Pimento Cheese, A Southern Classic

This update to my classic Pimento Cheese recipe is being written in October 2018. I have had to change the recipe because Kraft Velveeta has changed. It is now this mushy, nut-flavored stuff that will make your pimento cheese turn into a giant blob and taste awful. 

I recommend replacing the Velveeta in my orginal recipe with four or five ounces of either  Colby Jack or Monterey Jack.  Once grated, mix the Monterey Jack or Colby Jack cheese with six or seven ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, one small jar of diced pimentos, some salt and Duke's mayonnaise and you will have a tasty batch of pimento cheese. I often clean out the cheese drawer and add whatever I find

Likely if you're from north of the Mason-Dixon line, when you hear Pimento Cheese, you're thinking it's just another type of cheese like, Pepper Jack.

If you have never heard of Pimento Cheese spread which can be used on crackers or in sandwiches, consider yourself culturally deprived.

Lots of people consider meat loaf or pot roast as comfort food. To me, Pimento Cheese is the real comfort food.

I've worked on my Pimento Cheese making abilities for many years, and I believe I have discovered the secret to a rich mixture which doesn't require a lot of mayonnaise to be tasty .  My mixture has a little more texture than you what you find in southern grocery stores, but those who have tried my Pimento Cheese spread claim that it's pretty good for a recipe from a guy.

Looking back on it, I think I learned how to make Pimento Cheese when my single mom was working long hours.  I figured out how to make it so I could have something to balance out all the tomato soup.

I use a fairly coarse grater so that the cheese doesn't end up in one big lump.

The biggest challenge, this far north, just outside of Washington, is finding Velveeta.  Vetveeta doesn't seem to be considered a cheese in the Giant grocery stores that are popular in Northern Virginia.

I did finally manage to find some located in the interior aisles close to the macaroni and cheese mixes.  Of course that meant that the Velveeta was warm so a little time in refrigerator helped it to perform better on the grater.

I don't claim this is a precise recipe so you'll have to experiment a little to get it to match your tastes.

I end up using six or seven ounces of Sharp Cheddar Cheese with approximately four or five ounces of Velveeta Monterey Jack or Colby Jack cheese along with one four ounce jar of diced pimentos.

First I grate a couple of ounces of the Cheddar into the bottom of the bowl.  I then grate almost all of the Velveeta Monterey Jack or Colby Jack cheese except an ounce or two.  I then finish grating the Cheddar and then finish grating the Velveeta Monterey Jack or Colby Jack cheese and do once last swipe at the grater with the Cheddar block to clean out the grater.

Then I dump the the whole jar of diced pimentos, juice included into the bowl.

I sprinkle just a little salt on top of the mixture and add a couple of dollops of mayonnaise and mix. The type of mayonnaise can be a matter for serious debate.  When this was originally written, our absolute favorite Duke's was hard to find up north so that is why Kraft's is pictured. Finding Duke's in North Carolina is no challenge so we have switched and you can taste the difference.

The amount of mayonnaise depends on your taste, if you get too much, add some more cheese.

I like to start out with all the ingredients well chilled.  The different flavors get a chance to meld a little if you stick the finished spread in the fridge for an hour or so to cool.  Usually I make our pimento cheese for lunch just after breakfast. A few hours in the refrigerator does help.

Pimento Cheese Sandwiches with the crust cut off were a staple, along with Country Ham Biscuits, and Fried Chicken on those long summer trips to the beach before there were many restaurants along the roads in North Carolina

Not surprisingly the Pimento Cheese spread is even better after the flavors have had a chance to mix and mingle after twenty four hours or so in the refrigerator.  Pimento Cheese also keeps very well as long as it is refrigerated.  It's not one of those things you take on a picnic without a cooler.

I like my Pimento Cheese on rustic white bread or any kind of sourdough bread but everyone has their favorite bread, so just enjoy and consider yourself an honorary Southerner if you're from the north.  If you're from the south, I've just shared a recipe with you that will never let you down and which you can add to your collection of Southern classics.

(2014 Note: we have included ten of our favorite family recipes, including this one and others for hush puppies, slaw, baked beans, and baked flounder in our $3.99 Kindle book,  A Week at the Beach, The Emerald Isle Travel Guide)

Comments

[Kathryn]

I use a coarse grater and the american cheese still clumps up. What to do?

[ocracokewaves]

My first guess is that either your cheese is a little warm or perhaps your grater isn't as coarse as mine.

Here's a closer look at the grater that I use with a penny included for scale.

http://coastalnc.org/Grater.html

Sharp Cheddar is the first ingredient and it comes directly from the fridge. Next is the Velveeta which absolutely has to be cold. Many grocery stores have it on the shelf and not in the cooler so make sure it is cold.

Hope this helps.

[Kathryn]

I was having a hard time with the clumps when I tried to make the pimento cheese. So I used Cheese food instead of American cheese. The cheese food shreds really great without any problems and now I can make the pimento cheese that my elderly mother really loves. Now it is easy to make.

[KeepOurFreedoms]

Add a little grated onion and a little minced jalapeno pepper.....and...... Yeeeeeeee Hawwwwwwwwwwwwww

[Barbara Driggers]

I was in the middle of a receipe and realized I needed Parmason Cheese and I didn't have any. I have American White Cheese, but don't know how I can grate it. Do you suppose if I tore it into small pieces and then added some flour or bread crumbs, which I need in the recipe anyway, that I could put it into blender and grate it a little finer without it clumping. I wish we had letter to letter correspondence as I need this info ASAP. HELP!!!!!

[MellowRoast]

Clumps or chunks are GOOD. It's a reminder to everyone that your pimento cheese is homemade! People will love it. Trust me.

[MellowRoast]

Clumps or chunks are GOOD. It's a reminder to everyone that your pimento cheese is homemade! People will love it. Trust me.

[MFK59]

We ate plenty of pimento cheese in upstate New York where I grew up. It’s definitely not unique to the south. No one from the north would ever think of it as some sort of Pepper Jack. Crackers with pimento cheese was the perfect after school snack when I was a kid. We put it on burgers as well. Mmmm. Velveeta cheese is a nationwide staple found in the dairy section of any grocery store. Giant Food sells tons of it in northern Virginia (Leesburg) where I live now. We ate a lot of biscuits and gravy in NY and fried chicken as well, but that's fairly common pretty much anywhere in the country, as I've found in my travels over the years.

[Yvon Bedard]

Spray a little bit of spam on your grater.
Yvon

[Yvon]

Velveeta now produce an already shredded cheese, Walmart Food store carrys it.

[Mae B. Leumas]

This is EXACTLY how my mother made pimento cheese. The Velveeta makes all the difference. A couple of years ago I was called upon to make 300 pimento cheese sandwiches for a family gathering. I decided, (against Mom's advice,) to run the well-chilled cheeses through an old-fashioned crank-type meat grinder. The texture was PERFECTION! Now I use the grinder any time I'm making over a pound of PC. Any amount less doesn't warrant the clean up of the old grinder

[Dale]

Liar Liar Pants on Fire.