Spicy Pimento Cheese
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This old-fashioned spicy pimento cheese recipe is a delectable Southern dip or sandwich spread. But with hot sauce, cayenne pepper, and pimentos mixed with cheese and creamy mayo, it brings the heat!
Pimento cheese (pronounced puh-men-uh) is a staple in the Southeastern United States and also in the Philippines. Clearly, this speaks to the wonderful taste of those folks (love y’all!). It’s one of those things we had often growing up and sometimes you just get a hankering that nothing else will satisfy except a good old pimento cheese sandwich.
2 ways with pimento cheese
There are a couple of ways to make pimento cheese, but the main two involve sharp cheddar cheese (like this recipe) and Velveeta (click here for the Velveeta version). Both are delicious in my book.
However, at a photo shoot for Taste of the South last weekend, we had wheat crackers and a big old tub of spicy pimento cheese. It was so heavenly that I decided to come home and whip some up to show folks how to make it, just in case you didn’t know. Because not having a little spicy pimento cheese from time to time would be a crying shame.
Now, I’m warning y’all, see that spicy in the title? Yeah, this isn’t a recipe for the faint of heart. The 6 ingredients you need are sharp cheddar cheese, pimentos, mayonnaise, cayenne pepper, salt, and hot sauce. But if you don’t mind a little heat, you’re going to love this hot pimento cheese recipe. Fortunately, it’s also super quick and easy to make. We basically just have to mix the ingredients together and then let it chill in the fridge for a few hours to let all those flavors mingle together.
You can serve this by storing into mac and cheese or melt it over Oven Fries. But if you keep scrolling there are lots of other serving suggestions. Whether you serve it as a homemade pimento cheese dip or sandwich spread, you’re in for a treat!
Recipe Ingredients
- Mayonnaise
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- Cayenne pepper
- Pimentos
- Hot sauce
- Salt
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Spicy Pimento Cheese
Grate all of your sharp cheddar cheese.
Place that in a large mixing bowl alongside the drained pimentos and mayo.
Stir that up really well.
Add hot sauce to mixing bowl…
And the cayenne pepper and hot sauce.
Stir again until well blended.
Place this in an airtight container or cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap.
Then refrigerate the pimento cheese dip for several hours, or overnight, to allow flavors to marry.
Here’s our hot pimento cheese ready to serve.
There are serving suggestions below. But pimento cheese dip with raw veggie sticks or crackers is absolutely delicious!
Storage
- Store leftover homemade pimento cheese in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days.
- The mayonnaise and cheese don’t freeze well so I don’t recommend freezing pimento cheese.
Recipe Notes
- I always like to point out to the folks who don’t love mayo that I don’t either, so don’t fret over it in this recipe. You really won’t taste it because the cheddar cheese, sauces, and pimentos really overshadow it. We mainly have it in there to hold it all together.
- Use your favorite hot sauce, whether that’s Sriracha or Tabasco.
- If you don’t want to use sharp cheddar cheese, regular cheddar cheese works just as well.
- For extra creaminess and cheesiness, use 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and 8 ounces of softened cream cheese instead.
- For extra flavor, add 1/4 cup of drained, diced, and chopped jalapenos.
- Another way to add flavor is to add 1/4 teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, and/or black pepper.
- If this pimento cheese is too spicy, you can reduce the amount of cayenne pepper and hot sauce or omit them completely. You can even swap them for chopped fresh herbs, like parsley or chives.
Recipe FAQs
What is pimento cheese made of?
Pimento cheese is traditionally made with shredded cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and pimentos.
What does pimento cheese taste like?
Pimento cheese tastes like a spicy and creamy spreadable cheese mixture.
Why is it called pimento cheese?
Pimento cheese gets its name from the pimentos it contains. Pimiento is the Spanish word for pepper, although most spell the word without the additional “i” nowadays.
What is the difference between Palmetto Cheese and pimento cheese?
Palmetto Cheese is a brand of pimento cheese you’ll find in grocery stores.
Can you eat pimento cheese hot?
You can eat pimento cheese cold, at room temperature, or hot.
What can I substitute for pimentos in pimento cheese?
The easiest substitute for pimentos is bell peppers.
How are you supposed to eat pimento cheese?
- Enjoy a pimento cheese sandwich on plain bread or toasted bread. I recommend serving it with sliced cucumber or dill pickles, tomato, lettuce, and even a fried egg.
- Serve it as a grilled cheese sandwich or spread it on a burger.
