Creamy Polenta Recipe
Published June 21, 2024. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This delicious Creamy Polenta Recipe is a classic Italian side dish made with slow-cooked corn meal in stock and finished with butter and cheese. You will love how simple it is to prepare and how well it goes with any main entree.
We adore many side dishes because we love variety when eating big holiday meals. If you want to take your side dish recipe game to the next level, try my macaroni and cheese or homemade dinner rolls.
Polenta
Polenta is a Northern Italian dish of cornmeal cooked in liquid until it becomes cornmeal mush. Technically, mush is a mixture of cornmeal cooked with liquid and is commonly served with butter or syrup for breakfast. They’re the same, and the words can be interchanged.
It is essentially the Italian version of the Southern classic grits. The cornmeal used in this dish is a different breed of corn cut differently, so it’s not a perfect 1-to-1 comparison. However, the flavor profiles are very similar, and the method is similar. It can be served hot or cooled until it becomes firm. Then, cut it into triangles or squares and fry them.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Onion – Use red, white, yellow, or sweet onion. Shallots can also be used. In addition, you’ll also need some whole garlic cloves
- Cornmeal — Yellow medium to coarsely ground cornmeal is classically used, but it can also be finely ground if that’s all that is available.
- Liquid – Chicken stock is best to use. However, you can use vegetable stock, brodo, or water.
- Butter – I always use unsalted butter in my cooking and baking to control the sodium content.
- Cheese – Since this is a Northern Italian dish, Parmigiano Reggiano is the traditional cheese. However, you can substitute with pecorino Romano, ricotta salata, or fontina.
- Herbs – This is optional and not classic, but I usually finish my creamy polenta with a garnish of flat-leaf parsley.
How to Make Polenta
- It starts by caramelizing chopped yellow onion and finely minced garlic cloves in a small amount of olive oil in a 6—or 8-quart pot. This can take up to 10 minutes, but the result will be well worth it.
- Once the onions and garlic are brown, add the chicken stock to a medium-sized pot in olive oil and boil over medium-high heat.
- When the stock is boiling, pour in the cornmeal while vigorously whisking constantly to ensure no clumps in the polenta. Turn the heat down to medium-low. This is the most important stage of the cooking process because the cornmeal must be cooked without chunks. This process can take anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes.
- Once the creamy polenta is finished, it should be smooth with no crunch. Then, stir in whole butter, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this up to 1 hour ahead of time. Keep it covered in a pan before serving.
How to Store: Store it covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of polenta back into a medium-size pot over low heat with a 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Once it starts to heat, stir the stock into the polenta. You may need more chicken stock depending on how much polenta you are reheating.
chef notes + tips
- I prefer medium coarsely ground cornmeal to make the creamy polenta because I like it to be more grainy.
- I think onions, butter, and cheese are the perfect additions to a basic recipe.
- It is ok to substitute unsalted butter for olive oil when cooking the onions.
- You can substitute the chicken stock for vegetables or water when cooking the polenta.
- To kick it up even more, you could caramelize some mushrooms or root vegetables during this cooking stage. This creamy polenta recipe is malleable; customize it to your taste buds.
- The difference between polenta in grits is that grits are made from white corn hominy, while polenta is made from yellow corn. Also, I think you’ll find the yellow cornmeal cut for polenta to be much more coarse in texture.
- If you want this to be a super creamy polenta, use a ratio of 4:1 liquid to cornmeal. If you want the regular version, it is 3:1 liquid to cornmeal, which I used in this recipe.
More Side Dish Recipes
Video
Creamy Polenta Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1/2 small diced small yellow onion
- 2 finely minced cloves of garlic
- 6 cups of chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
- 2 cups of medium ground cornmeal
- 2 ounces of unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
- sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium-sized pot on medium-high heat, add the olive oil and cook the onions and garlic until they are browned, which takes about 3 to 7 minutes.
- Pour in the liquid and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling pour in the cornmeal while vigorously stirring with a whisk to ensure no clumps are formed, about 15 to 20 minutes. When the cornmeal is poured in, turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Finish off the polenta by stirring in butter, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper until completely combined. Cook for a further 5 minutes over low heat. Garnish with parmesan and parsley.
- Serve hot, enjoy!
Thx Billy- gonna prepare with your chicken parmigiana tonight. Wish me luck!🙏🏻
You got this!
Delicious! Just made this with sautéed shrimp.
Nice!
I serve this under classic meatballs and sauce (gravy) instead of pasta. We love it this way.
Excellent!
I love to add a side of saute champignons to add on top, thank you for the great recipes Billy.
Absolutely delicious. I have been eating this all of my life. I make this when I have left over Pot Roast or a pulled pork, Shrimp, or a Mushroom medley leftover. This is so delicious anytime and with nothing at all.
I bought a roll of polenta. Do I just warm it up and add onions and herbs and butter to it? Its a roll and doesn’t give much direction on it. Kate Coury
A roll of polenta? Not sure what that is.
It’s precooked and rolled up similar to those Jimmy Dean ground sausage packages. Not nearly as good. It’s a tad gelatinous
interesting
As I’ve gotten older my tastebuds have changed and I’m not always in to parm. I know, but it is what it is. Can you recommend A less pungent substitute for some of the parm? I will try this recipe regardless because I absolutely LOVE polenta.
Thanks
Not sure there is one tbh.
Hi Deb, Grana Padano will work. It has the same texture as Parmigiana Reggiano but it more mild of flavor because it isn’t aged as long. I just love it. However, if you’re looking for something that doesn’t have a similar taste, maybe try Asiago (the good stuff).
😋😁👋soon as I get paid
Recently served this as a side to your Classic Chicken Cacciatore recipe and it was a hit.
