Grandma Lucy’s Pimento Cheese – It’s a Southern Thang
Today I’m bringing you a much beloved recipe from the South. From what I read and hear, it isn’t nearly as popular outside of our little geographic region as it is here, but folks in these parts consider it a staple in every home!
Long before the days of snack cakes and convenience foods, Pimento Cheese sandwiches dominated minds when it came to a “quick bite to eat” or a “little lunch”. They were cheap and delicious on plain old white bread, although I serve mine on wheat these days.
I remember going to Grandmama and Grandaddy’s house and finding one or both sitting at their kitchen table having a pimento cheese sandwich and a glass of milk. They’d always ask “Ya want some puh-men-ah cheese, baby?”. I never refused.
I’ve wanted to get this recipe up on here for a while and asked Grandmama how she made her pimento cheese so I could bring you the taste I remember so well. She immediately said “Oh, now if you want the best pimento cheese, you gotta use Velveeta.”
What better time to bring you this than during my time serving as a Velveeta Kitchenista? I hope you’ve been visiting Velveeta It!’s facebook page this month as myself and four other Mom bloggers present a new Velveeta recipe each day but if you haven’t you can still breeze on over there and catch up on all of the wonderful tips and recipes that have been shared so far! Just visit www.facebook.com/velveeta and be sure to drop a howdy to me there this Thursday when I’ll be hosting Tasty Traditions Thursdays!
You’ll need: 16 ounce block of Velveeta, Pimentos, and a little Mayo.
Grate your Velveeta. Now Velveeta is a little on the soft side so I found an easy way of doing this. You remember play-doh? Just get your grater out and place the block of Velveeta against it and press into the grater. It comes out the other side quick and easy as can be and ends up being a lot less work than grating a block of cheddar.
Dump in a jar of drained pimentos. I used the small jar which is about 2 ounces.
Add about 1/2 cup of Mayonnaise. You can add more to taste if you like.
Stir that up well.
Grandmama doesn’t salt and pepper hers so I didn’t either. I found it to be utterly sublime as is but feel free to salt and pepper (and even garlic!) yours if you got a hankerin’ to.
Serve on a sandwich or crackers.
These are a standard at every party, too. There is nothing like little finger pimento cheese sandwiches with the crusts trimmed off to add an air of tradition to a gathering!
Did you eat pimento cheese growing up? Do you have a different recipe or a special Pimento Cheese memory?
Tell me about it in the comments!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grandma Lucy’s Pimento Cheese
- 16 ounce block Velveeta
- 2 ounce jar Pimentos, drained
- 1/2 C Mayonnaise
Push Velveeta through a grater until all is grated in a bowl. Add Pimentos and Mayo. Stir well. Salt and pepper if desired. Serve on loaf bread.
Today’s quote is one of those that kinda hits you in layers. Hope you enjoy it!
“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
St. Francis of Assisi
Submitted by Angela. To submit your quote, click here.
I really enjoyed Maralee Mckee’s post this morning on Trick or Treat Manners.
Click here if you’d like to read it, too!
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Christy,
I LOVE homemade pimento cheese! Can’t eat store bought. My grandmother and grandfather have always made it as an appetizer for holiday meals with celery. Papaw always uses sharp cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, pimentos and mayo. I add a little worchestershire sauce to my recipe. I will have to try making it with Velveeta next. Thanks for sharing! Happy Wednesday!
Lesley from Alabama
Velveeta cheese—please!
When I make pimento cheese, I add just a sprinkle of hot sauce! Makes a great difference, without being too spicy.
I love it! My dad always ate pimento cheese on his burgers. Of course it is best on a piece of white bread.
Have you ever tried the Kraft Pimento spead in a little jar? I LOVE it! Does this taste anything like it? I think the Kraft one is made with cream cheese and yellow cheese. I tried Cooper brand pimento cheese spread and it was GROSS!!! I was very disappointed. Guess I’ll have to try your recipe. =)
This recipe really brings back memories. We used to eat homemade pimento cheese between two saltine crackers with several drops of worchestershire sauce dropped onto the top cracker. I know it sound strange, but it is absolutely delicious… We added chopped up pickled jalepenos sometimes for a little extra spice. Thanks for the great recipe!
I don’t think many people other than Southerners call bread loaf bread either! We always ate Mrs. Stratton’s pimento cheese growing up but it’s not as good as homemade. No matter how much fancy food is available at a social, (and Southern Baptists have a LOT of socials), I always pick up a ‘menter cheese sandwich!
Christy,
I use half Velveta and one fourth American cheese and one fourth sharp cheddar cheese. This is the way my son likes it. It does take a tad getting used to but it is good. Clay always wanted it on toasted wheat bread for breakfast. Keep all the goodies coming. I have got a zillion of your things stored in my computer Hal.
Thanks! I appreciate this idea of having it for breakfast!
