This Is My Favorite Grits Recipe of All Time (Every Bite Is Perfection)

I remember very clearly the first time I ever tried grits. I was in the second grade and was having a sleepover at a new friend’s house. Her family had recently moved to Dallas from Mississippi, and in the morning, her mom whipped us up instant grits for breakfast. I was so excited to try them — it was just one of many dishes her family introduced to me — but much to my disappointment, I didn’t like those grits one single bit. For years, this affected my outlook on grits.

It wasn’t until I was a teen and another friend’s family had me over for shrimp and grits that I became a believer. As it turns out, I just didn’t like instant grits — but slow-cooked, stone-ground grits were a whole different story! To this day, I still think home-cooked, stone-ground grits taste best, so when Brittany Conerly shared her recipe for stone-ground grits with okra, corn, and goat cheese on Kitchn, I knew it would be right up my alley.

Little did I know Brittany’s recipe would become my favorite grits of all time. The grits themselves are perfectly creamy and rich. The okra roasts until it has just a bit of crisp to it, and the corn mixture is an absolute flavor bomb. In fact, the combination of onion, garlic, ginger, and corn is the real star here, adding brightness and flavor to an otherwise rich dish. Finally, crumbled goat cheese comes through to give you a beautiful swirl of creaminess with a little tang. I’m making myself hungry just writing this!

Essentially, it’s perfection in a bowl, and you should make it immediately for anyone in your life who doesn’t yet appreciate the gift of grits. Brittany also makes some suggestions for customizing the dish to your tastes: If you like your grits chunkier, add a little less heavy cream. Don’t like goat cheese? Use Parmesan or another cheese you love (although I do think the goat cheese is the icing on top of this recipe).

1. Prep all the ingredients while the grits are cooking. This will save you a lot of time and get dinner in front of you faster.
2. Don’t skip the herbs. The chives and basil add some necessary brightness to this dish.
3. Go with goat cheese if you can. I know people have all sorts of mixed opinions about goat cheese, but I think it’s so perfect with this dish that even skeptics might be surprised.

At Kitchn, our editors develop and debut brand-new recipes on the site every single week. But at home, we also have our own tried-and-true dishes that we make over and over again — because quite simply? We love them. Kitchn Love Letters is a series that shares our favorite, over-and-over recipes.