Polenta vs. Grits: The Difference Between Grits and Polenta

Grits are a type of porridge made from cornmeal, or ground corn kernels, first eaten by Native Americans and later popularized in the American South as a type of comfort food. Grits are most often made with white corn but can also be made with yellow corn, resulting in white grits and yellow grits respectively.

Grits are typically cooked by boiling the cornmeal grains in either water or broth until it becomes a runny yet creamy porridge. It is typically served either as a breakfast dish or as a side dish alongside cornbread or corn on the cob. It can also be served alongside shrimp to create the Southern dish shrimp and grits.

Polenta is an Italian dish made of coarse-ground cornmeal that is most often made with yellow corn but can also be made with white corn. Polenta is made from flint corn which creates a coarse grind resulting in a firm paste-like product that holds its shape. Some polenta varieties include other grains like ground buckwheat or ground rice. Polenta as a dish is made by boiling the cornmeal and constantly stirring until it softens into a porridge. You can also fry firm polenta to create morsels that are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. It is most often served in Italy as a side dish topped with butter and parmesan cheese and served with veggies

Both grits recipes and polenta are made from stone-ground cornmeal, which is dried corn that has been ground down into a coarse or fine material. However, they differ based on the type of corn used and the fineness of the grind to give them unique textures and flavors.

• Type of corn: Grits and polenta are made with different types of corn that provide different textures. Grits are traditionally made using dent corn, while polenta is made with a variety of Italian flint corn known as otto file. Flint corn is harder than dent corn, and it holds its shape better.
• Flavor: Polenta typically has a subtle floral taste coming from the flint corn, while grits have a stronger corn flavor from the dent corn.
• Color: Traditionally, polenta is made with yellow corn to create a yellow porridge while grits is made with white corn to create a white porridge. However, grits are sometimes made from yellow corn, resulting in “yellow grits.”
• Texture: Traditional polenta cornmeal goes through a repeated milling process that yields a uniform size and texture. Traditional coarse grits are made with a single-pass milling process that yields variation in the size of corn particles.
• Place of origin: Polenta originated in northern Italy, while grits hail from the southern United States.

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