Southern Pimento Cheese

Southern Pimento Cheese Spread, aka Southern Caviar, is one of our favorite delicious iconic Southern Staples. It ranks right up there with our fried okra, cornbread, and collard greens. You’ll find us Southerners slathering it on several things, such as celery, soda crackers, Triscuits, grilled cheese, hot dogs, hamburgers, deviled eggs, and even on sweet rolls as little finger sandwiches with a pickle on top.

Southern Pimento Cheese Spread is a serious matter to us Southerners; don’t you kid yourself, we all have our unique family recipes and even secret techniques to make this tasty menu item. My Pimento cheese has to have a little texture, yet lovely and creamy, and not too chunky.

The pimento pepper is also roughly chopped instead of finely chopped to suit my preferences, but you can make it a fine as you like it. You’ll likely never find processed American cheese or Velveeta cheese gracing my Pimento Cheese recipe; instead, you’ll find only sharp cheddar, mild cheddar, and cream cheese. Don’t you dare try to sneak Miracle Whip in my Pimento Cheese recipe either; oh no, that’s almost grounds for a  good old-fashioned girl fight!

Now let’s get to a few other essential things about Pimento Cheese. Do you enjoy it creamy or chunky? Do you grind or grate your cheese? I have found personal preference is detrimental to each Pimento Cheese lover; it’s almost like a journey when they create their favorite Pimento Cheese Spread; so I am curious about your preferences. Let me know in the comments. I would love to hear from you.

For the record, we Southerners aren’t necessarily saying we originally invented the idea behind our beloved Pimento Cheese; what we are saying is we sure did make it our own over the years. Years ago, pimento cheese was said to have been invented in test kitchens up North; after the introduction, Cream cheese and pimento, low and behold, someone decided to mix a bit of cream cheese, and those sweet red pimentos and history were in the making.

Be sure to scroll down to see the Southern Pimento Cheese Spread’s recipe card that contains equipment to have on hand, ingredients, instructions, and nutritional value included. Or pin on Pinterest to save for later.

Recommended Equipment for Southern Pimento Cheese

• Cutting Board

• Cheese grater

• Measuring Cups

• Measuring spoons

• Medium bowl

• Spoon

Southern Pimento Cheese Spread

• Four-ounces softened cream cheese

• Eight-ounces yellow sharp cheddar cheese grated

• Eight-ounces mild cheddar cheese grated

• 1/2 of a cup chopped pimento peppers

• 1/2 of a cup of quality mayonnaise + more

• Dash of hot sauce

• 1/4 of a teaspoon of onion powder

• Pinch of paprika

• Pinch of red cayenne pepper

• Kosher salt to own taste

• Freshly ground black pepper to hold taste

Frequently Asked Questions about Southern Pimento Cheese

1.  How long does Pimento Cheese stay good? I usually keep the pimento cheese spread in a tightly sealed container for up to a little over a week in the refrigerator.

2. What are the best ways to serve Pimento cheese? Pimento cheese is great on celery, soda crackers, butter crackers, Triscuits, grilled cheese, hot dogs, hamburgers, deviled eggs, chips, and even sweet rolls.

3. Can I freeze the Pimento Cheese? No, it really just doesn’t hold up very well in the freezer.

4. What Does Pimentos taste like? Pimento is sweet and mild and unlikely to cause trouble if you cannot tolerate spicy peppers’ heat. Pimentos register between 100 and 500 heat units on the Scoville scale, making them one of the chile peppers’ mildest.

Instructions for Southern Pimento Cheese

1. Place 4 ounces of cream cheese in a medium bowl to soften.

2. Grate the yellow sharp cheddar cheese and mild cheddar cheese, place in the medium bowl with the cream cheese.

3. Drain chopped pimento peppers and place 1/2 of a cup or 4-ounces of the pimento peppers in the medium bowl with cheeses.

4. Add Mayonnaise, a dash of hot sauce, onion powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper to your own taste to the other ingredients to the bowl, combine thoroughly.

5. You may also run the mixture through a food processor if desired.

6. Refrigerate 1+  hours before serving on bread, crackers, rolls, etc.

7. Southern Pimento Cheese Spread will keep safely stored in a plastic container when refrigerated– up to a week.

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Southern Pimento Cheese Spread

Heidy McCallum

Pimento Cheese aka Southern Caviar is one of our favorite delicious iconic Southern Staples, it ranks right up there with our fried okra, cornbread, and collard greens. 

5 from 13 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Chill 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Spread

Cuisine American, Southern

Servings 8 People

Calories 376 kcal

Equipment

• Cutting Board
• Cheese grater
• Measuring Cups
• Measuring spoons
• Medium bowl
• Spoon

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 ounces cream cheese softened
• 8 ounces yellow sharp cheddar cheese grated
• 8 ounces mild cheddar cheese mild
• ½ cup pimento peppers canned, chopped
• ½ cup mayonnaise + more
• 1 dash hot sauce your brand
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1 pinch paprika
• 1 pinch red cayenne pepper or to taste
• Kosher salt to own taste
• ground pepper to own taste

Instructions

 

• Place 4 ounces of cream cheese in a medium bowl to soften.
• Grate the yellow sharp cheddar cheese and mild cheddar cheese, place in the medium bowl with the cream cheese.
• Drain chopped pimento peppers and place ½ of a cup or 4-ounces of the pimento peppers in the medium bowl with cheeses.
• Add Mayonnaise, a dash of hot sauce, onion powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper to your own taste to the other ingredients to the bowl, combine thoroughly.
• You may also run through a food processor if desired.
• Refrigerate 1+ hours before serving on bread, crackers, rolls, etc.

Notes

Frequently Asked Questions

1.  How long does Pimento Cheese stay good? I usually keep the pimento cheese spread in a tightly sealed container for up to a little over a week in the refrigerator.
2. What are the best ways to serve Pimento cheese? Pimento cheese is great on celery, soda crackers, butter crackers, Triscuits, grilled cheese, hot dogs, hamburgers, deviled eggs, chips, and even sweet rolls.
3. Can I freeze the Pimento Cheese? No, it really just doesn't hold up very well in the freezer.
4. What Does Pimentos taste like? Pimento is sweet and mild and unlikely to cause trouble if you cannot tolerate spicy peppers' heat. Pimentos register between 100 and 500 heat units on the Scoville scale, making pimentos one of the mildest of all the chile peppers.

 

Although themccallumsshamrockpatch.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and how ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Under no circumstances will themccallumsshamrockpatch.com be responsible for any loss or damage resulting from your reliance on nutritional information.

Nutrition

Serving: 01Calories: 376kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 15gFat: 34gSaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 487mgPotassium: 95mgSugar: 1gVitamin A: 1059IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 423mgIron: 1mg

Keyword Cheddar Cheese, Pimento, Spread

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