I must confess. I may be married, but I’ve been in love since far before I met him…I’m talking since I was in grade school.
My second love? Cheese. All things cheese.
My profound love for cheese probably comes from my mom, or my grandma. My mom would always have special cheeses out for holiday parties, and there was a constant supply of the good stuff in the fridge. If you open my fridge, you’ll find no fewer than 3 cheeses at one time.
There’s a Southern favorite that I’ve been eating since I was a young tot: pimiento cheese. My grandma would typically have a tub of the stuff in the fridge when I was a kid, and I remember slathering it on bread and eating pimiento cheese sandwiches for lunch.
Don’t know what pimiento cheese is? Don’t worry. I’ll enlighten you to the wonderfully cheesy spread.
Pimiento cheese is a cross between a relish and a spread. Most grocery store pimiento cheese is made with shredded American cheese, mayonnaise and diced pimientos (small red sweet peppers or cherry peppers). It’s what is known as the “pate of the South” or “Southern caviar”. Most Southern mamas have this spread in the fridge to make a quick sandwich on a hot summer day. It can be a quick and inexpensive meal or a finger food fit for a king.
I’ve grown up and moved on from the ultra-processed tubs of pimiento cheese. A favorite of mine right now is a smoked gouda pimiento cheese that my grocery store makes in-house. I’ll eat that cheese spread any day of the week.
Pimiento cheese is also a staple of the Masters, which just concluded this past weekend. You can eat it simply on white bread, or treat it like a dip and use crackers, chips, or veggies as your vessel to get the delicacy into your mouth. I’m fond of both, but for this recipe I opted for the latter.
For this recipe I wanted to make my own pimiento cheese AND do something different with it. I went down the spicy route and didn’t look back. The only additions: diced pickled jalapenos and sriracha. Those two ingredients emboldened my pimiento cheese and gave it the kick I was so desperately searching for.
I’m on keto (sorta) so the dippers I used were pork rinds and raw, sliced zucchini. My favorite of the two was zuccini. I love raw zucchini with dips; there’s just enough flavor to not overpower your dip and the zucchini has an excellent crunch. Try it out with this recipe!
Spicy Pimiento Cheese
A Southern classic transformed into a spicy version with jalapeno and Sriracha.
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (shred it yourself or get the thicker shreds at the grocery store)
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 4 oz. pimientos, diced and drained
- 1/4 cup pickled jalapenos, diced
- 2 TBS. Sriracha
Directions
- In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve on sandwiches or as a dip with crackers, fresh vegetables and chips.
Step-By-Step Instructions
In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve on sandwiches or as a dip with crackers, fresh vegetables and chips.
I don’t think I really needed “step-by-step instructions” for this one since there was only one step (mix together and stir)…but, here we are. Hope you like this pimiento cheese recipe as much as I did!
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