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Creamy grits are a classic southern side dish. You often see them served with breakfast or sometimes at dinner with shrimp. Made from cornmeal, grits aren’t low-carb at all. But, with a few tips and tricks, this Easy Cheese Cauliflower Grits recipe is a fantastic grain-free and keto grits option.
Why make grits with cauliflower?
I love savory breakfasts. Big plates of eggs and bacon with all the sides are a nice twist from things like Keto Pancakes or Keto French Toast Sticks.
Of course all those sides that go with bacon and eggs are generally full of carbs like home fries or my favorite creamy grits. But, grits don’t make the cut.
Why?
Because traditional grits come from boiled cornmeal, a grain. And like most grains, cornmeal packs loads of carbs. This recipe for Easy Cheese Cauliflower Grits is my keto-friendly remake to cheese grits.
Instead of using cornmeal, I substitute cauliflower rice for the grits, making this low-carb and keto-friendly.
How many carbs are in cauliflower?
One cup of cauliflower is much lower in carbs than one cup of grits. According to Fat Secret, a cup of cauliflower rice has about 5 grams of carbs.
Because cauliflower is so much lower in carbs than most grains, cauliflower is very popular in the low carb and keto community. In fact, I wrote an entire post of low carb cauliflower recipes that incorporate this veggie into breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
How do you use cauliflower to make grits?
Use cauliflower rice to mimic the grains
The basis of this cheesy cauliflower grits recipe is cauliflower rice. Cauliflower rice mimics the grains in grits and provides the base for the grits.
You can either buy pre-made cauliflower rice like I do in the fresh or frozen vegetable section of the grocery store.
You can also make cauliflower rice yourself at home to save yourself a few dollars. If you want to make it yourself at home, you can do it several ways.
Some ways to make cauliflower rice
- Use a box grater and grate a head of cauliflower against it. The cauliflower will grate down nicely to make cauliflower rice.
- Use a food processor, which is probably the easiest way to make cauliflower rice at home. If you do it in a food processor, take the big center stem out. Then, cut the head of cauliflower into coarse pieces and throw it in your food processor. Pulse it until you get the desired texture, scraping the sides down until all the pieces are roughly the same size.
Use Your Riced Cauliflower to Make Low Carb Grits
Once you have your cauliflower rice, you can go ahead and use it to make your grits. Set it aside while you heat a pan over medium low heat. Then, add heavy cream, chicken stock, cream cheese, butter, salt, black pepper, cheddar cheese, and chives to the pan. The heavy cream and cheese will give you the creamiest consistency and makes these cauliflower grits feel so decadent.
When all your ingredients are in the pan, whisk them together until the cream cheese melts. Then, just add the cauliflower rice and let it cook in the velvety sauce until the rice is tender.
What to Serve this With:
Breakfast Options:
I’d recommend these Cheese Cauliflower Grits with an egg, homemade chicken sausage, or air fryer bacon for breakfast. I really like No Sugar Added Whole30 Jalapeño Bacon. I’m also a big fan of getting bacon and sausage shipped directly to me from Butcher Box.
Dinner Options:
Besides breakfast, these are also one of my favorite dinner side dishes. I enjoy them with Pan-seared Shrimp or Air Fryer Salmon. These also help make an amazing low-carb substitute for my shrimp and grits recipe.
More Keto & Low-carb Cauliflower Recipes
Because cauliflower is such a power player in the low-carb world, you’ll find tons of other cauliflower recipes on this site. Some of my favorites are:
- Cauliflower Fried Rice
- Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
- Scallops and Cauliflower Rice Risotto
- Loaded Cauliflower
- Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
- Keto Mushroom Risotto
It also makes a great crust for pizza! You can check out my cauliflower pizza crust recipes.
Easy Cheesy Cauliflower Rice Grits Recipe
Use DRDAVINAHS at checkout to save on some equipment & ingredients!
Ingredients
- 1 lb Cauliflower Rice, ~4 cups
- 1 cup Organic Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1/2 cup Chicken Broth
- 2 oz Cream Cheese
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1 tsp Natural Ancient Sea Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Dried Chives, scallions also work well
- 1/2 cup grated mild cheddar cheese, you can add more cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Heat a skillet to medium-low heat
- Add heavy cream, chicken stock, cream cheese, butter, salt, black pepper, cheddar cheese, and chives to the pan. Whisk together until cream cheese is melted (~5 minutes)
- Add cauliflower rice to the pan and cook in sauce until tender (~10 minutes was enough for me, but I’d check at 5 minute intervals).
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people. This is provided as a courtesy, but you can do your own calculations if you wish!
Nicole says
I am new to your blog and this is my second recipe. The garlic parmesan chicken wings were awesome BUT these cauliflower grits are the TRUTH! I scrambled some eggs and cut up an avocado on the side. I closed my eyes and enjoyed!
Dr. Davinah's Eats Team says
Thank you so much for trying our recipe. We’re glad you enjoyed it.
Dahn says
Nothing better than guilt-free, healthy comfort food. I’m always so impressed at how well cauliflower can transform into such delicious recipes.
Davinah says
Me too, Dahn! Thanks for taking the time to rate and review this. 🙂
Sue says
This is a perfect side for a low carb meal! Thank you!
Dr. Davinah's Eats Team says
We really appreciate you stopping back to write such a thoughtful review.
Anita says
Can you believe this is my first ever grit? It’s so delicious. Now I want to try the original version too. 🙂
Dr. Davinah's Eats Team says
Thank you so much for trying our recipe. We’re glad you enjoyed it.
Gita says
This is a great addition to my breakfast eggs! I’m always looking for healthy ways to add veggies like cauliflower into tasty meals!
Dr. Davinah's Eats Team says
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. Hope you enjoyed our recipe.
Jen says
So good! I am a grits girl and this is definitely a keeper.
Davinah says
Glad this low-carb version worked for you too!
Jessica A. says
Delicious was hesitant to try because cauliflower rice ive made before wasnt great. But this recipe was outstanding everyone loved it. I didn’t have chives so i used scallions and used a bit mor cheddar let it cook about 20 min and it became so creamy. Thank you for sharing this recipe and others. I have lost 45 lbs since feb 1 2020 on keto eating great things like this cheesey cauli rice.
Davinah says
Wow! I’m so happy that you enjoyed this recipe and have had so much success on your keto journey – it’s super inspiring! I appreciate you for taking the time to stop back and write a review. It helps so much for others who aren’t sure whether to make this too!
Best,
Davinah
BB says
What included has sugar?
Davinah says
Hi BB,
Cauliflower has a bit of naturally occurring sugar. None of the recipes on this site include added sugar.
Hope that helps!
Best,
Davinah
Elizabeth says
Where or when do you add in the cheddar cheese? It doesn’t haven’t it anywhere in the recipe.
drdavinahseats says
Hi Elizabeth,
You can add it in step #2. This post needs to be updated with a recipe card. Thanks for pointing this out.
Best,
Davinah