Creamy Grits Casserole (with Ham + Cheese)
Grits Casserole is a savory, delicious dish featuring creamy grits, scrambled eggs, shredded cheese, and diced ham for a special breakfast that's hearty, comforting, and perfect for making ahead!
School mornings around here are hectic, so I generally try to whip up big batches of breakfast foods on the weekend for quick reheating on weekday mornings. This typically results a stockpile of things like waffles, pancakes, muffins, granola, granola bars, and baked oatmeal. But it's all too easy to get stuck in a rut, so sometimes, I like to shake things up with a breakfast that's slightly out of the ordinary...like this creamy, hearty, delicious Grits Casserole!
Grits may be a stereotypically southern staple, but this eggy, cheesy, ham-studded Grits Casserole transcends regional differences.
This dish is comparable to a regular egg-based breakfast casserole, but the inclusion of cooked grits gives it a heartiness and bite that would otherwise be lacking. In simple terms, it's comforting and filling and just plain good!
Ingredients
Making this Grits Casserole requires just a handful of basic ingredients:
- Milk + salt. For cooking the grits. If using whole or 2% milk, you can opt to substitute water for up to 1 cup of the milk. If using skim milk, use all milk.
- Quick-cooking grits. Uncooked. If you have regular grits instead of quick-cooking grits, their cooking time will be a bit longer. Instant grits are not recommended.
- Unsalted butter. To add richness and creaminess to the grits.
- Eggs. To bind all of the ingredients.
- Cheese. Shredded. I typically use sharp cheddar, but feel free to swap in your favorite. Monterey jack, Swiss, or even pepper jack (for some kick!) would also be tasty.
- Ham. Diced. This Grits Casserole is a great way to use up leftover holiday ham! Alternatively, you may substitute chopped cooked bacon or cooked crumbled sausage for the ham.
How to Make Grits Casserole
(The below photos are intended to be helpful, but please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for FULL DIRECTIONS.)
Making this Grits Casserole recipe is both simple and straightforward!
- Preheat the oven and generously grease or spray a 9- by 13-inch baking dish.
- In a medium pot set over medium heat, combine milk and salt. Bring to a boil, then pour in grits while stirring constantly. Return to a boil and then lower the heat. Continue stirring for several minutes until the grits thicken.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the butter until fully melted. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, scramble the eggs.
- Stir in the grated cheese, diced ham, and cooled-down, cooked grits.
- Pour the egg/grits mixture into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake the Grits Casserole in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until puffy and golden brown.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Make-Ahead Options
This breakfast casserole is fantastic for our aforementioned hectic mornings. At some point during the weekend, I simply bake it up, allow it to cool, cut it into squares, and store those in a container in the refrigerator. Then when each family member is ready for breakfast later in the week, all I have to do is pop their serving into the microwave or toaster oven for a quick reheating. Side of fruit, glass of milk, and breakfast is served!
However, this cheesy Grits Casserole also makes a perfect breakfast or brunch dish to serve to guests, and it would be wonderful on a holiday morning when you want a special breakfast that doesn't require you to get bogged down in the kitchen!
To prep this recipe ahead of time, assemble the casserole as directed but do not bake. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temperature and uncover before baking as directed in preheated oven.
Or you can actually prepare and bake the whole casserole the night before, then refrigerate it overnight. In the morning, simply cover your dish with foil and stick it in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes. Voilà...a fresh, hot breakfast in a flash!
You may also bake this Grits Casserole, cool, cover tightly, and then freeze it for up to 1 month. Defrost your casserole overnight in the refrigerator, bring it to room temperature, and then reheat it in the oven as indicated above (350°F for 15 minutes).
So the next time you're thinking about making a yummy, eggy breakfast casserole, consider enhancing it with grits instead of predictable ol' hunks of bread or hash browns! Even my pickiest child -- who refuses to eat grits when I drown them with butter and honey -- loves this Grits Casserole. It's hearty, it's comforting, it's perfect for any season, and it's always well-received by family or guests.
I hope you enjoy this one, friends!
More Savory Recipes for Breakfast or Brunch
- Frittata Muffins
- Green Chile Cheddar Egg Bake
- Ground Beef, Egg, & Cheese Breakfast Casserole
- Asparagus Tart with Ham + Mushrooms
- Easy Homemade Breakfast Sausage
Creamy Grits Casserole (with Ham + Cheese)
Ingredients
- 3 cups milk
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (uncooked) quick-cooking grits
- ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
- 8 large eggs
- 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheese, such as sharp cheddar
- 2 cups diced ham
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish with butter or coat it with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium pot, mix the milk and salt and bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, slowly pour in the grits, bringing to a boil and then lowering the heat to a simmer. Continue stirring until the grits have thickened (the total cooking time will be around 5 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until melted. Set aside to slightly cool.