I love “menter cheese”. I would add just a pinch of sugar to this recipe. The reason…My mother in law did so I do it also
My mom adds a pinch of sugar to hers as well!
mama made her pimiento cheese the same way except she used miracle whip instead of mayo. that was one of few things that i actually liked miracle whip in. i haven’t made it in years, this may inspire me to use the block of velveeta in the fridge for something other than ro-tel dip!
Me, too, mama jane!!! I’ve got a little block in my fridge right now. Just need the pimento to go in it (with a smidge of sugar) and I’ll have a great lunch tomorrow!
Oh I soooo want a pimento cheese sandwich right now!
I like cream cheese and pimento, yummy. I will have to give this a try, I think Stephen would love it with a bowl of hot tomato soup. I bet I can put it in the george foreman grill and get it all melty too.
ok, now I’m hungry. thanks again for yet another great recipe. Love you bunches.
I’m 69 yrs. young and when growing up it was bought in our household in reusable little juice glasses. We ate it on crackers but it was still a special treat.
I love Pimento Cheese and this is such an easier recipe than I have seen! I will have to make this one up! Thanks for sharing!
I never buy pimento cheese when it’s so easy to make. I always use sharp or even extra sharp cheddar, minced onion, a little garlic powder, and mayo–Miracle Whip makes it too sweet. If you don’t want to bother with shredding cheese, buy the finely shredded and your pimento cheese is ready to eat in minutes. Try it on baked potatoes. Yum!
I love your idea of trying this on potatoes too! I got a huge bag of potatoes from Walmart (for 2 bucks, ka-ching!) and I was wondering how I`m gonna use it all up. Baked and mashed potatoes get old after a while … Thanks for the great idea!
A drop or two of Tabasco will give it a little zing, also.
You never know what you got til its gone! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine pimento cheese was mainly a regional thing! When I moved up north you could not buy pimento cheese…shoot, the only way to buy cornmeal was in a 1 lb box from the cereal aisle. However this caused me to learn to make my own because my husband will eat this 3 meals a day plus snacks. The only problem is I never could quite get it right. I experimented with all different things and added spices but I never tried making it with Velveeta. Maybe that is what I was doing wrong.
Okay, you`re scaring me. I`m not sure how far up north you are, but since I`m in Canada, I`m definitely crossing my fingers that I`ll be able to find pimentos at the supermarket.
OOOh, I so want to try this recipe. I like `savoury` treats — I don`t have much of a sweet tooth so this is right up my alley!
I really like pimento cheese spread but I don’t remember eating it as a child. My earliest memories of it were after I started going to teas, baby and wedding showers and they would serve little fancy sandwiches of ham salad, chicken salad, and pimento cheese spread. They were good but so tiny. I wanted a dozen , but had to be polite and select only one of each. Does anyone remember the pastel tinted bread? Pink and blue for baby showers-yellow and green for springtime teas. Maybe I will just make a batch of pimento cheese spread and eat as much as I want now and I want it on man sized slices of rye bread. LOL
I enjoyed the treat or treat primer. She writes in a very common sense manner with a sense of humor tossed in. Very reminiscent of you Christy.
When we were growing up we always took a huge container of Nana’s pimento cheese to the beach. We also had a spread that my Nana called lemon nut. Anybody familiar with that? I’m not sure if it’s a southern thing or just a family thing. : )
You know what makes this recipe even better is that Velveeta is on sale B1G1 free at Publix this week! Happy eating!
I love pimento cheese! I used to keep it the house all the time, but I had to quit because I kept eating it. I’m going to try making this with Velveeta, and see if it’s as good as I remember my mom’s being-always on white bread of course!
When Mama was telling me how to make it, she said to add a spoonful of vinegar because that’s what made it Pimento Cheese as opposed to a cheese sandwich. Of course, I asked her “What’s the difference?” and she practically just repeated what she’d just told me. LOL.
Neither she nor my dad could explain the taste difference. Just that one was pimento cheese and the other wasn’t. I did it like she told me though and it was pretty good. I used cheddar though instead of Velveeta. I will try Velveeta next time.
I also tried to grill it because that’s what I wanted to do with it in the first place and when it started to get toasty, the insides just pooled out all oily-like. Does anyone know the secret to toasting them?
My mother adds sugar and a little vinegar too!
What you might do is just toast the bread and then spread on the cheese.
Christy you got to know this is a favorite of mine. I first had a pimento cheese sandwich with my Bestfriends grandparents. It was made with sharp cheddar finely shredded and a jar of pimentos with some mayo. Pimento cheese with peanut butter on rye, oh my!
I have never seen velveeta used and I certainly haven’t ever heard of such a smart suggestion for grating Velveeta! My momma always added just a teaspoon of sugar to balance out the tang of the pimentos. It let the punch of the pimento through, but just a tiny bit softer. Thanks, Christy!
