How To Make Polenta: Easy And Quick Creamy Polenta

The southern region of Italy has produced polenta with Parmesan cheese for generations. Here’s how to prepare a delicious creamy polenta at home with instant polenta, cream, and Parmesan. Serve this quick-cooking creamy instant polenta with pork tenderloin in tomato sauce for a delicious meal.

Polenta is an Italian cornmeal mixed with hot liquid until smooth that Italians use as an alternative to pasta or rice.

Now even though Italians have been making polenta for hundreds of years, the type of polenta Italians make today is a quicker cooking version than the type of long-cooking polenta my Italian ancestors made.

Thank goodness! When I want to make polenta, I always turn to this type of polenta called instant polenta because it cooks quickly (like in minutes) and makes the perfect quick meal.

I love the flavor of instant polenta too and with the addition of a few ingredients like cream and Parmesan, it is so creamy and delicious. Let me show you how we make this creamy polenta recipe so you can add it to your dinner rotation like we have.

What You’ll Need To Make Creamy Polenta

There are not too many ingredients here. Here is a list and the exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

• Instant polenta
• Chicken stock (or chicken broth)
• Parmesan cheese. Try to use parmigiano reggiano
• Heavy cream
• Kosher salt
• Pepper
• Unsalted butter

Tip: When you are making a smooth and creamy polenta, you also want to think about what you are going to serve with it so you can have that ready. Polenta cooks up very quickly so those items need to be ready before you cook the polenta.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Making creamy instant polenta is so simple. Here is what you need to do:

1. Bring chicken stock to a boil: In a medium saucepan bring the chicken stock to a boil. I like to use chicken stock or broth to add flavor to the Italian cornmeal. You can also use water.
2. Add instant polenta: Once the chicken stock has come to a boil, add the polenta and whisk vigorously for one minute.
3. Turn off the heat: Turn off the heat and continue whisking for another minute and watch how the polenta continues to thicken.
4. Add butter, cream and cheese: Now we get to add all the delicious flavor into the polenta which is the butter, heavy cream and Parmesan cheese. Mix this in well and you will start to see that perfect creamy texture. Note: You can add more cream if you want the texture of the polenta even creamier.
5. Pour: You can now pour, or scoop out the polenta into a large serving bowl or into individual serving bowls.
6. Enjoy: Serve the polenta alongside vegetables as we did here with polenta and tomatoes, serve it alongside polpettone (Italian meatloaf), or add a delicious meat sauce or Italian marinara sauce over the top.

Creamy Polenta Recipe Tips

Cooking Italian instant polenta is so easy but here are a few tips to make sure you are set up for success in the kitchen:

• Make sure to turn down the heat after adding the polenta. When the polenta cooks, it starts to splatter and bubble out of the pot. Turning down the heat while whisking and stirring the polenta helps prevent that.
• Adjusting the creaminess of the polenta: Once the polenta is off the heat, you can continue to add as much additional cream as you like. The more you add the creamier the polenta will be.

Polenta Serving Suggestions

We love serving vegetables over this creamy polenta, our favorite is tomatoes that are lightly cooked with some garlic and olive oil like we use in our angel hair recipe or polenta baked with meat sauce. Here are some more toppings and side dish ideas:

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