7.2 Pimento cheese

I don’t recall when I first encountered this, I think it was when I lived in North Carolina. It’s pretty awesome and versatile. I’ve used it as an appetizer with chips/crackers, put it on a roll, and make a grilled cheese with it. This is a dairy-free recipe (optionally vegan), but that makes the ingredient list a bit verbose, so I’ll list some options below.

Source: AllRecipes, but I modified it to be dairy-free.

Ingredients:

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 tsp paprika

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

4 oz diced pimentos, drained

1/4 tsp onion powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

  1. Mix the cream cheese and mayonnaise together.
  2. Once the cream cheese and mayonnaise start to come together, add in the spices and continue mixing. Then add in the pimentos and continue mixing.
  3. Add the cheddar cheese shreds and mix well.
  4. Store in sealed container, seems to last pretty well. Might just be because pimento cheese is delicious and doesn’t last that long.

Variations:

  • Some of the following can be added to tweak the recipie slightly:
    • Bacon bits (smoked is better)
    • 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
    • 1 jalapeño pepper, de-seeded and minced
    • I haven’t tried it yet, but adding some green chile would probably be good as well.
  • If you use Miracle Whip instead of mayonnaise, you may want to add white vinegar. I forget the amount, maybe1/4 cup or so. This helps mellow out the sweetness of the Miracle Whip, but does change the texture of the cheese to be a little bit more runny. Just use Duke’s mayo. Why don’t you have that stuff on hand anyway?

Notes:

  • As noted, this can easily be dairy-free. Our typical choices are:
    • Shredded chedder cheese: Daiya
    • Cream cheese: Tofutti