Oh gosh! I haven’t had pimento cheese in, like, forever! My mother used to love it when I was a kid! I can remember the tangy, cheesy taste of it!
I live in NY (an hour north of NYC), yes very far from the Mason Dixie line, but I love your blog Christy! In my defense we do have a summer home in Longs SC (near N. Myrtle Beach). I love the homey comfortable feel of all your recipes and ramblings. I have eaten Velveeta maybe once in my life (honestly)but this just sounds plain yummy! I have tried many of your recipes; matter of fact tonight is your meatloaf casserole…lol. Thanks for doing such a great job here and allowing us all to enter a bit into your life. I have a great love of the southland and to be able to have someone share it with me on a day to day basis, is a blessing!! Thank you again Christy!
OOOPS, I mean to say Mason Dixon line. I just have Dixie on my mind I guess…lol~
My mom made pimento cheese with grated sharp cheese, an 8oz. block of cream cheese, softened and a jar of pimentos, not drained and a pinch of salt. I make mine today in the food processor-so easy and quick and yummy. I have had it at a party made with cottage cheese in place of part of the cream cheese.
Pimento cheese sandwitches are the best. Paula Deans sons have a great recipe for pimento cheese they also use cream cheese in it. It’s to bad the rest of the country doesn’t know about this great sandwich.
That’s the recipe I use. I don’t care for it, but my hubby loves the stuff, so I make it for him.
I was reading this recipe off to him and he says, “well, let’s give it a shot, everything you have tried so far has been good”
so, we will be trying this recipe too.
My family is a sharp cheddar sort of family with our pimento cheese. But, I do have a friend from west Tennessee that uses Velveeta. I’ll have to quit making fun of her now for her Velveeta problem.
There’s nothing better than a pimento cheese sandwich, served with a Coke in a little glass bottle. And, I’ve never even been to the Masters! I just know good eats when I see ‘em!
I agree with Emmy. Thank you Christy for being you! You are such a tremendous lady. I don’t recall ever having pimento cheese, but love pimentos, so I’ll have to try this too. And like Hal, I am starting to acquire quite a collection of your recipes & ideas on my pc as well. Keep them coming! ~Claudia
Perfect! One week out from a my most recent surgery and having a hard time with eating and having no appetite. I got hungry as soon as I saw the photo of the pimento cheese sammich. I had everything on hand to make a batch. Used my last 10 oz of sharp cheddar and 6 oz of cream cheese to make up the lb of cheese. I always like a tiny dash of worchestshire and a couple drops of tabasco. Then I remembered that I didn’t have any bread in the house…had my pimento cheese spread wrapped up in a lettuce leaf. It was delicious! Pimento cheese has curative powers! If mama were still alive she would have made some for me and some chicken soup too.
Thanks Christy for having just the right recipe at just the right time.
White bread, no crust, little triangles and rectangles. Pimento cheese sandwiches and chicken salad sandwiches are a finger-food standard where I live. I also wow people with my PBJ finger sandwiches. I stir the peanut butter and the jelly together. Cut them up with an electric knife and they are a big hit at parties. From the simplest kids birthday party to the most elegant wedding. These are always on the menu.
My younger brothers always made pbj sandwiches by mixing the peanut butter and the jelly when we were growing up. I thought they were so weird, until I tasted it one time! It’s so delicious! I never thought of serving them to others like that though, what a great idea. I also like putting the pbj stuff on graham crackers for a yummy snack.
We do this with pb and honey. It’s so good!
Do any of y’all remember “commodity” peanut butter? It was a peanut butter given in the Government Commodity program. They’d give PB and cheese and such to seniors and folks with an income below a certain level. My grandparents always got it and I just loved it. The Peanut butter was a little grainy, they also used it in the school lunchrooms.
I’d DEARLY love to find a peanut butter today that tastes like that!!!
Gratefully,
Christy
Oh yes, my grandmother used to get the government peanut butter and cheese, too! I think the natural peanut butter like they sell at health food stores is similar. It’s grainy and the oils separate when it sits because it’s mostly just ground nuts with no preservatives and stabilizers and such. I got some on sale yesterday for $3.99 a jar.
My grandma got that PB and cheese too! I remember it made the BEST grilled cheese sandwiches!!
I love Pimento Cheese. I make it for my family for an appetizer treat and often bring in to my office for birthday parties etc. Usually made into sandwiches on wheat bread. I use Extra Sharp cheese, jar of pimento w/the liquid, good mayo, a few chopped scallions, some dried dill weed, black pepper and bingo…Pimento Cheese.
