Grillades and Grits is a dish that originated in the fabulous city of New Orleans and is typically served for breakfast or brunch. Start to finish this dish takes nearly two hours to make so I usually skip tradition and serve Grillades and Grits for supper. Because lordy, I can’t wait that long for my breakfast.
What Are Grillades
Grillades and Grits is a great way to turn an inexpensive cut of meat into a super flavorful comfort meal. The meat is slow-cooked until tender in a red gravy flavored with the Holy Trinity (onions, celery, and green peppers) plus plenty of garlic.
The Grillades (pronounced GREE-ahds) get served over warm and creamy grits for a stick-to-your-ribs meal. I use top round steak but Grillades and Grits are sometimes made with pork or veal.
Typically some red wine is added to the sauce, but I don’t always want to open a bottle so I used a small splash of red wine vinegar to add some flavor depth.
Type Of Grits
I recommend using Stone Ground Grits to make the grits. They take longer to cook and are harder to find but they cook up much creamier and more delicious than grits that are more heavily processed. Palmetto Farms makes good grits and they can be ordered online from Amazon
. They come in both white and yellow. I typically use white, but it comes down to personal preference.
Recipe Tip
Stone Ground Grits are very perishable and should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer once the bag is opened. I find that uncooked Stone Ground Grits freeze very well so I store them in my freezer.
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Grillades and Grits
Ingredients
Grillades
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds top round steak,, cut into 1/2-inch slices
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cajun seasoning
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil,, divided
- 1 celery stalk,, chopped
- 1 onion,, chopped
- 1/2 green pepper,, diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper,, diced
- 3 cloves garlic,, minced
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can beef broth
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted tomatoes,, undrained
- 2 leaves bay
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon tabasco sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Grits
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup stone-ground grits,, I like white grits
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Combine flour and cajun seasoning in a large plastic bag. Add steak and shake to coat evenly.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a cast iron Dutch oven or a deep pan set over medium-high heat.
- Add steak and brown on both sides. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add remaining oil to pan along with celery, onion , green pepper, and red pepper. Cook until soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Sprinkle 1 tablespoon flour over the veggies and stir to mix it in well.
- Gradually stir in the beef broth and then add the can of tomatoes.
- Add bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, Tabasco sauce, and Italian seasoning.
- Add steak back to pan, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile make grits. To make grits, bring water, milk, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan.
- Gradually whisk in grits so that they do not clump. Turn heat to low and cook according to package directions (probably a good 45 minutes for stone-ground or shorter for quick grits.) Stir frequently to prevent the grits from scorching on the bottom of the pan. If grits are getting too thick, you can add more water.
- Once done, turn heat off and stir in butter, cheeses, and white pepper. Keep warm.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Originally posted October 13, 2015.
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WOW! I made this tonight for the first time (and for company) and it was such a hit!! ♥️♥️
I made this and it was amazing! I served it for dinner (probably a cardinal sin) and my husband and I both loved it. I had leftovers for breakfast the next morning with a poached egg on top and it was great!
I used this recipe as a starting point since I have eaten, and love, grillades, but never made them on my own. It turned out fantastically tasty. We ended up with extra debris, so I added ground meat and sausage and served it over rice a few nights later.
Great recipe. I added a few tbsp. of red pepper tapenade.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. The meat was a little tough but next time I will braise it a bit before adding the vegetables. We will be serving this for guests for Fat Tuesday. Thank you again for sharing, we really found this to be delicious.
The recommendation on the grits was also appreciated, the perfect accompaniment.
Do you have a recommendation for a vegetable side dish for this meal?
I had these for the first time when I travelled with a group from New Orleans and we all took turns cooking. One of the guys cooked and they were out delicious! A couple years later I traveled to New Orleans and ate them at brunch and again, loved them. This recipe looks wonderful!
Editing my post (Mary M) since I don’t know how to exactly – it was always with pork.
I’ve been eating Grillades all my life and cooking them for almost 50 years. Any meat will work, vegan is also good. There is no one way to make Grillades, but this is a great recipe to learn about the wonderful flavor they have. Add cayenne to liven it up a little is my only suggestion. They good good over rice, potatoes or what ever you want to use or just on some good French bread.
Your picture grabbed my attention because I had never heard of Grillades and I’ve never cooked stone ground grits before. This was hands down my favorite recipe. Like you, I did use a substitute for the red wine. I used Balsamic vinegar and I didn’t have onions due to the recall but I did use onion flakes. I had a shredded Triple cheddar cheese on hand so I used that. I refused to put off making this recipe again because I didn’t have the exact ingredients. It was delicious! Also, thank you for the note on storing stone ground grits once opened because I hadn’t a clue.
Big fan of New Orleans culture,music food etc…heard of grillades in an episode of CSI New Orleans…googled it to see what it was…and gonna have a crack at making it!
Has anyone tried this with chicken?
Griads isn’t beef! It’s sliced pork! C’mon couyon!!!
Evan, looking at your last name, I assume you are from this area. I was born and raised in New Orleans. My Nanan made grillades with baby veal. Have you heard of that.
True dat!
Actually most traditional grillads recipes are beef not pork. 9th generation New Orleans resident. Thanks and have been making this dish since I was a kid with BEEF and never once with pork.
That’s how my mother made it and how I make grillades. My family begs for it so I usually double the recipe and freeze. But they don’t like grits, so we serve it over baked Mac ‘n’ cheese. Originally from New Orleans but was transplanted in 1959 to El Paso, Texas, now live in New Mexico.
I use this recipe as a starting point. I have my meat cut into more chunky pieces and cook it a bit before adding the veggies — I want it to be very tender by the time we have it for dinner. Also, one stalk of celery? Pleeez! This is cajun food! Try half to three-quarters of the stalk! Nothing sings flavor in Cajun Cooking like celery. And if you don’t have red wine, red wine vinegar is okay, but I prefer the port that I keep in my cupboard for French Onion Soup. Still, all and all, this is a good recipe. Most recipes should be basic and let the cook put in a little bit o’ dis and some more of dat.