Keto Grits
Published August 1, 2021 • Updated June 8, 2026
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I make these lupin meal grits when I want real grits texture without the carbs. Creamy, thick, loaded with sharp cheddar and jalapeños, and only 3 g net carbs per serving.
I tried every low carb grits substitute before I landed on lupin meal, and nothing else comes close. Cauliflower grits? I made them at least five times, adjusting ratios each time, and every batch tasted like cheesy cauliflower rice. Not bad on its own, but if you’re expecting grits, it’s a letdown. Lupin meal has a coarse, grainy texture that actually mimics real cornmeal. The first time I stirred a batch together I couldn’t believe how close it was.
I’ve been cooking with this ingredient for years across multiple recipes, and I know how it behaves. It thickens fast once it hits boiling liquid, so stir right away or you’ll get clumps stuck to the bottom. My ratio is 1 cup lupin meal to 2 cups water and 1 cup heavy cream. That gives you thick, creamy grits without being too dense. If you want them thinner, add a splash more water, but don’t skip the cream entirely or the texture goes chalky.
One thing I picked up from a reader: wait a full minute after pulling the pan off heat before adding the cream cheese. I used to stir it in right away and got little white clumps scattered throughout. That extra minute lets the temperature drop just enough for everything to melt smooth. Small detail, but it’s the difference between silky grits and lumpy ones.
The jalapeño and sharp cheddar combo is how I make these most often, but this recipe works as a blank canvas. I tried smoked Gouda after a reader swapped it in, and it’s genuinely better than cheddar for certain moods. More depth, a touch of smokiness that plays off the natural nuttiness. Poblano peppers or roasted hatch chiles are great if you want pepper flavor without the heat. A reader used hatch chiles and said the smokiness the lupin meal picks up from a cast iron is on another level. I believe it, because this base absorbs whatever flavors you cook it with.
For breakfast, I top a bowl with a fried egg and hot sauce, or pair it with mini frittatas for extra protein. I swap mornings between this and keto oatmeal when I want variety. These keto grits work for dinner too. I serve them alongside green beans and bacon or next to shrimp for a proper shrimp and grits situation. The batch makes enough for leftovers, and they reheat well with a splash of cream stirred in.
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Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter -
1 jalapeño, diced (optional)
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1 cup lupin meal
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2 cups water
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1 cup heavy cream
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1 teaspoon salt
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1 oz cream cheese
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2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (optional)
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Sauté jalapeño
In a large skillet or saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add diced jalapeño and cook until softened (2-3 minutes).
Cook lupin meal
Add lupin meal, water, heavy cream and salt. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, continue cooking for another 5 minutes or until lupin grits have thickened and no longer liquid.
Say cheese grits
Remove from heat. Stir in cream cheese and cheese into the grits until combined.
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use corn extract to make these taste more like real grits?
I've seen this tip floating around and it makes sense. A drop or two of corn extract stirred in at the end would add that authentic corn taste without any extra carbs. The lupin meal already nails the texture, so the extract just fills in the flavor gap. I haven't tested it myself yet, but it's next on my list.
Where can I buy lupin meal?
I buy my lupin meal online. Kaizen is the brand I use most, and it's easy to find on Amazon. Some specialty health food stores carry it too. Make sure you're getting meal, not flour. The flour is ground too fine for grits and will give you a mushy result.
Can I freeze keto grits?
I've frozen batches and they hold up well. I portion them into individual containers before freezing so I can grab one at a time. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, then warm on the stove with a splash of water or cream. They thicken a lot as they cool, so you need that extra liquid to bring them back to the right consistency.
Can I make this recipe dairy-free?
I've made these with coconut cream in place of heavy cream and it works. Use a dairy-free cheese that actually melts (I've had the best luck with Violife cheddar shreds) and skip the cream cheese or swap it for a dairy-free version. The coconut cream adds a subtle sweetness that pairs well with the lupin meal.
How do I store and reheat leftovers?
I keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. They firm up a lot as they cool, which is normal. I reheat on the stove over medium-low heat with a splash of cream or water stirred in until they loosen back up. Microwave works too, but stovetop gives me better control over the consistency.
What can I use instead of jalapeños if I want less heat?
I've used poblano peppers when I want pepper flavor without the bite, and they work great. Diced bell peppers are another option if you want to skip spice entirely. You can also just leave the peppers out and go with plain cheddar grits, which is how my kids prefer them.
What toppings work best with these grits?
My go-to is a fried egg and hot sauce, but these can handle almost anything. I've done crumbled breakfast sausage, bacon bits, sauteed mushrooms, and a dollop of sour cream. For dinner, shrimp with garlic butter on top is the classic combo. I also like pulled pork over a bowl of these when I have leftovers from a weekend cook.
browned the lupin meal dry first. nuttier.
I almost didn't make this because I had no idea what lupin meal was, and every low-carb grits recipe I've tried before has been a sad, gluey mess. This one is not that. The texture is thick and creamy in a way I wasn't prepared for, and I kept eating past the point where I was full just to make sure I wasn't imagining it. Skipped the jalapeño the first time. That was a mistake I'm correcting this weekend.
The jalapeño is not optional for me. It cuts through all that cream and cheddar. You'll understand this weekend.
My wife grew up in Georgia and is picky about her grits. She had one bite of these and just looked at me like I had some explaining to do. The jalapeño and sharp cheddar come through just right.
Georgia grits standards are no joke. Took a few batches to get the jalapeño and cheddar ratio where I wanted it. That look from her says it worked.
Skipped the jalapeño because heat isn't my thing and crumbled two strips of cooked bacon in at the end instead. Did not expect the bacon fat to basically fuse with the cream cheese and cheddar the way it did, but the whole thing got SO much richer and smokier. One thing I wish someone had told me: keep whisking the lupin meal constantly when it first goes in with the water and cream. I didn't on my first try and ended up with clumps before I figured out what was happening. Second time came out smooth and thick the way it looks in the photos. This is going into the weekend breakfast rotation for sure. Docking one star for the clumping, but that was 100% on me.
Bacon fat into cream cheese and cheddar is basically three layers of smokiness hitting at once. Makes sense it gets richer. And yeah, that whisking tip should probably be louder in the recipe notes - lupin meal clumps the second you stop moving it.
Brought these to a neighborhood cookout and watched my neighbor (who grew up in Georgia and makes grits from scratch) eat two bowls without asking a single question. That silence was louder than any compliment. She finally said the jalapeño hit was 'exactly right' and I kind of blacked out from excitement. Lupin meal textures out way closer to real grits than I expected when I first made them, and she confirmed it without even knowing she was eating something different.
Two bowls, no questions, from someone who grew up making them from scratch. And 'exactly right' on the jalapeño from a Georgian. Yeah, I'll take that.
Tried this with chicken broth instead of water and it changed everything. The lupin meal absorbs the broth and picks up this savory, almost porridge-like depth that plain water just can't give you. I also skipped the jalapeño and rendered some pancetta down in the pan first, then built the butter and lupin meal into the leftover fat. The result was richer than anything I expected from a breakfast side. Four stars because I'm still dialing in the broth-to-cream ratio (went a little heavy on broth the first time and it took way longer to thicken), but once I landed on 1.5 cups broth and 1 cup cream, it locked in completely. The sharp cheddar at the end pulls the whole thing together in a way I keep thinking about two days later. This is going on the Sunday rotation.
Pancetta fat as the base is a good call. I've done bacon drippings before but never pancetta specifically. Saving that 1.5/1 ratio.
I make a double batch Sunday nights and portion it for the week. One thing I figured out the hard way: they thicken up a lot in the fridge, so when reheating on the stovetop, add a splash of heavy cream and stir low and slow or they get gluey. Two to three tablespoons usually does it. Also worth keeping the jalapeño in even if you're on the fence - by day two they mellow out completely and you'd never know they were there.
