Crack An Egg Into Your Grits For Extra Creamy Texture

Grits are a classic Southern specialty that's enjoyed at almost every meal, inspiring famous dishes like shrimp and grits. But they also provide a rich and creamy foundation for countless other foods. The starch in the ground hominy meal that comprises grits transforms them into a creamy, grainy consistency. However, cracking an egg into your grits is an easy step that'll amp up their creaminess and add an underlying savoriness to complement their earthy corn flavor.

Adding a raw egg directly to dishes is a widely used technique, employed to thicken soups, sauces, and even pasta. For example, pasta carbonara uses eggs as the main ingredient, which is combined with starchy pasta water and parmesan cheese for an utterly creamy result. Similarly, raw eggs mix with the released starches of the corn in the grits to create a thicker, creamier consistency. However, unlike pasta carbonara, there's no tempering or finesse involved in incorporating a raw egg into a hot pot of grits.

All you have to do is crack a raw egg over a fresh pot of grits along with your seasoning and stir to combine. Just be sure to turn the burner off and remove the pot from the heat. The grits will stop bubbling, indicating they're ready for their cracked egg upgrade. This hack is a dairy-free way to instill creaminess into grits while also providing a depth of flavor similar to dairy richness.

A cracked egg is the simplest way to instill rich texture and flavor into grits without having to swap a portion of the cooking liquid for heavy cream. You could even forgo the standard addition of butter by adding an extra egg yolk to the pot. Even if you do use cream and butter, cracking an egg will only make your grits even creamier. You can also use the egg hack for cheese grits, adding shredded cheddar to the grits along with seasoning and the cracked egg before stirring it all together.

You can further enrich the texture and flavor of your grits with a few more simple hacks. Using equal parts broth and water will enhance their savoriness. For a velvety and salty balance, you can use equal parts broth and milk. While stone ground grits are the gold standard, cracking an egg into instant grits will effectively bolster their texture to stone ground heights and only tack on an extra 30 seconds of whisking.

If you want to use stone ground grits and the egg hack for the most decadent texture without having to actively watch the stove for 45 minutes, you can make a grits casserole. You'll start the cooking process on the stove, whisking for around 15 minutes before stirring the cracked eggs in, then transferring the grits to a casserole dish to finish cooking in the oven.