A simple recipe for classic Southern pimento cheese spread made with cheddar cheese, pimentos, mayo, a little seasoning (and no cream cheese), perfect for sandwiches, burgers, crackers and The Masters!
I must have been hungry when I went shopping for groceries this week. I spent about $150 more than I usually do AND I decided I needed to buy two pounds of cheddar cheese.
Two POUNDS of cheddar cheese. And enough canned beans to get through a nuclear winter. I don’t know why.
I got home and looked at that mammoth-sized block of cheese and thought well, now what are you going to do with that?
So, I did what any good Southerner would do. I made my Baked Macaroni & Cheese and about a quart of Pimento Cheese.
If you’re not familiar with pimento cheese (sometimes called pimento cheese spread), it’s a creamy sandwich spread made with cheddar cheese, diced pimentos (roasted red peppers), mayo and a little seasoning. Sometimes you see it with diced jalapeños too.
Some more modern pimento cheese recipes are made with cream cheese (to make it creamier), but I’ve found that so long as you shred your own cheese and don’t use the pre-shredded stuff that’s coated with cellulose and other additives to keep it from sticking together, your pimento cheese will be plenty creamy.
Your granny didn’t make her pimento cheese with cream cheese 50 years ago. And she didn’t use pre-shredded cheese. If she was like mine, she was using that big block of gubment cheese. Trust me, you don’t need cream cheese for creamy pimento cheese.
The most common way to enjoy pimento cheese is to make sandwiches with it. On white bread. The kind that’s so fresh and soft it sticks to the roof of your mouth. Or you can treat it like an appetizer spread and have it on crackers or celery sticks.
But if you’re really lucky, you’ll have some around when you’re grilling burgers because a pimento cheese cheeseburger is just about one of my favorite things on the planet to eat. The cheese gets all melty and ooey and creamy and gooey and it’s… well… it’s just amazing.
If you’re ever in Columbia, South Carolina, stop by Rockaways on Rosewood Drive for the absolute best pimento cheese burger in the whole wide world. Get that sucker all the way, get a pile of napkins, then enjoy what ought to be considered a rite of passage in the South.
WHAT TO DO WITH PIMENTO CHEESE
- Use as a sandwich spread (obviously)
- Serve with crackers or celery sticks (still pretty obvious)
- Make Charleston Cheese Dip
- Serve with strawberry jam or red pepper jelly on crackers (seriously SO delicious)
- Mix in chopped pecans then serve with crackers
- Top hamburgers for a Pimento Cheeseburger
- Use as a filling for jalapeno poppers
- Make sliders with King’s Hawaiian Rolls
- Use in Tomato Pie instead of cheese and mayo
Oh, I should point out that I have no idea what the proper spelling is. Pimiento and pimento are both acceptable but it could be spelled puhmennah because that’s how everybody says it!
A FEW NOTES ABOUT MAKING THIS PIMENTO CHEESE RECIPE
- I usually use medium cheddar but if you prefer sharp, go for it!
- Do NOT use pre-shredded cheese to make pimento cheese. Just trust me on this.
- I add a little grated onion to my pimento cheese and I love it! I think it’s what *makes* it but you can certainly leave it out if you’d like!
- It will seem like you don’t have enough mayo at first but keep stirring until everything is very well combined and it will come together fine. Definitely add more if desired but don’t add it until everything is mixed well.
- For a creamier texture, let pimento cheese come to room temperature then mix with an electric mixer on low speed until creamy.
- Add diced jalapeños if desired.
