Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches
Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches are a classic Southern recipe. These tasty sandwiches are incredibly easy to make, and they’re an excellent choice for a fun party appetizer!
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For someone who doesn’t watch golf, I sure talk about the Masters a lot. (The Masters is one of golf’s 4 major tournaments, and it’s played in Augusta, GA every year at the beginning of April. Well, in most years it’s played at the beginning of April…) To explain, we have to take a step back to college basketball. I do watch a lot of college basketball. In fact, you could say I’m pretty diehard. March Madness is one of my favorite times of the year, and I typically take the first Thursday and Friday of the tournament off so that I can watch basketball from 12pm-midnight. (I do take breaks in there. Even I can’t handle 12 straight hours of watching basketball!)
Each year during March Madness, CBS airs numerous commercials for the Masters. After all, the Masters is held right after March Madness wraps up. But here’s the thing. Those commercials always show green golf courses lined with colorful azaleas in full bloom. It’s beautiful! And then I look outside. Late March in upstate New York is anything but beautiful. There’s usually piles and piles of dirty snow, or the snow has begun to melt leading to what folks around here call “mud season.” Yup, an entire season devoted to mud. It’s glorious.
Now I don’t mean to overtly bash upstate New York (like The Simpsons masterfully did in this video), but this Southern boy is used to March being the return of Spring. Birds chirping, flowers blooming, green grass. Basically the commercial for the Masters. We’ve got to wait until mid-May for that type of thing here…and let me tell ya, those last 6 weeks or so of winter are the longest days ever!
Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches
Pimiento Cheese SandwichesEven though we don’t live down South anymore, I can still make one of my favorite spring recipes – Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches! Have you ever heard of pimiento cheese? I took a batch of these into the curling club, and I was shocked at the number of people who had never heard of pimiento cheese. Pimiento cheese is essentially shredded cheddar, pimiento peppers (i.e. sweet peppers) and enough mayonnaise to bind it all together. There are a few other ingredients in there, but that’s about it. And it’s shockingly delicious! Even Laura, a Yankee by birth, loves pimiento cheese!
For me, pimiento cheese was a household staple growing up in the Carolinas. (This classic Southern recipe is sometimes called “caviar of the South.”) Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches are also an incredibly easy recipe. Everything can be made in a food processor, and there’s no need to cook anything. We’ve been known to mix up a batch for lunches, but Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches make for great party appetizers when you slice the sandwiches into quarters. Excellent finger food!
Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches are a long-time tradition at the Masters golf tournament. For $1.50, you can get a Pimiento Cheese Sandwich at the Masters. If you want chips and sweet tea, too? That’ll be $3. In this day when stadium food can require a second mortgage on your house, I find it refreshing that the Masters has stuck by its roots. Now this recipe for Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches is not the exact Master’s recipe – that recipe is well-kept secret. I stumbled across this version of Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches from a cookbook produced by the Junior League of Augusta, and many folks agree that the Junior League recipe is darned close to the original.
If you’re looking for a fun and easy party appetizer recipe, then I highly recommend these Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches! If you’re not feeling the sandwiches, you can easily turn this into a dip and serve with crackers or stalks of celery. I hope you enjoy this one as much as we do!
Did you make these Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog). I’d love to see your creation!
Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 12 oz. sharp white cheddar cheese shredded
- 8 oz. sharp yellow cheddar cheese shredded
- 4 oz. blue cheese crumbled
- 2 oz. cream cheese softened
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- 2 4-oz. jars sliced pimiento peppers, drained (can use roasted red peppers)
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- 2 loaves white sandwich bread
Instructions
- Using a food processor, add all ingredients except for bread; pulse until well combined and mostly smooth.
- Cover and refrigerate until cold.
- Spread mixture onto bread slices.
Notes
Looking for more tasty Southern recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
This is definitely a southern thing. I’ve never even tried pimento cheese! I think it’s time to change that! This cheese screams deliciousness! And what a fun little sandwich too!
Oh my gosh…you’ve NEVER tried pimiento cheese!? Ok, you need to make a batch. Like today. 🙂 (This is a big batch, so I’d recommend halving it until you know you like it – but I promise you’ll like it. Haha!)
Hi David. Being from the North I had never tasted pimiento cheese until sixteen years ago when we came to TN and it was love at first taste! I recently introduced my sister in law (also a Northerner) to it and she loves it. I really like grilled pimiento cheese sandwiches, especially with tomato soup! 🙂
Hey Dorothy! Your reaction reminds me of so many other folks, too. Pimiento cheese is like the best-kept Southern secret. You can buy pimiento cheese in stores down there, but as you know it’s not available up north. Fortunately, it’s really easy to make. This recipe is fantastic with the tiny bit of tang from the blue cheese! Hope you and Gary are doing well. 🙂
I’ve heard of pimiento cheese, but have never had it. I do love a good cheese sandwich though, so I’m sure I’d enjoy this!!
Have a wonderful weekend, David!
You’ve never had pimiento cheese!? Ok, you’ve gotta promise me that you’ll make a batch sometime soon. (This is a party-sized recipe, so just cut it down small.) It’s SO easy to make, and man is it good. 🙂 Hope you have a great week ahead, Marissa!
