If you’ve been in the South long you know we love our pimento cheese. Here’s a pimento cheese dip that’ll please the crowds at any potluck.

While pimento cheese isn’t for everyone (even in the south), everyone can appreciate a quick and easy recipe with a unique taste.

It is easy to prepare and simple to serve. It is great for informal gatherings and makes a great finger food when served with bread or crackers. This is a typically southern mix and is very versatile to the extreme.

You can use the pimento cheese dip for dip, on burgers and sandwiches, stuffed in meat or put into mac and cheese.

Literally the sky is the limit!

Watch How to Make Pimento Cheese Dip

What exactly is pimento cheese?

In the cuisine of the South, pimento cheese is a relish or spread made with cheese, mayonnaise, and pimentos.

It can be served on bread, crackers, vegetables, or in sandwiches.

A pimento is actually a very mild slightly sweet pepper. Compared to a jalapeno pepper, they are around 30 times milder. So without much kick at all.

In fact, it has the lowest Scoville scale rating of all the chilies and is generally only used to stuff into olives or put into a cheese mix.

Enter pimento cheese.

Ingredients needed to make a rockin’ pimento cheese dip

This is a relatively easy dip to make, and quick too.

Excellent for a potluck or a family gathering when you don’t want to spend tons of time on an appetizer, but are ready to make something snacky that people love in a jam.

Here’s how you do it.

Directions for the pimento cheese dip

Notes about storing the pimento dip

You can keep the pimento cheese dip at least 1 week as long as you keep it well refrigerated in an airtight container. It may last longer, but really, you will eat it before the week is over.

There are also debates about how to grate the cheese—should you use the smaller holes or the larger holes—or grate it in the food processor?

It is simple to use the small side of the box grater, however, cooks in the south have been known to grate with the small blade in their food processor, which makes everything so much easier.

It is up to you…old school or new age…both get the job done!

Ways you can eat pimento cheese

• Pimento cheese crab dip
• Pimento cheese sandwiches
• Or maybe pimento cheese dip with bacon
• Grilled cheese with pimento
• You can put the cheese on sandwiches, crackers, in quesadillas, and macaroni and cheese.
• Put the cheese mix on burgers, stuff it into chicken, in a biscuit, in scones, pinwheels (with puff pastry), and in deviled eggs!

This recipe was first published in Cancer Freeze: Cookin’ For A Cure. Printed with permission.