Ooh! Pimento cheese! I’m not sure how my parents made it but they’d make batches of it all the time and have it in the fridge. We’d just grab it and slap that on some bread for a quick snack, lunch, pick-me-up, any-excuse-to-eat-a-pimento-cheese-sandwich excuse…
Christy,
Have you ever had Pineapple Cheese? My husband’s elderly aunt introduced me to this! One can of crushed pineapple drained. About an equal amount of shredded velveeta cheese. And enough mayo to hold it all together. It is also DELICIOUS!! : )
Thanks for the great website!
Angie
I make pimento cheese all the time. I will have to try the
velveta. I use fancy shredded mild chedder cheese (walmart
brand) 1/2 of the big jar of pimento , Mayo, and I put
in a teaspoon of sugar in it. So good.
Loved the recipe but to the same ingredients, add chopped sweet pickles, sweet relish, chopped olives and jalapenos!!!! Just gives it a different taste.
Thanks for all you do, marinan of Dothan
CHRISTY, OH HOW DO I REMEMBER PIMENTO AND CHEESE SANDWICHES. WE STILL EAT THEM TODAY. WE NEVER USED VELVEETA THOUGH. WE USE RED RIND CHESSE OR WHAT THEY CALL IT HERE IS MISSISSIPPI IS HOOP CHEESE. WE JUST LOVE IT. WE ARE A FAN OF BLUE PLATE MAYO HERE. WE REALLY DON’T HAVE A BIG SELECTION OF MAYO AT OUR WALLY WORLD. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR POST. JUST LOVE SOUTHERN PLATE.
GOD BLESS
THERESA
I absolutely love “puh-men-ah” cheese!!! My Mom, (pronouncing it that exact same way!), would make it with sharp cheddar so that is how I have always made it! I love it on soft white bread. Not the healthiest bread but sometimes you just have to do what you got to do!!! Sounds good with the Velveeta…I will try it!
Bountiful Blessings!
My mom makes THE best pimento cheese and I sure do miss it. My husband won’t touch the stuff so I’ve never made it myself. Next time we’re in GA for a visit I’ll have to get mom to make me some!
Christy, I see my beloved Duke’s mayo in that second picture!!
Hi April…saw the International Delight Caramel Macchiato at Big Y today!! Hope this helps!
A big gold star today to Tina for helping April with her treasure hunt in grocery stores.
My mother use to serve pimento cheese on crackers, but I don’t know her recipe. I sure miss those crackers!
MY MOM MADE THIS AND MY GRANNY. SHE ADDED GRATED SWEET PICKLES AND A LITTLE SUGAR. BRINGS BACK WARM CHILDHOOD MEMORIES!
make it all the time and last week tried it with the 4 cheese Mexican pre grated cheese…devine……
I love, love good homemade pimiento cheese. My aunt made some of the best – cheddar, mayo, a pinch of sugar and a little cayenne pepper for a touch of zing. When I was a child, the Varsity in Atlanta made their cheese dogs with pimiento cheese. I still love pimiento cheese on my hot dogs. For awhile I used a recipe I’d found in a Southern Living book, a small can of evaporated milk & cheddar cheese, heated until melted, plus of course the pimientos and I added the sugar & cayenne. Made a wonderfully smooth pimiento cheese.
When I was growing up (I’m 69), my mother always made pimento cheese sandwiches for picnics, and traveling. Anytime we went anywhere, she would make up about a dozen sandwiches and put them in the “ice chest” with our cokes. She grated sharp cheddar and mixed it with Miracle Whip and pimentos. Ummmmm, good!
You’ve got to be kidding! This is my recipe also. It is so delicious. How can I get a copy of your cookbook?
Until a little while ago, I’d never even heard of pimento cheese (Tina at Mommy’s Kitchen posted it a little while back). Now reading all these comments of people who grew up loving it, I might have to give it a try. Southern Plate has never failed me before – we might find a new favorite!
wow, this is almost just like my recipe… only I add a touch of sugar and vinegar. My fiancé loves it!
So glad to see you use Duke’s mayo. We discovered it several years ago when a Southern Living article on potato salad commented that Duke’s made the best potato salad. My husband is diabetic, so Duke’s is great for him because the “original” has no sugar. I love the ZING it gives everything.
Love the Duke’s Mayo! Now I buy the light version, though. I use the sharpest cheddar I can find then grate it by hand. I add juice from the pimento jar, pimentos, mayo and mix it by hand. We like to “grill” the sandwich in a hot skillet with butter. Best served with Brunswick stew or tomato soup. Can’t wait to try your Velveeta version.
Oh my, this is the only kind of pimento cheese my family loves. Sometimes someone will bring in another kind and we never finish it. Many of my friends at work have enjoyed this and think it is something else! They often ask for the recipe and when I tell them, they act like they don’t believe me. But, like I said before, this is the ONLY pimento cheese we eat at my house.
This brings back memories of my Daddy. He made his pimento cheese the same way except with Miracle Whip. It was his idea of “cooking” dinner after church on Sundays. Pimento cheese and bologna sandwiches. Or if it was cold out, it would be pimento cheese sandwiches and a bowl of chili.
