Easy and cheesy! This southern baked garlic cheese grits recipe is the holy grail of comfort food.

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I’ve never been much of a Southerner.

I don’t like watermelon, fried chicken or sweet tea.

But I do love hot weather. And I do love grits.

Grits are family, grits are memories, grits are comfort.

And actually, grits are delicious.

For me there’s nothing more comforting than having a large bowl of grits, swimming in butter and loads of freshly cracked black pepper for dinner. Preferably while I’m watching an episode (or 2) of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

In my pajamas.

Sometimes though, you need something a bit fancier that a bowl of grits to get folks excited.

And that’s when you turn to a true southern staple: southern baked garlic cheese grits.

There are as many recipes for cheese grits as there are for chocolate cake. The best ones, to me, have this in common: fluffy texture, copious amounts of butter, cheese and hey, maybe a little more cheese!

For years I’ve followed our traditional family recipe for making cheese grits. But this weekend when we were away from home with no cheese grits recipe, I had to wing it.

OMG. I’m so glad I did!

When we sat down to eat I knew we had found the Holy Grail of Cheese Grits.

First you’ll first need to make some grits.

By the way, grits are always plural. Even if there’s only one flake. It’s not a grit flake. It’s still grits : )

How to make southern baked Garlic cheese grits

Bring the water to a boil in a large stockpot, then whisk in the grits (I use Jim Dandy Quick Grits).
Lower the heat and move to smaller eye on the stove.
Continue whisking, making sure to break up any lumps and keep the grits from settling on the bottom of the pot.
Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until grits are smooth and creamy.
Add remaining ingredients to the pot, stir well and pour into a buttered glass baking pan.
Bake until alarmingly delicious (aka golden brown).

After you take the pan from the oven leave it to cool just a bit.

The grits will firm up and settle in and won’t burn your mouth when you take the giant bites that you’ll want to take.

You can definitely serve these with a salad and call it a (fantastic) meal.

Or you can serve them alongside slices of the most amazing pork as we did. I highly advise it.

But that’s another recipe.

Southern Baked Garlic Cheese Grits

Loads of butter, cheese and a bit more cheese make this the only cheese grits recipe you'll ever need. Feel free to substitute Monterey jack or provolone or even hot pepper jack for the cheddar. Better still, use a variety of cheeses for the most flavor!

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Course Main Course, Side Dish

Ingredients

2 cups quick grits NOT instant
8 cups water
1 stick butter I use unsalted
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese or a mixture of various cheeses
2 tsp salt less if using salted butter
½ tsp white pepper
1 tsp garlic granules
2 cups milk
4 eggs, lightly beaten

Toppings

cooked, crumbled bacon
extra grated cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325. Butter a 9X13 glass baking dish.
In a large stock pot over high heat bring 8 cups water to a boil. Add the salt.
Whisk in grits, breaking up any lumps. Bring water/grits to a boil.
Turn heat to low and/or move grits to a smaller eye on the stove. They need to cook slowly.
Continue to cook on low, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
Toward the end of cooking time, whisk in the milk and continue to cook.
Add butter, cheeses and seasonings to the cooked grits. Let melt, then stir to combine well.
Whisk in the lightly beaten eggs. Keep it moving -- you don't want the eggs to scramble!
Pour into the buttered baking dish.
Bake for about one hour until just a tiny bit jiggly. This may take longer in your oven, so start the dish in plenty of time for dinner : )
Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes.
Serve chopped bacon and extra cheese for toppings.

Notes

This recipe can easily be halved and baked in 8-9" oven proof dish.

Keyword breakfast, comfort food, grits, simple meals, southern

These keep well in the fridge for a few days. When you’re ready to serve, just pop in the oven until heated throughout. If you want to be impressive and/or take photos of your grits, top with a bit o’ cheese and run under the broiler until bubbly and nicely browned!