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Grits: Are They Really the Same as Polenta?

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Although the term grits has been extended to refer to any mush made from ground dried corn, historically, grits is a much more specific product that is made from hominy corn. More than just a Southern word for cornmeal, grits are made from a special kind of corn processed with alkali, a method handed down from Native Americans.

bowl of grits with butter

🌽Quick Guide to Grits

  • The Corn: Grits are made from ground hominy corn.
  • Hominy: To make hominy, corn is soaked in an alkali solution of lye or lime in a process called nixtamalization. This corrodes away the outer layers of the grain, leaving only the starchy center.
  • The History: Historically, the term grits referred to ground corn made from hominy and not just any ground cornmeal.
  • The Southern Connection: While the word Nasaump came, in the Northern U.S., came to be associated with any ground corn, the term grits came to be identified with the South, where it always referred to something made with hominy.
  • The Dishes: Grits are most well-known for their part in Shrimp ‘n Grits but the can be widely used as a foundation similar to rice. Southerners are particularly fond of Cheesy Grits. They are also a standard breakfast food or side-dish.

Grits are of Southern origin, and many people believe that grits is just the Southern word for cornmeal cooked in a liquid until thick. Since Polenta, of Italian origin, is a dried whole yellow corn that is ground into a meal and then cooked in a liquid as a “cornmeal mush,” it seems to most that these are just two different words for the same thing.

Grits Diplomacy: Author’s Note: As someone who spent years behind the line at Waffle House, I can tell you that grits aren’t just a side dish; they are a form of diplomacy. Calling them ‘Southern Polenta’ ignores the unique cultural bridge they build.

In the 1980s, everone who walked in the Waffle House door got a bowl of grits, even if they didn’t ask. Being on a major highway, we got a lot of non-Southerners passing through. Most of them, it’s true, did not take to the grits — not that they really tended to give them a fair shake. But some grits were just another way of hollering, “Hello!”

What is Polenta?

Polenta is a word most often used to describe a type of cornmeal mush or porridge made from cornmeal. It can, however, refer to a porridge made from any ground grain and the word actually originates from a Latin word for a barley meal (polenta and corn have become fairly synonymous, though).  

The word polenta often is used to describe not only the dish but the cornmeal itself. Polenta corn meal is typically made from a variety flint corn called eight-row flint, or otto file. This corn was originally introduced to Italy from New England and has been grown and used in Italy since the 1800s. The kernels have a rich orange-yellow color with a high protein and low starch content. The dried corn is more coarsely ground than the finely ground cornmeal we use to make cornbread. 

If you want to make homemade polenta (and you should!) it pays to buy the proper type of polenta cornmeal, such as Roland Polenta. Failing that, an easily found and popular product is Bob’s Red Mill Polenta. The company does not specify the type of corn used, other than a high-quality yellow corn.  Polenta is cooked like a porridge is served not only soft but also set and fried in wedges or other shapes. 

🌾The Amaizing Story of Maize: Wait, you know what, the story of the word “corn” itself is pretty darn interesting. Read the story of how Indian Maize became Corn.

The Real Difference: Grits vs. Polenta

Understanding the distinction between these two is about more than just culinary accuracy; it’s about the language of food and protecting the cultural identity of a dish

It is easy to assume that the difference between these two dishes is merely a matter of geography—that one is simply the “Italian version” of the other. However, once you look past the pot of porridge, you find two entirely different biological and chemical profiles. Using the name of one to describe the other isn’t just a culinary shortcut; it’s an oversight of the unique processing that defines Southern history.

  • The Corn Variety: Polenta is traditionally made from flint corn (like the otto file variety), which is hard and starchy. Grits are almost exclusively made from dent corn, which has a softer, more floury starch.
  • The Chemical Process: This is the most significant divide. Grits are made from hominy, meaning the corn has undergone nixtamalization (soaking in an alkali solution). This process changes the flavor, the texture, and even the nutritional availability of the corn. Polenta is simply ground cornmeal.
  • Texture and Flavor: Because of the nixtamalization, grits have a distinct, slightly “mineral” flavor and a creamy, consistent texture. Polenta tends to be more granular and has a simpler, toasted-corn sweetness.
  • The “Noble” Name vs. The Cultural Root: While polenta is often treated as a “gourmet” ingredient, grits carry the weight of a survival food that was perfected by Native Americans and sustained generations of Southerners.

Today, grits are usually marketed as enriched, or fortified products because of the loss of nutrients due to processing, but the same is true of regular corn meal.

The Redundancy Trap Calling grits “Southern Polenta” is just one way we stumble over food names. Sometimes we go the other direction and say the same thing twice, like Chai Tea or Naan Bread. Check out my deep dive into Redundant Food Names and why we use them.

