I was born in the south and my family has lived there their whole lives but I don’t really consider myself southern, though I’m definitely southern-ish. I have a strong attraction to southern states, people and food. It was really no surprise that I went back to the south for college, North Carolina to be exact.
My first friend (and best friend ’til this day) at college was a svelte costume design major named Tre. We went everywhere together, including the cafeteria. Rumor had it that our school was just one grade above prison food, which as you know re: Orange is The New black is BAD. Naturally since we were in the south, they had pimento cheese at the salad bar. And everyday Tre would eat pimento cheese on white bread. EVERY SINGLE DAY. (I opted for cereal.) I honestly never touched the pimento cheese because if you think it looks a little scary now in my pictures, imagine how it looked at the ‘one grade above prison salad bar’. Rough.
Anywayz, through him is where I learned to appreciate this spread. It took years for me to turn around but when I had a good version of it I was like OMG this is what I’ve been missing!
It’s the laziest most delicious thing you could ever make to take to a friend’s house. Friend is having a bad day? Pimento cheese. Going to a promptu dinner party and need a quick and easy appetizer? Pimento cheese.
It’s classic yet interesting enough where people ask you what’s in it.
I served this with bread because the bread was amazing, but really it can just as easily be eaten with crackers or chips.
Sometimes I like recipes that are more assembly-based, especially when I’m feeling lazy and sweating a lil’ bit. Perfect for summah.
Ingredients
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 small dill pickles minced
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack
- 1 4- ounce jar pimentos drained (not rinsed)
- Few turns of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce I used Texas Pete, which is very mild so do this to taste
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
Instructions
- In a food processor add garlic clove, dill pickle, shredded cheddar cheese, shredded Monterey jack, pimentos, black pepper and hot sauce. Pulse until just combined, stopped and scraping down the sides as needed. Note: This is a personal preference but I like mine with texture. If you like it more smooth, simply pulse some more until you're at the desired texture.
- Give it a taste and add more hot sauce if you like. Next, fold in the mayonnaise and mix until it's completely incorporated. Adjust any seasoning or flavoring if you like.
- To serve: some like to serve this cold. I like it room temperature. It's definitely your call. Serve with chips, crackers or slices of bread.
My grandfather used to make his famous “Cheese salad” often. When he made it, he made large quantities for the whole family. He would never give anyone the recipe! I remember him using a meat grinder (clamped to the kitchen table) to shred the blocks of extra sharp cheddar cheese. Watching him make his famous & most beloved recipe is one of my favorite & fondest memories of him & my childhood. This recipe is the closest I’ve found & made that resembles my grandfather’s!
love this sotry–thanks for sharing! 🙂
Toasted pecans chopped takes it over the top. I like it on celery.
We always had sweet pickles instead of dill. Something about those sweet pickles (not relish) and a little juice makes the pimento cheese perfect! And always use the juice from the jar of pimentos! Yummm
I’ve been dying to make this forever!
I love that this takes you back to the south 😀
Looks delish.
We use extra sharp cheddar, normal cheddar, a little grated onion, worcestershire sauce, and of course mayonnaise and pimentos! I think I would really like the pickle, but I know my mother wouldn’t ;). I love seeing recipes like this on blogs!
Yummy! Great recipe!
I grew up with my dad’s pimiento cheese, which was very similar to this only with extra-sharp cheddar and without the dill pickle. Due to the extra-sharp cheddar it had a serious bite. The first time I tried grocery store pimiento cheese I was horrified: bland, excessively sweet, AWFUL.
I think the dill pickle is an excellent addition, and can’t wait to try this. I’ll report back when I do.
My mom makes a pretty good pimento cheese. She uses a little dab of cream cheese with mayo. Whenever I’ve made it, I’ve used pepper jack cheese with the cheddar and sour cream with the mayo. And I sometimes use cream cheese like Mama does. ;-)Never heard of it will pickles but I’ll bet it’s interesting.
I actually grew up on the grocery store stuff that comes in a the small plastic tub. Mrs. Staub’s, I think is the brand name. I hated it. It wasn’t until I was an adult that Mama started making it from scratch and I realized I actually do love it.
Now there’s a place in town that serves grilled pimento cheese and I order it just about every time I go there. So good!