Beef Grillades (pronounced gree-hahds) and Grits is a classic New Orleans dish. The beef is cooked in a flavorful gravy accented with the Holy Trinity of onions, celery, bell pepper, and garlic until it is fork tender. It’s made extra special when served with Smoked Gouda Grits.
Beef Grillades is not only delicious when first made, but also outstanding as leftovers!
Let’s Start With The Beef Part of This Recipe
The basic ingredients for the beef might seem like a lot, but actually come together very quickly.
- The Beef: For the beef, I used top sirloin, but could have also used beef chuck or round steak.
- The Holy Trinity: The Holy Trinity consists of onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic.
- The Seasonings: Lots of seasonings go into this recipe including Creole seasoning, Kosher salt, dried thyme, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
- The Liquids: I used red wine, beef broth, canned petit diced tomatoes and Worcestershire for the liquid part of this recipe.
- The Rest of the Ingredients: I used all-purpose flour to coat the beef and as a thickener and vegetable oil for browning the beef.
These are the steps that I went through to put the beef part of this recipe together.
- I started by combining the Creole seasoning and flour in a Ziploc bag. Then, I added the beef and gave the bag a good shake to coat beef in the flour mixture.
- Next, I heated some vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. I then added the coated beef in batches to the Dutch oven making sure that I didn’t crowd the beef.
I cooked the beef until it was golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Then, I repeated this with the remaining beef.
- Once all of the beef had been browned, I added the onions, celery and bell pepper to the Dutch oven. I cooked the vegetables over medium heat for about five minutes, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- After five minutes, I added the garlic, thyme, salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. I cooked the mixture for about 30 seconds until the garlic was fragrant.
- Next, I added some of the flour/Creole seasoning mixture used to coat the beef to the vegetables in the Dutch oven. I stirred everything together.
Then, I added the wine and deglazed the pan. I cooked the mixture for several minutes until it was thickened.
- I added the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce and canned tomatoes, and cooked the mixture until it was bubbly and thickened. Then, I returned the browned beef to the Dutch oven.
I receded the heat to medium low, covered the Dutch oven and cooked the Beef Grillades for around 2 ½ hours or until the beef was fork tender.
Now For the Mushrooms
I enhanced the taste of the Beef Grillades with some mushrooms.
- The Mushrooms: I used white button mushrooms but could have also used Cremini mushrooms.
- The Seasonings: The seasonings were simple – dried basil and dried oregano.
- The Rest: I used unsalted butter to cook the mushrooms and Madeira to flavor the cooked mushrooms.
I melted the butter in a large skillet over high heat and added the mushrooms, basil and oregano. I cooked the mushrooms for several minutes until they were browned.
Then, I added the Madeira and I continued cooking the mushrooms until all of the liquid had evaporated. This took several more minutes.
I added the mushrooms to the beef mixture and stirred to combine. Then, I covered the Dutch oven and cooked the Beef Grillades over medium low heat for an additional 20 minutes.
Here’s How I Made the Smoked Gouda Grits
While the Beef Grillades were cooking, I made the Smoked Gouda Grits.
- I started by bringing the chicken broth to a boil over high heat in a large saucepan. Then, I slowly added the grits.
After giving the grits a good stir, I reduced the heat to low and simmered the grits, uncovered until they were thick and tender. This took about 30 minutes.
- Once the grits were tender, I added the butter and shredded cheese. I stirred the grits until the butter and the cheese were melted and the grits were creamy smooth.
Before serving the Beef Grillades with Smoked Gouda Grits, I thinned the Grillades to the perfect consistency with some additional beef broth.
I served the Beef Grillades with Smoked Gouda Grits with my Southern Flaky Biscuits. What a delicious meal! Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
I used quick grits because that’s what I had on hand. However, feel free to substitute stone ground grits for the quick grits. You will likely have to cook the stone ground grits a bit longer, though.
Not surprisingly, Grillades and Grits originated in New Orleans where it is typically served for breakfast or brunch.
Generally, either beef or veal is used in making Grillades. However, you could also use pork.
Both the wine and the Madeira provide subtle undertones to this dish. However, you can omit both. If you omit the wine, substitute additional beef broth. If you omit the Madeira, no substitution is necessary.
Feel free to substitute the cheese of your choice for the Smoked Gouda. Alternately, you can leave the cheese out altogether.