My Mom would always make extra and put some in a bread pan and the next morning she would slice it up for breakfast for us kids. She would slice it like bread and fry it and serve it with butter and maple syrup, of course hers was made without onions.
delicious!
yum!
My mom grew up in northern Italy, in the piedmont area. She never described polenta like this!
one of my favorites!
Best polenta,
many thanks!
Turned this into fried cakes served with roast chicken in a Red pepper sauce and fried green beans
amazing!
This polenta recipe was really delicious. My whole family loved it.
excellent
So delicious and customizable!
Yes!
This is creamy and delicious! 🧀🧀🧀
yup!
I so love your recipes and cooking skills classes. I’m serving this tonight made with my homemade chicken bone broth, which I make twice a month with budget friendly Costco roast chicken carcasses, yellow onions, celery, and whole head of garlic, . I’m serving this tonight with sautéed mushrooms and a green salad. My guests are both vegetarian perfectly OK with my dishes made with bone broth.
thank you so kindly!!
Excellent recipe! My S.O. and I have been trying to “watch” what we eat, so anytime I even mention “cheese grits” he says NO! Apparently, if I call it “parmesan polenta” it’s ok for us to eat. LOL! We paired it with Steak Diane, which of course is definitely not “watching” what we eat, but these are his rules. I ALWAYS have grits on hand so I had to adjust the time for a bit longer. I used my own homemade chicken stock, what are the odds that I had 6 1/2 cups left after I had canned the rest. Yum! I will be using this recipe again. Thank you!
Hilarious! thanks for giving it a shot!!
I used fine grain so cooking time was less but it came out delicious. I added some extra butter when it got a little stiff. Definitely make it again.
The BOMB!!! I live in Switzerland and polenta is popular in many areas…with that said, my Swiss husband is not a huge fan of polenta BUT…tonight he is a converted “Chef Billy” polenta lover. I followed the recipe as written…the polenta was done before my main dish so at the last minute I added the last of the white wine we were having for aperitif along with some more parmasean cheese….it was delicious! Thank you! So happy I found your site!
This is my ‘go to’ recipe when I don’t want to cook rice. Not many people even know what polenta is! What a shame! One of those great comfort foods. I spread my leftovers in a glass bowl and slice @1/2” thick, brown in butter in the morning and cook an egg to top it off. My mom was Italian and this was a regular in our home! Thank you for sharing.
I use corn meal that is locally grown and locally milled and the ground is moderately course. But the corn used is hickory cane, a white variety. Do you think that this could substitute for the yellow meal?
Could you add dried thyme towards the end of caramelizing the onions/garlic or would you recommend fresh?
dry at the beginning, fresh at the end.
This is a fantastic recipe and me being a Ukrainian I had to change it of course but it’s absolutely delicious. I cut up a pound of bacon & fried it with the onions & garlic. Used chicken stock for the liquid and used about 1/2 to 1 cup of 18% cream to make it a bit thinner. It was so delicious I didn’t even put in the cheese. Thank you Chef 👨🍳
That looks delicious. We eat grits frequently, so this looks like a great variation. I have 2 questions: what is the brand/style of pitcher you pour in the stock with? Is it measured or just a plastic pitcher? I always end up with several measuring cups dirty to get the stock measured. What size grind should the cornmeal be or does it matter? Thanks!
It is a plastic measuring pitcher, not sure of the brand as I got it from a restaurant store. The grind doesn’t matter.
This recipe made me look like a polenta pro even though I’m a first-timer.
It was so delicious! Perfect as-is but it could easily accept modifications and added flavors and still be great. I chilled it into bars and made “polenta fries” with a marinara dipping sauce. Yum!
Need six stars for this recipe. Made it for the first time last week. Enjoyed so much, making again this week. I put in pyrex dish and chilled. Sliced half inch pieces and browned. Served with fresh chopped tomatoes, basil, a bit of garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper. I did not even want to eat my main. This is a fantastic recipe and easy to follow. Thank you. Big fan.
Fantastic recipe!! We are a family of six from the US but in Brazil for a year – in “shelter at home” during pandemic and polenta is a staple here in Brazil. I had never cooked it before and it turned out amazing!! I made enough for three meals so I’ll top it each night with something different:) Or maybe pan fry some on day three and top with meat and marinara. Thanks so much!!
Delicious easy recipe
Thank you!!
I remember my grandmother substituting part of the water with milk and using a cup of parmesan cheese. What does this do to the recipe?
It would maybe make it a little creamier but with all the butter and cheese I already have in there probably not much.
Wow!! Absolutely delicious! You made it so simple and easy to follow. Thank you! 👏I added mushrooms to the onions and garlic and it was a huge success! 👏
Delicious!!!!
I never made polenta before tonight. Looked up this recipe and used onions and garlic, leeks and mushrooms and grated cheese. Wow. It was awesome. Thanks I’ve now got a new starch for my dinner rotation!
oh man the added stuff you put in there sounds amazing! So glad you love this recipe 🙂
Last week was the first time I made polenta and the recipe was easy to follow and the end result was delicious! I am about to make it for a second time with some sautéed pinto beans! YUM! Thank you for sharing this tasty recipe.
Kaye this is amazing thank you so much for the kind words and giving it a try!
Wow! This turned out fantastic. I served it in a shallow bowl with roasted veggies on top. So yummy. I can’t wait to put braised lamb or beef on top of it or on the side.
So happy this turned out so well for you, thank for trying it out!!
Yum! This is almost exactly how I make my risotto – but I need to try polenta soon!! Love it!
same technique 🙂
Do you have to stir it the whole 15-20 minutes?
No but keep an eye on it especially at the beginning because it will clump.