Up next in 10
Love & Best Dishes: Wedding Shrimp & Grits | How To Make the Best Shrimp and Grits
Mar 3, 2026
Wedding Shrimp & Grits | How To Make the Best Shrimp and Grits - Paula & Michael share how to make shrimp and grits southern style with the prettiest presentation, just how they served it at their wedding!
Click here to SUBSCRIBE to my channel: https://bit.ly/2AwYIIU
------------------------
Wedding Shrimp & Grits: https://www.pauladeen.com/recipe/wedding-shrimp-and-grits/
------------------------
For more Love & Best Dishes videos, click here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2LHabI5sYyFSVQ49oX2ffNPnKt3F8_zB
------------------------
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pauladeen/
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pauladeen_official/
Follow me on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pauladeen/
Sign up for my Newsletters: https://mailchi.mp/pauladeen.com/youtube
------------------------
Sign up for my email mailing list and get 3 FREE helpful kitchen printables: https://www.pauladeen.com/printables/
Find more recipes and videos on my website: https://www.PaulaDeen.com
Click here to shop my products on my online store: https://pauladeenshop.com/
Click here to visit my Amazon shop page: https://www.amazon.com/pauladeen
------------------------
#pauladeen #loveandbestdishes
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
- The last recipe that Michael and I are sharing with y'all
0:05
that was served at our wedding reception,
0:08
500 people were there,
0:09
great time of day.
0:11
I didn't even realize I knew 500 people.
0:14
How about you?
0:16
- Well, yeah, I knew it,
0:17
I had that many fans.
0:20
- (laughs) Well, you were born here,
0:23
so naturally you would know more.
0:25
All right, and this,
0:28
you know, I just heard so many good things
0:31
about everything that we served.
0:34
And living in the Lowcountry
0:38
and the Deep South,
0:41
we had to have grits and we had to have shrimp,
0:45
wild Georgia shrimp,
0:46
which is what we are cooking today.
0:49
So I'm gonna quickly go through the steps with y'all
0:53
on how to cook what I consider good grits.
0:59
So it's always best,
1:04
it's always best
1:05
to measure your grits.
1:08
Now I'm gonna cook one cup of grits
1:11
and I've got two cups of water.
1:15
And about a teaspoon of salt,
1:19
so we're gonna let that come to a ball.
1:22
All right, so here we go,
1:23
I always use quick grits.
1:27
They can be ready in five minutes.
1:29
I don't ever cook 'em for five minutes,
1:31
so I cook 'em longer.
1:34
But if I bought the long cooking grits
1:37
and I didn't have the time,
1:40
then I'm still, I'm looking at 45 minutes.
1:44
So I would rather use the quick cooking
1:47
and if I need 'em quick,
1:49
they'll be ready.
1:51
So, and I cook my grits several...
1:56
I just do what my tongue feels like
1:59
when I'm making my grits.
2:01
It's very important that you have one of these.
2:05
And when you're stirring in your grits,
2:09
you wanna stir, stir, stir.
2:11
Make sure every one of those little pods of grits is wet
2:17
because it will stick
2:18
and it will dry real quick.
2:20
Now I'm going by the directions
2:22
for water equal grits.
2:25
But that's gonna change
2:28
because I cook mine longer than five minutes.
2:31
So I'll be adding,
2:34
sometimes, I add cream cheese,
2:38
sometimes I'll add sour cream,
2:42
sometimes I'll just add butter and cheese.
2:46
Which is your favorite one?
2:48
- I don't know,
2:49
I just do it on the box.
2:50
So that's why I think it's a good idea for you
2:52
to tell people how you do it because yours is much better.
2:55
- Well, thank you.
2:59
Let's see,
3:00
what did I want to-
3:02
- But I wouldn't give 'em options.
3:03
I'd do it the way you do it.
3:05
- Well, I do it several different ways.
3:07
- What's your best one?
3:09
What's your best one?
3:09
- It just depends on
3:11
what I'm serving with it. - The sour cream,
3:12
I like it with sour cream.
3:15
- I like it with cream cheese.
3:16
- Okay.
3:17
- I love it with cream cheese and butter.
3:19
- All right, let's do that.
3:21
- Okay (chuckles)
3:22
- I'm ready.
3:23
- I got to find some cream cheese.
3:26
Your water is just beginning to boil
3:32
and I'm gonna stir in my grits
3:42
and I'm gonna stay with 'em and stir 'em,
3:46
you know, a couple of minutes.
3:49
And, you know, I put salt in the water.
3:53
That is so important
3:57
because if you go into a restaurant
4:01
and they have not put salt in the water,
4:03
it is so hard to get 'em salty.
4:08
But it works real good
4:10
if you'll just go ahead and salt that water.
4:13
Real important.
4:25
Okie-dokie.
4:26
And we're going to turn these down
4:30
and I have found with a gas stove,
4:35
it is hard to simmer grits.
4:39
All right, I'm gonna put a little butter,
4:42
not a whole bunch.
4:46
Put in my cream cheese
4:50
and it's gonna be so good.
