Polenta is one of my very favorite breakfasts. I love the creamy, nutty taste of golden cornmeal in my bowl; it makes a lovely alternative to oatmeal or cold cereal. And it is even easier to whip up a bowl for breakfast than I realized, too. I used to just eat dinner leftovers for breakfast, but then I discovered that I can make a bowl of polenta in the microwave in five minutes!
This will make one bowl of polenta, plenty for one person. It will be smooth and thick, but probably not entirely free of lumps. Personally I don't mind them at all, but this isn't the ultra-smooth polenta you'll find in restaurants.
You can find the cornmeal called for here in the bulk section at the grocery, or bagged and sold as polenta or coarse ground cornmeal. Bob's Red Mill makes a nice version.
What You Need
Ingredients
1 cup water
1/4 cup coarse ground cornmeal
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon olive oil, optional
Milk, optional
Equipment
Microwave
Bowl
Instructions
1. Mix the water, cornmeal, salt, and olive oil, if using. Put the bowl, uncovered, in the microwave, and set the microwave for 5 minutes on HIGH.
2. Halfway through cooking, take the polenta out of the microwave and stir thoroughly. Add a drizzle of milk, if desired. Put the bowl back in the microwave and finish the cooking time. Check at 5 minutes; it should be getting rather thick. (It will thicken even more as it cools.)
3. Eat with a little more milk, plus brown sugar and walnuts — or topped with a poached egg!
Additional Notes:
• Microwaves range in power, of course. My polenta was perfectly done after 5 minutes, but check it halfway through cooking. If it is already thickening rapidly you may want to only cook it for a minute more.
Do you ever eat polenta for breakfast? What do you like to add to it?
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Maybe I'm just un-informed but what's the difference between polenta and grits?
@pixiewithsticks very little. They are both ground cornmeal. Polenta tends to be ground finer than grits. Grits sometimes are made with hominy, a lye-treated corn. But overall they are practically identical; the difference comes in the cultural associations and practices around their preparations.
I love polenta. I hate the idea of making it, so this is great. I always buy those tubed polentas so I can slice and fry and cover with home-made tomato sauce. It occurs to me that I can make my own ahead of time, just roll it into a log and keep it in foil. Off I go! To the microwave!
I usually make a big pot of polenta for dinner, then pour the leftovers into a buttered pan. For breakfast, I slice myself a square, and pan-fry it in a little olive oil or butter, and sprinkle it with parmesan. I want some NOW. While fresh polenta makes a fine breakfast, I like the slightly charred, fried up leftovers.
This sounds really good! Like Cream of Wheat, but Cream of Corn.
Oh Yay!
I love hot breakfasts... and I generally dislike oatmeal in oatmeal form (after being forced to eat it too often as a kid in winter) and never loved grits. I will have to give this a try... particularly with all my favorite grits tricks....mmmm layer of melted cheddar cheese and salt!
brilliant!
tried this tonight for dinner (topped with a poached egg and leftover roasted veggies) & it came out perfectly. I may never make polenta in a pot again.
Perfect! I'm having oral surgery next week, and polenta is one of the foods I'm planning to eat during recovery. Even better if I can make as quickly as a bowl of oatmeal!
I discovered this method just a few weeks ago when I only had a few minutes to make lunch and the polenta was going to take way too long on the stove.
I've used the microwave in the past to make El Torito-like corn cakes and they've come out super fluffy so I figured the result for the polenta would be very similar.
Ok... so I sort of did this this morning... using the ultimate cheateer method of the premade polenta in tubes. Add cheddar and you get an awesome breakfast.
I never would have thought to eat polentaa for breakfast before... and its official, I loved it!
My aunt suggested making polenta this way as the stovetop method takes much longer. This only confirms that I should make it this way next time. Thanks!
I JUST TRIED THIS! IT WORKS!
also: i doubled the recipe, and it cooked in 6 min
I recently had polenta with sauteed mushrooms, parmesan & poached eggs for breakfast. I've also had shrimp or catfish with grits/polenta for breakfast. I'm not inclined toward a sweet breakfast, but I found these meals to be delicious! I like just a bowl of grits or polenta with cheddar cheese & some crumbled bacon, as well.
I used a whisk instead of a spoon to stir it a couple of times, and when the five minutes was up. I didn't get any lumps. I do the same thing when I make cream of wheat in a microwave. I ate this tonight for dinner with butter, grated cheddar cheese, salt and pepper. Bacon would have been great if I had some bacon on hand. I like the idea of the sauteed mushrooms, too. Good to know about the time for doubling the recipe, too. Thank you, Kirstjen.
Thanks for this! Although I would probably add cream or half-and-half instead of milk to get that creamy texture.
Wow, I'm going to have to do this. Polenta with a fried egg and maybe some cheese sounds delicious.
I love polenta for breakfast. I add brown sugar, a little butter and then drizzle with maple syrup. Yum!