These cheddar cheese grits are topped with a chicken sausage baby greens sauté, oven burst vine ripe tomatoes and a perfectly poached runny egg.
When I used to run road races, the 3am wake up call would come, my phone would start playing some obnoxious combination of sounds which I’d blindly swat at in a half-awake stupor and as I’d hobble my way into the bathroom to get dressed for the event, I’d swear silently that I’d never do another race again.
This post is sponsored by Jones Dairy Farm.
Why pay someone to run and torture myself with 3am wake ups when I could easily head to the bike trail and run to my hearts content for free at a normal time of day?
But then the high of finishing the race would set in, I’d forget about the miserable wake up time, end up signing up for another one a few months out and the cycle would start all over again.
I’m not running races these too often these days but the past two weekends involved a CrossFit competition, a Warrior Dash and an impromptu early morning workout at a gym 45 minutes away taking away 3 weekend mornings worth of sleeping in, big breakfasts and relaxing mugs of coffee on the couch.
I love being active and working out but if we’re being honest, I love my breakfasts and coffee more.
Especially the coffee part.
Instead of missing out on breakfast foods because I had to leave the house at ungodly hours of the morning these past couple of weekends, I decided to turn breakfast into dinner and get my fix of delicious breakfast foods in the form of brinner!
These cheese grits make the perfect base for a brinner bowl.
They’re made with pepper jack cheese for a kick of spice then topped with a chicken sausage baby greens sauté, oven burst tomatoes and a runny poached egg for good measure.
It would’ve been the perfect savory weekend breakfast, but it works just as well for a quick and easy brinner too.
Only thing missing was the cup cups of coffee alongside, but at 8pm, that didn’t seem wise.
Feel free to make this grits bowl using pork sausage too. You can cook the sausage in the air fryer for the perfect crispy texture then slice and top the bowl of grits with it to finish!
Love this Chicken Sausage Cheese Grits with Burst Tomatoes recipe?
Then check out these brinner recipes: ham cheese and spinach breakfast pies or savory Canadian bacon pancakes. Or, turn this polenta with sausage skillet into breakfast by serving with a runny egg on top!
Looking for a hearty lunch or dinner recipe featuring grits? Try our goat cheese grits topped with rotisserie chicken, tomatoes and basil.
Chicken Sausage Cheese Grits with Burst Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 3 tomatoes, on vine
- ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 4 Jones Dairy Farm chicken breakfast sausage links, chopped
- handful baby greens
- ½ cup quick cooking grits
- 2 cups water
- 1/3 cup grated pepper jack cheese
- 1 egg, poached
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place tomatoes on a baking sheet greased with cooking spray and bake 12-15 minutes until wrinkled and burst.
- While tomatoes are in the oven, heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add sausage and cook until browned on all sides, about 3-5 minutes. Add the baby greens in the last minute of cooking time and toss until wilted. Turn off heat and set aside.
- Add water to a small sauce pot and bring to a boil. Salt the water generously, add the the grits and reduce heat to low. Stir constantly until grits have thickened. Add the cheese and stir until incorporated.
- Spoon the grits into a serving bowl. Top with the sausage and greens, roasted tomatoes and poached egg. Season with salt and pepper.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
I could eat this ANY time of day! Cheese grits? Sausage? I’m ALL in!
Oooh, I didn’t know Jones made a chicken breakfast sausage! YUM. These bowls look delightful.
I wish I could buy grits in the Eastern Most area in Canada …