Vegan Pimento Cheese
This classic staple from the Southern US is so dang good it should be popular nationwide! It’s Creamy, Cheesy, a little Spicy and too delicious for words!
I first made this Pimento Cheese a few years back when Chick-fil-A tested out a Honey Pepper Pimento Sandwich. And I loved it!
But admittedly before that, I never heard of it. Which is a shame because it’s probably one of my favorite dips / spreads now! Seriously, it’s so weird to me that outside of the Southern US, this cheese is relatively obscure. Hopefully that changes because it should be eaten as much as possible!
why you’ll love vegan pimento cheese
Vegan Pimento Cheese is super savory, creamy, cheesy, with a just a little bit of a kick. What’s great about it is you can simply spread it on some crackers.
Or make some sandwiches with it. Just some Pimento Cheese on white bread is magical!
You can even make a Honey Pepper Pimento Chick’n Sandwich with it!
ingredients for vegan pimento cheese
In doing research for this, I found that there’s a lot of opinions on what makes a good Pimento Cheese. Some people say you should pat the Pimentos as dry as possible, while others say you should add the liquid from the jar.
Some folks say no to cream cheese, some say yes! I’m in the latter camp. I tried a couple variations, and what I found was that I prefer mine with some extra seasoning and I’m also adding in a diced jalapeño for some extra heat.
- Vegan Mayo – Duke’s is traditional and they do have a plant-based mayo now that is pretty good, but use whatever vegan mayo you like, or you can make some at HOME!
- Cream Cheese – Any vegan cream cheese should work. You can even use a chive cream cheese. Just like the mayo, you can make this at HOME too!
- Cheddar Shreds – If you can, grate the cheese fresh from a block. I know vegan block cheese is rare, so just use pre-grated if that’s all you can find.
- Pimentos – Get diced pimentos and drain them, and pat them dry as best you can.
- Jalapeños – I used a fresh jalapeño, but I bet pickled would be good too!
- Seasonings – I’m also adding in some garlic powder, cayenne, smoked paprika and vegan worcestershire.
how to make vegan pimento cheese?
The Vegan Pimento Cheese is very easy to make, simply drain the pimentos and pat them dry. Then combine everything in a bowl and taste for seasoning.
Storage
Store the Pimento Cheese in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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Vegan Pimento Cheese
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Vegan Mayo
- 4 oz Vegan Cream Cheese (softened)
- 8 oz Vegan Cheddar Cheese (grated)
- 1 Jalapeño (seeded and diced)
- 4 oz Jar Diced Pimentos (drained)
- 1 tsp Vegan Worcestershire
- 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne
- 1/4 tsp Smoked Paprika
- Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Drain the pimentos and pat them dry with a paper towel.
- Then, combine all the ingredients for Pimento Cheese, season to taste, and set aside in fridge.
- Enjoy with crackers, or on a sandwich!
Love this! Made great lunch sammies. Grated Violife’s Epic Mature cheddar flavor with a can of drained diced chilis since I didn’t have a jalapeno and I didn’t use ¾ cup of mayo, but it was still so creamy! Haven’t had Pimiento Chee in years, thanks for the inspo!
Excellent! So happy you got to experience pimento cheese again!
This is gold! First time I made I followed the recipe and it lasted a day. Made it again the next day using what I had , myokos cheddar spread and mozz shreds. Again only lasted a day. Third time in about as many days, made a double batch and stuck with the myokos and got a Daiya Mexican shred. Chefs kiss* thank you for all your recipes! Oh and I made the vegan honey too. So so good!
Heck yes, Pimento Cheese is so underrated, glad you liked it!
Going to make this for New Year’s Eve! Is this one of those dips that’s even better the next day? Would you recommend preparing it a day ahead?
Hey, yes it’s great made a day ahead!
Holy shit! I just recently discovered pimento cheese and obviously had to find a vegan version and wow! I honestly went into this thinking it was gonna be “meh” on the flavor scale but I was delightfully surprised. Every recipe I’ve tried is amazing.
Yay! It’s one of the most underrated dips / spreads in my opinion! Glad you liked it!!
You’ll be happy to know that Duke’s finally had a vegan mayo! I tried it and I really like it. It’s available online. Recipe looks good! I will try it when I have the ingredients. Thanks!
The new Duke’s is great. I tried to make a vegan mayo that was similar in tanginess, if you want to make my homemade version as well!
This is fantastic. I Used to follow your heart veganaise, violife cream cheese, And rebel smoked cheddar vegan cheese.(I added a little less smoked paprika)I’m so happy to have pimento cheese back in my life. Thank you!