The Best Pimento Cheese I’ve Ever Had (And Three Ways to Serve It)

Here’s what makes it worth your afternoon:

• It’s a make-ahead. It keeps beautifully in the fridge, so it’s ready when company is.
• It’s fancy enough for a shower or a ladies’ luncheon, and plain enough to eat with crackers standing at the counter.
• It makes an incredible grilled cheese — a grown-up grilled cheese, and I don’t say that lightly.
• It’s forgiving. Don’t love sharp cheese? Use mild or medium. Don’t have Asiago? Parmesan works.
• The mixer does the work. If you have the grating attachment, this recipe is the reason you bought it.

I’ve had this recipe for over ten years, and I still think it’s the best one out there.

The Story Behind This One

I was inspired to bring you this recipe on a recent trip we took to the beach.

I took a book with me — just for fun reading — called Being Dead Is No Excuse. If you’ve read it, you know exactly what it’s all about. It’s a funny Southern look at the kinds of food people bring to a funeral, and there are recipes sprinkled all the way through it. One whole section was nothing but different pimento cheeses.

And sitting there reading, it made me remember this recipe. I’ve had it somewhere between ten and fifteen years now, and it has never let me down.

Now, people all over the place love pimento cheese, and we certainly love it here in the South. Most everybody I know has a good pimento cheese recipe. But let me tell you what — this one, I believe it’s the best one I’ve ever had.

I’ll be honest with you: I love a good pimento cheese, and I don’t much care how it’s fixed. I even like the kind you buy in the package at the store. Those are very good. But this one is so much better. It really is. And it came together so easily on the mixer that I sat there asking myself, why do I ever buy pimento cheese? Sometimes you just need the ease of a package you can open. But boy, this is good — especially if you’re a sharp cheese lover.

It feels a little fancy to me, which is why it’s so good for a ladies’ lunch, or a baby shower, or a bridal shower. But it’s also just plain good to eat any old day of the week.

Let me show you how it’s done.

Southern Four-Cheese Pimento Cheese

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 0 minutes (unless you’re making the grilled cheese — then about 10) Total time: 15 minutes Yield: About 1 quart (serves a crowd, or one very happy family for a week)

Ingredients

• 12 oz sharp cheddar cheese (that’s ¾ pound), grated
• 8 oz white sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 3–4 oz Gruyère cheese, grated (about half of an 8-oz block)
• 3–4 oz Asiago cheese, grated (Parmesan works too)
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature (half a block)
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard (I use the stone-ground kind)
• 1 dash Tabasco sauce
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 oz diced pimentos, drained (about half of a 4-oz jar)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh chives
• ⅓–½ cup finely chopped pecans (optional, but I’d do it)

Instructions

1. Get your cream cheese out early. This is the one thing you don’t want to skip. Your cream cheese needs to be at room temperature and good and soft before you pull everything together, or it won’t mix in smooth. Set it on the counter while you do the rest.
2. Grate the cheeses. We’re working with a lot of cheese today — about a pound and a half of it — so this is the time to get out the grating attachment for your mixer, or a hand-crank grater if you have one. Cut your blocks into pieces that fit down the tube. I used the smaller grating attachment for this one. I usually reach for the larger one, but for pimento cheese I want that finer grate. Start with the 12 oz of sharp cheddar, then the 8 oz of white sharp cheddar, then the Gruyère, then the Asiago. You can absolutely grate all of this by hand — it just takes longer.
3. Chop the pecans and chives. For the pecans, ⅓ to ½ cup is plenty, and you want them fairly fine — I just run my knife through them a few times. Chop the chives down to about ¼ cup. You can alter that to taste if you like a lot of chives. Add both right into the bowl with the cheeses.
4. Add the pimentos and cream cheese. About 2 oz of pimentos — half a small jar — and the 4 oz of softened cream cheese, straight in with everything else.
5. Make the dressing. In a separate small bowl, stir together the ½ cup of mayonnaise, about ½ tablespoon of Dijon, one dash of Tabasco, and ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Now that sounds like a lot of cheese to season with just a half teaspoon, but remember — the cheeses are already bringing a good bit of salt with them. You can always adjust at the end. Mix it up well before it ever touches the cheese.
6. Bring it together. Scrape the mayonnaise mixture into the bowl with your cheeses — get it all off that spoon. Swap your grating attachment for the paddle and let the mixer do the work. It only takes a minute or two. Wasn’t that easy? I love that you can grate the cheese right in the mixing bowl and then turn around and let the same machine mix it for you.
7. Taste it. This is the moment of truth. If you’re a sharp cheese lover, you’re going to be very happy right here. If you’re not, next time swap the sharp cheddars for mild or medium — it’ll still be delicious.
8. Chill or serve. It’ll keep nicely in the fridge as long as your cheeses and other ingredients are still within date. If you’re planning to make grilled cheese with it, pull it out about 30 to 40 minutes ahead so it’s not ice cold from the fridge.

