Garlic Butter Shrimp and Grits
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Speedy comfort food at its best! Perfectly garlicky, buttery shrimp served with the creamiest grits!
This is my new favorite speedy meal. And I know it looks super fancy and impressive and maybe even somewhat intimidating, but it is truly the quickest weeknight meal you can whip up during those busy weeknights.
First you’ll need some quick cooking grits, except we’re going to doctor it up a bit using chicken stock and milk, adding a little more flavor and creaminess here. Then you’ll need some shrimp, a good amount of butter, garlic, lemon, paprika, thyme and some white wine. This cooks super super fast so be sure to keep a close eye on it.
From there, you can top off your creamy grits with the most garlicky, buttery, lemony shrimp with all the saucy bits. So quick and so so good, letting those grits sop up all that leftover sauce.
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Garlic Butter Shrimp and Grits
Ingredients
- 1 cup quick cooking grits
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups whole milk
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 shallot, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ cup dry white wine*
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, divided
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Cook grits according to package instructions using chicken stock and milk in place of water; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter until melted, about 1 minute; set aside and keep warm.
- Melt remaining 7 tablespoons butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add shallot, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in garlic, thyme and paprika until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in white wine and Worcestershire.
- Add shrimp; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pink and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons parsley and lemon juice.
- Serve immediately with grits, garnished with remaining 1 tablespoon parsley; if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Very easy, quick and delicious!
This was easy, quick and delicious! I will reduce the butter to 4TB in the shrimp next time as it was SUPER rich for us but will make again for sure!
WOW! This was wonderful! The flavor was so good and it was easy to make. I used mashed cauliflower instead of grits for a low carb meal and it was perfect. This will be my go to shrimp from now on. Next time I’ll add the grits!
I’ve made “grits” using almond flour before. It was a great substitute. Try it!
This went very fast once I prepped everything. I even impressed my 7 year old and got him to eat shrimp! Very easy and very good
Oh, my! This was fantabulous! I used our family’s favorite grits recipe that includes diced roasted green chilis, onions & garlic, cheddar & pepper jack cheese and creole seasoning. Flavor explosion when combined with your shrimp recipe. Thank you for sharing this!
Great job made it tonight for the family
So good- I’ve made this multiple times. Thinking of switching it up slightly for a dinner party. Any thoughts on using the shrimp recipe scampi-style and serving with pasta?
Amazing, but remove the tail!!! I live in the low country, and you never serve shrimp and grits with the tail on. So messy! But flavors are where it’s at!
This was easy and delicious! I used leftover green chili cheese grits, and added a little blackening seasoning on the shrimp. This is a keeper, that I will make again and again!
Oh my goodness this was so good! I’m a cooking newb so I had to start over midway through and it turned out SO delicious. My only regret is I’m not sure how to scale it to having leftovers for a few days. Any suggestions on how to do that are welcome!
To scale any recipe for more or less servings, simply print out the recipe. Then go down the list of ingredients, and divide or multiply everything by the same number. (e.g. To double the recipe, just multiply everything by 2.) Cross out the original quantity, and WRITE down the new number. If I just do it in my head as I measure each item, I may forget to change one of more of the items. Go through the Directions. Make sure to change anything there that specifies an amount. E.g., this recipe refers to butter, lemon, and parsley amounts which would also need to be changed. Some websites allow you to scale a recipe automatically; however, they never change the amounts in the Direction section. You have to do this manually. Also look at pan/dish sizes, and cooking times. Larger quantities MIGHT take a bit longer. It’s actually a bit easier than it sounds! Good luck! Just don’t overcook your shrimp while reheating.
Fast and delicious! I added a little grated cheddar and Parmesan and thickened the roux a little, added a dash of Tony Chachere, then topped with green onions! Definitely a keeper!
What kind of white wine is best to use for thos recipe
Use a dry white wine like Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio.
Loved it! Used Trader Joe’s White Grits instead of Instant, otherwise made exactly as posted.
Hubs ate 2 big helpings. Definitely a keeper.
I really like your recipes but this is the first time that I made a comment. This was delicious but we tweeked it a bit. Cut down on the butter some and added a little grapeseed oil. We also added a whole red bell pepper chopped with the shallot and garlic since we weren’t having a vegetable with it. Topped it off with some red pepper flakes. Thanks for sharing this recipe. We will make it again and again!
Flavorful Grits & Shrimp!!
Added Shredded Colby Jack cheese…
This dish reminded me of New Orleans
(Overnight: Marinated shrimp w/Old Bay Seasoning)
Super simple shrimp and grits recipe that delivers on big flavors!
Great recipe! I usually make a different one with bacon, but I liked this one better. I made a few little changes–added no salt creole seasoning, used chicken broth instead of wine. For grits, used coconut milk because we are lactose intolerant. Excellent!!!!
Forgot to mention I used vegan cheddar cheese in grits.
I made this for Sunday supper. My husband and mother in law loved this.
Excellent dinner! Recipe was surprisingly easy yet looked and tasted restaurant quality. Will definitely make regularly now!
Awesome. This was a great dish. Substituted with almond milk and it was fantastic!
So easy to make! Looks beautiful on a plate and damn delicious!
An awesome taste / flavor palette that far exceeds effort to make! A definite keeper!
Wow, such great flavor! This was very quick to make and everyone loved it, even my 2 year old! I will definitely make this again!
So good!
