Overnight slow cooker grits are a bowl full of comfort on a cool morning or a delicious highlight for brunch.
We’ve enjoyed this simple, celebratory breakfast on Christmas for many years now. Perfect for any easy going weekend breakfast or brunch. Certainly fast food for slow Sundays.
Overnight Slow Cooker Grits
(And a shout out to my childhood friend, Shelley, for sharing this recipe with me oh those many years ago.)
I also serve Breakfast Casserole, which I tuck in the fridge the night before then pull out and cook as soon as we get up Christmas morning. Here are a few links for your browsing pleasure:
- Breakfast Casseroles
- Make Ahead Egg Casseroles at $5 Dinners (includes a french toast variety and a slow cooker egg casserole)
- Any of the easy and delicious recipes on Pinterest
- Plus a side of turkey bacon and Mama Ann’s Morning Bars.
If grits aren’t at your local grocery store like they are here in the south, you can have them shipped to you {aff}
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More Simple Meals
- How to Make a Month of Breakfasts for the Freezer
- How to Make a Month of Meals for Your Freezer
- Ultimate List of Easy Slow Cooker Recipes
- Slow Cooker Hamburgers
Do you love grits too?
originally published 2011
Thanks! This looks very very good. We usually have Peach French Toast Christmas morning, http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/peach-french-toast-10000001072658/
but I may have to rethink this plan, because we LOVE grits and your casserole looks good, too.
Peach french toast sounds delicious Mary. Thanks for sharing the recipe link! Maybe you could just have the grits with your toast? Yum! And Merry Christmas.
I’m looking at a Quaker Old Fashioned Grits container and the only serving sizes listed are 1, 4 and 6. The ratio of water-to-grits changes with each one. How many cups of water and grits do use to get 8 servings?
Thanks for the recipe and your time!
I just double the amounts for the serving size for 4. Sometimes I need to add a little extra water when I first check it in the morning. But it always turns out just right! Thanks for helping me clarify the amounts.
Thank you for posting this recipe; we love grits! Another topping suggestion: pepper-jack cheese. I have found non-instant grits at the health food store. An alternative to cooking in the crock pot may be to soak the grits overnight in a large sauce pan and simply bring to a boil before eating. Old Fashioned oatmeal can be prepared the same way.
I need to cook for a large group and this crock pot grit recipe sounds great. Have you ever doubled the amount? I have a large crock pot, so maybe 12 servings would fit? Just wondering if it would cook in the same amount of time. I may have to experiment in the next few days. Please let me know if you have made larger quantities.
Thank you
Vicky – I personally have not – this amount just about fills up my larger slow cooker. So I might suggest using two slow cookers? Enjoy!
Was just looking for a crock pot recipe for our usual microwaved grits. Im due with baby #4 in two months and we have a new puppy being house trained… we have three kiddos 5, 3, and 2. Those 15-25 minutes of fixing breakfast, I just can’t pull it off! We love our grits with butter, salt, and brown sugar… oh yummo! thanks for this time saver! Going to toss some in now!
Oh bless your heart Christina! Yes, grits in the slow cooker will help your mornings and all those hungry tummies. Enjoy!
I’m not sure what went wrong but I have a crock pot full of water (after 7 hours on low)! Very disappointed and now have to attend a department breakfast covered dish at work empty handed 🙁
Roz – I am so sorry! I am not sure what went wrong either. I have never had that happen in all my years of using this recipe!
I think you’re doubling the grits amount as well as the water amount. I was having a hard time believing I should add 6 cups of water to 1 cup of grits.
I’m going with 2 cups grits, 6 cups water, 1 tsp salt.
Thank you for the post!
I, too, had water and uncooked grits after 7 hours, and I followed the recommended ratio. I suspect it may have to do with differences in crock pots. I used my small one for the test run, which heats at a slightly lower temperature than my big one. That slight difference might be enough to make a difference for the grits. I also used Quaker’s Old Fashioned grits, rather than quick grits, because I thought that’s what the author meant by “regular” grits. I may have been wrong in that interpretation. 🙂
Since this was an experiment, I let them go, and at 15 hours of cooking time, they’re starting to look like grits. I’m going to try this again in my big crock to see what happens.
Found you when I was searching for a crockpot version of a casserole I just recently started making (in the oven). This one looks very similar, and delicious! Going to try it tonight.
BTW, I am a homeschooling mom blogger too!
Do you double suggested water amount for microwave or stove directions? Thanks! Thinking of this for our Christmas morning too! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Jenny – I double the stove directions and put it on about 10 pm Christmas Eve. That way I can check on it when we are up bright and early opening gifts and it is ready for breakfast once folks are hungry! Merry Christmas 🙂
Need to know how much grits to fix for 50 people
Sakes! I am not sure how to answer that but can suggest that you get several slow cookers going. The key is to double the water amount suggested on the package. But having never made that much myself I cannot be sure!