What are Grits?

Rather than just being regular ground cornmeal, grits are ground from a special kind of corn called hominy. The word hominy is derived from the Native American Algonquian languages from words referring to certain processed corn products.

For example, rockahominie referred to parched corn, and tackhummin referred to a hulled corn. In an extremely important process called nixtamalization (English rendering of an Aztec word), the Indians made hulled corn by soaking dried corn in water mixed with lye or wood ash over heat. There there were certain corns that served this purpose well, as their hulls were easily removed by this process.

The word Nasaump, on the other hand, referred to unparched corn, beaten and boiled. In the North, this came to be identified with any coarsely ground corn, no matter how it was hulled, which was called samp.

Grits, on the other hand, came to be identified with the South, and in the early days, this always referred to something made with hominy, and meant that the corn was treated in a solution of wood ash that removed the hulls, rendering a pure white product that was re-dried and ground. Therefore, grits always referred to hominy grits, but whether it was called just grits or hominy grits depended on the region. In South Carolina, particularly, the term “hominy grits” would be considered quite ridiculous, and probably still is by many old-timers.

What is Hominy?

Today, hominy is made by soaking corn in an alkali solution of lye or lime. This corrodes away the hull or pericarp, which is the outer covering of the corn kernel, and the germ, which is the living part of the corn kernel that a new plant would grow from, and which contains some nutrients and much of the oil. What is left is the endosperm, which is wear the starch of the corn kernel is stored. Therefore, hominy is the starch part of the corn kernel, which is white.

After being processed in alkali, the kernels are dried again and ground or put into cans as whole hominy corn. Since hominy is just the starch without the oil and the fiber, grits are much lighter than a mush made with whole ground corn. Hominy can be made from white or yellow corn. White corn was traditionally used in the South, and yellow corn was more common in the Northern states. Unlike polenta, grits are typically made from dent corn.

There are other products on the market sold as grits that contain coarsely ground yellow corn meal of an unspecified variety. 

If we wanted a simple definition of hominy and grits, we could use these:

  • Hominy: An endosperm product made from corn, made up of starch, with the hull and germ removed.
  • Grits: Ground hominy (usually coarse).

Why Are People Calling Regular Corn Meal Grits?

What we have learned, then, is that ground corn meal that is cooked into a mush, or into a polenta, is NOT really grits, unless that meal was made from hominy. So why are people calling corn meal mushes like polenta or any other dishes made with whole corn grits?

As Sheila Ferguson says in Soul Food: Classic Cuisine from the Deep South, grits “used to be associated with the poor (or po’) factions of American society and so, of course, with the African-American population, particularly in the South.”

However, as she continues to explain, just as many white folks eat grits as black folks. Being born and raised in the deep South myself, I can attest to this fact. Southerners have carried their grits north, east, and west, but while the word has survived, helpful and informative folks who really know food have scrupulously buried the hominy, much to the misfortune of the recipients of Southern food traditions.

One way to appear cultured but above those you look down upon is to appropriate their terms but condemn their food products. This has been seen throughout history, but as well, we see the reverse, when the food is accepted, but a more noble name is given to it. The term grits has been appropriated to mean any cornmeal. However, while you can use cornmeal to make “Shrimp ‘n Grits,” it will not be the true experience of a top-rate dish made with Southern grits.

I think it’s important that I’m clear about my intentions, as often these kinds of discussions can become sidetracked by the “gatekeeper effect.” My intention is not to be a food gatekeeper or to correct you about your or anyone else’s use of the word grits!

Conclusion: More Than Just a Name

Linguistically, the term grits is today understood to refer to more than just hominy grits, at least by a portion of the country. Language evolves! This discussion is not about changing how we speak today. We can accept that the word ‘grits’ has evolved, but we must not allow new, invented etymologies to rewrite the factual record of what grits actually are. This is a prime example of what I call ‘linguistic erasure‘ in the kitchen, where the history of a people is scrubbed away by a more fashionable synonym.

I am not saying that grits are not an acquired taste! Not everybody who hasn’t grown up on them can learn to love them. They do have a bland taste and easily take on the seasonings you use with them. However, they do have a certain taste of their own, which is hard to describe. You’d have to try them to know, so like Ferguson, I wouldn’t advise you to just go hog-wild with a complicated grits recipe right out of the gate.

I often ate them for breakfast with sugar and butter, and/or added milk or cream as a sort of breakfast porridge. Another common way they are eaten with breakfast is just with salt and some pepper, with eggs, bacon, biscuits, toast, etc. Yes, the old folks were fond of just mixing the eggs and grits altogether. I wasn’t into this, myself. If you develop a taste for them, before you know it, you might develop a craving. Grits used to also be served with gravy, but they are especially good with cheese.

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