Ooh! I *adore* pimento cheese sandwiches – made with Duke’s mayonnaise and served on white bread! It’s a heart attack on a plate, but at least you’ll die happy.
I like to dress mine up a little bit by adding garlic, sugar & (yumm!!) bacon.
Here’s my recipe if anyone wants to check it out (hope it’s OK to post a link):
http://thelollisfamily.info/2009/08/homemade-pimento-cheese/
LOL you’re so funny, you talk just like me!
“At least you’ll die happy!”
hehe
Your website is gorgeous, by the way! thanks for the link!
Is there anything in the world that can’t be improved by bacon? I thinketh not!
Gratefully,
christy
I grew up in Atlanta where homemade pimento cheese sam-iches were a staple. My Mother used the old-fashioned grater using sharp cheese, a medium size jar of sliced pimentoes (oil drained a wee bit), mixed with Miracle Whip to spreading consistency. These days, we have so many options my Mother didn’t have. I have a Cuisinart food processor and often grate my own cheese, or we can buy pre-grated cheese at Sam’s or any grocery store. Life is much easier these days compared to what it used to be.
I still use Miracle Whip for most all of my salads, but I must admit that we also love almost anything made with Duke’s, a North Carolina treat.
I’ve enjoyed reading the comments and have chuckled at the personal preferences of “add a pinch of sugar and/or vinegar” to those who don’t like to use Miracle Whip “because it is too sweet”). Taste-testing is almost the best part of cooking, don’tcha think?! Now I need to buy some Velveeta to see how that tastes.
Back in the late 50’s, “CHIEF”, the curmudgeonly cook at a small lunch cafe at the University of Georgia, perfected the Pimento Cheese Sandwich by adding crispy, crunchy bacon on whitebread sandwiches. Oh my, those were heavenly, even if he was not. I wonder if anyone else posting here remembers “Chief” or am I the oldest commentator? Ever heard that old joke . . . ?
Thanks Christy! Love and hugs,
We put sweet pickle relish in ours and a smidgen of sugar or Splenda.You can also make a grilled pimento cheese sandwich.
Yes I did eat pimento cheese growing up….and my dad made it…(he is a Kentucky boy) He always used Velveeta…but he would leave his out to soften. Then break it up some and put it in the stand mixer bowl and the pimentos and mayo…I think he did the salt, pepper, dash of garlic…and a quick splash of white vinegar..it I was guessing I would say about a teaspoon or 2. He would mix it until well blended and smooth…it gave it a nice spreading texture. My Aunt Mary Carol make the most amazing Pimento cheese ever…(she too is a Kentucky girl) I haven’t gotten the recipe from her yet….but when my brother and I visited a couple of springs ago with families in tote(6 of us)…she made a 3lb batch…I remember one night late after us ladies chatted into the wee hours…I asked if I could have a pimento cheese sandwich before we tucked in for the night. Oh the memories that come rushing back with certain foods…..I loved it…I’m sure I went to sleep with a smile on my face!!!!! If she gives me the recipe I promise to share..I made another request for it today!!! I have a feeling it is the one my dad made only she grates her cheese as you do…
Thank-you for the recipe.I will have to try it.My mom used to make it…..It was canned.I did not care for it at all.I always ate it and told her it was good.I love velvetta cheese and mayo.I have enjoyed several of your recipes:)
As Andy Griffith used to say, “everything is better when it sits on a Ritz.” That includes homemade pimento cheese! Yum!
AMEN!!!
Homemade Pimento Cheese on a Ritz Cracker, now that’s some good eatin!
Oh yes, I grew up on Pimento and cheese sandwiches, but my mama made it with cheddar cheese and miracle whip. It was a staple at our house and we all loved it!!! I’ve never tried velveeta, but I might give it a try.
Dear Christy
As with Stephanie, I’d never heard of pimentos with or without cheese, but your sandwich looked so nice and all the comments were so heartwarming , I’m going to the shops right now to see if I can see them.
I really do feel as though I’m sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea chatting with friends when I am on this site.
Keep up the good work.
Bless your heart, hun.
Hi Sue,
All of us SP folks need to get you here to the USA to go grocery shopping….just bring an empty extra suitcase. Christy will bring the Moonpies for starters, I will spring for the Pimentos tee hee.
I forgot another favorite way that we eat pimento cheese. Sometimes, I heat up a bowl of it in the oven just until it’s gooey (it looks like that mayo/artichoke/parm dip), and we eat it with tortilla chips. I think this is my husband’s favorite way to eat it. I’ll have to make it for our at home date night soon! Thanks for reminding me.
I LOVE pimento cheese & my mother always made it this very same way when I was a kid. I’d much rather have the Velveeta version than the real cheddar cheese version anyday. Thanks for bringing back good memories!