4:54
So you can see how these can be ready in five minutes
4:59
because if you cook 'em as long as I do,
5:01
you're gonna have to keep adding a liquid to it.
5:06
So my liquid
5:12
I think
5:18
is gonna be a little half and half.
5:23
You know, and I could add more water,
5:27
and I might wind up doing that
5:30
but right now,
5:32
I'm just gonna 'cause I want 'em creamy.
5:36
So I'll just watch that
5:42
'cause they're already pretty thick
5:48
so I'll keep adjusting it.
5:52
Michael, do you like spoon grits or fork grits?
5:57
- [Michael] I like fork.
5:59
- Fork, okay, so when somebody down south asks you that,
6:06
Michael just said he likes fork grits.
6:10
So some people make 'em so thin
6:12
you have to eat 'em with a spoon.
6:16
But we do like fork grits.
6:21
- [Michael] What do you like?
6:22
- I like fork grits.
6:25
But creamy fork grits,
6:27
I like a happy medium.
6:29
We just gonna let these grits do their magic.
6:35
Look how thick they are.
6:37
That's way too thick.
6:41
Way too thick.
6:42
So I'm gonna be adding a little water
6:45
along the way
6:49
and a little cream as we go.
6:52
Now these are wild Georgia shrimp that I'm using.
6:57
Michael has a friend that's a shrimper.
7:01
And he goes out, does he go out every day, Michael?
7:05
- [Michael] Who?
7:06
- Your shrimper buddy.
7:08
- [Michael] All or not.
7:10
- Anyway, these are wild Georgia shrimp.
7:14
And if I was serving
7:18
shrimp and grits in a bowl,
7:20
I would probably leave the shrimp whole,
7:26
but for this, I'm gonna chop 'em up because,
7:29
and you'll understand why when you see how we serve them.
7:35
So I'm just gonna give these a rough chop.
7:40
All right, our grits are there.
7:41
They've probably been cooking like 30 minutes,
7:44
don't you think? - Yeah.
7:45
- So now I'm gonna start the goods.
7:51
The goods is the bacon.
7:56
I don't have any tasso,
7:58
but I do have a little bit of smoked bacon,
8:01
so it's not gonna hurt.
8:02
We'll put a little bit of that in it.
8:05
- Smoked ham.
8:06
- Yeah, that's just regular smoked ham.
8:11
And I need a little olive, a little olive.
8:17
- Cripes.
8:21
- Just a couple of tablespoons.
8:26
So we're gonna let that bacon
8:31
sizzle around in there for a few minutes now,
8:34
I'm not gonna cook it til it's like hard,
8:38
I like some flavor left in my bacon.
8:41
(pan sizzling)
8:44
And you wanna take a look at the grits, Michael,
8:49
and see what you think,
8:50
here is the stirrer.
8:55
And while we got that lid off,
8:57
I'm gonna put some fresh ground black,
8:59
oh, that's salt,
9:02
okay, I think I got enough salt in,
9:04
some fresh ground black pepper.
9:07
(pepper whirring)
9:14
All right,
9:14
and your grits are gonna get
9:16
thicker and thicker as they sit, so I'm gonna add-
9:22
- [Michael] It's perfect.
9:23
- I'm gonna add a little bit more hot water.
9:28
- [Michael] Not much.
9:29
- No, I'm not gonna do much
9:32
because we're gonna have the juice from the shrimp,
9:36
you know that it's gonna coat those grits.
9:46
They look good, don't they?
9:47
- Yeah.
9:48
- Now you can just put the lid back on them,
9:50
and here you can put your beater thing
9:54
right down the butter.
9:59
I think we could about cut those off.
10:02
- Cut it off?
10:03
- Yeah, that first one.
10:06
Yeah, I think we could cut it off in that
10:08
'cause they're gonna stay hot for a few minutes.
10:16
All right, now we've got leeks,
10:21
we've got a little bell pepper,
10:22
we've got onion.
10:24
And I'm gonna go ahead and throw
10:27
the onion and the bell pepper in
10:30
'cause it'll catch up with the bacon in just a minute.
10:38
And, you know, we did in the restaurant,
10:40
we did these all to order.
10:43
- Mm-hm.
10:46
- Because that's the way it's the best.
10:49
(pan sizzling)
10:54
It's looking pretty good, ain't it?
10:56
- Mm-hm, yes, it is.
10:59
- Yes, it is, so I'm gonna go ahead and add the leeks.
11:05
And we're using just the white part of the leeks.
11:14
- Just like onion, leeks?
11:16
- Yeah, kinda.
11:22
See if you can taste that.
11:25
They don't have a whole bunch of taste, but they have some.
11:32
What does that taste like to you?
11:35
- Tastes like a leek.
11:37
(Paula laughing)
11:45
- This is looking very, very good.
11:52
Now shrimp won't take but just a minute.
11:56
Now we're gonna add a little white wine and kinda let
12:05
that pan just deglaze.
12:08
(pan sizzling)
12:12
And if you don't have any white wine,
12:13
don't worry about it.
12:20
- Put a beer in it.
