Savory Sweet Potato Grits

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It’s a twist and a turn to bring two southern staples together in one dish. Southern food has evolved, as all cuisine should.  A lot of southern kitchens serve grits for breakfast with butter and sugar.

Savory Sweet Potato Grits

I gravitate to the savory and like my grits for dinner. I made my first grits and dish here pairing a creamy tomato based dish of grits with osso buco. That is still one of my most memorable fancy comfort food dinners to date.

I’m a big fan of the tried and true southern dish, shrimp and grits. If it’s on the menu, I usually order it. I have my own fantasies about how it should taste and this dish at the Mad Platter comes pretty close.

The grits should be creamy and there should be heat and lots of flavor and smokiness.  I’m beyond disappointed when a place tries to be hipster and serves shrimp and grits with a grits cake. It has to remain a comfort food.

This is part one of the dish, and meant to be a cushion for a great piece of fish.

Savory sweet potato grits are creamy and deliver a big sweet potato flavor. As a stand alone side dish, I garnished with some roasted, salted pumpkin seeds. It’s best to buy those raw and roast them because they just taste better and  you don’t want them too salty.

I’ve purposely kept this dish savory. I’ve looked at recipes and saw the addition of cinnamon and ginger, but I wanted to stay true to the natural goodness of a sweet potato.

Of course, you can make it sweet and add those spices in if that’s where your mood takes you. You can even make it spicy by adding some cayenne pepper or the heat of your choice.  You could go more Italian and add in 1/4 cup grated parmesan or pecorino cheese, but I wouldn’t pair that with seafood. That might be nice as a side dish for pork.

I’m going out of town for a culinary adventure with a group of bloggers for the next few days, and when I return, I plan to cook and feature part two, my version of fish and grits.

Tell me, do you eat grits and how do you like them? And do you have any new wild hipster dishes recreating the comfort foods of the south.

More Recipes You Might Like

You may like more sweet potato recipes. One of my favorites comes from my mom, Retro Rose.

Retro Rose Candied Sweet Potatoes

Stove Top Candied Sweet Potatoes by Angela Robert

Fish and Sweet Potato Grits

Print Recipe
4 from 3 votes

Savory Sweet Potato Grits

Sweet Potato grits, made savory. Great as a side dish or a base for seared seafood or shrimp.
Servings: 6

Ingredients

  • 3 cups water
  • 1 cup milk
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large sweet potato roasted
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoons white pepper
  • 1 cup grits
  • 1/2 roasted pumpkin seeds for garnish optional

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375.
  • Bake sweet potato until thoroughly cooked, about 45 minutes.
  • Bring water, milk, butter to a boil.
  • Peel sweet potato. Take through a ricer. Add to liquid. Add salt, pepper.
  • Wash grits off, but placing in bowl with cold water. Swirl around and allow the light bran to come to the top. Discard and pour off water.
  • Add in grits and bring to boil, stirring.
  • Once the mixture is boiling, turn to the lowest possible heat you can. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes until most of liquid is evaporated.
  • Saute pumpkin seeds with a little bit of olive oil and salt for five minutes, making sure they don't burn.

Notes

You can skip milk and add in a cup of chicken broth for added flavor.
I followed the directions for white stone ground grits on their package. If you have a different kind of grits you might want to use their recipe and add in sweet potatoes.

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21 Comments

  1. This sounds so good and I love it with the addition of pumpkin seeds. Are you actually able to pass the potato through the ricer without cooking it first or did I read that wrong?

    Great recipe..I look forward to trying it.

    1. Vicki,
      No, you must cook the potatoes first, at least that’s what I did. But, probably it would work grating them raw. I just didn’t think of that. I roasted until fully done and then peeled and took through roaster.

  2. I’ve never eaten or cooked with grits. This looks great though 😀 I’m off to Google grits suppliers in Sydney 😉

  3. Unlike you, grits is not something I gravitate to … I guess it’s being a Northeasterner (originally). I always equated grits with oatmeal or farina and could never dig the savory aspect. When I was in New Orleans a few years ago I tried and enjoyed it – and even subsequently made it home with a Bobby Flay recipe when I was doing the Culinary Tour Around the World. However, there it is. I’ve only tried it twice. For some reason, it just doesn’t beckon but I do like your version with the sweet potatoes and pumpkin seeds. Puts a whole new spin on it.

  4. Angela, wonderful combo of Southern ingredients. Grits are finally getting their due all over America and I could not be happier. Gone are the days of white, watery grits with no taste…well of course you can still find them if you look hard, but now so many restaurants serve some incarnation of “grits”
    Melded with sweet potatoes, could anything be better?

  5. This will be tested here at my house for sure. The kids love both grots and sweet potatoes, what a lovely pairing! Thanks

  6. Can you believe that I have still never tried grits. Even when I was in Washington at a Soul Food restart it was not on the menu. I would want mine savoury as well.

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