Pimento Cheese for the soul? Maybe, but it is at least meant for party trays, charcuterie boards, platters and sandwhiches everywhere!
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This is a light cheese spread with just a hint of heat on the back end of it. It is a dish that I am very much late to the game in experiencing. Honestly, until I started watching Better Call Saul, I only had the vaguest vision that this was something older people ate as a sandwich. Sure, Mike Erhmantraut may qualify as an ‘older person,’ but his deadpan delivery of the line “A pimento cheese sandwich” stuck in my mind. What was this orange glop, and did anyone really eat this stuff? When I was younger, I was a kitchen staffer in several nursing homes, and I know my palate has been forever put off of pimento loaf. Fortunately, these two things are very different. On a whim, I saw a container of pimento cheese in the cooler at my local grocery store. I was brought back to Mike’s sandwich, and when I saw the single carbohydrate per serving, I knew it was time to give this cheese a chance.
How Do I Eat It?
Since then, I have eaten it as a side for chicken salad. On cucumber and bell pepper slices. It is excellent rolled into deli meats or on top of pepperoni. I have eaten it inside of breakfast sandwiches and on top of smashed burgers. And you better believe I have eaten it straight from the container with a spoon. I have since developed and fine-tuned my own recipe. It is fast to make and does not have a lot of ingredients. Pimento cheese could be at home on any party platter, or charcuterie board. Anywhere dips and cheese logs are welcome; there should be a seat saved for the humble and delicious pimento cheese.
For a really low carb adventure, skip the chips and crackers and impress (or gross out) your friends by serving this pimento cheese spread with you very own crispy oven backed chicken skin chicharones. For that recipe, click the link HERE – Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Skins.
Pimento cheese comes from including diced pimento peppers in the cheese mixture. They are sweet and a deep red in color. They are often found in jars already diced and stored in oil. Almost any other pepper could be substituted in a pinch, but it just wouldn’t be pimento cheese anymore.
Pimento Cheese
Pimento Cheese Description
Pimento cheese is a creamy and tangy spread or dip made from sharp cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and diced pimentos, which are a type of sweet red cherry pepper. It can also include ingredients like cream cheese, onions, garlic, and seasonings for added flavor. This mixture creates a smooth and spreadable condiment with a rich, savory taste, often used on sandwiches, crackers, or as a topping for burgers and hot dogs, making it a beloved comfort food enjoyed by many.
Nutritional Information and Ingredients
Nutritional Information taken from a combination of the ingredient packaging the MyFitnessPal app. This is for the entire container of pimento cheese dip or spread that this recipe will make.
Nutrition-
Calories: 1,450
Protein: 54
Fat: 132
Carbohydrates: 17
Ingredients-
- 8 Ounces Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 3 Tablespoons of Mayonnaise
- 3 Tablespoons of Cream Cheese
- 6 Tablespoons of Pimento Peppers
Seasonings-
- Salt / Pepper to taste
- 1 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Instructions- Pimento Cheese
You could substitute low-fat, light mayonnaise and cream cheese, but my preference is always full-fat. Just be warned that this also usually means it comes with extra calories. I used Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Helman’s Mayonnaise in the TikTok video. I know Dukes is also popular, and you could use any or make your own, but I would shy away from Miracle Whip for this one.
Actual Instructions Here
Start by allowing the cream cheese to come to room temperature or soften in the microwave. This will be mixed until it forms a chunky orange paste, and if the cream cheese is still cold, it won’t mix uniformly, and you will have tiny pockets of plain white cream cheese lumps.
You could use pre-shredded sharp cheddar cheese. I don’t mind shredding my own. Plus, if you shred it yourself, the cheese is usually less carbohydrates because there aren’t anticaking agents like cellulose or starches. Either way, add the shredded cheese into a mixing bowl. Top this with the softened cream cheese and mayonnaise. I like to add the salt at this stage and mix everything well until the cream cheese and the mayo become smooth and incorporated into each other. Then, it is time for the crushed red pepper flakes and the pimentos. The pimento could be drained, but I don’t bother draining it completely and end up folding in some of the oil from the jar anyway.
Now, give the entire mixture a thorough stir. Make sure that all of the ingredients get folded in. The white color from the cream cheese and the mayonnaise should slowly and gradually fade into that light orange iconic color of ‘pimento cheese.’
Then Ta-Da! You will have a big ol’ bowl of Pimento Cheese. Like most dips and cheese spreads, this will benefit from letting it sit for a few hours or overnight to let all of the flavors mingle and get to know each other well. Then serve chilled, as a sandwich, on a burger, or as part of a charcuterie board!
