Shrimp and grits-the ultimate Southern comfort food with all of the classic rich and cheesy, buttery flavor and texture you’d expect from the traditional recipe with none of the carbs thanks to a one of a kind cauliflower rice that makes this one keto, low carb, and clean eating!
Have you been looking for delicious comfort food that’s not loaded with carbs?
Me too!
I’ve been getting kind of tired of all the recipes promising authentic tasting low carb Southern cuisine only to end up disappointed after slaving over a hot stove and steaming pots of cauliflower rice. No offense to Northern folks, but when it comes to good old-fashioned Southern cooking, Y’all should probably leave that to those of us born South of the Mason Dixon line.
I created this keto shrimp & grits recipe mostly to prove that I could and because I was starving! But first, I had some questions that needed answers.
How Shrimp & Grits Became A Thing
You may be surprised to learn that this culinary classic started as a simple, cheap breakfast for the fisherman in Lowcountry marshes of South Carolina and Georgia. Nobody had heard of Shrimp & Grits until the mid-eighties!
Since we love a good story here, I did some digging Paul Harvey style and got to the bottom of this Lowcountry tale. In 1982 a self-taught chef named Bill Neal changed the trajectory of the recipe for-evah and made Southern comfort food a 4-star staple when he served his signature version at his restaurant Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Chef Neal’s recipe featured grits infused with cheddar and parmesan cheese topped with seasoned jumbo shrimp, mushrooms, and bacon. In 1985, The New York Times’ Craig Claiborne published the recipe and well, the rest is history.
Making It Keto & Slap Your Mama Good
Here’s the thing.
I’m a Mississippi girl and I grew up on grits. And I fell in love with John Currence’s Shrimp & Grits recipe while I was a student at Ole Miss. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I have ever ordered anything else from John’s restaurant City Grocery in over 20 years! Now, I don’t know if that makes me loyal or boring, but I do know this: his fabulous recipe is loaded with the enemy. Carbs.
I Just Can’t Quit You
As Y’all know, I’ve lost over 80 pounds on the keto diet, an entire fourth grader, but I miss my comfort food. And I’ve noticed that many of the recipes I’ve seen for these are missing a few things.
Like flavor.
And fun.
And taste.
And did I say flavor?
So I did what any hungry girl would do & created my own recipe!
And Y’all…
It’s legit Slap Your Mama Good!
*Disclaimer: I’m not telling you to slap your mother. I do not need Mama Drama!
Are you ready?
Because you can throw away all the other keto/low carb/healthy/shrimp & grits recipes you have. This is the only one you need! Yes, that’s quite a bold statement, but I’m pretty confident about this one!
Seriously! And you don’t need any special equipment except a food processor-and mine is nothing fancy-I think we got it at Walmart for $20 about 5 years ago.
I hope you enjoy the taste of real Southern Comfort Food without any guilt! Please let me know what you think!
Unless you hate it and then just keep that to yourself:)
I’m so happy to share this keto recipe with you & I must give my daughter Savannah credit for helping me prep it! Thank you, Sav!
Keto Shrimp & Grits Recipe with Loaded Cauliflower Rice
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 45
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Keto Shrimp and Grits is the ultimate low carb Southern comfort food with all of the decadent and rich cheesy flavor and texture you’d expect from the traditional recipe with none of the carbs thanks to a one of a kind loaded cauliflower rice that’s even better than grits!
Ingredients
2 12 ounce bags Chopped Cauilflower
2 lbs Shrimp (Peeled & Deveined)
1 8 ounce block Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 8 ounce block Pepper Jack Cheese
1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
4 Tablespoons Salted Butter
3/4 Cup White Button Mushrooms
6 Thick Cut Strips of Bacon
1 Lemon (Cut in Half-Squeezed for Juice)
1 Bunch Green Onions – Chopped
Instructions
For the Cauliflower Rice:
We took the easy route & bought the 12 ounce bags of chopped cauliflower! You could buy a medium head of cauliflower & save a little $. Either way, you’re going to have to use a food processor or grater to get the texture right & steam it! We steamed ours right there on the stove with a little water & a careful eye for about 7 minutes. You can also steam it in the microwave. Just put it in a microwave safe bowl with a tablespoon of oil & cover with plastic wrap. Set the microwave for 3 minutes & you’re done! *If you use the microwave method-put the rice back into a medium-large sauce pan over low heat.
Grate the cheese & add it to the cauliflower rice. Next, stir in heavy cream. Continue stirring over low heat while you get your shrimp ready!
In a separate pan cook bacon, crumble into pieces & set aside-keep some of the drippings for the shrimp!
Now, saute the shrimp, mushrooms, butter, bacon drippings (about 2 tablespoons), and lemon juice in a separate pan until shrimp is golden brown.
Combine & serve! Use chopped green onions as garnish!
Notes
You may omit the bacon if you’re just not a bacon person or if you’re not feeling it. The recipe is still fabulous without it!
Need spice? Chop a Jalapeño Pepper and add it into the shrimp saute! Or add a little Tony Chachere’s to the shrimp-it is by far the best Creole Seasoning you can buy! If you want even more heat-add a teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper!
Add a splash of Hot Sauce-to taste.
- Category: Keto Low Carb
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Comfort Food
Keywords: Keto Low Carb Comfort Food
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Christina B says
01/03/2019 at 8:19 pmI am just starting Keto and this will be the first recipe I try. I live in New Orleans so I’m sure you already know that this is not going to be easy!! Thanks for the recipe!!
Heather Burnett says
01/06/2019 at 11:55 pmHey! New Orleans is one of my favorite places! We’re only about 4 hours from NOLA so we try to get there as often as possible!!! Really interested to learn what you think of the recipe! Please let me know!!!!