Southern cheese spread of grated sharp orange cheddar, cream cheese, mayonnaise, diced jarred pimento peppers, cayenne, and a touch of grated onion — eaten on crackers, white bread, celery, or as the famous green Masters Tournament sandwich.
Pimento cheese is now Southern-coded but began as a Northern industrial product: Spanish pimento peppers were canned and sold in jars in the late 1890s, and 1910s grocery brochures pushed pimento-cheddar mixes as a quick sandwich filler for working families. The South adopted it heavily during the early 20th century, and by 1950 it was a staple. Augusta National Golf Club's Masters Tournament (since 1934) sells the bright-green-bag pimento cheese sandwich for $1.50 (a price held since 2002) — keeping the working-class price-point part of the dish's identity.
Northern industrial product before it was Southern — 1890s canned Spanish pimentos, 1910s grocery brochures pushed pimento-cheddar mixes for working families. Augusta National's Masters Tournament (1934) sells the green-bag sandwich for under $2 — keeps the price point honest.
Cold, dense, spreadable but not gloopy. First taste: the sharp bite of aged cheddar, then mayonnaise's eggy tang, then a slow-build cayenne heat. The pimento bits pop sweet and faintly smoky. Spread thick on a salty Ritz cracker the contrast is fat-cheese-against-snap-cracker. In the Masters sandwich form — between two slices of cottony white bread, crusts off — it tastes deliberately old-fashioned, almost like a cheese-paste childhood memory. A pimento cheese that's smooth and pourable was made in a food processor; the right one has visible cheese strands.
Three rules: real grated cheddar, full-fat mayo, no food processor. Pre-shredded cheese has cellulose anti-cake powder that prevents binding into a cohesive spread. Low-fat mayo lacks the egg-yolk emulsifiers needed to coat the cheese strands. The food processor purées everything into beige paste, killing the textural contrast that makes the spread interesting — visible cheese strands and pimento flecks are non-negotiable. Refrigerating 1 hour lets the cream cheese soften the cheddar's edge and the cayenne distribute evenly.
Variations
Augusta National-style on cottony white bread with crusts off; Palmetto Cheese (Pawley's Island brand) is the supermarket benchmark; Husk (Charleston) makes a smoked-cheddar version; Mississippi-Delta tradition adds Duke's mayo as the only acceptable brand.
On the Palate
Where Pimento Cheese sits in the American flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8
How it's made
5 steps · 15 min active + 1 hour waiting
- 15 min
Drain a 200g jar of pimento peppers (or roasted red peppers). Pat dry and dice into 5mm pieces. The liquid carries water that will thin the spread — it must come off.
Watch outIf using fresh-roasted red peppers, peel and seed first — store-bought jarred pimentos are pre-prepped and authentic.
- 25 min
Grate 350g sharp orange cheddar (Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp or Cabot Seriously Sharp) on the large holes of a box grater. Do NOT use pre-shredded — it's coated with cellulose powder and won't bind.
Watch outThe cheese should be cold from the fridge — warm cheddar gums up the grater and the result is paste, not strands.
- 33 min
In a large bowl combine the grated cheddar, 110g room-temperature cream cheese, 150g mayonnaise (Duke's brand is the Southern standard — eggier and tangier than Hellmann's), 1 tbsp finely grated onion, 1/2 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp Worcestershire, 1/4 tsp black pepper, pinch salt.
- 42 min
Fold everything together with a rubber spatula — do not use a food processor. The texture should remain chunky, with visible strands of cheese and red flecks of pimento. Stir in the diced pimento last.
Watch outFood-processor pimento cheese is smooth, beige, and characterless — the chunky hand-mixed version is what Southerners argue about.
- 560 min
Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour to let flavors meld. Serve cold or just-cool with Ritz crackers, celery sticks, or between two slices of pillow-soft white bread (crusts off, cut diagonally).
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