Wow at the comments!!!!!
I just love y’all!!!!
Gratefully,
Christy
As long as I remember I always loved pimento cheese but I don’t remember anyone in my family making it at home. Mama and my Grandmas mostly cooked “from scratch” – even my Daddy avoided what he called “brought on” stuff. (That meant things bought at the store that you could just as well make at home.) All I can figure is that there wasn’t a long tradition of pimento cheese in the family. We were in southeastern KY – yes, in a “holler” and what you ate you mostly raised. We didn’t have cheese except when it turned up in the “commodity box”. I can imagine pimento cheese being a rather exotic novelty once we began moving out to BIG CITIES like Knoxville.
When I was in my 20s I lived in Italy. It wasn’t my idea; I didn’t want to be there (long sad story I won’t bore you with) and I was so homesick I thought I would die. I longed for familiar things like plain hot dogs, door knobs (rather than handles), dogs who understood English.
Anyway, I figured out how to make pimento cheese…HOW I cannot imagine. I know it involved buying something at the import store but can’t recall what. It was DIVINE! I practically lived on it and credit it with saving my sanity if not my very life.
Apparently, I repressed a LOT of memories from that time and the recipe for pimento cheese disappeared along with a lot of other stuff. Since then I have searched for the perfect pimento cheese. Most of the store brands are too vinegary. Some are too sweet or not cheesy enough. But THIS RECIPE!! Now this sounds like a winner!
Christy, I think you have done it again, girl. I’ll be making some of this before the weekend is over. Thanks already cause I’m that sure it is going to be GREAT.
~gives your shoulders a big ole squeeze~
oh girl – I bet I’ve got 20lbs of pimento cheese on my butt & thighs!! The main way we used to eat as kids was to melt the Velveeta in the microwave and pour in the pimentos. I remember once in the early 90’s we had a quick ice storm after torrential rains. I was a Sheriffs dispatcher then. Trees had fallen all over the county and it looked like a war zone. We were out of power for days and stayed at the Best Western. My aunt Debbie Blakely stayed in the room with me. I brought some of that pimento cheese we had in the fridge. She had a FAT FREE angel food cake and we sat on the bed that night dipping the cake in the pimento cheese. Now, I admit that doesnt even sound good. But at the time, times were hard!!
Now I try every p-cheese recipe I come across and Ive never had a bad one. One recipe I have calls for a little lemon juice & Tabasco, some have cayenne pepper,one with worscestshire, another of my favorites has cream cheese, monterey, cheddar and P.Deen’s house seasoning. Like we love to say in the South … “It’s all Good!”
I love pimento cheese. I remember momma making it as a kid it was such a treat.
Pimento cheese is wonderful melted & poured over cauliflower or broccoli. My Grands would eat this up. God Bless!
P.S. If you have a recipe for corn dodgers(simular to a flour dumpling only corn meal is used) I would love to have it. My mother would make them and place the dodgers on top of simmering greens. OH! for that taste again.
I copied this recipe and will have to try it. I have tried several different recipes for pimento cheese and they have all been variations calling for regular shredded cheese and they were too textured for my taste. I hope this one will be smoother. The ones I have tried also get watery in the refrigerator after a few days. When I was a kid, my Mother would occasionally buy a small glass jar of it and that was quite good. A small jar of it worked for us, as we were the only two out of six that liked pimento cheese. I use it on snack crackers when I want a quick snack. It is also good on pumpernickle bread. Which I have a hard time finding at WalMart, they have it occasionally. I can’t find a decent tasting pimento cheese at WalMart either. I really hate having a large amount of it on hand because I’m the only one that eats it here.
I love to go to Toomer’s Drugstore in Auburn and get a grilled pimento and cheese sandwich and a cup of soup on a cold winter’s day. I’ve never tried grilling my sandwich at home. Maybe that’s why this is a treat!
Dear Christy and friends!
I’m from NE Ohio, but pimiento cheese has been with me all my life, so far. (f-f-f-forty nine). Ma was from southern Ohio (near Columbus,) and often made pimiento cheese. At first, just for herself…….
She used sharp cheddar, pimientos, sweet pickles/relish, and Miracle Whip. She also dragged out a big, NOISY electric grinder.
After I started to cook, I usually made it for us. She used the finer grinding plate (hamburger).
She left in 2001, and for a long time, I could not face pimiento cheese at all. Of course, I thought she’d be here longer, and so I never asked her how an Ohio girl found something as truly southern as pimiento cheese?
However, I have started to make small batches of it my new way in the food processor. My new processor has a small accessory work bowl, and it is just the thing for enough pimiento cheese for one person.
