Pimento Cheese Spread – A Classic Southern Recipe

Our classic pimento cheese spread recipe is perfect to serve as a snack, condiment or even as the main ingredient in a sandwich.

Bits of pickled red peppers (pimentos) slathered in a tangy sauce and mixed with cheese and refrigerated until it becomes a thick spread.

It is extremely versatile and can be enhance your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and of course your snacks and appetizers.

But I have to be honest, I was never a huge fan of this classic Southern staple when I purchased a small tub of it from a grocery store.

However, when a friend of mine from Tennessee made her family recipe and shared it with me, I was hooked! Now I have adapted the recipe to make even better.

Classic Pimento Cheese Spread Recipe

Ingredients

• Mayonnaise – I highly recommend Duke’s Mayonnaise. However, any brand will work, including plant based varieties for those that have an egg allergy.
• Worcestershire sauce
• Apple cider vinegar
• Ground mustard
• Cayenne pepper – you will only be using a hint of cayenne pepper, so don’t worry about the heat level. You won’t even taste it.
• Granulated sugar
• Ground black pepper
• Onion
• Jarred diced pimentos – You will most likely find a jar of pimentos in the canned vegetable aisle, not in the condiment section of the grocery store.
• Finely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese – you can use pre-shredded or shred your own.

Instructions

The first step in making homemade pimento cheese spread is to gather all of the ingredients.

Next, measure the mayonnaise in a push measuring cup. This is one kitchen tool that I use every time that I need to measure something that is difficult to get out of standard measuring cups such as peanut butter, mustard, and of course mayo.

In fact, I don’t think that I could make my Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies without it!

Add the mayonnaise to a medium size mixing bowl and add in the Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, mustard, cayenne pepper, sugar and black pepper.

Grate the Onion

Grate the onion using the small blades of a kitchen grater. You will need one tablespoon of grated onion, which is approximately 1/3 of a large onion.

We use grated onion instead of diced onion to give the spread a milder flavor. Once the onion has been grated, add it to the bowl and stir the mixture until it is nice and smooth.

Drain the pimentos and then add them to the bowl. Most often there is very little liquid in a jar of pimentos. However, this helps prevent the spread from becoming too watery.

Then add the cheddar cheese and mix until well incorporated.

You can refrigerate the pimento cheese spread immediately. However, if you are looking more of a smooth spread, add the mixture to a food processor and pulse until the desired consistency is reached.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. The longer the flavors have time to meld, the better the spread will taste.

To serve bring to room temperature and stir.

Ways To Enjoy Pimento Cheese

• Use as a spread with Saltine Crackers – no fancy crackers required. The salt compliments the spread perfectly into an appetizer that is fit for royalty.
• Serve with celery sticks to keep things low-carb and Keto friendly.
• Keep it the star of the show as the filling for sandwiches. Make tea sandwiches with the pimento cheese spread and add them to a tray of egg salad and chicken salad tea sandwiches and you have the perfect baby shower or bridal shower menu item.
• Use it as the cheese for your cheeseburgers. The question is do you put it in the burger or spread it on the bun?
• Pimento cheese quesadillas is always a hit at our house.
• Add it to your omelet instead of diced peppers and shredded cheese.
• Instead of making classic deviled eggs, use it to fill the cooked egg whites. Save the cooked yolks to put in your potato or macaroni salad.

Enjoy!

Mary and Jim

Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.

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