Pimento Cheese
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: None | Total Time: 20 minutes | Serves: 4 – 6
Recipe updated 11.4.2025.
My daughter and I recently took a trip to “Lowcountry” Charleston, SC. Even though the weather was not that great, we enjoyed a short time on Folly Beach. Living in TN, we don’t have many options for fresh seafood, so we ate many meals with. Locklear’s on Little Oak (LOLO’s), The Charleston Crab House, and Hyman’s (my fried oysters gave me a souvenir: a pearl!) were our seafood highlights. Toast, Bagel Nation, Point Break Coffee, and Baguette Magic were delicious and yummy!
The area of Charleston is known as “Lowcountry.” This region has a few quintessential dishes that are found on almost every menu. You’ll find a restaurant’s own take on traditional Lowcountry dishes such as pimento cheese, fried green tomatoes (which is generally served with a side of a homemade remoulade), and key lime pie, just to name a few.
I already had a Pimento Cheese recipe on my website, but this trip has inspired me to take another look and revamp it a little.
There will be a few more “low country” recipes to come, with my own flair… Fried Green Tomatoes with a remoulade sauce and a new version of Shrimp and Grits. I do have a Shrimp and Grits recipe currently on my site, but it highlights a particular brand of sauce. This new recipe will be more traditional “Old Bay” flavors.
My Pimento Cheese contains the traditional pimentos, but also a special ingredient to give it a little more “oomph.” Two cheeses give a bit more dimension to this spread than using only cheddar. It’s really a delicious cheese spread! Serve spread over crackers, over celery slices, make into a grilled cheese, or just enjoy with a spoon!
Some cool, fun history on what seems to be a southern icon… pimento cheese actually originated in NY in the 1870’s when farmers created what we now call “cream cheese.” About that same time, Spain was sending cans of the pimento peppers to the states. A Good Housekeeping recipe blended the two ingredients together in 1908 and the recipe was a hit. Mass production, mainly in the South, caused the humble pimento cheese to be sent country-wide. After WWII, pimento cheese began to be made in homes and revamped with a few tweaks into what we have as a more modern version with mayonnaise. But, still today, cooks continue to modify this food to fit their dietary needs, preferences, and tastes.
If you like pimento cheese and have never made it from scratch, try it at least once. It’s really delicious. Creamy, fresh, flavorful!
Enjoy!
Pimento Cheese
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise, or avocado mayo
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, hot or mild
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 cup brined cherry peppers, seeded and chopped
- 1 4-ounce jar diced pimento peppers, drained well
- 4 ounces (1 cup) yellow cheddar cheese, shredded
- 4 ounces (1 cup) extra-sharp, white cheddar cheese, shredded
- fine sea salt, to taste (you may not need any)
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
For serving:
- Butter crackers, such as "Club Crackers" or your favorite cracker
- Bell pepper slices
- Celery Sticks
- Other favorite crackers
- Sliced bread for "grilled pimento cheese sandwich"
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine the mayo, cream cheese, Dijon, paprika, white pepper, cherry peppers and pimentos.
- Add the cheeses and stir gently to combine.
- Taste for seasoning and adjust as desired. I found that I did not need to add any additional salt.
- Sprinkle with the chives. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes for the flavors to marry, or serve immediately. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container up to a week.
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