Our Cajun culinary experimentation begins with a local favorite, Shrimp and Grits. We’re easing our way into Cajun cooking here…can’t just jump into Shrimp Remoulade or Gumbo just yet! Let’s get our taste buds warmed up with this simple, delicious dish-with-a-kick.
There is a serious abundance of fresh seafood ‘round these parts. Ordinarily, in Tejas, I speed up my shopping cart in the seafood section to avoid nasty fishy shmells. Here the fish actually smell good. It’s incredible! Fridays during Lent (without meat) can hardly be called a sacrifice this year!
Cajun Shrimp and Grits Ingredients
1-½ packets of instant grits per person
1 tablespoon of butter or a drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 cup shredded parmesan, asiago and/or romano cheese
1 1/4 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, with tails
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
cayenne pepper – ohhhhhhh boy!!
juice of a lemon
fresh or dried parsley
1. Boil water for grits (1/2 cup of water per packet of grits)
2. When water is boiling, whisk in grits, boil for about a minute and take off heat
3. Add handful or ¼ cup of cheesy mixture (parmesan, asiago, romano or cheese of your choice) to grits
4. Sprinkle grits with salt and pepper and add a spoonful of butter for good measure!
5. Cover grits to keep warm until ready to plate
6. Meanwhile, season the deveined shrimp with salt and pepper
7. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter or drizzle olive oil
8. Add the shrimp, garlic and a little cayenne (start with a very small amount) to pan and sauté shrimp until they’re pink and are no longer transparent (about 3 minutes)
9. Remove shrimp from heat and add the juice from a lemon to the pan…and maybe a little more butter if you need it…stir to coat shrimp with sauce, season with salt and pepper
10. Plate grits in center of shallow bowl, top with shrimp and give a generous shower of the lemon/butter/cayenne sauce from the pan over the top.
11. Add a dash more of cayenne pepper for color and flava (if you can take tha HEAT)! Then sprinkle with fresh or dried parsley – so pretty!
I LOVE grits. Especially in an instant...with cheese.
Shrimp cookin' up and gettin' spicy!
Dangerously cheesy grits...
Shrimp ready to plate...
This dish has incredible spice from the cayenne, tang from the lemon juice and rich cheesiness from the grits. And took me about 15 minutes from walking in the kitchen to serving this…
Cajun Shrimp and Grits!
Zach-o-meter: As a first attempt, this was a WINNER, WINNER CAJUN DINNER!! The flavors were as kickin’ as Mardi Gras and it was easier than the chicks on Bourbon Street!!
**Pardon the vulgarity. We went to Mardi Gras on Saturday and boy was that an experience…WHO DAT!?!
Balcony over Bourbon Street
BEADS!!
I have a bit of a texture issue, so I’m not sure about the grits — but the shrimp looks absolutely amazing!
I hear ya about the texture, Mikalee. They don’t call it “grits” for nothin’! Maybe mashed potatoes would be a good substitute for ya!
Happy cooking!
Landon
I’ll have to try that dish sometime this week.
This looks really good!
This looks incredible! Can’t wait to try it!
This is so funny. I just made this last night! Love them. The best I ever had was in Charleston, SC.
Congrats on a successful shrimp-n-grits……don’t you just love living in the South?! I’m glad I found your blog, I look forward to following your recipe adventures. Just remember, as soon as you successfully conquer the “roo” you are good to go with Cajun cookin’. Blessings for a wonderful day.
Nicole
I’ve heard about the “cajun right of passage roo”…and I’m intimidated! Send any tips you have my way!! Blessings to you as well…and thanks for reading!
Happy cooking!
Landon
Holy S. That looks so good. I think I could smell it sizzling through my monitor.
great recipe and i love shrimp! in fact i jusst had some sat night..we went to a chinese buffet! it was delish
Yummy! Just reblogged this. Thanks for sharing.
That looks delicious and can you believe I actually bought Asiago and Romano cheese, shrimp, and lemon today with my groceries! I already have garlic, parsley, and parmesean in my fridge. I just need the grits and the cayenne pepper and I’m ready! I am definitely making it this week.
Thanks for the recipe. I can’t wait to try it, it looks so good!
That is so funny!! I love when I have what I need for a recipe in my fridge/pantry. Let me know how it goes!
Happy cooking!
Landon
Beautiful! Of course you can jump into Gumbo. I believe in you…
WHO DAT!
I have never tried grits. Looks very good in this recipe. And the shrimp look to die for….can’t wait for the Shrimp Remoulade post!
) Delish!
This is awesome since I have everything I need in the kitchen right now… lunch time! Shrimp and grits on Fat tuesday! YUMMMO!
This looks delicious! I must admit the pictures are what sold me. Reading the recipe didn’t make it sound like something I’d want to try. But the pictures make it look so sumptuous!
And congratulations on being Freshly Pressed! Enjoy your day of glory – it happened to me a week or so ago and it’s an amazing blogging experience!
this looks great, i love shrimps, might give the grits a miss though, sounds a bit too porridgey for me!
Looks very good but I’d substitute quick grits for the instant ones. Instant grits are not 1/2 as good!
That looks so good to eat.
Congrats on being freshly pressed
you’re quite talented with pictures
these look yummy!
I love this and fish and grits.
These look amazing! I have yet to taste gritz though, but the shrimps look amazing!
Anyway, can you give me tips on how to improve traffic on my blog? I’m pretty new here and I want to share my posts to the world! Thanks in advance
Really? You’ve gotta try some grits! Just make sure they’re extra cheesy…that’s why I like ‘em.
Regarding the blog traffic…gosh, I’m a novice blogger myself. Are you posting your new blog post links to facebook, twitter, etc? I find that I always get the most traffic when I post my links to facebook. Good pictures are key – visual interest is the most compelling. Of all the pictures of food from my blog Freshly Pressed picked a picture of an instant grits box…haha! Oh well. Believe it or not, all of my pictures are taken with my iphone…
Best of luck to you! Look forward to seeing more of your blog. Please let me know if you have any other questions and thanks for your comment!
Happy Cooking (and blogging!)
Landon
I dont like grit, but the shrimp looks great. I will try
This looks very interesting indeed, but what is Grits? I live in South Africa and have never heard of it. It looks almost like cous-cous?