I now make it with sharp cheddar, a tiny part of a clove of garlic (I mean tiny part….less than half of a small clove), sweet pickle, and Hellman’s (can’t usually get Duke’s here). Cube the cheese, add the garlic, and a spoon of Hellman’s. I add the pickle and pimiento by hand in a separate bowl. If (as I did on my first try,) you put the pimiento in the processor, it disappears!
It does rock on baked potatoes, but is also very nice in pastry shells. Squirt it through a pastry bag with a drop flower tip….fast and great looking.
My Grannie made it with American cheese, mayo, jar of pimento and a little mustard to hers. Before we were married, my husband had his mother call Grannie to get her recipe for pimento cheese. When we lived in Hawaii, my in laws brought us Grannie’s pimento cheese that she’d made for us. Oh, it did taste so good.
Thanks for the memories.
This is something I could eat every day as I love pimento cheese (pim-in-toe as I remember my daddy jokingly calling it). A friend makes the best homemade by using sharp cheddar cheese grated, a block of softened cream cheese, mayo, pimentoes and a dash of garlic powder—yummy. I love the Ruth’s old fashioned that has big chunks of cheese and lots of pepper in it but then I love pepper on everything. This makes me want to make up a batch and indulge on soft white bread with no crusts like the fancy ladies lunches always have.
Thank you for the recipe – I made this today for my husband and he loved it!!
We didn’t have pimentos where I’m from (New Zealand), but we did have something similar – remove the pimentos and replace with a little minced onion and a few dashes of worchester sauce. It doesn’t sound all that appealing, but it tastes great! Thanks for reminding me of that, I’m gonna whip up some today!
One of my favorite sandwiches is grilled pimento cheese and turkey and my other favorite is pimento cheese, bacon and ketchup on super soft fresh bread. YUMMY!!
I used to love that once a month trip into “town” with my grandmother to pick up that big block of government cheese and peanut butter and go to the grocery store! When we got home it always meant pimento cheese sandwiches and peanut butter cookies were in our future!!
Im just gonna go ahead and ask, what is a pimento? What does it taste like? I tried a quick change one time with grilled cheese, I rubbed a lil garlic on the bread before I added some butter and so it was a lil bit garlicky like cheesy garlic bread
YUM
Pimentos are roasted red peppers that have been packed in an oil based “juice”. When making pimento cheese mix, buy the pimentoes that are minced or slivered. Don’t pay extra for whole roasted pimento peppers unless that is the only way your store sells them. Dromedary Pimentos are one brand that’s available. Look for them in the area of your grocery store where olives and pickles are sold. If you look for them in the Gourmet or International Food sections, you may pay extra for the brand name. No need to pay extra for something that will be mixed into the sandwich spread.
Oh wait.. this recipe isnt much like a grilled cheese is it .. Oops lol
My son’s favorite is a grilled cheese made with pimento cheese instead of sliced. Slap some butter on that bread and toast it up – It’s delicious too!
Oh, Oh, how I love homemade pimento cheese! I make mine with Velveta, grated dill pickle, sliced ripe/black olives and of course, chopped pimento! Sometimes I add chopped,crisp, bacon slices,(if I have any left over from breakfast.) And….Kraft Mayonnaise is a must for me! Christy,so nice of you to educate some of these folks who have never had the pleasure of a pimento cheese sandwich on soft, white bread! Sometimes I use the Sourdough Bread from Publix’s bakery.
My first experience with pimento cheese was on a visit with my mom to her hometown of Monroe, LA. One of her friends made if for her as a treat. I’d never eaten it in WI! Now, there’s a woman in our church here in IL who is known for her pimento cheese. Everyone hopes for it at potlucks or functions at her house. Many people have asked for the recipe and many people have tried to get her to give hints of how she does it, to no avail. She says if we want to know, we’ll have to come to her funeral because it will be printed on the back of the bulletin!
Here’s how we do it:
8 oz. grated sharp Cheddar
4 oz. grated Monterey Jack (we like Pepper Jack)
4 oz. diced pimentos, drained
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. freshly grated black pepper
Dash cayenne
1-1/2 tsp. Texas Pete hot sauce (optional)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate.
Feel free to adjust seasonings to your taste. We sometimes add chopped olives or chopped pickles. YUM!
I grew up watching my mama make this all the time but especially in summer. She would just use a fork to mash up the soft cheese,pimento and mayo. It was so delicious we would just grab a pack of saltines and dig in. One of the yummiest sandwiches around.Thanks for sharing and all you do!
So there used to be an amazing little pie shop in Little Rock with finger sandwiches on homemade bread and the pimento cheese there is the only I’ve ever had that I really liked. I read this post and thought, well, I’ll give it a try…
Tonight at the store, I bought the sliced white bread from the store’s bakery instead of the bread aisle. I pondered the huge block of Velveeta but thought it would just go to waste b/c nobody else at my house would eat it. Then, I turned around and looked at the shredded cheeses & discovered that Velveeta comes in a bag, already shredded! BINGO!! I bought the teeny jar of diced pimentos. I knew I only had Miracle Whip at home and someone had made a comment that M.W. made it too sweet. We NEVER use Mayo but I just happened to have grabbed a couple of extra individual packets of Mayo from Chick-fil-A. I came home, threw a handful of the already-shredded Velveeta (smile!) in a bowl, mixed in the pimentos & Mayo packets and slathered it all on the bakery bread and …SOUTHERN HEAVEN!!!
