Pimento cheese is a spread that is part of life in the South. It has salty sharp cheddar cheese, creamy mayo, and cream cheese, some spices, and sweet red bell peppers diced, known as pimento (pimientos). It is an easy appetizer dip that is great for any get-together and can be spread also on just about anything you like cheese with. My kids love it too as an after-school snack to make any day of the week feel special. Pimento cheese is a great make-ahead recipe that everyone will love. It is low-carb, gluten-free, grain-free, and can be enjoyed by those on a keto or diabetic diet.

Years ago when I wanted to first learn how to make this, I read up about it a lot. It seems every family has their own recipe that they swear by. Many are heavy on mayonnaise and if you know anything about me, mayo is one of the foods I am not a fan of. So I tweaked this recipe a few times to ensure it was creamy, spreadable, and stayed as true to the southern roots this recipe has. The trick is a fine shred on the sharp cheddar cheese!

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Many Ways to Enjoy Pimento Cheese

with crackers
with crudites (raw vegetables)
in a sandwich or atop a burger
atop crostini
as a quesadilla

How to Make Pimento Cheese

Use a cheese grater with a fine grate option. By using a fine grate, the cheddar perfectly incorporates into the spread and blends smoothly. Therefore; the need for all that mayo to make it creamy is not necessary. You will need 3 cups of finely grated sharp cheese. Do not measure it packed, into the measuring cup. Lightly place it in the measuring cup to get the 3 cups.

Finely shredded cheddar cheese

Place the finely shredded cheddar to a medium-sized bowl. Add remaining ingredients and then stir lightly to combine evenly. You want the shreds to show slightly and the pimentos to still be intact. If you over-mix with a heavy hand, the pimentos can become mushy.

Pimento Cheese ingredients

Once combined, place in a serving bowl. Serve with crackers, raw vegetables, or whatever you would love to serve with creamy, sharp, pimento cheesy goodness. We love carrots, celery, and sturdy crackers so that we can spread and pile a lot of the pimento cheese on it. Seen below with celery and Simple Mills grain-free crackers.

Southern Pimento Cheese with crudites and crackers

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