Homemade Pimento Cheese Recipe – The Southern Spread Worth Shredding Your Own Cheese For
This is the homemade pimento cheese recipe I make when I want the real thing, not the gummy pink stuff in the grocery store tub. It takes about ten minutes of actual work, holds in the fridge for a week, and disappears faster than anything else I put on a cheese board.
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The one rule I won’t bend on when making Pimento Cheese: shred the cheese yourself with a rotary grater. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in cellulose and potato starch to keep it from clumping in the bag, and that coating keeps it from melting into a smooth, creamy spread. You end up with something grainy and stiff. Ten extra minutes with the box grater or rotary grater is the difference between pimento cheese you love and pimento cheese you tolerate.
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I use a mix of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack because the cheddar brings the flavor and the Jack brings the creaminess. Straight cheddar goes dry and crumbly. Straight Jack goes bland.
Chef Jenn’s Take on Pimento Cheese
Most pimento cheese recipes online have the same problem: they lean too hard on mayo, and the cheese flavor gets lost under a gluey sauce. What you want is cheese bound together with just enough mayo and cream cheese to hold it, not cheese floating in mayo.
The cream cheese matters more than anyone tells you. It’s what gives the spread body and that signature pull when you drag a cracker through it. Plain mayo-only versions slump on a plate and taste one-note. A quarter pound of cream cheese, softened to actual room temperature so there are no lumps, fixes both problems.
My version runs a little lighter on mayo than most, uses a dash of smoked paprika for a whisper of smoke you can’t quite identify, and finishes with hot sauce because pimento cheese should have a little backbone. If you want more Southern classics in this lane, see my Southern Ham Salad and Pecan Bacon Cheeseball.
What You’ll Love About This Pimento Cheese
- No food processor, no weird texture. This is mixed by hand in one bowl so the cheese stays shredded instead of pureed into paste, which is what ruins most store-bought versions.
- The smoked paprika is my secret ingredient. It’s subtle enough that nobody identifies it outright, but it’s the reason people keep coming back to the bowl for “just one more” cracker.
- I built this to hold for a week in the fridge and get better on day two, so you can make it Sunday and eat it all week on sandwiches, burgers, and grits.
Ingredients for Homemade Pimento Cheese
- Sharp cheddar cheese – Shred it yourself from a block with your rotary grater. Pre-shredded will ruin the texture. Extra-sharp works too if you want more punch.
- Monterey Jack cheese – Also shred yourself. Pepper Jack is a fine swap if you want built-in heat and skip the hot sauce.
- Cream cheese – Full-fat, softened to room temp. Cold cream cheese will leave lumps you can’t work out later.
- Mayonnaise – Duke’s is the Southern standard and what I use. Hellmann’s works. Skip Miracle Whip, it’s too sweet.
- Diced pimentos – Drain them well, or your spread goes watery. A 4-oz jar is standard. Jarred roasted red peppers, diced small, are a fine substitute if your store doesn’t carry pimentos.
- Green onion – Just the green and pale part, sliced thin. Chives work too. Skip raw white or yellow onion here; it’s too aggressive.
- Garlic powder – Not fresh garlic. Fresh turns sharp and bitter in a cold spread that sits for days.
- Onion powder – Small amount, just rounds out the flavor. Don’t skip.
- Smoked paprika – This is the one you don’t want to leave out. Sweet (unsmoked) paprika won’t give you the same depth.
- Hot sauce – Tabasco, Crystal, or Frank’s. A dash, not a pour. You want backbone, not heat.
How to Make Pimento Cheese
Scroll down for the full recipe card with exact measurements and printable instructions.
Start with the cream cheese and mayo in a large bowl. Beat them together with a sturdy spoon or rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth with no lumps. This is the base that holds everything together, and any lumps of cream cheese that sneak through now will still be lumps at the end.
Add the shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack next, and stir until every strand is coated. Go slow and fold rather than beat. You want the cheese to stay in recognizable shreds, not break down into paste.
Drain the pimentos thoroughly. I press them in a fine-mesh strainer with the back of a spoon to get the last of the liquid out. Wet pimentos will thin the spread and pool on the plate. Fold them in with the green onion.
Add the garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and a dash of hot sauce. Stir gently to distribute. Taste. This is where you adjust. More salt if it’s flat, more hot sauce if it needs backbone, more smoked paprika if you want more smoke.
Cover and chill at least 30 minutes before serving. An hour is better. The flavors settle, and the whole thing firms up into a proper scooping texture. Right out of the bowl, it tastes fine but a little loose. Give it time.
Make It A Meal
Pimento cheese earns its keep as more than a dip. I serve it slathered on a Blackstone Smash Burger in place of regular cheese, or melted into a bowl of Southern Style Corn Grits for a weeknight dinner that tastes like it took all day. For a full Southern spread, set it out alongside my Fried Green Tomatoes and Crunchy & Spicy Fried Okra with a stack of Ritz crackers and some celery sticks.
It also makes an excellent grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough, and a spoonful stirred into hot pasta turns into a pretty serious weeknight mac and cheese.
Storage
Store pimento cheese in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days. The flavor improves after 24 hours as the seasonings settle. Don’t freeze it. The cream cheese and mayo separate on thaw, and the texture breaks down into something grainy you won’t want to serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’d skip it. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in anti-caking starches that keep it from blending smoothly, so the spread comes out grainy and stiff. A box grater and five extra minutes is worth it.
Jarred roasted red peppers, drained well and diced small, are the closest swap. The flavor is slightly more developed but the color and texture are very similar.
Mild as written. The dash of hot sauce gives it backbone without real heat. For a spicier version, swap the Monterey Jack for Pepper Jack or add a finely diced pickled jalapeño.
Yes, and you should. It’s better after 24 hours in the fridge, and holds for a full week. Make it Sunday for a week of sandwiches.
Pimento Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese finely shredded (shredded by hand)
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese finely shredded (shredded by hand)
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 jar pimentos (4 ounces) diced, drained well
- 1 green onion sliced thinly
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- dash of hot sauce
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and mayonnaise together until completely smooth with no lumps.
- Add the shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack. Fold gently until every strand is coated and evenly distributed.
- Drain the pimentos thoroughly, pressing out excess liquid. Fold them in with the sliced green onion.
- Add the garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika. Season with salt, pepper, and a dash of hot sauce.
- Stir gently to distribute. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Cover and chill at least 30 minutes before serving, or up to overnight for best flavor.
- Serve with crackers, celery sticks, as a sandwich filling, melted on burgers, or stirred into hot grits.
Notes
Recipe Card Tips
- Pull the cream cheese out of the fridge an hour ahead. Cold cream cheese won’t beat smooth with the mayo, and any lumps you leave now will still be there tomorrow.
- Make it a day ahead if you can. The seasonings settle in overnight and the spread tightens up to proper scooping texture.
- Taste after chilling, not before. Cold dulls salt and heat, so seasonings that felt right straight out of the mixing bowl will taste underdone once the spread is cold. Adjust then.
Nutrition
A Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for this recipe is provided as a courtesy and is calculated based on available online ingredient information. It is only an approximate value. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.