmer texture. Cornmeal mush is a more generic term for a porridge made from cornmeal, which can be made from various types of corn and ground to different consistencies.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

grits, a porridge of coarsely ground grain, especially hominy, that is the basis for a popular foodstuff in the American South. It resembles the Italian ground-corn dish called polenta, but the latter is typically made of ground flint corn, which yields a firm cornmeal. Grits are usually made from the softer maize variety called dent corn, which can lend cooked grits a somewhat mushy consistency as compared with the more al dente quality of polenta.

Grits share a lexical and semantic ancestry with groats, a British dish of hulled grain that is ground for porridge. Whereas the latter food is usually made from oats, grits are usually made from hominy, dried sweet or field maize kernels that have been soaked in an alkali solution until they swell to a size and consistency resembling a chickpea. Both grits and groats are derived from grains and, when eaten plain, are nutritious and healthful; a serving of grits contains more minerals such as calcium, iron, and potassium, but oatmeal contains more vitamin B₆.

The term hominy comes from an Algonquian word that refers to dried maize ground by a pestle while still raw. Hominy was an important food item for many Eastern Woodlands peoples. It was immediately adopted by European newcomers to Virginia and other Southern states, with the first attestation of the term in English dating to 1630 and referring to “bruized Indian corne pounded, and boiled thicke.”

Chef tossing vegetables in a frying pan over a burner (skillet, food).

Britannica Quiz

What’s on the Menu? Vocabulary Quiz

That brief recipe is very close to complete. Grits, long available to home cooks in instant form, are boiled until they form a thick porridge-like body. Before cooking, chefs advise, grits should be rinsed like rice so that any remaining hucks (maize’s version of wheat chaff) are removed. They can be soaked overnight, then boiled in salted water at a ratio of four units of water to one unit of grits. Some chefs cook grits in broth instead of water, and some even use slow cookers or microwave ovens, although such innovations excite much discussion among purists.

Grits can be eaten with many accompaniments. It is commonly served as a breakfast item with butter, cheese, or cream gravy with ham or sausage. Shrimp and grits, a fairly recent arrival on many restaurant menus, has also become highly popular. This elegant variation on a cheap dish once popular with rural farmers and sharecroppers dates only to 1982, when it appeared on the menu of an upscale restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A festival devoted to shrimp and grits has been celebrated in Jekyll Island, Georgia, since 2006. For their part, the residents of St. George, South Carolina, have been celebrating a grits festival since 1986, claiming that their town consumes more grits per capita than any other place in the United States.

Grits figure in the culinary traditions of Native Americans, African Americans, and European Americans alike. The food is widely available outside the American South, but nowhere is it more ubiquitous than in that region. Hominy is milled for grits today at George Washington’s historic mill in Mount Vernon, Virginia, which is still in operation; gourmet varieties are made from heirloom maize grown organically on small Southern farms; and grits are often paired with other Southern standards, from fried chicken to pulled pork and country ham.

Gregory Lewis McNamee

grits

Thank you for signing up!