Y’all no one knows a good Pimento Cheese dip like this Southerner. And this recipe right here makes me the bonafide boss! This easy pimento cheese recipe is filled with four different sharp and milky cheeses, pimento peppers, creamy mayo, and punchy spices that give the most impactful flavor! Make this recipe for any self-respecting Southerner, and get bragging rights for impressing the heck out of em!
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If you grew up in the South or was raised by a Southern family, you know we get down on cheese, especially homemade pimento cheese. We love to throw it on everythang! It turns a dish into something comforting immediately. That’s why I had to show y’all how to make it, and make it right boos. You can’t trust everybody’s recipe out here.
What Is Pimento Cheese?
Pimento cheese is a super popular Southern spread typically made with shredded cheese, mayonnaise, diced pimentos and spices. Folks usually serve it up on bread to build a sandwich or on crackers and veggies for a good ole snack or appetizer. The flavor of Southern pimento cheese dip is sharp, smokey, savory, and slightly spicy while the texture is creamy.
The Lowdown on the Best Pimento Cheese Recipe
Cuisine Inspiration: Southern Comfort
Primary Cooking Method: Mixing
Dietary Info: Gluten Free and can be made Vegetarian with a substitution
Key Flavor: Cheesy, Tangy, Sharp, Creamy and Spicy
Skill Level: Easy (no sweat fam!)
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make this Homemade Pimento Cheese Recipe
- Mayonnaise: This gives our easy pimento dip base a nice creamy texture.
- Diced pimentos (drained): These give a hint of sweetness as well as fun color and a little tanginess.
- Grated Vidalia onion: This gives a mild onion flavor. It also adds moisture with the addition of the juice too.
- Worcestershire sauce: The sauce enhances this old fashioned pimento cheese recipe with an umami flavor from the combo of anchovies, vinegar, and spices.
- Seasoned salt: It adds a great blend of of salt and spices to season that spread on up!
- Black pepper: This is gonna give some subtle heat y’all.
- Garlic powder: This is great when you want to give savory garlic flavor without the texture and bite of fresh garlic.
- Cayenne pepper: We gotta add some heat y’all.
- Shredded Cheeses: Sharp yellow cheddar provides a bold, tangy flavor. The medium yellow cheddar adds a bit more toned down depth of flavor. The creamy mild white cheddar balances the sharpness of the other cheeses. And finally, mozzarella offers that mild and milky flavor to the spread.
PRO TIP: If you’re looking to upgrade this recipe, buy your cheeses in whole blocks and grate them finely yourself. Pre-shredded cheeses are usually coated with preservatives that dull the sharpness and prevent flavor from really shining through.
How to Make Pimento Cheese
- Start your recipe by whisking together your mayonnaise, pimentos, onion, Worcestershire sauce and spices in a medium sized bowl. You are completely in control of how spicy you want this recipe to be. Adding or removing cayenne pepper and pimentos will allow you to customize your spice level the way you like it. Do you boos!
- Next, carefully fold in your cheeses with a spatula.
- Mix until it’s well combined. Refrigerate for at least three hours and then it’s ready to serve up y’all! No sweat fam!
PRO TIP: If you want your pimento cheese spread to be super smooth without texture, just throw the ingredients in a food processor to smooth out to your preference.
What to Serve with Pimento Cheese
- Appetizer: This Southern pimento cheese recipe is so fantastic served along with deviled eggs and tomato tarts y’all. Serve it up with your fave crackers, crostinis, toasted baguette slices and a veggie platter. Your entertaining skills will climb to new heights.
- Burgers: It’s time to upgrade burgers y’all. Spread this baby on this bacon cheddar burger, black bean burgers, or even this mango jerk salmon burger for a punch of extra flavor.
- Grilled Cheese: If you love a gooey, cheese pulling grilled cheese, place this old fashioned pimento cheese inside this Italian beef grilled cheese or pizza grilled cheese. Talk about flavor bombs!
- Fry it Up: Add a bit of this into your batter for hush puppies, corn fritters or fried cornbread. That’s some good eatin.
Recipe Additions, Substitutions and Variations
- Cheeses: If you aren’t feeling an old fashioned pimento cheese recipe, have fun with switching around the cheeses. Switch out the cheddar for gouda, monterey jack or gruyere for a bit of elevation. Pepper jack is fantastic if you want to spice it up some more.
