How to Season Grits: Sweet or Savory? The Great Debate

How to season grits—whether sweet or savory—is a topic that’s been known to encourage enthusiastic conversations around the table. The answer, depending on who you ask, is squarely up for debate.

“It’s really interesting, to me, that simple stone ground corn can consistently evoke this visceral kind of nostalgia,” observes chef/writer Thérèse Nelson, founder of Black Culinary History, an online destination devoted to preserving and paying homage to the collective Black culinary heritage.

“We have this kind of shared experience with this dish…But grits feel like ours. It’s the one thing that illustrates the power of Blackness and [its] input in our food culture.”

So What Are Grits?

Cooked in a liquid (like milk, water or broth), grits are made from ground yellow dent corn. It’s traditionally cooked for about an hour and, depending on the type of grits used, its texture can vary from creamy, thick or smooth.

“You’re talking about a relatively plentiful grain,” says Nelson about grits, which she believes can be considered a Black kitchen pantry staple. “You’re using what you have available to make delicious meals, especially when we’re talking about breakfast…It’s going to be a prolific sort of staple across generations.”

The Savory Side of Grits

How to season grits can be a very personal thing. “I think it’s household to household, really. It’s just how you were raised to eat them [grits], depending on who was cooking,” offers chef Tanya Holland, author of the cookbook, “Tanya Holland’s California Soul: Recipes from a Culinary Journey West.”

With parents who hail from Virginia and Louisiana, Holland is decidedly in the savory grits camp. “Growing up, we had grits as a savory component and we put sugar on our Creme of Wheat,” she shares about how to season grits properly in her family.

Salt, pepper, butter and cream are the ingredients that make up Holland’s recipe for a savory serving of grits. The TV personality and former restauranteur shares that the key is timing when to add the salt.

“I always salt my water even before putting the grits in it. So, they’re savory from the beginning,” declares Holland about how to season grits. “Otherwise, it’s hard to get that salt infused in there. If you add it at the end after cooking the grits, it’s going to taste really salty.”

Savory Pairings

In making a case for savory grits, Holland points out they pair perfectly with a variety of ingredients. “I like to add white cheddar to mine…It can also be the base for an entree, like when you add shrimp to it or blackened catfish,” she suggests.

One particular dish from her former restaurant’s menu made use of savory grits for a new spin on the classic Eggs Benedict. “We would save the leftover chilled grits and make them into a little ‘cake’ and then sear it. Then we’d poach eggs and add that to the top of the grits along with ham, spinach and hollandaise sauce. That always sold out so fast!”

Overall, Holland shares that she has an affinity for heirloom grits, the grainier stone ground cornmeal made from prized seeds, which boast a more complex flavor than instant grits.

“I do like to use the heirloom grits if I’m doing a savory dish at dinnertime because they are a little richer.” She adds, “You can usually make it [the heirloom grits] a little more of a focus. And with the protein—if it’s shrimp, oxtail or whatever—it’s just richer and a bit more layered in flavor.”

A Sweet Take On Grits

As a culinary expert on Black cuisine, Nelson says nostalgia plays a big part when it comes to sweet grits. “You give little kids sweet grits; it’s an easy kind of entry point. [The grits are] neutral in that you can sweeten it up with a little bit of sugar for a child…I think sweet grits people are more nostalgic for their childhood,” observes Nelson.

While sweetened grits may be a point of nostalgia for some, for others, like chef Latasha Lloyd, it can also be a path for culinary experimentation. Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Lloyd also believes that how you were raised will influence how you season grits to your liking.

“I’m a southern girl and it was all about savory grits when I was growing up,” admits the Brand Excellence Manager for Gocha’s Breakfast Bar in Atlanta, Georgia, where both savory and sweet grits are on the menu. “I didn’t start adding more sweet items to it [grits] until after I was a little bit older and my palate was more refined,” adds Lloyd.

From her work at the popular Atlanta-based breakfast spot, Lloyd noticed a shift in grits flavor preferences among diners. “We found that when you incorporated different ingredients, you could get a completely different taste—on both ends of the spectrum. I think that’s where sweet grits came in. Grits were already such a solid product, but we started to experiment with it by adding creams, butters and sugars.”

A Party in Your Mouth

Lloyd also says substituting cream for water when cooking the grits will bring forth a richer texture. “Cream within itself already is slightly sweet,” she points out. “The cream adds a completely different texture to grits and sweetens it up just a little bit.”

The chef also calls out how sweet grits work beautifully as a counterbalance to salty dishes. She cites an example. “Take a nice spoonful of sweet grits and then a nice bite of your fish and your palate is having the time of its life!”

How to Season Grits Sweetly

For her part in spotlighting sweet grits, Lloyd reveals how to season grits with a variety of ingredients that go beyond plain sugar—like brown sugar, cinnamon, maple syrup and even fruit.

“Once the grits reach the desired texture, you want to top it with cinnamon, a little bit more butter, some brown sugar. I would also put blueberries and strawberries on mine,” she suggests.

“The grits are already hot, so you don’t really want to cook the fruit; you just want to incorporate them into the grits. I stir those items in with whatever type of sugar. I like brown sugar because it adds a little bit more of a sweet molasses taste.”

RELATED: Creamy Shrimp and Grits: 7 Tips to Make the Southern Dish at Home

Keeping the Grits Conversation Going

While how to season grits remains a personal preference, it’s apparent the debate between the savory and sweet food camps will continue. “Grits speak to the culture of the South and the foodways that were really started and continued by African American cooks,” says savory grits fan Holland.

Likewise, culinary writer Nelson points this out about grits and its place on our tables, “There are very few places where a grain can be claimed so specifically and wholly by culture. It unites us.”

But perhaps Lloyd, who sees sweetened grits as a great canvas for expanding the flavor profile of grits, is on to something when she notes, “I think that even for the next ten years, there will continue to be a debate about sweet and savory grits…As individuals continue to come up with wonderful things to add to grits, it will continue to carry great flavor.”