- In a large bowl, scramble the eggs. Mix in the cheese, ham, and cooked grits. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until puffy and golden brown. Serve warm.
Video
Notes
- If you have regular grits instead of quick-cooking grits, they will need to be cooked closer to 10 minutes. Instant grits are not recommended.
- If using whole milk or 2% milk, you may substitute water for 1 cup of the milk, if desired. If using skim milk, use all milk and no water.
- You may use your favorite type of cheese, such as cheddar, Monterey Jack, pepper jack, or Swiss.
- You may substitute chopped cooked bacon or cooked crumbled sausage for the ham.
- To prep this Grits Casserole ahead of time, assemble the casserole as directed but do not bake. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temperature and uncover before baking in preheated oven.
- As another make-ahead option, you can bake your Grits Casserole as directed, allow it to cool, cover, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, bring the casserole to room temperature, cover it with foil, and bake at 350°F for 15 minutes or until reheated.
- Finally, you may freeze your baked, cooled, and tightly-covered Grits Casserole for up to 1 month. Defrost the casserole overnight in the refrigerator, bring it to room temperature, and then reheat it in the oven as indicated above (350°F for 15 minutes).
Nutrition
Adapted from Perfect Party Food. Post originally published on September 25, 2013, and updated on April 1, 2020, and March 11, 2024.
This creamy grits casserole was so easy to make and it turned out delicious.
this recipe is one of my four year old granddaughters all time favorite meals!
I made this for an office breakfast and it was so delicious! i've been asked to make it again. I can't remember though if i put a block of cream cheese in, would that change the texture too much? prevent it from setting?
This was amazing. I never thought to make a breakfast casserole with grits! It was the best kind of hot breakfast food 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I thought I wouldn't like grits, and then I had this casserole at a party. I fell in love. So glad my friend shared the recipe with me!
I'd never cooked grits before, but this was a great way to enjoy them for the first time. This grits casserole was a big hit with my entire family!
This was a huge success at my monthly brunch party. YUM!
my husband LOVES grits. I couldn't wait to make this for him. he said it was incredible!
Made this grits casseroles to take to MOPS for our weekly potluck breakfast. Everyone loved it!
This Southern girl can't wait to try this grits casserole! Planning to have enough leftover ham from Thanksgiving and will be making this weekend. YUM! Thanks for sharing 🙂
You're so welcome, Kristen...I hope you love it! 🙂 Have a great Thanksgiving!
Ham and grits. Just what a southern girl wants for breakfast. 🙂
Thank you for the lovely breakfast casserole.
You're very welcome, Liz...I hope you enjoyed it! 🙂
I am definitely going to try this recipe over the holidays. Does it matter what type of grits you use (Instant, quick-cooking, regular)??
Hi Dawn! You can use quick-cooking or regular grits. Thanks for the question...hope you enjoy this dish over the holidays! 🙂
Well, I bought the quick-cooking grits; that's all they had. I made the recipe this morning. It was delicious!! Definitely a keeper! Thank you so much.
Yay, Dawn...I'm so glad to hear it! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Can this be made in a crockpot, if you cook grits and then add the items. Just wondering if it would work, so it can cook overnight and already be piping hot when you get up in the morning!
Hi, Holly...great question! I have never tried this recipe in the crock pot, and I'm honestly not sure if it would work well because of the grits. I know that you can cook grits in a crock pot, and I know that you can cook eggs in a crock pot. But if you put the already-cooked grits in the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients, I'm afraid the grits might become really rubbery as the eggs cooked. I don't know for sure, so if you decide to try it, please come back and let me know how it worked out! However, if it were me, I would probably choose an egg casserole that uses bread or hash browns instead of grits to cook in the crock pot.
As I mentioned in the tips and tricks section at the bottom of the recipe, this recipe can be cooked ahead of time and reheated in the morning. It takes a bit of time to reheat, but saves the time it would take to bake and cook the recipe from the beginning.
Hope this helps...have a great Sunday!
I will give it a try on a night when we have breakfast for supper, and let you know how it turns out! That way, if it isn't a success I can always throw some bread in the toaster and scramble some eggs to go with fresh fruit & bacon!
Ha, Holly...that sounds like a very smart plan! 🙂
This looks great! My step-dad loves grits, I'll have to pass this on to my mom. I am not really a grits type of person, however this looks fantastic (I might have to re-try grits with this recipe). Lovely!
(new follower here!)
This looks so yummy! My husband is a grits guy so we are going to have to try this!
This looks great Samantha! I love that you can freeze it! Pinning!
Mmmmmm! This looks delicious! We always get stuck in the same boring rut for breakfast, and this would be great for switching it up. Thanks for sharing, Samantha!