Skip to Content

Creamy Instant Pot Grits with Cheddar and Jalapeño

These Creamy Instant Pot Grits with Cheddar and Jalapeño are a delicious addition to your breakfast table. This recipe is so easy to make in  your Electric Pressure Cooker.

instant pot grits on a spoon


 

This post contains affiliate links, please read my full disclaimer here.

Full Recipe Ingredients/Instructions are available in the 
recipe card at the bottom of the post. 
You can find important tips/tricks in the
blog post.

I love making breakfast recipes in my Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. From this egg bite recipe, to pumpkin oatmeal, to even bread pudding.

One of my favorite items to eat for breakfast is a good bowl of southern style creamy grits. I like my grits salty and cheesy and served with a side of bacon. I found that the Pressure Cooker was the perfect vessel to make grits.

Wait, pressure cooked grits? Yes, it seems bizarre but it works beautifully. You can check out my Ninja Foodi Fish and Grits where I also make grits in a pressure cooker.

instant pot grits in a bowl topped with bacon pieces

How to make Grits in a Pressure Cooker

Making grits in your pressure cooker is easy as pie and always comes out smooth and creamy. I tend to follow three common rules when making grits in my Pressure Cooker:

  1. Always use stone ground grits. They take a little longer to cook but they are creamy and produce the right texture for good Southern Style grits. I don’t use quick cooking grits as I don’t like the texture of them at all.
  2. Remeber 1:3:1. Use 1 part grits3 parts water or broth, and 1 part heavy cream to the pressure cooker cycle.
  3. Allow grits to cool for at least 5 minutes once done pressure cooking. This will allow your grits to thicken up to a nice consistency. 

How to make Jalapeño Cheddar Grits in your Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

First, I prepare my ingredients by doing what’s called mise en place. I grab a block of sharp cheddar cheese and I shred it, then set aside. 

shredded cheese for the instant pot grits recipe laid out in front of a grater

I tend to buy block cheese rather than pre-grated cheese for all my recipes because I find it melts a little better. However, pre-grated sharp cheddar cheese will work fine in this recipe. 

Then prepare your jalapeños by removing the seeds and white membranes and chopping it. The spices of a pepper live in the seeds and the white membrane, removing them will remove the extra spice. 

prep shot of chopped jalapños for the instant pot grits recipe

Add chopped bacon to your Instant pot insert. Then turn your Instant Pot sauté function on the “Normal” setting by pressing the “Sauté” button a few times. 

raw bacon in instant pot insert

Bacon cooks best when it’s added to a cold pan and is cooked over a low temperature. I usually crank that Sauté function up to the highest setting but that would actually result in burnt bacon. So for this recipe, reduce the the sauté function. 

You can reduce the Sauté function on your Instant Pot by pressing the Sauté button a few times. 

Once your bacon is cooked and crispy, which takes about 15 minutes, remove it and place it on a paper towel to drain. Remove the excess grease from the Instant Pot, leavung about 2 Tbsp in the pot. 

Add jalapeño and sauté for about two minutes. 

jalapenos in the instant pot insert

Add stone ground grits, and stir for about 10 seconds. Add water and use a wooden spoon to get up any brown bacon bits on the bottom of the pot. Then stir in your heavy cream and a little salt. 

the grits mixture before pressure cooking

Cover and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes, allow to natural release for 10 minutes, the manually release any remaining pressure. 

Open lid and add cheddar cheese and cream cheese and stir until incorporated. 

finished instant pot grits after cheeses added

Your grits will look a bit watery initially. Allow them to cool for about 5 minutes before serving. 

Oh, don’t forget those bacon pieces….place them on top of your grits and Enjoy 🙂

grits in bowl covered with cooked bacon

If you don’t want to make a huge batch of grits, pot in pot works fine for this recipe. Just cut it in half and use a smaller bowl with a trivet. 

You could also store this recipe in your refrigerator and reheat it the next day. I put mine in the microwave for about 1-1:30 minutes. 

