As many of you already know, grits and chile is one of my all time favorite breakfasts. At least once a week I’m cooking up a pot of grits and in the cooler months, we could be eating grits and chile 2 to 3 times a week. With all of the great chiles out there, it is pretty easy to keep our grits exciting by changing up the flavor with different chiles and cheese. This morning I dished up Grits with Red Chile and Cheese. These grits are just as easy to make as all of the other grits dishes (see the end of this post) and can be made in less than 20 minutes; however, you do need some kind of red chile paste and/or either some roasted red chile or roasted red bell peppers.
For grits and red chile I use roasted red chile. You could add a little red chile paste if you have it. The main objective here is to incorporate the wonderful flavors of red chiles into the grits. It’s a great combination! If you choose to use the paste in addition to the red chile then use 1 tablespoon paste and 1/4 cup roasted red chile. If you don’t use the paste, then use 1/2 cup chile if it’s not too hot.
On a side note…Some of you may be asking “Which is better – red or green?” Even though they are the exact same chile, the flavor of red chile is completely different from the flavor of green! Just think about the difference in flavor between a red bell pepper and a green bell pepper. Night and day – right? Chiles work the same way. Once a green chile turns red, it keeps the heat, but develops a sweeter flavor. And then when you dry the red chile, the flavor changes again. Personally, even though I do LOVE my freshly roasted green chile and green chile dishes, I’m really more of a red chile girl.
Grits with Red Chile and Cheese
- 3 cups water
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¾ cup quick-cooking grits* (not instant)
- 1 cup grated cheese* (sharp cheddar, Fontina, Monterey Jack)
- ¼ to ½ cup chopped roasted red chile* (the amount depends on the heat of the chile and how much heat you want)
- 1 egg overeasy or sunnyside up per person (optional)
Add the water and salt to a 2 quart sauce pan. Cover and bring to a boil.
Slowly whisk in the grits. Reduce heat to low and cover. Whisk or stir every 1 minute for 5 minutes.
Once the grits have thickened (about 5 minutes), stir in the chile. Cook for another 2 minute, stirring frequently.
Add the cheese. Stir to combine. Cook another 2 – 3 until cheese has melted and grits are cooked.
- Remove from heat and pour into bowls.
If desired, top eachr bowl of grits with a fried egg.
- Enjoy!
Grits – 
I used to use Bob’s Red Mill Organic White Corn Grits. These make creamy grits and cook relatively fast (about 7 – 8 minutes). Quaker’s also makes decent quick-cooking grits if you can’t find Bob’s. You could also use traditional stone-ground, long cooking grits. It’s just going to take about 30 minutes.
Cheese – For these grits we really like sharp cheddar, but for a milder flavor Fontina and Monterey Jack are quite delicious. It’s best to use a cheese that melts easily and thoroughly. For something completely different, use a Mexican cheese such as cotija or Queso Fresco. They don’t melt very well, but do yield a unique flavor.
Chopped Roasted Red Chile – The addition of roasted red chile is to add the flavor of “roasted” chile to the grits. You could substitute the chile with roasted red bell peppers, but you’ll lose the spicy chile flavor. If you don’t have roasted red chile of any kind, you could really switch it up and substitute about 1/2 cup of onion sautéed in butter until it is translucent and soft. This is pretty darn good as well!
Adjusting amounts – It’s easy to make a bigger or smaller batch. Just remember that the ratio of water to grits is 4:1 (e.g., 1 cup water to 1/4 cup uncooked grits).
And as far as the egg on top goes…that’s a personal choice. Bobby loves an egg with his grits, but I prefer to eat them without one. No matter whether you use an egg or not, I really think you’re going to love these grits and red chile!
Here are some more grits and chile recipes that I’m sure you’ll love, along with one of my favorite breakfasts that uses fried grits.
MJ,
This combo of cheese, grits, and heat is right up my tummy’s ally! HA! I’m glad that you shared it again to remind me to get off my rump and prepare these. I just love grits when prepared correctly (ie: with lots of cheese). Sorry I’ve been quite for a few weeks . . . midterm exams and now on spring break (and trying to get in some non-screen time ….just put some blog posts on auto-schedule for the week!). Hope spring is trying to begin in NM!