Plus, the only dirty dishes were the cereal bowl I mixed it in and the fork I mixed with! Can’t get any better than that!
Thanks, Christy!!
I add a tad bit of white vinegar and sugar to mine, as per my mother-in-laws recipe. She makes the best pimento cheese in the world! (Have you ever wondered how you can follow the exact same recipe as someone else, but theirs is always the best, no matter what? That is stranger than fiction!)
Greetings from South Carolina! There are burger places throughout the state (I think it started in a place just of the USC campus in Columbia) that will server pimento cheeseburgers here. I have had them from Greenville in the north to Edisto Beach in the south.
My favorite thing to do is to use pimento cheese (it was always called pimento AND cheese back in Gurley, AL) on turkey sandwiches in place of sliced cheese. Of course, my wife thinks I’m completely insane.
John
Ooooooo We love pimento’s n cheese! We live in Southern Maryland. We make it a couple different ways. Sometimes we make it with Velveeta, sometimes with shredded cheddar, sometimes we mix shredded cheeses – all the rest of the ingredients are the same though. This is a “go-to” item for unexpected company at lunchtime – great with tomato soup.
The recipe was passed down to us from my husband’s great aunts. I have fond memories of sitting in their dining room with them, fine china on the table cuz that’s all they ever used, these sandwiches, and lots of long conversation. After the sandwiches, we always stayed put at the dining room table and enjoyed hot tea and cookies. Ahhh the simple days.
YUM. Yes, I love homemade pimento spread.
Although I grew up eating the stuff from Kraft in the little glass jar, not knowing there was ever such a thing as homemade.
After reading one of Fanny Flagg’s books (can’t remember which one) I just had to try Norma’s recipe. (fictional charactor who made this for her husband) It is so good!
It’s really good, it included grated onion, worce sauce, & a smig of red pepper, along with mayo & shredded cheese of course.
Here’s the recipe:
http://janedoesntblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/normas-pimiento-cheese.html
Pimento Cheese was my favorite sandwich in my lunch box growing up – on white bread – and I had to have Fritos with it! My mom used grated sharp cheddar, pepper, and garlic salt – yum!
What a memory you stirred in this old pea-picking mind of my youth. Haven’t had pimento cheese in years. That is what I love about this site, it brings out some of my southern roots from the days I visited Virginia with my Mom.
This is one Canadian boy that loves the southern cooking.
I love, love, love your site – and I love puh-men-tah cheese too! I grew up eating my Aunt Bea’s (yeah, I have an Aunt Bea! And the itty bitty town where she lives is *almost* Mayberry!) She still makes it every year around this time and brings me a huge jar for Christmas. This year, I think I’m going to surprise her and make her a jar instead..
I recently found your website and subscribed. So far I have tried 4 recipes and they were all great. I made the pimento cheese – and am now letting it ripen – we plan to pig-out tomorrow. I recently had a BLT made with pimento cheese – interesting combination. I recommend it to any pc lovers.
My hubs LOVES puh-men-ah cheese
sorry had to put it that same way because this is the way it always sounds when it comes out of my mouth!
There is a small local butcher/store in the town we use to live and that is his fav it is too far of a drive for me to get it for him on a regular basis so maybe I will try making this one to see if it will make do.
Just for fun, I have been researching pimiento cheese recipes on line. Like so many, I grew up with this staple sandwich spread and yes it was always homemade. Most used “rat” cheese, which is simply a sharp cheddar, pimientos and mayo with a little salt or seasoned salt, but the one difference I have only seen elsewhere once, was that this was NOT mixed with a spoon or fork until after you squeeze the cheese and pimientos together thoroughly with your very clean hands!!Then add mayo with a spoon. The texture is much different.
[...] and her food all looks delicious. I want to try some of her recipes…especially the ones for pimento cheese and cinnamon [...]
Greetings from Upstate South Carolina….
Homemade “men-er cheese” is ALWAYS made with the ONLY mayo around here and that’s Duke’s!
Try a grilled pimmento cheese and bacon sandwich with a piping hot bowl of tomato soup. Now that’s good eating! Yum!
I grew up eating pimento cheese and love it! I make mine with 1/2 mild cheddar and 1/2 extra sharp cheddar..oh and it has to be Cracker Barrel Cheese. Mix it with pimento’s and Blue Plate Mayo, then spread on fresh white bread. Yum!