Today is National Grits for Breakfast Day, celebrating a Southern staple with much older roots.
Indigenous peoples in the Southeast were cooking porridges from ground corn long before Europeans arrived, and early colonists adopted the practice. Grits are made from dried corn ground into coarse pieces, then simmered until creamy. They became especially practical at breakfast because corn was plentiful, inexpensive and filling enough to fuel long days of work. Today, grits may be served simply with butter, salt and pepper or dressed up with cheese, eggs, bacon or shrimp. Stone-ground versions retain more of the corn’s germ and flavor.
If you are looking for new ways to put grits on the breakfast table, Taste of Home rounds up recipes that pair them with cheese, bacon, sausage, eggs and shrimp, from simple creamy bowls to hearty casseroles and classic Southern shrimp and grits.