Pin Instant Pot Grits for Later

the pin for instant pot grits
Print Pin Save
4.82 from 11 votes

Creamy Instant Pot Grits with Cheddar and Jalapeño

These Creamy Instant Pot Grits with Cheddar and Jalapeño are a delicious addition to your breakfast table. This recipe easy and all made in your Electric Pressure Cooker. 
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Keyword instant pot grits
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 8 people
Calories 360kcal
Author Tanya

Ingredients

  • 4 slices of bacon chopped
  • 2 jalapeño peppers chopped with seeds removed
  • 1 cup stone ground grits
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese shredded
  • 2 oz cream cheese
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  • Add bacon to insert. Turn on Sauté function and select “Normal” heat. Allow bacon to sit undisturbed until it gets cooked on one side, about 8 minutes. Then stir your bacon pieces until all pieces are cooked. Remove from insert and place on a paper towel to drain.
  • Remove excess bacon grease from Instant Pot, leaving about 2 Tbsp.
  • Add chopped jalapeño to the insert and stir until softened, about 2 minutes.
  • Add grits and stir for about 10 seconds.
  • Add water and use wooden spoon to stir up any brown bacon bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Stir in heavy cream and salt.
  • Press Cancel on your instant Pot. Then select “Pressure Cook” and cook on High Pressure for 10 minutes. Once done, allow your Pressure Cooker to natural release for 10 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure.
  • Open lid and stir in cheddar cheese and cream cheese.
  • Allow grits to cool for 5 minutes.
  • Top with pieces of bacon. Enjoy 🙂

Video

Notes

Notes for Jalapeño Cheddar Grits

  1. Block cheese that is grated by hand works best.
  2. When cutting jalapeño, remove the seeds and white mebrane. The spice lives there. You can leave a few seeds if you want your grits spicy but I use the jalapeño for flavor, not for the added spice.
  3. I know there is a ton of different info on whether you can add heavy cream to a pressure cooker during the pressure cooker cycle. That will always depend on the recipe and the fat content of your cream. I recommend full fat heavy cream. The cream in this recipe will not curdle in your pot. 
  4. You can skip the bacon step and use 2 Tbsp of butter if you like. 

Nutrition

Calories: 360kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 287mg | Potassium: 117mg | Vitamin A: 895IU | Vitamin C: 4.3mg | Calcium: 234mg | Iron: 0.5mg
My Southern Air Fryer ECookbookFind all my Top Southern Air Fryer recipes in one place! My Southern Air Fryer ECookbook!
Subscribe to my YouTubeSubscribe to my YouTube Channel for full length recipe videos. Click the bell icon to be notified when I upload a new video.
Tried this recipe? Share on InstagramMention @Myforkinglife or tag #myforkinglife!
Although myforkinglife.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Under no circumstances will myforkinglife.com be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information.
4.82 from 11 votes (2 ratings without comment)
Recipe Rating




Karla

Sunday 24th of October 2021

I made this with my new IP the other day for breakfast and it turned out perfect! I used coconut milk for cream and sour cream for cream cheese. The only thing is... when I doubled it the next time, I kept getting the burn warning and it was SO FRUSTRATING! I stopped it and restarted it a few times, only to eventually try the Pot in Pot method. Since the ratios were the same, I'm not sure why doubling it would cause a problem... but I'll definitely be making it again. My husband grows, harvests, and grinds cornmeal locally so I'm always looking for ways to use it.

Merle

Sunday 7th of February 2021

This is the best recipe for grits that I have found, and it makes the best grits I have ever eaten! Bless you for this culinary masterpiece! I was blown away by the presence of the seeded, diced jalapeño -- it gave a citrus-like presence that lightened the grits and made my Sunday breakfast of sausage, fried eggs and grits with juice and coffee way better than usual (so much better that we ate seconds and thirds of the grits!). I'm following you, girl!

Tanya

Sunday 7th of February 2021

Thanks Merle!

Michelle

Monday 15th of June 2020

I am asking these questions because I am so far an instapot failure. So after the saute part, add ingredients then you close the lid and set pot to high pressure at 10 minutes once it beeps the pot reads L 01. I'm guessing this means lower level pressure at 1 minute and it keeps counting up for however long you leave it untouched. So let it rest till reads L 10 ?? Then do I left the steam out and its ready??

Tanya

Tuesday 16th of June 2020

Hi Michelle. The L 01 means that the machine is naturally releasing pressure, not really lower pressure. Either way, you wait for 10 minutes to allow the natural pressure to release (Until the machine says L 10). Once it does, you may have some steam left in the machine so you move the valve to release any remaing steam. Then you open and enjoy.

Elina

Saturday 29th of February 2020

The best grits I have ever made. But the bad thing is...that I ate too much! :D Thank you!

Kate

Sunday 24th of November 2019

Do these ever get lumpy? I hate lumpy grits. Worried about this since there is not much stirring with the instant pot.

Tanya

Monday 25th of November 2019

Hi Kate, no they don't get lumpy. They come out as smooth as they appear in the video.