Basic Polenta
Updated Oct. 30, 2023
- Total Time
- About an hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- Salt and pepper
- 1cup medium or fine cornmeal
- Butter
- Parmesan for soft polenta, optional
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
100 calories; 1 gram fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 21 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 62 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
For firm polenta use 4 cups water; for soft polenta use 5 cups water. Bring water to a boil in a medium, heavy saucepan over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Pour cornmeal slowly into water, stirring with a wire whisk or wooden spoon. Continue stirring as mixture thickens, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Step 2
Turn heat to low. Cook for at least 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. If polenta becomes quite thick, thin it with ½ cup water, stir well and continue cooking. Add up to 1 cup more water as necessary, to keep polenta soft enough to stir. Put a spoonful on a plate, let it cool, then taste. Grains should be swollen and taste cooked, not raw. Adjust salt and add pepper if you wish.
- Step 3
For firm polenta, lightly butter a baking sheet or shallow dish, approximately 8½ by 11 inches. Carefully pour polenta into pan. Using a spatula, spread polenta to a thickness of ¾ inch. Cool to room temperature to allow polenta to solidify. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. For soft polenta, add 6 tablespoons butter to pot and stir well. Serve immediately or transfer to a double boiler set over low heat, cover and keep warm for up to an hour or so. (Or set the saucepan in a pot of barely simmering water.) Stir well before spooning into low soup bowls. Sprinkle with Parmesan, if desired.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Joe
Italian grandmothers not withstanding, adding corn meal to boiling water is an act of self-inflicted masochism. I spent 35 years in the corn starch industry and corn meal is 90% corn starch. No one in that industry would ever add starch to boiling water. The result will be a lumpy mess, which will require either patience or a homogenizer to smoothen it. Simply slurry the meal in cold water and heat it to boiling with periodic stirring and hold for 15-30 minutes. Try it; you'll like it.
Mary K
For 25 years I have been making oven polenta--easiest recipe ever and needs no "minding". In a large pot or oven-proof bowl, put one cup of cornmeal. Add 4 (+ or -) cups of water or stock or milk or combo. Add teaspoon of Kosher salt. Add (optional) a "knob" of butter. Give a stir. Put in oven at 350 (no need to pre-heat). Cook 30 minutes. Stir again. Cook 15+ minutes til nearly all the liquid is absorbed. Stir. Voila! Polenta to use in any recipe. EASY!
Linda
Joe is absolutely correct. No way can you add polenta to hot boiling water without creating a mess. The corn flour needs to be added to cold water as he instructed. I have been doing it like this for years as have my Itslian ancestors.
B
Adding the corn meal into boiling water in a slow and steady stream with left hand while whisking with the right hand has worked perfectly for my 20+ years of polenta making. Maybe some folks just don't have the patience for "slow and steady".
daniela
I don't understand everybody's excitement about adding polenta to boiling water. I have done it a million times and it works like a charm. Never one lump in sight. Besides: there are many ways to rome. AND: fot the ever- present "grandmother-tradition-etc.-killer-argument": just because one is a grandmother doesn' t mean one is automatically right. Like somebody wise once said: " it is possible to do something the wrong way for a very long time"
Eddie Calzone
Nice! Polenta also works great in a pressure cooker.
1 tsp salt
4 cups water
1 cup coarse polenta
1 Tbsp olive oil
Boil water, add salt and oil, slowly stir in polenta. Cover and cook on high pressure for just 8 minutes. Quick release works fine.
Fast, much easier, no lumps, and the pressure infuses the polenta evenly and quickly. Source: Hip Pressure Cooking.
Gary Westcott
This will be heresy for some, but I gave up cooking polenta on the stove or in the oven when I discovered it could be perfectly cooked in a microwave. Same ratio liquid to corn meal, i.e. 4 or 5 to one for soft or firm results. Cook 8 minutes on high (in 900-1000 watt unit) and stop to stir every 2 minutes. I typically add a knob of butter and most often use stock and stir in grated parmesan at the end along with some herbs. Turns out perfectly every time.
Absolutely perfect recipe!
I sprinkled the cornmeal into the boiling water while whisking and it went in smooth as silk! The texture is wonderful. I can't believe I made it just using plain old cornmeal. Wonderful. This is the best recipe I've found. I mixed in some Parmesan and served it with pan fried Portabello mushrooms and a side of sauteed peppers. Too delicious to describe. Thank you for this wonderful yet simple recipe!
Jim
Your recipe is what I would call "White Bread & Mayonnaise" polenta.
If you would like to try it Italian style: Pour the polenta onto a very large serving platter immediately after it is finished cooking; then cover the polenta with a tomato sauce (a meat sauce is best) and then add cooked Italian-style sausages (whole or sliced). Other toppings (as on a pizza) can be delicious as well. Allow guests to serve themselves from the large plate.
Kriste
I had polenta last night with ratatouille with fresh tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, onions, and eggplant from the garden or farmer's market. Cooking the polenta for about an hour makes for an amazing flavor, with butter and some parmesan! Tonight leftovers will be a torta, polenta layered with leftover ratatouille, fresh mozzarella and parmesan, and heated in the oven. (even if the heat index is 103 today!)
Allan
In a large pot or oven-proof bowl, put one cup of cornmeal. Add 4 (+ or -) cups of water or stock or milk or combo. Add teaspoon of Kosher salt. Add (optional) a "knob" of butter. Give a stir. Put in oven at 350 (no need to pre-heat). Cook 30 minutes. Stir again. Cook 15+ minutes til nearly all the liquid is absorbed. Stir. Voila! Polenta to use in any recipe. EASY!
