Magnetic resonance imaging techniques are described that utilize bSSFP sequences in which two or more gradient waveforms are interleaved in a "groupwise" fashion, i.e., each waveform is executed consecutively two or more times before switching to the other waveform, where "N" counts the number of times each waveform is executed consecutively. As a result, embodiments of the present disclosure can mitigate steady-state signal distortions or artifacts in interleaved balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) caused by slightly unbalanced eddy-current fields. Related MRI systems are also described.