Be well my friend and thank you again for this recipe!
Roz
Thanks so much Roz! Spring break is a great time to give these grits a try! I love finding another grits lover. Sometimes I feel alone out here in the southwest loving my grits. 🙂 Hope you are not working too hard during your break. You know they call it a “break” for a purpose. 🙂
I can not bay grits 🙁
Bummer! Can you find a coarse ground cornmeal? That would work.
Hello dear MJ ! I am so delighted to see this beauty and will let you know how it worked. I plan to make it on Saturday. While we were away, we were all delighted to taste your favourites’ collection and enjoyed them very, very much 🙂 :-).
Thanks Davorka! I so hope you enjoyed the grits! We had them again this morning, but then we usually eat grits and chile a couple times a week during the coolers seasons. 🙂
Hello 🙂 Made Grits with Red Chile And Cheese today, three hours ago and plan to take the leftovers to office on Monday ; this is exactly my ideal home made food to be packed for office ! Beautiful as usual ! Thank you MJ !
You are MOST welcome! Thanks so very much for your feedback! I’m glad you enjoyed them. Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend!
Grits are not available here, but we do eat lots of polenta at home and I think they are quite similar, especially when using coarser polenta. This is my kind of dish, reminds me of my childhood. Well, except the lots of hot chilies, but I bet they make the whole dish even better.
Thanks Adina! Yes, polenta is just a yellow corn grits, however, it hasn’t gone through the nixtamalization process, so the flavor is changed. And Yes, the chile does make them better. 🙂
This sounds like a great brunch idea, MJ.
Thanks Karen! It works for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. 🙂
I adore grits too . . . when they are prepared correctly, as you have done here. I love the addition of the chili heat, MJ! If I didn’t have to watch my weight so closely, I’d have a pot of grits or polenta on my stovetop every week too! Perfect comfort food, especially during chilly weather!
Thanks so much Roz! Glad to find another grits lover!! We go through a lot of grits in this house- about 2 – 3 times a week. But then we don’t eat a lot of bread – that’s my rationalization anyway. 🙂
This would quickly become my favorite breakfast. I grew up loving grits. I always have to add bacon, butter, and pepper, YUM! The addition of red chile sounds amazing! Hugs, Terra
Well then you would love breakfast in this house, because grits ARE our favorite breakfast! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by my friend!
My husband would consider this the way to his heart! This sounds like the perfect Valentine’s Day breakfast!
Sounds like a great idea to me! Thanks Abbe!
This sounds great, although I’ve never had grits I’d like to try this!
Do they even have grits in the UK? Do you have polenta?
Simply damn delicious and comforting grits recipe!!!
The grits I’ve eaten haven’t been very memorable! I have a feeling these would make me a big fan! Cheesy and spicy sounds perfect!!!
Thanks Liz! These a most definitely memorable. 🙂
Cheesy with a zing!
you got that right! 🙂
Looks inspiring. Have you tried these without cheese? Beautiful photographs.
Minnie, yes…I actually leave the cheese out at times because dairy is not always my friend. The cheese changes the texture a bit, but its the chile that’s the star of the show. 🙂
I looove anything wit lots of cheese in them. This looks delicious, MJ!
I haven’t actually tried grits before but your recipe looks so warm and inviting 😀
Yum!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Grits may be hard to find where you are Uru. But you should keep an eye out for them.
I love that you make yourself grits and chile weekly. I’ve yet to try grits (I know… right?) our comparable would be polenta but it’s really not very popular (at least not where I grew up). You always tempt me with your delicious renditions MJ. Now what’s going on in that second image — very interesting… bokeh? It gives the feeling of steam and warmth while surrounding with color. Lovely effect.
Yeh – right! You need to get yourself some grits, girl! 🙂 What’s funny is that I really didn’t like them much growing up in Louisiana unless they were loaded with butter. Now I use NO butter, just lots of chile. 🙂 I need to post a picture of what causes the bokeh in some of my photos. I have a relatively large jade plant in the sunroom where I take my pictures. Depending on the time of year and day, light coming through the windows causes the plant’s leaves to “shine” in the lens creating the bokeh. It’s purely accidental, but a nice accident.:)
I love how something so simple can be simply delicious!
