How to Make Polenta | An Easy and Healthy Side Dish

Cheesy polenta with Parmesan is a dreamy, creamy, hearty side dish made from coarsely ground cornmeal, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. If you’ve shied away from making it for fear of it not turning out, I urge you to give this easy polenta recipe a try.

Polenta is a delicious side dish that pairs well with almost anything–I love serving soft polenta with crispy roasted vegetables, green beans, and even eating it by itself sometimes. It’s naturally gluten free as long as the fields where it’s grown haven’t been used for wheat.

Where’s the recipe?

I receive so many messages and emails asking for more details about my recipes that I’ve decided to give a ton of helpful information and tips in every post. I want you to be successful when making my recipes!

If you’d prefer to skip past the tips and special diet information for this recipe, simply scroll down to the bottom of this article for the printable Creamy Polenta recipe.

Ingredients in Polenta

• Dry Polenta: As fancy as it sounds, polenta is really just cornmeal–cooked it until it’s soft and has a velvety texture. There are both instant and regular, you can use either with this recipe.
• Parmesan: Be sure and grab a good quality cheese and grate it yourself for the best flavor. Dairy free? Use Nutritional Yeast for the cheesy flavor!
• Butter: Be sure and use real butter if you can, not margarine. This helps keep it on the healthier side, as margarine often contains extra ingredients.

How to buy Polenta

There are a few ways to buy Polenta, and a few things to look for when buying. First thing to look for is the type:

• Instant, Pre-cooked, or Quick Cook Polenta: This often looks like a roll of yellow cornmeal and is typically found in the produce department. There is also instant polenta that is dry, and is often just finely ground “regular” polenta. If you’re following the recipe below, you’ll want to use the dry.
• Cornmeal: Looks like a bag of yellow sugar or flour, and is usually located by the pasta, boxed rice, or in the ethnic foods section (depending on where you live).

The next thing to consider when buying polenta is the grind. Fine ground will cook fast, but doesn’t have as much flavor as coarser ground polenta. Also, the texture in fine ground polenta will be a bit sand-like. Looking for a coarse grind that looks like the size of quinoa or couscous will taste the best, in my opinion.

How to make Polenta

This recipe takes about 30 minutes for most types.

I’ve always been a little intimidated by polenta, and I was so excited to finally make polenta from scratch (some people say ‘making polenta from cornmeal’). It’s easy to make, but also so easy to add to and create your own delicious side dish recipes.

1. Add 3 cups of water to a large saucepan and bring to boil.
2. Reduce the heat to medium-high heat and slowly add your dry cornmeal into the boiling water, whisking constantly until there are no lumps.
3. Reduce heat to medium, stirring often. Cook times will vary depending on the kind of polenta you use. Instant will cook in 3-5 minutes, more coarse cornmeal will take 25-30 minutes.
4. Once your polenta is cooked, remove it from the heat and stir in butter and parmesan cheese.
5. Serve immediately. It is delicious on its own or as a side dish.
6. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 2 days.

Recipe Tips

• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Be sure and buy a quality Parmesan cheese and grate it yourself. Cheese that is already grated is coated to prevent it from sticking. This coating will prevent your polenta from having a smooth texture.
• To save time, use instant.
• For extra flavor, replace the water with vegetable or chicken stock.
• For creamier polenta, replace the water with milk.
• You’ll know your dish is done cooking when the grains are tender and it is easy to pour. If there is a lot of liquid it needs to cook longer. If your polenta is thick and cannot be poured, stir in 1/2 cup of water.
• Reheat on the stove. If it’s too thick, stir in 1/4 cup of water.
• If you’re concerned about the polenta sticking to your pot, go ahead and add 1 or 2 teaspoons of olive oil to the boiling water.

Healthy Eating Plans

Weight Watchers: Points were figured using the WW website.

• Weight Watchers: 7 2023 Points | 8 Blue Plan Points | 8 Green Plan Points | 8 Purple Plan Points with reduced fat parmesan and light butter. 

21 Day Fix: For the entire recipe: 4 Yellow Containers, 2 Blue Containers, 6 Teaspoons.

• Per serving (recipe makes 4): 1 Yellow Container, 1/2 Blue Container, 1 1/2 Teaspoons.

This healthy Polenta recipe is delicious when paired with:

• Baked Sweet Potato Slices
• Roasted Teriyaki Brussels Sprouts
• Crispy Roasted Veggie Tray
• Spicy Teriyaki Salmon

5 from 11 ratings

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How to Make Polenta

Created by: Becca Ludlum

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 8 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Total Time 8 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Approximate Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Servings 4

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This Cheesy Parmesan polenta is a creamy and hearty healthy side dish made from coarsely ground cornmeal and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Instructions for instant quick cook polenta or regular, right on the stove.

Equipment

• Le Creuset Cast Iron Pot
• Measuring Cups

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ 3 cups water
• ▢ 1 cup polenta dry, regular or instant
• ▢ 1/2 cup Parmesan grated
• ▢ 2 tbsp butter

Instructions

• Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. 3 cups water
• Reduce the heat the medium-high and whisk in polenta. 1 cup polenta
• Allow the polenta to simmer, stirring occasionally. Allow polenta to cook 3-5 minutes for instant and 25-30 minutes for cornmeal.
• Once the grains are tender and the liquid has been absorbed, remove your pan from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese and butter. 1/2 cup Parmesan 2 tbsp butter
• Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Notes

• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Be sure and buy a quality Parmesan cheese and grate it yourself. Cheese that is already grated is coated to prevent it from sticking. This coating will prevent your polenta from having a smooth texture.
• To save time use instant polenta.
• For extra flavor replace the water with chicken stock.
• For creamier polenta replace the water with milk.
• You’ll know your polenta is done cooking when the grains are tender and it is easy to pour. If there is a lot of liquid it needs to cook longer. If your polenta is thick and cannot be poured stir in 1/2 cup of water.

Weight Watchers: 7 2023 Points | 8 Blue Plan Points | 8 Green Plan Points | 8 Purple Plan Points with reduced fat parmesan and light butter. 

21 Day Fix: For the entire recipe: 4 Yellow Containers, 2 Blue Containers, 6 Teaspoons. Per serving (recipe makes 4): 1 Yellow Container, 1/2 Blue Container, 1 1/2 Teaspoons.

Nutrition

Calories: 247kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 210mg | Potassium: 68mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 358IU | Calcium: 156mg | Iron: 1mg

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