Other New Orleans Cuisines
If you’re a fan of New Orleans Cuisine, you should try these amazing recipes:
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Beef Grillades and Smoked Gouda Grits
Ingredients
Beef Grillades
- 2 Tablespoons Creole Seasoning (See Tip 1)
- ½ cup (2.5-ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ pounds Top Sirloin trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch pieces (See Tip 2)
- 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 large onion chopped (about 2 cups)
- ½ cup chopped celery (about 2 large stalks)
- ½ cup chopped green bell pepper (about ½ bell pepper)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup (4-ounces) dry red wine (See Tip 3)
- 1 ½ cups (12-ounces) beef broth (See Tip 4)
- 14.5 ounce can petit diced tomatoes, undrained (See Tip 5)
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 ounces button mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced (See Tip 6)
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 Tablespoons Madeira (See Tip 7)
Smoked Gouda Grits
- 2 ¼ cups chicken broth (See Tip 8)
- ½ cup quick grits (do not use instant grits) (See Tip 9)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup shredded smoked Gouda cheese (See Tip 10)
Instructions
Beef Grillades
- Place Creole seasoning and flour in a plastic or Ziploc bag. Shake to combine. Add sliced beef; shake to coat.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in over medium heat in a Dutch Oven. Add the beef in batches with the excess flour shaken off, making sure not to crowd the pan. Cook beef for about 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Remove beef, and continue cooking until all of the beef is browned. Add additional tablespoon of vegetable oil as needed.
- Add onion, celery, and bell pepper to Dutch oven. Stir to combine, scraping up browned bits. Cook 5 minutes over medium heat. Add minced garlic, thyme, salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Stir to combine; cook for 30 seconds, or until garlic is fragrant.
- Add two tablespoons of flour/Essence mixture to vegetables. Stir to combine; cook for 2 minutes.
- Add wine; stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Add beef broth, petit diced tomatoes, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until bubbly and thickened. Return beef to Dutch Oven; stir to combine.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover Dutch oven and simmer for 2-½ hours, or until beef is fork tender.
- While beef is cooking, cook mushrooms, oregano, and basil in 2 tablespoons of melted butter over high heat until mushrooms are browned, about 2 minutes. Add Madeira and continue cooking until liquid has evaporated.
- Add mushrooms to beef mixture. Cover and simmer an additional 20 minutes. If necessary, thin with additional beef broth. Taste and correct seasonings if necessary. Serve over Smoked Gouda Grits or rice. Yield: 6 servings. (See Tip 11)
Smoked Gouda Grits
- Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Slowly add grits to boiling chicken broth, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low; simmer uncovered until the grits are tender and thick, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add butter and shredded cheese; stir until cheese is melted and grits are creamy and smooth. Yield: 6 servings.
Chula’s Expert Tips
- I use Emeril’s Essence for the Creole Seasoning.
- Can also use beef chuck or top round in place of the sirloin.
- If you would prefer to leave out the alcohol, you may replace the wine with additional beef broth.
- I used low sodium beef broth in this recipe. However, you can also use regular beef broth.
- May use diced tomatoes, undrained in place of the petit diced tomatoes.
- May substitute Cremini mushrooms for the button mushrooms.
- May substitute dry Marsala for the Madeira or omit the Madeira all together.
- I used low sodium chicken broth in this recipe. However, you can also use regular chicken broth.
- May substitute stone ground grits for the quick grits. If using stone ground grits, you will probably have to cook the grits a bit longer.
- May substitute the cheese of your choice for the Smoked Gouda or leave the cheese out altogether.
- The Beef Grillades make excellent leftovers. You can also freeze the Beef Grillades for several months.
This recipe looks so good! I have a question about one of the ingredients though. Is it possible to make this without any alcohol? And if so, what would you recommend as a substitute?
You can definitely make this without any alcohol.
Hello, Chula. Is it not necessary to pound the beef in order to tenderize it? Most recipes for Grillades this.
Additionally, do I slice the sirloin one inch thick or one inch in length?
Thank you
Peter,
You can certainly pound the beef to tenderize it. However, I’ve found that the slow,low cooking produces fork-tender beef without doing anything extra to tenderize it.
I slice the sirloin into pieces that are approximately 1-inch cubes.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions!
Chula