I love pretty much all the Damn Delicious recipes ( there’s a reason it’s called Damn Delicious! )
Made this last night; super easy and yummy
I followed the recipe exactly, except I used a sweet onion instead of a shallot, and it came out great!
Stir in hot pepper sauce. Step 5. Serve grits in a large serving bowl topped with shrimp mixture.
I loved the flavor of the grits and sauce – my only concern was my sauce looked perfect one minute, then it broke as I was putting away some ingredients. 🙁 it still tasted good to me, but my family didn’t want to eat it because of the way the sauce looked.
Is the solution to this just to serve immediately or did I do something wrong in the process of cooking it?? Would also love to hear any hacks you may have to fix this.. in case it were to happen again. Thanks!
This was the absolute best.
Tell your family to not be so persnickety!! It even happens to chefs. Not the end of the world. Usually doesn’t not affect the taste
Very, very good. Tasty! First time I have eaten shrimp and grits. Will be on my menu often.
I have eaten Shrimp and Grits in numerous restaurants in southern restaurants on the east coast where they cook with shrimp fresh off the shrimp boats. Because of this, the shrimp is very fresh and the restaurants use various styles of toppings in their recipe. I live near Chicago and have been wanting to make shrimp and grits for a long time. Our availability of seafood is very good but it is normally frozen. So when I found a vendor selling some fresh (not previously frozen) shrimp, I just had to buy some and decided it was time that I finally try making shrimp and grits. I looked online for recipes and decided your recipe was the one I wanted to use. I am so glad I did as it turned out SO good! I am a family of one so I have plenty of leftovers which is fine by me! The amount of grits was way too much for one person so next time (yes there will be many next times… I love this recipe!) I will cut that amount in half. Because we are in the middle of a pandemic, I made a few changes so I could use items I had available in my house. I used skim milk rather than whole milk, a small yellow onion instead of the shallot, Hungarian Paprika, and Real Lemon lemon juice rather than freshly squeezed lemon. Fresh thyme and flat leaf parsley picked fresh from my herb garden made it extra special.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe as I know it will become one of my favorites. This is the first time I’ve used a recipe from your website but it won’t be the last. Your Swedish Meatball Pasta and chicken bowl recipes look wonderful and thank you for posting instant pot recipes too!
This recipe was so delicious and the first time we have had shrimp and grits! Amazing flavor!
A lot of recipes claim to be quick, but this is the real deal. If you buy your shrimp already peeled, you can make this in less than 30 minutes. It’s really delicious, too! I made 2 small changes – I used heavy cream instead of milk (hey, in Quarantine World, calories don’t exist). Also, I have a prolific rosemary bush, so I used rosemary instead of thyme. It is a great recipe.
I’m making this TODAY – it’s my birthday dinner from me to me!!!
Oh. My. God. This was AMAZING! I’ve never had grits before, but I could just tell these were better than your average grits. Creamy and absolutely delicious. The shrimp was to die for. Garlicky, buttery, perfection. Will make this again and again.
It was restaurant quality. Sooooo good
This was so good! The best shrimp and grits recipe I’ve tried so far!
YUM!!! I didn’t have any grits. So I used rolled oats instead. Added some minced onions as well for texture. I buttered (uses vegan butter) the onions and oats first, for taste. Then added in the chicken stock and opted for vegan cream cheese instead of the milk. I followed exactly as it said to do for the shrimp and it turned out AMAZING!!! I’m so satisfied.
Over the years I’ve made shrimp and grits using several recipes. This is the absolute best! We loved it.
This was so delicious, but it’s from Damn Delicious so of course, it was! I admit that I used my usual cheddar jalapeno grits recipe, but everything about the shrimp was delicious! It was a winner of a meal (just in case anyone is looking for sides that pair well with this, I served steamed sugar snap peas and roasted broccoli with pine nuts). Thanks for yet another winner of a recipe!!
Reading your blog always makes me hungry! I think I’ll make this one next- mmm looks so good. Great job!
Absolutely delicious! I made this tonight at our beach condo using fresh, local shrimp & then put the shrimp on a Cesar salad. It was the best! I will definitely make this recipe again.
I can’t wait to try this! Can I use frozen raw shrimp? Would the cooking time be a little longer?
Hi Noelle! I would thaw the shrimp prior to cooking. Hope that helps!
Damn delicious!!!! I’ve made this recipe twice now and I’m sure I’ll make it many more times. The only things I did different was I used dried Thyme, no white wine, and I tripled the butter in the grits (buttery carbs are the best lol). Both my husband and I thank you for your many easy and damn delicious recipes.
Do you recommend a partial brand for the grits? 🙂 love all your recipes, can’t wait to try this one
Any store-bought brand should work just fine here, Jessica! 🙂
Looking forward to trying this, do you have any substitutes that would work for the whole milk in the recipe? I don’t usually have milk in my house and if I do have milk it’s non dairy almond milk.
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Topped with a little Louisiana hot sauce and green onions! It was so delicious – thank you!
Also saw the comment about almond milk vs whole – I used almond and it was still very good 🙂
I used half a cup of vegan cream cheese and it turned out very creamy!
Can I use rosemary instead of thyme? My thyme plant died but my rosemary is growing out of control!
Absolutely!
Where is the nutritional info on this recipe? Looking for amount of carbs.
Hi Pat! Nutritional information is provided only for select recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”). Hope that helps!
YUM! One of the last meals my husband and I ate together before we moved from Georgia to Utah was Shrimp and Grits. I’m going to have to make this and relive the glory days!