A few of my favorite breakfast things: grits, eggs poached in anything but water (for instance, shakshuka!), anything you can drown in hot sauce, melty cheese, and using as few pots and pans as possible. So when I first thought to poach eggs in grits, I knew it had potential. But actually getting it right? Harder than expected. But! After a lot of trial and error, I finally have a recipe for eggs and grits that works.
Read on for my tips for poaching eggs in grits, or jump to the recipe to hit the ground running.
The problem (and the solution):
- Grits start to turn from liquid to solid as soon as they begin to cool. And even if you apply heat after this point, they will never go back to liquid.
- And eggs don’t poach well unless they’re surrounded by liquid. So poaching them in grits can be tricky!
The solution? Use enough liquid to begin with, get the timing right, and cannonball those eggs!
Here is how to make that happen…
My 3 tricks for perfect eggs and grits:
1) Add enough liquid.
First, you need enough liquid in the grits to begin with. This isn’t just a grits thing—it’s true for any porridge (my oatmeal post has more info on this). If the grits are too thick, they’ll start to set up the moment they cool even slightly, and that makes it really hard for the eggs to poach properly. The grits should still be loose and bubbling when you’re ready to add the eggs.
I tested this recipe with Bob’s Red Mill grits (not sponsored, just what I had on hand), but you may need to tweak the water ratio depending on your brand. Have a kettle of boiling water on hand in case you need to add some during the cooking process.
2) Timing is everything.
As soon as the grits are cooked through and thickened but still hot and fluid, get those eggs in immediately. No checking your phone, no taking a photo (do as I say, not as I do…), no wandering off. The grits only stay perfect for poaching for a tiny window—so crack those eggs quickly.
3) Cannonball those eggs!
This is the fun part! The height you crack the eggs from actually matters. If you crack them too close to the surface, they kind of just slump on the surface and don’t get surrounded by enough grits to cook properly. But if you crack each one from about four inches above the pot, it’ll drop right in and nestle into the grits (see above photos). And it’ll cook through beautifully! Just look at that yolk!
Eggs Poached in Grits (one-pot)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
- 1 cup grits (not instant)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives (plus more for serving)
- Optional: hot sauce and more black pepper
Instructions
- Bring the water to a simmer in a 10-inch cast iron skillet* over high heat. Then stir in the half-and-half, grits, salt, butter, and black pepper, and reduce heat to medium. Let it come back up to a simmer, then reduce heat to low, and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally until it starts to thicken.**
- Once the grits start to thicken, drop in the eggs. Hold an egg about 4 inches above the grits and let it cannon-ball into them. The eggs should not sit on top of the grits, but nestle in (see above photo and notes). Salt them to taste, sprinkle cheese around them, increase heat to medium-low, cover, and set a timer for 3 minutes. No peeking, and make sure the pan is evenly heated, or some of the eggs will not cook through.
- Do not lift the lid during the first 3 minutes. After 3 minutes are up, inspect the eggs by gently poking the whites and yolks. If the whites are still clear, cover and cook for another 2 minutes before checking again. If the whites are opaque and nearly set, remove from heat, and let them rest covered for about 3 minutes. A little bit of water might pool around the set whites (careful not to confuse this with uncooked egg whites). You know the whites are done when they feel firm, and the yolks are perfect when they’re still soft. ***
- Garnish with chives, hot sauce, and black pepper and serve immediately.
Notes
* You don’t have to use cast iron, but cook times vary depending on the material.
** This will depend on the kind of grits you’re using. I used Bob’s Red Mill to develop this recipe, which took about 20 minutes over low heat to thicken, and then a few more minutes to cook all the way with the eggs.
*** This part takes a little trial and error/practice. It’s hard to time this perfectly, and I find that switching between pans and stoves can really mess with the timing. But these are the results I was able to get consistently in my kitchen after lots of experimenting. If they turn out over or under-cooked the first time, but you want to try again, make sure you use the same pan and adjust the timing according to your results.
2025 update: This recipe is still the same as the day I first published it, but I made a couple small tweaks to the writing just to streamline it a bit. If you’ve been making these for years, hopefully it’s easier to follow now, but it’s still the same old recipe. I also edited the text before the recipe to be more straightforward and easier to read through for the same reason, but it’s all still the same content.
Had these served to me at the Clifton Inn this weekend. DELICIOUS! Am I able to transfer the end results to a bowl to serve without messing up the results( egg) ?
It’s a little tricky because the egg ends up blending in so well with the grits! But if you can spot them, I recommend just trying to be careful to scoop around / under one whole egg. There’s a bit of a trick to it, but you’ll get it!
I just thought of another good solution! Use yellow grits instead of white. That way you should be able to spot the eggs more easily. I haven’t actually tried this, but I suspect it would help!
Put a spoonful of hot grits down…. carefully crack eggs….then gently cover with grits, cheddar, n onion….toast some rye or sourdough….butter…dig in.mm👍👍👍
Delicious! We used blue grits. Super tasty.
aw yay I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks so much for this recipe:) my dad would cook grits in a saucepan with or without cheese plop in some eggs remove from heat and let it sit covered for a while ❤️ The eggs were perfectly poached ❤️ My eggs always come out rubbery or raw but your recipe is perfect!!!
aw that makes me so happy to hear you’re enjoying it!
I use this same technique and put anything else I like (shrimp or fresh bacon or ham) when the cheddar cheese is added give it a quick stir then drop in eggs, cover and wait. Oh yes it is good!
That all sounds so, so good!!
Bob doesn’t make very good grits IMHO. He usually has it packaged as grits (polenta), and it is yellow corn. Quaker Oats makes great white corn hominy grits that will stay liquid enough while in the pan and only set once plated. Give them a try sometime!
Ah that’s a great tip—I’ve never tried the quaker ones! I feel like I went with Bob’s mostly because those were the only ones I could find when I developed this recipe while living in Hong Kong. Now I’m in Australia, but I’m afraid I probably won’t find quaker grits here either. But I’ll definitely check them out next time I’m in the US!
I have done this for years! Still not perfect, I will definitely change to a skillet. Great minds. Thanks.
Oh no way! Yes totally, it’s great having that distributed heat.
Yes, all your directions and observations were spot on. Thank you.
Oh I’m so glad! It’s a bit of a tricky recipe, but it’s easy when you work quickly and have everything ready to go. Glad I could help!
Is the heavy cream necessary for the eggs to poach correctly? Or would the recipe work without it?
Recipe looks absolutely amazing! So glad I found it.
You can totally use milk instead of half and half—it won’t be as creamy, but will still be delicious. If you want/need to skip the cream entirely, feel free to 100% go with that lower fat version, but if you can add a little, even just a splash of half and half or cream goes a long way.
I love grits, and when I finally started enjoying eggs a few years ago it was the poached variety that coached me over. What a clever idea! And with that bright, creamy white, this dish looks so inviting.
Aw thank you so much! Grits are so good with runny yolks right? 😍 Hope you enjoy the recipe! 😋❤️