Best paired with cubed red potatoes, green beans, or asparagus is chicken breasts in a mild cajun and cilantro cream sauce. The dish may also be served with egg noodles, pasta, or rice.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 35 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup polenta or yellow cornmeal
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Combine milk, water, and kosher salt in a large pot over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Gradually whisk polenta into boiling milk-water mixture. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer until creamy, about 20 minutes, lifting the lid and stirring every 3 to 4 minutes to prevent sticking.
- Remove the pot from heat. Stir in butter and pepper until incorporated. Gradually stir in cheese until melted. Serve hot.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 232 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 18 g |
| Cholesterol | 38 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 658 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 14 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Simple, smooth and perfect texture. Great as a side or with casserole ingredients as a main dish. My husband especially loves cheese in polenta.
substituted chicken broth for the water
We have made this recipe numerous times, rich and creamy. I do add the polenta to cold chicken broth and almond milk, works wonderfully without lumps. We usually use Parmesan cheese. Truly great under ratatouille!
Substituted chicken broth for the water and they are heavenly
I used condensed milk instead, and added some broccoli, chopped spinach and carrots. Creamy and delicious!
I’ve made it many times and my family loves it.
This is the easiest polenta recipe, I came across. The directions were straight forward and easy to follow. I have made this recipe twice now and both times, I did a good food shimmy. I add mushrooms and spinach, substitute butter for creme freche and use an Italian cheese mix.
Excellent recipe!I didn’t have cheddar cheese so I took advice from other reviewers and used grated Parmesan. It’s such a warm and comforting side dish. A nice change from pasta. I never made polenta before and this came out so creamy! My husband who grew up eating polenta with Sunday dinner said this was outstanding! We had a lot leftover which I put in a pot the next day with a quarter cup chicken broth and stirred until it was hot and creamy again.
As written, the recipe was okay. My changes made it great! The ratio of liquid to cornmeal is good. I sautéed a chopped onion and heaping T chopped garlic, used 2 c chicken broth, scant 1 c heavy cream, full 1 c milk. Heat it up then wisk in the cornmeal. I grated some hard (Thorp and Romanian) cheeses that we added to our own servings of polenta. 5 STARS
I followed the recipe and made this the exact way. It’s really good and creamy. When I make it next time I’ll use less salt.
interesting……. filling
My family was a little skeptical when I mentioned I wanted Polenta. they all asked for the recipe.
Fantastic- I added the cornmeal to cold milk and avoided lumps, and to prevent it getting heavy as it set, I folded in a whipped ( soft peaks ) egg white. This changes the texture so it stayed light and creamy. Everyone loved it.
YUM! Yes, I made this but I used 1 cup half and half, 1 cup 2% Milk, 1 cup water and 1 cup of low sodium no-chicken broth. I replaced the 1-1/2 tsp Kosher Salt with 1 tsp salt substitute (Nu Salt) and 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt (because the cheddar cheese has more than enough sodium). I made the remainder of the recipe as it is written. It came out delicious.
I dont know why but mine always seems to stiffen up when cooling. Was hoping for creamy. Maybe next time I will add a lot of extra milk. The flavor is good and I went with white sharp cheddar from Cabot. Even though not creamy, cant deny its tasty and simple to make!
Used medium ground cornmeal and it was ready in much less than 20 minutes cooking time. Followed the advice of adding the cornmeal to cold ingredients. Used parmesan cheese instead of cheddar and it was very cheesy.
I replaced the cheddar with Parmesan and it was delicious!
It was delicious! Since I was cooking for one, I cut the measurements by half . I also used chicken broth and milk, per recommendation of other users and the flavors were amazing! I used Colby cheese since it was what I had at hand.
Great recipe – followed instructions exactly and loved it
I followed most of the advice of other reviewers: Chicken broth instead of water. Cornmeal and spices added into cold water and brought to a boil stirring constantly. I added 2 cloves of minced garlic and used 1/2 Cheddar 1/4 grated Romano and 1 /4 Mozzarella to make up the 4+ oz of cheese. My only complaint is it wasn’t firm enough so next time I’ll add more cornmeal and use a coarser grind. Question: What do fans of this recipe think of adding a drained can of whole kernel corn (or similar amount frozen, but thawed and drained) to this recipe? I may try it.
Although it was very good, I could barely taste the cheese. It was very thick and not creamy. When I make it again, I’ll add more liquid.