How to Make Perfect Polenta | Serious Eats

There are a lot of rules people say you need to follow to make polenta, like using a wooden spoon, stirring in only one direction, adding the polenta to boiling water, and stirring constantly. Forget those. What's really important is using the right ratio of liquid to cornmeal and cooking the polenta long enough for the cornmeal to properly hydrate. This recipe allows you to choose water, stock, or milk as your liquid (though I'm partial to the light, clean flavor of a water-based polenta). It can be served right away, with braised meats or cheese like gorgonzola dolce, or chilled, cut into pieces, and seared, grilled, or fried. Daniel Gritzer shows you how to make polenta the right way.

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[s.greasey]

My Great Grandmother from South Tyrol (Trento, Italy) always started her polenta off in cold water and it never had lumps. I still use that method today. She also gave me her wooden polenta stick which I use and cherish.

[alexdiana]

I'm Italian and I find incredible that in Italy people don't know that you can presoak it to save cooking time. Thank you so much!

[yardleyj]

In Haïti it is a staple, we call it mayi moulin. I will try soaking it overnight next time. I will sometimes trade my mash potatoes for polenta in my shepherd's pie recipe. Delicious!

[miogs]

I am from Puerto Rico, we eat something like that creama de arina de maiz. Its kind of oatmeal but with corn meal. We use milk, sugar and butter. One of my favorite breakfast items.

[thegrynne]

I cook polenta using much the same method as I do for steel cut oats: I briefly toast the grits in a bit of oil or butter in the saucepan, before adding the water. I find this step makes the grits less likely to stick together and they cook faster.

[MyChilepepper]

I tried overnight presoaking with one in two water ratio. Yes, it cooks in under 5 minutes by adding the rest with boiling water.

[repetitivereality]

I come from România 🇷🇴 and I grew up with this, my grandma made this every day but without the fancy butter. we call it #Mămăligă.
We olso make it with cheese or mushrooms.

[dietrevich]

In my country we eat this for breakfast but we make it sweet. We use milk, salt, sugar and butter sometimes a drizzle of vanilla. Now the sugar is just about a teaspoon per cup of finished polenta, it's not supposed to taste like candy. Just a mild sweet corn taste. We call it "cream of corn" in translation.

[caraeuler]

Thank you so much for this video. I have been binge watching polenta videos today to improve mine. Most of the videos focus on frying or a sauce to make for the polenta. This video is what's really needed. It's the lesson for making good polenta. Without a good polenta frying and saucing means nothing. I'm home with the flu but when I'm better this will be the first thing I make. Thanks again! 😀

[EGOCOGITOSUM]

great video, in Monferrato in Italy we serve it with a fondue of toma, fontina, robiola(a super tangy goat cheese with a very distinctive hay taste) and white truffles when season so good! Or with lengthy braised stews: brisket/chuck and red wine, beef cheeks and white whine", sausage and tomato, dear and mountain spices, boar! or dried mushrooms ragout

[patriciad]

In the friuli region of italy, my dad was from(ripxx) he made it plain with unsalted water and had to mix it constantly for 30 -45 min...😳 we took turns when arms get tired. He said when it starts to pull away from the bottom of the pot its ready. We waited til it cooled a bit so we can eat it firm. Smothered a lovely meat sauce on it. Today my kids love it ! Mushy and smooth is new to me. I always like my dad's polenta better as it tastes authentic. Sadly very rarely do I find the gourse grind(polenta grossa) The more fine ground does not have that great corn polenta I grew up with :(

[caseylaws]

Very nice. Few videos talk about the basic. Liquid to dry ration. Why-I don’t know. This was a perfect explanation

[lazarusblackwell]

So a cold start is the key to making polenta without lumps!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE VID!!

[AnaaSophiiaa]

we do this in Angola but don’t add olive oil or butter
we call it “funge de milho”
its like fufu but with corn flour or cornmeal or both

[Craigamail]

I lived in Bergamo for 4 years and had Polenta many times but the best I’ve ever had was in Vung Tau - Vietnam at a place called David’s Pizza and Italian. Superb. The owner is from Toscana. If you’re in Vietnam check him out. This video has given the confidence to try to make this. The only tune I saw it made was a friends Grandmas house and she was beating this big copper pot for what seemed like hours. I recall the ‘You have to do it this way ...’.
You’re spot on.
Thankyou.

[DefinitelyNotZixie]

Just literally cooked my first ever polenta today. I added the powder to a boiling water and my polenta ended up with so many lumps. Next time I'll soak it or mix it with water before boiling it. Thanks for the tips! ❤

[whitealliance]

Its Italian grits for all my southern and blackfolk. Great for making dinner when you want grits.

[annshumbo]

I grew up with my great grandmother and grandmother making polenta - the key for my grandmother and great grandmother was the more corse the better - they did stir for a long time but I love it old school with it cooked and then baked layered in a bowl with butter and cheese. Yum. So comforting. I don't like mine too mushy.

[gayhendrie]

I'm from Eastern Kentucky and we call it corn meal mush. Put it in a load pan, chill. Can be sliced like bread an sauteed in butter. Add syrup or jam. Delicious

[dpvbischoff]

I'm late to the game, but I'll add something to this great advice from Serious Eats. My wife made some veal osobucco ahead of time, and as we were reheating that and I started on the polenta to serve the veal on, she decided to call her mother. Well, I knew that would be a long chat, so I just turned off the burner under the half done polenta and covered it. About 20 minutes later, we started cooking again, and the polenta was ready to finish with seasoning, parm, butter and olive oil. The best I have ever made.