Give Shrimp A Break And Top Your Grits With This Delicious Shellfish Instead

Shrimp and grits is a classic Southern dish, but just because a dish is a classic doesn't mean you can't get creative with it. While shrimp is the pairing you're most likely to see on menus, there are some pretty interesting options to pair with your grits, from greens to meats, that will give you great flavor every time. Making good Southern-style grits takes time, but it's a dish you can have fun with, like forgetting the shrimp and using fish with grits instead. If you really want to elevate this dish, consider another shellfish alternative that's creative and also mouthwateringly delicious. Crawfish and grits may not be an item you see on many menus, but it's time to change that narrative.  

Grits, which are made from coarse cornmeal and cooked in water, stock, or milk until soft and creamy, are a comfort food that can be made sweet or savory. Add some crawfish to them and you've got yourself a classic Southern meal with a Cajun twist. Crawfish (or crayfish, depending on where you live), look like miniature lobsters and have a sweet and mildly salty flavor that lies somewhere between shrimp and crab. They take great to strong seasoning flavors, which just might be why they are such a popular part of Cajun and Creole cooking. Recipes for this creative take on shrimp and grits often call for spices like cayenne pepper, and like shrimp, the crawfish will give you a tender meat that melts in your mouth. You'll have a succulent protein with a flavorful kick that pairs beautifully with the delicate taste of the grits — in other words, it's a meal that hits all the right notes with a range of tastes and textures.

Crawfish don't exactly have the most appetizing nickname. They're lovingly known as mudbugs in the South, where the season for them runs from November to July, and they are at their best in the springtime. But the nickname is actually more telling than just cute. These freshwater crustaceans tend to burrow in the mud, which makes prepping them for cooking a bit more challenging. The cleansing process needs to be very thorough to make sure you're only getting the delicious taste of the crawfish in your food rather than dirt or debris. Not only do you have to remove all the mud and grit from their shells, but you'll also want to make sure the digestive track is cleaned out as well. Just like you would remove the vein from shrimp before you cook them, you'll want to make sure your crawfish are nice, clean, and good to go. 

The extra work is well worth it, and once it's done, you can have fun with building different flavor profiles. Both the crawfish and the grits are great vehicles to carry a ton of hefty flavor, so experiment with some of your favorites. Cooking the crawfish in a smoky bacon, spicy linguica, or a red curry sauce can give you some hefty flavor. You can elevate the flavor profile even further by mixing different cheeses into the grits, like cheddar, Havarti, Gouda, or parmesan, or you can go the tangy route with a delicate goat cheese. Feel free to experiment.