Skipped supper tonight so I could really use a bowl of this topped with a fried egg!
Oh Yeh – perfect for a late night meal.
Why have I never tried grit before??? This sounds like an amazing flavor combo!
Grits are a southern thing I guess, but I’ve been spending the last almost 40 years turning them into a southwestern thing. 🙂
Love this version of grits!!Love the spicy twist and the flavors are calling my name 🙂 Perfect for this cold weather too!!
Definitely perfect for cold weather!
That is a new dish for me but I am sure I am going to love it!
I’ve learned about grits from you! I’ve tried it once or twice maybe, at restaurants and I told my husband we had to try. 🙂 Next up is making my own! This looks yummy!
Thanks Nami! I hope you do try making them at home. They are much better than what you get at restaurants I think.
I have almost zip experience with grits except as a hot breakfast cereal as a kid.
This looks like a winner to me. But if you put a cheese and an egg on just about anything, I will eat it. Ha!
Thanks Carol! When Bobby and I got married, he had only had plain grits with breakfast and wasn’t too crazy about them. Now he loves them and requests them ALL of the time, as long as I add chile. 🙂
Such a beautiful plate, MJ! I have never tasted grits, but I can taste through your tempting photographs the taste and aroma of the mixture of chile and cheese… (I actually know fontina and like it a lot!). The egg on top is the “cerise sur le gâteau”, as say the French… I would never be able to resist this dish!
Thanks so much Sissi! If you have polenta or any type of coarse ground cornmeal, then you are essentially eating what we call “grits”. I actually embarrassed myself at a restaurant about 30 years ago when I saw “polenta” on the menu and asked what they were. I ordered the dish and when I tried the “polenta” my comment was “Well, this is just cornmeal mush or grits.” 🙂
Such a wonderful comfort food, and I admire your efforts to explore different flavor profiles with your grits. This one sounds fantastic, MJ!
Thanks Viviane! As “plain” as grits are, it’s really easy to make them taste different every time you eat them.
You have made grits look so appetizing and beautiful, MJ.
Now this sounds like the savory breakfast I always crave. Just hand me a spoon! 🙂
I have never tried grits and with your dish you make me regret it very much! Pinned!
Thanks Katerina! Hope you do get to try some grits one day.
I have never tried grits and really wish I had when I was in Mississippi where it was served for breakfast. Nice to meet you MJ 🙂
Hey Tandy! Thanks for stopping by and commenting. It’s hard to believe you managed to get out of Mississippi without trying grits. 🙂 To be honest, I learned to love grits when I moved to NM and started adding chile to it. 🙂
If I could have only one chile, it’d be dried red chilies. They always do it for me. Love the others, but dried red chilies are a necessity. Anyway, lovely way to make grits. I’ll bet making polenta the same way (or heck, even oatmeal) would be fun too.
Glad to find another red chile lover. Dried red, red chile powder…it’s the best! You bet this would work with polenta! The only difference is, in some cases, the polenta is a coarser grain; although I have seen some pretty coarse grain grits. Thanks for stopping by John!
OMG, why oh why didn’t I think of this? They obviously go together so well, but I never thought to do this! I am going to try it this weekend! I have some Rosales chopped roasted red in the freezer…perfect!
Oh, and another thing…you’re a genius MJ!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks so much Diana! Gotta love the person who has roasted Red chile in the freezer. 🙂
I’ve never had grits with chile but it sure does look good. Growing up in Maine, grits just weren’t ever on the radar. 🙂
Yep…the northeast is not known for its grits. 🙂 Grits and chile is really good stuff!
I simply adore how you dressed up grits! I am a huge fan of red chile paste – and I love its combination with cheese in this bowl – and I also love the idea of an egg to top it all off! Thanks so much for sharing MJ!
Thanks Shashi! Well, if you’re a red chile paste fan, then you will love these grits. 🙂
Lovely grits!!! i love how you mix up the cheese and chile peppers!!!