Low and slow is what saves them. I've rushed it before and yeah, instant clumps. Two tablespoons is my number too.
Made this for breakfast last weekend and the texture surprised me. Was nervous about lupin meal but it cooked up creamy, not grainy like I expected. Heads up on the salt: dial it back and add at the end. Once the sharp cheddar melts in, mine came out too salty. Good to know before your first batch.
Sharp cheddar is sneaky that way. Salt at the end is the right call, especially with two cups of it melting in.
Threw crumbled chorizo in right at the start, before the lupin meal, and let it cook down with the butter and jalapeño so all that fat rendered into the base. Wasn't sure if the extra grease would throw off the texture, but it actually made the whole thing creamier, and there was this smoky depth underneath the sharp cheddar I didn't see coming. The lupin meal absorbs fat differently than regular cornmeal. Just holds onto it without going heavy. Topped it with a fried egg and I was thinking about that bowl all day. Already doubling the jalapeño next time because the heat mellows way more than I expected once the cream and cheese go in. Making this every Saturday now.
Rendering the chorizo in the butter first changes the whole base. Fat rendered from the meat carries flavor in a way adding it later doesn't. And jalapeño heat does mellow once cream and cheese go in. I go heavy.
Made a big batch Sunday, reheated all week. They do thicken in the fridge, but a splash of heavy cream when warming brings the texture right back. Day two the jalapeño hits harder, which I actually prefer.
Day two jalapeño is genuinely better. I've started making a batch the night before just for that reason.
I have tried every keto grits situation out there, cauliflower, cream of wheat knockoffs, whatever, and none of it actually tasted like grits, it just tasted like something trying to be grits. This one is different. The lupin meal does something to the texture I genuinely cannot explain as a complete beginner but it WORKS in a way nothing else has come close to. I skipped the jalapeño (not ready for that yet) and loaded up on the sharp cheddar, and when I stirred in the cream cheese at the end it got so thick the spoon almost stood up on its own. Fair warning: it smells kind of funky while the lupin meal cooks, caught me off guard, so heads up if you've never used it before. Once it was plated I forgot about that completely. Still cannot get over the 3 grams of net carbs.
Yeah the smell is a thing. You get used to it after the first time. And spoon-standing-up thick is exactly where you want it.
I've tried cauliflower 'grits' twice and convinced myself they were fine, which is my personal code for not fine. Lupin meal was different. The texture when the heavy cream thickens with the butter is actually creamy (not performing creaminess). Sharp cheddar stirred in at the end and I stopped second-guessing it. More lupin meal already on the way.
'Convinced myself it was fine' is a category I know well. Lupin meal is where that negotiation ends. The cream and butter just do the thing.
Grew up in Georgia eating grits every Sunday morning, and the day I went keto I just said goodbye to them. That was almost two years ago. Found this a few weeks back and made it expecting something that would be close enough but not really the same. The lupin meal cooks up with this thickness I wasn't prepared for. I added extra jalapeño and used Kerrygold butter and an aged sharp cheddar I had on hand, and it came together close enough to what I remembered that I sat there a minute longer than I needed to. Two years of telling myself grits were just off the table, and this undid that. Going in the Sunday rotation.
Kerrygold and aged sharp cheddar is the version I didn't know I was missing. Two years is a long time. Glad Sunday mornings are back.
Made a double batch on Sunday and have been reheating it all week with just a splash of heavy cream to loosen it up. Still creamy, still thick. This is going to be a permanent part of my breakfast prep.
Cream over water when reheating is the right call. Water makes it grainy. Mine holds up to day 4 easy.
Swapped the jalapeño for roasted hatch chiles and the smokiness the lupin meal picks up is on another level. Cast iron first if you have one, the char level really matters here.
Hadn't tried roasted hatch but now I need to. The lupin meal really does pick up whatever you cook it with. Cast iron, yes, 100%.