Cardamom and Tea

Eggs Poached in Grits

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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…

eggs and grits
eggs poached in grits

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!

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Eggs Poached in Grits (one-pot)

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5 from 3 reviews

  • 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

  1. 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.**
  2. 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.
  3. 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. ***
  4. 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.

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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.

okra stew | bamya

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This bamya (okra stew) post isn’t here to convince the okra haters that really they should give it another chance. It’s for the okra lovers, the ones who can’t get enough “slime,” who don’t care if it is stewed, grilled, or pickled, as long as it’s piled high. If you read the blog posts and articles with headlines like “how to cook okra so it’s not slimy” (I even wrote one once!), it might seem like we’re on a mission to convince the world to eat more okra, but the truth is, we love it so much that we don’t care whether you do too. More for us!

This summer, my grandmother taught me how to make her okra stew (also sometimes spelled bamiyeh, bamieh, bamia or bamya). And I’m so happy to be sharing it! We’re right at the beginning of okra season, so it’s the perfect thing to make right now. But that shouldn’t stop you if you’re catching this post another time of the year, because we most often make it with frozen okra and canned tomatoes anyway. My grandmother is on a constant mission to hunt down certain frozen veggies to use in her stews, like flat beans for her riza shirw’it fasouliyeh, and (in this case) baby okra for her bamya stew.

You might ask, why baby okra? Because when you simmer whole okra, instead of cutting it into bite-sized pieces, they get this wonderful chewy almost “Q” texture, which okra lovers will appreciate. There are plenty of incredible stews made with chopped okra, like gumbo for instance. Chopping first thickens the broth and adds a ton of body and flavor to the finished dish. But this method is just another wonderful technique, which results in a slightly thinner broth and pleasantly chewy okra.

If you can’t find baby okra, feel free to cook fully grown okra and serve with a knife and fork. It’s great on a plate over basmati rice. Either way, no one will complain. (I mean, yes, the okra haters will complain, but they’re going to complain no matter what). If you’re using fresh instead of frozen, make sure you prep them as listed in the recipe. It takes a few extra minutes, but is important for ending up with the right consistency. You can find frozen baby okra in most Middle Eastern markets, and lucky for us they’re already prepped that way.

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okra stew | bamya

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5 from 1 review

  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds stew meat, in large chunks
  • 3 cups water
  • Salt
  • 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, crushed through a press
  • 26 ounce container diced tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 red bell pepper, medium diced
  • 2 jalapeños, seeded and pith removed, small diced
  • 28 ounces frozen baby okra, rinsed under cold water to melt away any frost *
  • 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • Cooked basmati rice, for serving

Instructions

  1. Rinse the meat (or skip the rinsing if you prefer). Place the meat in the bottom of a large saucepan, and cover it with the water and 3/4 teaspoon of salt (or to taste). Bring to a simmer over high heat, then cover and reduce to medium-low. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle boil. Wipe down the sides of the pot once or twice while it cooks, and/or skim any scum that forms on the surface. Cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the meat is very tender.
  2. While you’re waiting on the beef, place a large dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat and add the butter. Once the butter melts, add the onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 to 7 minutes, just until the onion softens and takes on a little golden color around the edges. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, just to take the raw edge off the garlic.
  3. Immediately add the diced tomatoes, black pepper, and salt to taste (my diced tomatoes didn’t have much sodium, so I added 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt). Bring to a simmer, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 10 minutes, just to allow the flavors to meld.
  4. Add the red pepper, jalapeños, okra, and the braised beef with the braising liquid. Increase the heat to medium-high, stir everything together and wait for it to come to a simmer. Once bubbles break the surface, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for about 5 to 15 minutes, just until everything softens to your desired consistency. I like the veggies a little al dente, and not totally soft, so I usually do just 5 minutes, but my grandmother likes to cook them for the full 15. It’s a preference thing, and you can even cook them longer if you want them really falling apart.
  5. Once the stew is done to your liking, add the lemon juice, and carefully fold everything together without mashing the okra.

Notes

* Baby okra is hard to find fresh, but you can find it frozen in some Middle Eastern markets. If you can’t find baby okra, you can use regular-sized okra, but read the notes above the recipe if you want to know why you should leave them whole instead of cutting them into smaller pieces. If you’re using frozen baby okra, it should already be prepped, but if you’re using fresh, you’ll need to stem and pare them. Here’s how: cut the tough part of the stem off, but leave the tender part of the stem intact (you should definitely not see the inside of the okra). Then use a paring knife to shave away the bumpy ridge where the stem meets the body.

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