12:23
- Beer never hurt a little shrimp and grits.
12:26
- Mm.
12:29
- Okay, do you want to show everybody
12:33
how we served this at our reception?
12:38
The glasses are right back there.
12:42
There you go.
12:45
So you see that's why I chopped up our shrimp.
12:51
Right, now, Michael, if you would dip up
12:55
some grits in each of those
12:57
and try to keep it off the rim of the glass.
13:03
All right, now I'm gonna add our shrimp.
13:05
Need a spoon? Oh gosh, darn it.
13:09
There's spoons right here, Michael.
13:12
See right there?
13:14
- That's where you keep 'em?
13:15
- Yeah. (laughs)
13:18
Yep, that's where we keep them.
13:26
Oh, this is looking so good.
13:34
I am gonna try to add a little bit more black pepper.
13:39
I made us a salad the other night and I picked it up
13:42
and just started the thing,
13:44
and Eddie had just filled it up
13:45
and I dumped the whole case on our salad.
13:50
- Is that enough or not enough?
13:51
- I would put just maybe another little scoop.
13:56
Not too much, but just a little bit.
14:06
Okay, our shrimp are turning pink.
14:11
Now, we're gonna add our heavy cream
14:20
and let all those flavors come together
14:26
and let it thicken up.
14:28
Now if you don't have any of this base,
14:33
you know, it's okay.
14:35
A little chicken base wouldn't be bad in it.
14:39
Uh-uh, I got a lobster base
14:43
so I'm gonna stick with the seafood,
14:44
and you see I'm not
14:45
putting much at all. - That thickens it up?
14:47
- No, it gives it flavor.
14:51
It gives it a lobster flavor.
15:02
Just a little bit.
15:06
I wonder if I can get some more pepper.
15:10
(pepper whirring)
15:18
Yeah.
15:19
- Perfect.
15:20
- Yeah, we did it.
15:25
See it's starting to thicken
15:30
and I've turned up the heat on it.
15:35
Yum.
15:38
All right, excuse me, just one second.
15:54
It's pretty good.
15:59
You know what I'm gonna do?
16:01
- What?
16:02
- I'm gonna sprinkle a little Old Bay in there
16:09
and that will kick up that shrimp.
16:13
You wanna take?
16:14
We don't like Old Bay either. (laughs)
16:22
Okay, we don't wanna cook it too long
16:24
because we don't want our shrimp to get too tough.
16:31
So I'm gonna turn that off.
16:48
This is just how we served it
16:51
at our reception, Michael.
17:07
Yum, I'm gonna add a little bit more cream
17:12
'cause the recipe called for a cup.
17:19
I think that looked like the biggest,
17:22
so I'll give you the biggest.
17:24
Now we have fork grits,
17:27
but I prefer to eat mine with a spoon.
17:32
If you're having a cocktail party,
17:35
this is a great way,
17:38
this is a great way to serve your hors d'oeuvres,
17:44
and they probably got a smaller,
17:46
no, thank you, it's hot. (chuckles)
17:49
They probably make a smaller martini glass, right, Eddie?
17:54
So if it's appetizers or just heavy hors d'oeuvres.
17:59
- Mm, it's delicious.
18:00
- Is it? Good, I'm so glad you like it.
18:16
That Old Bay.
18:18
- Mm, I love it.
18:20
(pepper whirring)
18:21
- Just gave it
18:25
a wonderful little kick.
18:27
Oh my, the stem's even getting hot, y'all.
18:32
Mm.
18:35
- So good.
18:37
- I'm telling you what, and like I said,
18:40
on the other hot table,
18:41
we had mashed potatoes with a pot roast and gravy on top.
18:48
The food was magnificent.
18:50
My restaurant family was fantastic,
18:56
they did it all perfectly.
19:01
I got my own. (laughs)
19:05
Mm, mm.
19:07
- My favorite kind of martini.
19:09
- Me too.
19:10
(Michael laughing)
19:12
- Eddie, are you ready for a martini?
19:17
You are?
19:19
Theresa, you ready for a martini?
19:21
- [Theresa] I'm good right at this moment.
19:23
- Oh good, we'll eat your share.
19:26
Mm.
19:27
- Delicious.
19:29
- It is so good and it's so easy to make, y'all.
19:34
And if you don't live on the coast,
19:35
you can still in your grocery store,
19:40
on occasion, if I'm in a tight, I'll buy frozen shrimp.
19:46
Oh, they're good,
19:47
you've never turned your nose up
19:48
at any of 'em. - I know, I know.
19:51
- So don't let not having wild Georgia shrimp
19:55
stop you from making this delicious dish, y'all.
20:00
So love and best dishes
20:02
and happy anniversary.
20:06
(both laughing)
20:08
Love and best dishes, y'all.
20:10
- Bye y'all.
20:13
Hey, y'all, it's Paula Deen.
20:15
Now, if you enjoyed this video, be sure to like it
20:19
and click the subscribe button as well as the notification
20:23
bell to be alerted when I post a video.
20:26
Love and Best Dishes Y'all.
#Food & Drink
#Hobbies & Leisure