I’ve only had pimiento cheese once in my life, but it was AMAZING. I don’t know why I haven’t made it myself–clearly that needs to change. I even think I have all the ingredients on hand so I’ll probably be whipping up a few of these sandwiches soon 🙂
Oh man, you totally need to make a batch of pimiento cheese yourself, Kelsie! It’s shockingly easy to make, and it’s so good, too. The only challenge is finding the pimiento peppers…but that’s not too hard usually. 🙂
This is a mighty fine looking sandwich, David! So much cheese goodness – just how I like it.
Delicious, and so simple!
Pimiento cheese sandwiches are a classic Southern recipe here in the States, Alex. They’re SO easy to make, and packed with a ton of flavor, too. 🙂 Hope your week is off to a great start!
OMG this is such an easy recipe to make. these days are calling for some easy recipes.
You’re telling me about the easy recipes these days, Priya! Pimiento cheese is totally a comfort food, and it’s a tasty one. 🙂
This looks much fancier than the Pimiento cheese sandwiches I normally make (I just use peppers, cheddar, mayo and spices). Never thought about the other types of cheese. That would taste awesome. Just the fact that I currently am finding hard to even buy cheese at the moment makes me want to make this even more!
Yes! You can totally sneak other kinds of cheese in there, too. (I agree, though. I only remember my Mom using cheddar in her recipe.) But the little bit of blue cheese adds such an amazing tang of flavor here. A run on cheese over there? Yikes! Our stores are mostly stocked back up, but of course we aren’t going shopping all that often these days. Save this recipe for when this whole thing is over! Stay well, Matt!
Pimiento cheese eh? Well you’ve got me there too. I’m not familiar with it either. But it sounds delicious. I just pulled my George Forman grill out of the back of the cupboard this week and did some cheese toasties. I might have to look and see if I can get a jar of pimiento peppers and give these a go as pimiento cheese toasties!
So Pimiento cheese is a classic Southern recipe here in the States. It’s easy to make, and it’s downright delicious. (You can buy premade containers in the South, but up here where we live you’ve gotta make your own – fortunately it’s easy to make.) I hope you can get pimiento peppers over there because pimiento cheese is a classic comfort food! 🙂
I don’t know, David. But I’ll tell you what, I have a feeling this is one of those things – like grape jelly meatballs – that sounds weird, but when you actually taste it, you’re like, hot damn. I mean, I love cheddar, love mayo, love white bread … and well who doesn’t love pimiento? I love trying new things, though.
Now spring, on the other hand, welcome to the northern United States! We either don’t have spring, or we have it for two days.
Pimiento cheese sandwiches are definitely a hot damn type of recipe, Jeff. There’s a reason they’ve been serving these at The Masters for like, I dunno, a million years. 🙂
Also, I need some warm weather. Can you send it to me please? I’ll return the favor with a container of pimiento cheese.
yep i have definitely heard of pimiento cheese! an american blogger put up a post once. can’t remember who that was… sounds interesting. take care.
Pimiento cheese is a classic Southern recipe here in the States, Sherry. It’s comfort food at it’s best, and it’s super easy to make, too! 🙂 Stay well, my friend!
I’ve heard of pimiento cheese, but have never had before. I would definitely love to give it a try, though! You know how much I love cheese and this one sounds right up my alley! Bet it would be lovely smeared on some crackers, too, with a glass of vino for a tasty, easy app! Happy Monday, my friend 🙂
Yes! I know you and I both share a love for all things cheese. If you’ve never tried pimiento cheese, then you absolutely have to put it on your list! It’s so easy to make, and it’s downright delicious! 🙂 Thanks, Dawn!
Hey there old friend! Love me some pimiento cheese! I used to buy it in the grocery store in my Atlanta days and eat it on Ritz crackers lol! Yours looks fantastic and is making me all nostalgic
Hey Lindsey! Yes, I totally got nostalgic about the South when I made this batch of pimiento cheese. I remember being able to buy it in grocery stores down there. Up here? Gotta make our own! (Well, maybe you can get it down in the City…no such luck upstate.) Stay well, my friend!
I’ve only ever seen it in restaurants (like twice) in the city. In my neightborhood Kroger in Atlanta, they would have free samples every Thursday…yeah, I still remember that lol! Stay safe
Kroger!! I miss Kroger. Now I’m feeling homesick…haha.
I have never eaten pimiento cheese, but I have heard of it. Your sandwich sounds like it would be right my alley!!
Oh, you should totally give pimiento cheese a try sometime, Dawn! It’s delicious…there’s a reason it’s called “Southern caviar.” 🙂
Oh, boy, do I remember pimiento cheese sandwiches. When I was a wee pup many eons ago, we had pimiento cheese sandwiches every Thursday night. Now, with that said, I came away from that weekly experience lacking any desire for a pimiento cheese sandwich since then. But, now you’ve got me wondering why there’s no desire. So, I must now make some (not on Thursday night) as I can’t remember what they taste like. Have you ever have celery sticks stuffed with pimiento cheese? Another one I’ve not had for many years
Every Thursday night? I like that plan, Ron! I do enjoy pimiento cheese sandwiches, but I hadn’t made ’em in, gosh, more than a year (?) when I made this batch. Every week sounds like a great idea! Of course, I can see how that might wear you out on pimiento cheese after a while. Haha!
Oh man – celery stuffed with pimiento cheese! That’s one that my Mom used to make for cocktail parties. I never ate the leftovers as a kid – I mean it was celery! But I’m pretty sure I would love it now. Thanks for the idea!