Three Ways to Serve It

1. The Grown-Up Grilled Cheese

This is the one. It’s a little tricky to make a grilled cheese with a spread instead of slices, so here’s how I do it.

Spread your filling right in the middle of the sandwich and put it together. Now — how do you get butter on the outside of the bread? The easiest way I’ve found is to skip buttering the bread altogether. Put a little butter directly in your skillet, swirl it around, and set the sandwich down in it. Let it soak up all that butter on one side. Then add a little more butter to the skillet, flip the sandwich, and it butters the other side for you.

Go low and slow with your heat. This is the whole secret. We don’t want the outside of that bread getting brown too fast, because we need time for the cheese in the middle to melt. It’ll take several minutes on each side, and that’s exactly right. Between the low heat and setting the pimento cheese out ahead of time, you’ll get that ooey gooey cheesy middle.

It’s just a little bit different from your plain old regular grilled cheese. We all love that one, don’t we? But this is a grown-up grilled cheese. If you’ve got cheese lovers in your house, nobody is going to complain.

2. Party Triangle Sandwiches

Here in the South, we love those cute little triangle sandwiches for a ladies’ luncheon or a bridal shower or a baby shower. And they could not be easier.

Get some soft white bread — or whatever bread you like. Spread the pimento cheese on, but don’t go too thick, because these are little sandwiches and you don’t want the filling to overpower them. You still want that flavor to come through, though.

Cut the crusts off. Now, I rarely cut the crusts off a sandwich — really only for this circumstance, when we’re serving at one of these events. Then cut diagonally both directions, and you’ve got four sweet little triangles that look like somebody went to a lot of trouble.

3. Crackers and Pretzel Crisps

The easy one. Spoon some into a little bowl and set it out with crackers. It’s also wonderful with those thin pretzel crisps — I love it either way. It’s a nice little appetizer when people come over, or you can set it on the table at lunch to go alongside some other salads.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use different cheeses? Yes. The four-cheese blend is what makes this one taste a little fancy, but you have room to move. Parmesan substitutes for the Asiago just fine — it’s a harder cheese, but the flavors are similar enough that you really could use either. And if you don’t care for sharp cheese, replace the sharp cheddars with mild or medium cheddar instead.

Do I have to use a mixer? No. You can grate all of that cheese by hand and stir it together with a spoon — plenty of people do. But we’re working with about a pound and a half of cheese here, so if you have a grating attachment or even a hand-crank grater, this is the recipe to get it out for.

Why does the cream cheese have to be room temperature? Because cold cream cheese doesn’t want to blend. It’ll stay in little lumps instead of coating everything and making it creamy. Set it out on the counter before you start grating and it’ll be ready right when you need it.

How long does homemade pimento cheese keep in the fridge? It keeps very nicely — just go by the dates on your cheeses and your other ingredients. If everything in it is still good, it’s still good. Keep it in an airtight container.

Can I leave the pecans out? Absolutely. I wasn’t sure I was going to put them in at all this time, and then I decided to. It’s delicious either way — the pecans just bring the level up a little.

Why is my grilled cheese browning before the middle melts? Your heat is too high. Go low and slow. It should take several minutes per side, not one or two. And set your pimento cheese out 30 to 40 minutes before you start so it isn’t going into the skillet ice cold.

How much does this make? About a quart. That’s a large recipe — enough for a real gathering. If you’re just cooking for your own house, it’ll keep in the fridge and you’ll be glad it’s there.

Can I make it ahead for a party? That’s one of the best things about it. Make it the day before, keep it covered in the fridge, and pull it out when you need it. Just remember to let it sit out a bit if you’re doing grilled cheese.

Any way you want to serve it, it’s just a good recipe. It’s a great little thing to keep on hand in your fridge, and it is definitely worth the time and worth the trouble.