This was a very disappointing recipe. I followed the directions exactly and used a large crock pot. I woke up to grit water at 7 hours, thicker water at 9 hours. At 11 hours, I have given up and am just boiling it on the stove. Kind of ironic. Do you have any suggestions as to why this did not work? I used the same grits even. What can I do differently next time?
Hi Christin – I am sorry the recipe did not turn out as planned. I am guessing here (because I just got a new slow cooker to replace a cracked one) that slow cookers are all different. My new one cooks really ‘hot’ so I have to keep an eye on our supper. I encourage you to try again with less water maybe. I have always simply put in the amount of grits I want to make – in cups. And doubled the amount of water and added salt. It comes out fine every time. A little quicker with my new pot! I apologize that I cannot exactly know what happened with yours. But I hope in the future that your grits will be just right.
I think you need to double the amount of grits. There is no slow cooker that can cook off enough water to end up with thick grits. All a slow cooker is anyway is an electric pot at a consistent temp, with a lid on the whole time, so it wouldn’t make sense to double the liquid and expect different results. I think the recipe intended to double the grits even though it’s not stated that way.
‘m so disappointed. I don’t think you can double the water for larger recipes. I was supposed to bring these grits to my son’s school party this morning. I’m feeding 25. If I had doubled the water I would have needed 32oz of water since the back of the package says 1/4 cup grits per serving calls for 1 cup of water. Yikes…the doubling doesn’t work for larger amounts and my grits taste jelly-ish. So, I just turned them up to high to see if the water will dry up some and if it’s not right by 8 am, I’ll be making a big thing of instant at 8am on the stovetop. Bummed 🙁
Nicole – I am so sorry. I have only ever made this for my family and shared this recipe several years ago because others had asked for it so often. I have never tested it myself for a large gathering or a group that size. It’s great for Christmas morning for my family! I believe that different brand slow cookers cook differently. In fact the new one I have now cooks very ‘hot’ and I am going to do a trial run before Christmas morning. Any time there is a change in the consistency I expect with the grits – I have been able to fix them up with butter, cheese and half and half 🙂
I’ve been making grits and hot cereal or oatmeal in my crockpot for about a year now. I just use the water ratio on the package as your crockpot is basically transferring the water into the cereal grain. I have the crock pot double quart crockpot as my southern hubby likes grits and my kids like farina, etc. Some crockpots have hot spots and you may have a sticky spot in your pot. I started coating the pot in butter first before adding water and then the cereal (Instead of adding butter before eating). I usually put this on no earlier than 10pm and they are wonderful when I get down stairs at 7ish in the morning (low setting). This method makes the morning hot cereals so creamy and delicious. Better than rushing through it with “quick” cereal on the stove.
I had a Breakfast dinner for about 20 people and I needed a recipe that would suffice for a crowd. These were the best grits, everyone talked about how good they were. I ate 2 bowls, which is very unusual for me. I am sold out completely on crockpot grits.
Oh this is wonderful to hear! They are our favorite too. So happy you and your guests enjoyed them.
By the way, I added milk instead of evtra water.
❤️❤️❤️ This Recipe !!! My co-workers love it even more !! Thanks for a Great Breakfast !! I add Microwave Bacon Sometimes Eggs at the end.
We all Enjoy !! 😄
So happy to hear that!
I put these on last night. I made a double batch and followed your instructions. My crockpot is only a few months old so it cooked up quick. I will add more water for next time because they were a little thick. But we like thicker grits. I’m sharing this recipe for sure. I have an older crockpot and it takes so long to cook. I suggest using a newer one
Thank you so.much!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it! Thank you for your tips!
You mentioned that you’ve been using only Quick Cooking Grits because that’s all you’ve found in the store. If I’m using the old fashioned slow cooking grits would I still double the amount of water? So if it calls for 6 cups of water for 6 servings I would use 8? Just curious why the water needs to double.
I have found that the water needs to be doubled because it is cooking for so long and it evaporates.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I just made these as a “trial” run today for my co-worker lunch tomorrow and got rave reviews! Due to grocery shopping they cooked for about 7.5 hours and they were perfect! I paired it with shrimp and sausage sauce/gravy that I use for Shrimp and Grits! This will definitely be my go to recipe for grits going forward! Thanks again!
Oh that sounds great! Thanks for sharing!
This worked well! I used old fashioned grits for 8 servings (doubled the 4 serving amount recommendation for grits) and doubled the recommended water for 4 servings. At 7 hours the grits were perfectly cooked. I am going to add sausage and cheese and some butter. Once that warms together, it may need more liquid. Thanks!
Happy to hear it! and that sounds like really good additions.