- Mayo: Real Southerners might fight me for saying this but you can switch out the mayo for plain greek yogurt if you want to lighten it up. You can even add in some softened cream cheese for more richness.
- Herbs: When we wanna freshen it up and make it sophisticated, add in some fresh herbs like parsley and chives. It gives an earthy vibe.
- Bacon: Now you know we love some bacon in the South. Add some crumbled and crispy bacon for a texture switch up with smoky salty deliciousness.
Expert Tips and Tricks for this Old Fashioned Pimento Cheese Recipe
- Cheese Quality: To really up the quality and flavor of your pimento cheese recipe, buy cheese blocks and grate them yourself. That way you will avoid the preservatives that dull that fantastic flavor.
- Taste and Adjust: Taste as you go along. You can adjust the seasonings to make it based on your preferences or you can even make it creamier by changing the amounts of mayo. That way, you can make it taste exactly how you like it. Do you boos!
- Don’t Overmix: If you want to keep the textures in there, make sure you don’t keep mixing until its totally smooth.
- Let it Rest: After you make your homemade pimento cheese recipe, add to the fridge and let it sit at least a few hours. This will help all those cheeses soften and allow those flavors to come together perfectly before you serve it up.
How to Store Southern Pimento Cheese
- Refrigerate: Store any leftover pimento cheese dip in an airtight container in your fridge. It will stay fresh and delish for about a week.
- Freeze: Don’t do it boos! Homemade pimento cheese doesn’t freeze well. The mayo can separate and get all watery when you thaw it. Just eat it fresh and from the fridge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sharp cheddar is the typical cheese used in a homemade pimento cheese recipe. It adds such great sharpness. I like to blend different cheeses so you get varying flavors of mild, sharp, nutty and pungent all together.
It’s best to drain them so your pimento cheese recipe won’t become too watery.
Yep you absolutely can! In fact, it tastes even better if you do. Just pop it in the fridge. It will last for about a week.
Throw the pimentos in a fine mesh sieve or colander and press with a spoon very gently to get all that liquid out. No sweat!
Favorite Sauces and Spreads to Try
Pimento Cheese
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 4 oz diced pimentos jar drained
- 1 tbsp grated vidalia onion with juice
- 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
- 1/4-1/2 tsp seasoned salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 cup shredded sharp yellow cheddar (Best if grated with food processor or by hand finely from a block)
- 1 cup shredded medium yellow cheddar (Best if grated with food processor or by hand finely from a block)
- 1/2 cup shredded mild white cheddar (Best if grated with food processor or by hand finely from a block)
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (Best if grated with food processor or by hand finely from a block)
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, pimentos, onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne together.
- Next carefully fold in all cheeses with a spatula until well mixed and combined throughout. Add to a container and refrigerate for 3 hours then serve. Use within 1 week.
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Tried it and loved it. I’m a Southern gal and grew up eating Price’s original Pimiento cheese with soft white bunny bread and nothing seems better to me. Thanks for such a fun blog and website. LOVE IT and have saved some recipes to try. I take care of my 91 year old Momma and cook for her. So I bet she will love everything.
Wonderful recipe! After reading many pimiento cheese recipes, I had decided to mix all the ingredients except the cheddar cheese, then stir in the cheese. Here you have recommended just that! And your idea of using mozarella cheese instead of cream cheese was exactly what I was searching for – I didn’t come up with that idea myself, and I am so excited that I found it with you! Thanks for a fabulous recipe.
Can’t wait to try this…!!!
This was so yummy. My husband planted some pimento peppers for me this year and we finally were able to pick a few so I googled this recipe. I only had sharp cheddar and mozzarella and it still came out great. I also added about 2 tablespoons of diced jalapeño. Will definitely put this on summer rotation.
I made deviled eggs with it, was the perfect filling!!
Oh that is so genius!
I added a little jalapeno pepper minced. It was soooo much better the next day!! The thanksgiving crowd was crazy about it and I shared the recipe!! Thanks!! My go to pimento cheese recipe from now on!!
Thanks so much for posting this can’t wait to try it! You posted the nutritional info how much pimento cheese would you get for that? Thanks in advance!
About 4-5 servings. I hope you enjoy.