- Serve it as pimento cheese dip with crackers, raw veggie sticks, tortilla chips, pretzels, bagel chips, or pita chips.
- Stir it into mac and cheese, melt it over fries or nachos, or whisk it into scrambled eggs.
How many days does homemade pimento cheese last?
Up to 10 days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
Don’t miss these recipes:
Chicken Broccoli Skillet with Pimento Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 1-pound block sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce
- 1 7-ounce jar drained pimentos
Instructions
- Grate your sharp cheddar cheese.1 1-pound block sharp cheddar cheese
- Place it in a large mixing bowl with the mayo and pimentos. Stir well to mix.1 cup mayonnaise, 1 7-ounce jar drained pimentos
- Add in the hot sauce, salt, and cayenne pepper and stir again until well combined.1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons hot sauce
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for several hours or overnight.
- Serve on toasted bread, plain bread, or your favorite crackers.
Nutrition
“You can often change your circumstances by changing your attitude”
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Submitted by Jackie
In the past couple of months I have tried some they called “Pepper Jack Cheese Spread” and a “Jalapeno pimiento cheese”. Both were great but I did not get a recipe. This recipe sounds great. I am also going to try making some with chopped jalapenos or green chilies. My Nanny always made pimiento cheese and even though she has been gone 13 years people still talk about the stuff. Growing up I was the outcast because I never like it, but I love the spicy versions.
The wonderful white haired lady holding a pimiento cheese sandwich made me think so much of my own grandmother. She always wanted to feed us and always had pimiento cheese (although she didn’t make it herself). I’m not sure I would ever have tasted it were it not for her. She would grill it for us, oh so gooey and divine. Thanks for sharing your love of your grandma. I know I miss mine so much. She’s been gone almost 8 years and something brings her to mind every day. Today it was you.
My mother loathed cooking and we ate as much convenience food as she could find. This included store-bought pimiento cheese., which tasted awful to me. One day in adulthood, I tasted the homemade version, and it was like tasting a new food! Now that your posted your recipe, I can make this myself. Thank you!
Pimento Cheese….golden goodness! Oh my! Thanks for posting this ‘spicy’ recipe. I WILL make it. I was raised on Pimento Cheese. My Mamaw made the Velveeta version and kept it in her now vintage lidded glass refrigerater dish (I now have it 🙂 <3). I still remember her sweet little hand in that cheese mixture (she didn't grate hers, she just let it get soft) and squeezing it through her fingers to mix it well. ( I think that's why she always kept her nails cut short!) LOL It was the absolute BEST! My mom inherited my Mamaw's good cooking skills and she would add a bit of white pepper to hers. I miss them both so much. Enjoy your Grandmama….I'm sure you do. My Mamaw would have celebrated birthday 103 yesterday! BTW/I love your website. Keep up the good work!
We are so spoiled today with all our choppers, blenders, mixers, etc. We don’t know how to do without them sometimes, but people used to do without them! I never heard of anyone mashing cheese with their hands but I can see how it could be done. My grandmother made pimiento cheese too, but she did have one of those clamp-on food grinders (probably used mostly for sausage-making). I remember seeing her running the cheese through that grinder, then she’d run the pimiento through, as it was whole pieces. I was just a young’n then and I don’t know what else she put in there, although it’s a safe bet that she used JFG mayo because she loved that brand. And she swore by JFG coffee, which she brewed in a non-electric percolator on top of the stove. What a blessing to have had our grandmothers to learn from and to love, and them to dote on us! Those who didn’t have that wonderful grandmother role in their lives missed something truly beautiful. My grandmother married young and had children young, as did my Mom. So I always had a relatively youthful grandmother and I enjoyed her on into my adult years. I always treasured my grandparents so much and thank God for them!
If you would like a spicier mix replace the pimento with a chipotle in adobo. This adds heat and a little smoke flavor too.
mmm.. Christy I KEEP Pimento cheese in my fridge and eat it almost daily. I’m addicted. Try the Palmetto brand – yum-oh (but pricey!). I recall my sweet late-mother in law made pimento cheese ONLY at Christmas and would ration it out to friends in small containers. Since she did not own a food processor, she would spend HOURS in the kitchen grating pounds and mounds of cheddar cheese. It was like Christmas gold (I recall she too added a touch of sugar). Personally, I like mine spicey and buy the Jalapeno kind. Good stuff.
I think my favorite part of the whole post was reading that your family had lived in AL before it was a state. I wish I knew how my family came to arrive in TN.