‘The Pioneer Woman’: Ree Drummond’s Tex-Mex Shrimp and Grits Have a Spicy Kick
Ree Drummond makes an easy Tex-Mex shrimp and grits recipe that’s loaded with delicious flavor and so easy to pull together. The Pioneer Woman star shared her easy tips for making the satisfying dish.
Ree Drummond gives shrimp and grits a spicy spin
Drummond demonstrated how to make her Tex-Mex shrimp and grits recipe on an episode of The Pioneer Woman dedicated to “Tex-Mex, Drummond style.”
“We are gonna have some Tex-Mex fun,” she promised at the start of the show. “What can I say about Tex-Mex? It’s my favorite kind of food.”
Drummond made the grits by adding quick grits to simmering broth. “You can just follow the package instructions and instead of using water, just use low sodium broth,” she said. “It makes them very, very flavorful.”
While the grits cooked, the Food Network host seasoned shrimp with taco seasoning, salt, and pepper and put them in a hot skillet with oil and butter. “Normally shrimp and grits has more of a Cajun flavor profile,” Drummond explained. “I kind of love the idea of turning it into a Tex Mex masterpiece. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
She cooked both sides for a few minutes then removed the shrimp from the pan.
Drummond loaded the sauce with chorizo and vegetables
Drummond added Mexican chorizo to the skillet, breaking it with a spatula as it cooked. “Mexican chorizo is so flavorful and it kind of cooks with a really incredible sauce,” she explained. “It’s got a great color and it just kind of coats everything that you cook with it.”
She added chunks of onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, poblano chiles, and jalapeno and stirred everything together. “It’s a really fine grind, “ she explained while breaking up the chorizo. “So you kind of have to actively break it up with a spatula.”
After the chorizo and vegetables were cooked, she added tomato paste. “It’s not like an overly tomato-y sauce,” Drummond said. “But basically this is how I approach shrimp and grits, whether I’m making them Cajun style or just kind of plain, like Sunday brunch style, or Tex Mex style.”
She added broth and cooked the mixture for a minute to thicken it. Then she returned the shrimp to the pan and coated them, noting how she slightly undercooked the shrimp so it would finish cooking after adding it to the sauce.
‘The Pioneer Woman’ star stepped up the grits with plenty of cheese
To finish off the grits, Drummond added crema and cheese. “Basically, you want to add more cheese than there are grits in the pan,” she joked. “That’s always my number one goal.”
Drummond stirred the cheese into the grits and allowed it to melt, then added a bit of butter, pepper, and salt. She squeezed lime over the shrimp and added hot sauce.
To serve the dish, Drummond poured the grits into a serving dish, topped with the shrimp and vegetables, and sprinkled fresh cilantro over the top.
The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.