Lita
I took Joe's advice and started the polenta out cold. The only other change that I made was to the liquid. I used 2 cups chicken stock, 1 cup of water and 1 cup of half and half. Velvety smooth and delicious. I served it with the Pressure Cooker Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine from this site. Will definitely make again!
Gigi
I'm Italian and have always added polenta to a hot boiling liquid. The trick is to add and incorporate just a bit at a time and keep repeating until all of it is incorporated into the liquid. Doing it this way I never get lumps.
KLS
Like the title says, this recipe is super basic but spot on for perfect polenta with a complex corn flavor.
I did find that I needed to stir more frequently than suggested and I also had to add about an extra cup and a half of water, as it cooked.
Also, it served two. I think that's more a reflection of our appetites than the accuracy of the serving size that's listed.
Joan Abnett
I always reduce the amount of water by half a cup and add that amount of milk. Also add a little butter. To my tsdte it is yum!
GF & DF in TX
Used Instapot 3 cups water 1 cup vegetable broth 1 cup corn meal 1 tsp salt 1 TB olive oil Whisked together in Instapot, brought to boil, put on lid and pressure cooked for 8 minutes. Natural released pressure while cooked mushrooms - stirred in olive oil. Sautéed 1 lb of crimini mushrooms with garlic, shallots, fresh thyme, oregano, olive oil, and healthy splash of cognac to de-glaze the pan. Quick, easy, umami, vegan dinner served with salad.
Ellen
4 cups chicken broth, 1 cup milk. Cold start. Added 2 Tablespoons butter and a big pinch of kosher salt.
HanTran
Made this ( https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019034-garlic-braised-short-ribs-with-red-wine ) last night, skimmed the fat off the sauce and then immersion blendered it this afternoon, pulled meat off the bone and am going to do a bed of soft polenta.... I'm drooling!
Catherine
Huge quantity. Soft takes a lot of water and butter. Firm TBD
Sandra Warren
Cooked as directed. I had no problem whisking in the polenta into boiling liquid. I used the fifth cup of water, adding it 1/4 cup at a time about five minutes apart the last 20 minutes. I cooked it over a double boiler so I didn’t have to worry about it scorching between stirs. Added 3 tbsps of butter and a heaping half cup of Parmesan finely grated with a microplane. Very soft and tasty. I do prefer using half milk and half water to cook, makes it a bit creamier. Served w/ home spaghetti sauce
JST
I added a third cup Parmesan and a little milk at the end of the cooking. After the polenta was fully cooked I cooled in an 8x8 pan. Then cut it into 10 rectangles. I sprinkled each piece with parmesan and heated it in the oven just prior to serving dinner. If you have a small household the polenta “bars” are easy to freeze and use later.
Chris, Santa Fe
I liked suggestions to cook in the microwave, but they didn't allow enough time. As we learned in "My Cousin Vinny," it takes at LEAST 20 minutes, and that's just for grits. I whisked 1C polenta with 4C cold water & stock, salt, butter, in a large bowl, microwaved to a boil with occasional stirring, covered and let stand 30 min. The water was completely absorbed by then. Microwaved about 10 min. more minutes on high, stirring every 2-3 min. Stirred in the cheese and let stand 15 min. Excellent!
Richard
Forget all the stirring and work. Look up online recipes for instant pot polenta, which are much, much easier. Basically: Mix four cups water with one cup polenta, and salt to taste (and some oil or butter if you want). Cook in instant pot on high pressure for 10 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes, then manually vent the instant pot. Whisk polenta for half a minute or so. Voila, creamy no-hassle polenta.
Robbie
Don't know what people are talking about regarding adding cornmeal to the boiling water. I have never made polenta before, but followed the recipe as written. I used a whisk to stir cornmeal into boiling water while GRADUALLY adding to water. I suspect the problem people have is maybe they dumped all the cornmeal in at once, then went to look for a whisk before stirring. If you slowly add while whisking, it works
Joe Is Right. Do What Joe Says
Adding it to boiling water ends in a lumpy mess. Do what Joe said. If you're reading this because you didn't read Joe's comment first and you're trying to work out, "how do I get myself out of this lumpy conundrum I've created for myself?" - a stick blender is your friend.
SGG
Ridiculously easy and ridiculously delicious. No issue at all with the method in the recipe. Could have eaten a bowl on its own, but it was perfect for short ribs.
Frank Wilk
While following this recipe, except I only had course corn meal so I ground it in my spice grinder to a finer cut, I read the comments and as a result at the twenty minute mark I switched from water to chicken stock, and then eventually a tablespoon of my tomato sauce and finally 2 tsps of my in-house harissa and it ended up being delicious. Seems folks like to adamant about their preferred method, but the goal is delicious polenta fully cooked and I got there.
Mimi
My mother made a similar recipe, salt only. She chilled the polenta, covered, in a bread pan, overnight. She sliced it about 3/4” thick, lightly floured it and fried it in butter as you would French toast. Served with warm maple syrup it was an inexpensive lunch for our large family and is still a favorite comfort food for me 60+ years on. My husband detests it; otherwise he is definitely a keeper. I was a young adult before I learned there were other ways to eat polenta.
Anne
Polenta is just another name for grits! Everyone has their favorite method. I prefer the corn flavor and stick to water adding a little milk at the end to soften the corn.
Concerned
Don't ever start pouring the cornmeal into boiling water. Pour it into tepid water and then slowly raise the heat so that the cornmeal starts to slightly bubble. Then lower the heat and
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