If you knew anything about me during my collegiate years, during the season of love (aka Valentine’s Day) I would always celebrate with my single girls by making a nice home cook meal. Today we call it Galentine’s! None the less, I have continued to carry on that tradition through the years even after college.
I started this tradition by making shrimp and grits or my personal favorite shrimp and polenta! As you may know, Polenta is a yellow corn grit that is enjoyed all through the south and often served with cheese. As good as my shrimp and polenta recipe was in the past, with my new discovery of my food allergies and intolerances, I have worked to create a dairy-free alternative to satisfy this classic cajun craving with my lactose intolerance.
Here is my Dairy-Free twist to my Cajun Style Shrimp and Polenta!
*Polenta or Grits of any kind are derived from corn.
Warning: this recipe contains Shellfish (Crustaceans)
Ingredients:
- Shrimp
- Bacon
- Polenta/Yellow Grits
- Onion
- Garlic
- Vegan Butter
- Arrowroot Powder
- Chicken Broth
- Lemon Juice
- Plant-Based Milk
- Vegan Cheddar
- Cayenne Pepper
- Old Bay Seasoning
- Adobo Seasoning
- Salt & Pepper
- Parsley
Materials
- Medium Mixing Bowl
- Spatula
- Medium Dutch Cooking Pot
- Medium Sautéing Pan
- Measuring Cups & Spoons
- Whisk
- Blender
- Large Serving Spoons
In a small bowl, combine 1 cup plant milk and lemon juice and set aside in the fridge to create your dairy-free heavy cream.
Optional: In a medium mixing bowl season Jumbo Shrimp to your liking with cajun seasoning.
In your medium dutch pan, begin cooking bacon until crispy on both sides, once finished remove bacon from pan, reduce stove heat, to begin cooking shrimp for 2-3mins on each side until light pink. After shrimp is lightly cooked remove from pan and set shrimp aside in a warm place.
Begin cooking the grits: In a medium pot, bring water, salt, and plant milk to a boil on high heat.
Next, add your diced onion and minced garlic to the pan and cook until onion is transparent, the oil from the bacon will help cook the onion and garlic and season the sauce.
Tip: you can use any bacon you prefer, if not a fan of bacon remove from the recipe and substitute bacon with cooking oil
When onions are transparent, add arrowroot to the pan and combine until onion is fully coated and oil is removed, next add chicken broth and whisk until thickened. The mixture should look similar to gelatin.
Once thicken, add ” dairy-free heavy cream” mixture, butter, cayenne, old bay, adobo, hot sauce, salt & pepper and allow to simmer on low.
When the water and milk begin to boil, stir in polenta and reduce the pot to low heat and let simmer for 30mins, stirring occasionally.
While Grits cook, remove the saucepan from heat and pour your sauce into a blender and blend until smooth for 30-40 seconds. After blending, return the sauce to the cooking pan and cook on medium-low heat adding half of the cooked shrimp and half the chopped green onion to the sauce.
Once grits have thickened, remove from heat and stir in butter and vegan cheddar, and cover pot until melted.
When cheesy grits have finished cooking, prepare a bowl of grits top with shrimp sauce and garnish with leftover shrimp, green onion, and bacon crumbles and serve!
Dairy-Free Shrimp and Grits
A Dairy-free twist on a Cajun classic
Ingredients
- 1 Ib Jumbo Shrimp
- 4 strips Bacon
- ½ White Onion diced
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- ¼ cup Vegan Butter unsalted
- 3 tbsp Arrowroot Powder
- 1 cup Chicken Broth
- 1 cup Plant-Milk creamy, unsweetened
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 tsp Old Bay
- ½ tsp Adobo
- 2 tsp Hot Sauce
- 1 tsp Salt & Pepper
- Parsley
- 3 stalks Green Onion chopped
"Cheese" Grits
- 1 cup Polenta/Yellow Grits
- 2 cups Plant Milk original, unsweetened
- 2 cups Water
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Vegan Butter unsalted
- 1 cup Vegan Cheddar Shreds
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine 1 cup plant milk and lemon juice and set aside in the fridge
- Optional: Season Jumbo Shrimp to your liking with cajun seasoning
- In a medium dutch pan, begin cooking bacon until crispy on both sides
- When finished cooking, remove bacon from pan, reduce stove heat, and begin cooking shrimp for 2-3mins on each side until light pink
- After shrimp is lightly cooked remove from pan and set shrimp aside in a warm place
- Begin cooking the grits: In a medium pot, bring water, salt, and plant milk to a boil on high heat
- Next, add diced onion and minced garlic to the pan and cook until onion is transparent
- When onions are transparent, add arrowroot to the pan and combine until onion is fully coated and oil is removed
- In the dutch pan, add chicken broth and whisk until thickened
- Once thicken, add milk+lemon juice mixture, butter, cayenne, old bay, adobo, hot sauce, salt & pepper
- When the water and milk begin to boil, stir in polenta and reduce pot to low heat and let simmer for 30mins, stirring occasionally
- While Grits cook, remove sauce from heat and pour into a blender and blend until smooth for 30-40 seconds
- After blending, return the sauce to the cooking pan and cook on medium-low heat adding in half of the cooked shrimp and half the chopped green onion to the sauce
- Once grits have thickened, remove from heat and stir in butter and vegan cheddar, and cover pot until melted
- When cheesy grits have finished cooking, prepare a bowl of grits top with shrimp sauce and garnish with leftover shrimp, green onion, and bacon crumbles and serve
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