Chicken and Grits

Perfect for brunch or dinner chicken and grits are made with spicy chicken tenders and pimento cheese grits but are totally customizable.

There's so much to love about this recipe! It's quick and easy for one. It doesn't call for anything that would take a long time to cook, like stone ground grits, and there's no marinading or soaking.

It's a breeze to make it perfect for your family's tastes. If they don't like a real kick of spice, just leave out the cayenne. Don't care for pimento cheese (wait - are they crazy?), just make plain buttery grits.

Make it super simple by leaving off the deglazing to make a pan sauce. It's going to be a flavorful meal either way.

Ingredient notes

We use our extra southern style pimento cheese grits recipe here and the ingredients below are for that recipe. If you prefer to make plain grits we recommend you use quick grits. This is the kind that cooks in 5 minutes, and not the instant variety.

To make them extra rich use half and half or heavy cream instead of water, but whole milk will work just fine too.

Ingredients for Pimento Cheese Grits

• Grits - The "quick" variety
• Milk - You can really use anything you like from skim milk all the way to heavy cream. Just keep in mind the richness will increase with the fat content.
• Pimento Cheese - For homemade use this old fashioned pimento cheese recipe. Our favorite store bought brand is Palmetto Cheese.
• Butter - Salted or unsalted is fine.
• Cajun or Creole Seasoning in the grits is optional - If adding it to the grits we normally use Homemade Blackened Seasoning because we always have it. A favorite from the store is Tony Chachere's Original.
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes or Cayenne Pepper is optional for heat.

For the full instructions and ingredient quantities refer to the Pimento Cheese Grits recipe.

Ingredients for the spicy chicken tenders

• Boneless chicken breast tenders or tenderloins - you can certainly take boneless chicken breast, pound it into ½ inch thickness and cut into strips.
• Vegetable oil - the heat gets pretty high so we recommend an oil with a high smoke point like safflower or canola.
• Blackened or Creole Seasoning - same notes as for the grits above. We use our blackened seasoning recipe because we can control the salt and level of spice. You can also use a store-bought one.
• White wine or chicken broth - this is for deglazing the pan and making a pan sauce. If you don't want the pan sauce you won't need to add wine or broth.

How to make chicken and grits

1. Make the grits according the package direction or this recipe for pimento cheese grits. Keep warm while you cook the chicken.
2. Pat dry the chicken tenders and then brush lightly with oil. Sprinkle with the seasoning and pat. Turn the tenders and repeat on the other side.
3. Heat the remaining oil in a cast iron skillet to medium to medium-high heat.
4. Cook the chicken about 2-3 minutes per side or until the juices run clear when pierced with a fork. If you like to use an instant read thermometer you're looking for 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. If making a pan sauce remove the chicken and deglaze the pan with the wine or broth. Cook 2-3 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan.
6. Put a serving of grits on a plate or in a bowl. Top with chicken and if desired, spoon a bit of pan sauce on top.

Tips for this recipe

• If the grits stiffen up while cooking the chicken you can add a little more of whatever liquid you made them with and stir with a whisk. If you're out of that, water will do just fine.
• We find the sweet spot for cooking the chicken to be about halfway between medium and medium high.
• To make your dish extra pretty garnish with green onions or parsely.

Storing your chicken and grits

If you have leftovers it works best to store the chicken and the grits separately. If you've made the pan sauce store it separately too. It will all keep tightly covered and refrigerated for 4-5 days.

Grits reheat best on a stovetop over medium low heat, stirring and adding more liquid as needed. The chicken can be heated on a stovetop, wrapped in foil in the oven or microwaved. The pan sauce will heat nicely in the microwave or on a stovetop.

If you have just one serving and you want to make it extra easy go ahead and assemble the dish and microwave it. As long as you cover it with a paper towel it's going to be fine .

Need some ideas of what to serve with your dish?

Gotcha covered! Below you'll find some salads and cooked sides that would all be absolutely perfect with your chicken and grits.

• Fried Apples
• Baked Tomato Slices
• Smoked Vegetables
• Roasted Asparagus with Lemon and Garlic
• Clementine Salad with Tangy Vinaigrette
• Old Fashioned Ambrosia
• Watermelon Salad

These sides are also really good with this fish and grits recipe.

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