What Is Pimento Cheese?

And how did this Northern invention become a Southern tradition?

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Published on February 4, 2022

white dish with pimento cheese and spreading knife surrounded by variety of crackers — Photo: Jason Donnelly/Meredith

Pimento cheese is a spread made of Cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and pimentos. To folks outside of the South, this combination might sound less than appetizing. But this simple spread has become a Southern delicacy, despite the fact that it originated in New York. And its increasing popularity in the last several decades has proven that pimento cheese — sometimes referred to as "Southern Pâté" — is here to stay.

What Does Pimento Cheese Taste Like?

Pimento cheese is a creamy and tangy spreadable cheese mixture. It can be spicy depending on what add-ins you include, or even more tangy with the addition of ingredients like pickles or Worcestershire sauce.

What Is Pimento Cheese Made Of?

Although many variations exist, there are three essential ingredients that always make up pimento cheese: shredded Cheddar cheese, pimento peppers, and mayonnaise.

Other popular add-ins include cream cheese, jalapeno peppers, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, minced onion, minced garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. In the South, it's not uncommon to find pimento cheese with chopped pickles, including the juice.

Cheddar Cheese

Pimento purists will tell you: Only use sharp or extra-sharp Cheddar cheese. You really want the Cheddar flavor to stand out among the more mild ingredients. Grate your own cheese — packaged shredded cheese is often coated with cellulose or other anti-caking agents to keep the individual pieces from clumping together, which can mute the flavor of the cheese and make it less creamy.

Pimento Peppers

Pimentos, also spelled pimientos, are small, round peppers with a sweet flavor and very mild heat. In stores, you might also see them labeled as "cherry" peppers for their resemblance to the fruit.

You can find jarred, diced pimento peppers at any supermarket (some recipes might call for the juice as well), or you can dice fresh peppers yourself. Either way, make sure your peppers are finely diced rather than sliced.

Mayonnaise

In theory, you could stop after these first three ingredients and still have a perfectly creamy and tangy spread. Mayonnaise binds everything together, and in the South, it's Duke's Mayonnaise or bust.

Cream Cheese

Although Southern-style pimento cheese usually calls for just Cheddar cheese, pimentos, and mayonnaise, the original version started with cream cheese and canned pimentos. Many recipes today will call for cream cheese in addition to mayonnaise because the combination of the two just yields a creamier, more spreadable result. It really comes down to personal preference and how you were raised.

Seasonings and Add-Ins

Here's where you'll find the most variation among pimento cheese recipes. Some like to keep it simple with a little garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Others will turn up the heat with diced jalapeno peppers, paprika, a dash of hot sauce, or cayenne pepper. Southerners tend to add a little tang with Worcestershire sauce, chopped pickles, lemon juice, or Dijon mustard.

History of Pimento Cheese

Turns out, the South's favorite spread did not originate in the South. According to Serious Eats, pimento cheese got its start in the 1870s when New York farmers began making a soft, unripened cheese eventually known as cream cheese. At the same time, Spain started shipping canned red "pimiento" peppers over to the United States. By the turn of the century, most dropped the "i" and called the peppers "pimentos."

These two ingredients were brought together in a 1908 Good Housekeeping recipe, which was such a hit that manufacturers began selling commercially-made pimento cream cheese — the original pimento cheese.

When the price of importing Spanish pimentos became too high, farmers in Griffin, Georgia, began cultivating domestic pimentos. Eventually, the Pomona Products Company of Griffin became the nation's leading pimento producer, contributing to the pimento cheese boom across the nation.

Fast forward to post-World War II, and pimento cheese's popularity began to drop off, so much so that manufacturers began taking it off the shelves. Southerners took matters into their own hands and started to make their own pimento cheese, but with one key swap: Cream cheese was swapped for the then widely available "hoop cheese" (and later, Cheddar) and a dollop of mayonnaise was used to bind the whole thing together — a Southern staple was born.

How to Serve Pimento Cheese

sliced baguette with pimento cheese and prosciutto — Kritsada Panichgul/Meredith

If there's one thing pimento cheese is not, it's pretentious. In the South, it's commonly served as a sandwich between two pieces of white bread. You can also use it to make tea sandwiches, spread it over crackers or crostini, or use it as a dip for vegetables like celery or carrots.

Increasingly, pimento cheese is being used as a condiment to make dishes instantly "Southern." Try adding it to burgers, omelets, grilled cheese, biscuits, grits, macaroni and cheese, etc.

How to Store Pimento Cheese

Refrigerate homemade pimento cheese in an airtight container for up to one week. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving to allow it to soften.