A guide to cornmeal, grits and polenta - and how to know when to use them Aaron Hutcherson, The Washington Post March 5, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail Four types of ground corn: left to right, polenta, white cornmeal, yellow cornmeal and grits.Photo by Scott Suchman for The Washington Post. If you've ever searched for ground corn in the dry goods section of your grocery store, you know: It can be rather confusing. There's cornmeal and grits and polenta, oh my! Cornmeal is available in white or yellow, and sometimes has no indication about the size of the granules on the packaging. Some packages of grits and polenta have "instant" or "quick" labels (which you should avoid if at all possible). And labeling like "instant polenta cornmeal," "enriched white hominy" on a canister of old-fashioned grits and "corn grits also known as polenta" just makes my head spin even more.