All I have to say about this sandwich is OMG! It is so incredibly good that my husband and I almost could not believe it. I was momentarily in shock that my kids didn’t like it, but then I said oh well – more for us! It certainly would be more convenient if they liked it too, but this is one of those things that we like so much that it’s worth it to make something different for them (like a plain grilled cheese). Don’t let us stop you from trying it on your kids though!
You can also eat this pimento cheese cold on plain bread, which is still good too. But once we discovered the cooked version (which is like a grilled cheese sandwich with a kick) we were hooked! Just imagine the soft pimento cream cheese mixture melted between two pieces of crispy bread that are grilled to perfection. Need I say more?
Grilled Pimento Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients
- 5 ounces cheddar cheese, white sharp (not the pre-grated stuff which contains an anti-caking agent, freshly grated)
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened (I stick it in the microwave for a few seconds, after I take the metal foil off of course)
- 4-oz jar diced pimentos, with juice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika
- 1 drop hot sauce
- whole-wheat bread
- butter, for frying
Instructions
-
Blend all ingredients (down to the hot sauce) together very well with a spoon or fork.
Can be served cold or continue with directions below for a hot sandwich. -
Melt 1 – 2 tablespoons of butter in a sauté pan set just slightly higher than medium heat or use a griddle set at 375 degrees F.
-
Just after the butter has melted (and before it turns brown) rub one side of each piece of bread in the melted butter for full coverage.
-
Remove the buttered bread from the pan and spread a layer of pimento cheese onto the side of the bread that doesn’t have the melted butter on it. Top that with another piece of prepared bread (non-melted butter side facing down) to make a sandwich.
-
Put sandwich back into the pan onto remaining melted butter and cook until golden brown on each side.
Recipe Notes
To make recipe gluten-free, substitute gluten-free bread for whole-wheat bread.
*We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
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kelly
July 26, 2010 at 2:31 pmI have this recipe too and we love it also. It is great hot or cold as a dip with pita chips also.
Lisa
July 26, 2010 at 2:52 pmYes, it would be great as a dip…thanks for sharing!
Lance
July 27, 2010 at 6:32 amJust found this blog, what an awesome site!
Just curious, have you tried using coconut oil as an alternative to butter? We still use butter from time to time but coconut oil has become our primary cooking oil nowadays.
Keep up the great work!
Lance
Violet Monkey
August 6, 2010 at 8:35 amCan I ask, what type of Dijon mustard you use? I just checked mine, (Grey Poupon), and it has…
Water, Vinegar, Mustard Seed, Salt, White Wine, Fruit Pectin, Citric Acid, Tartaric Acid, Sugar, Spice
Too many ingredients, plus sugar! (and “spice”? how vague is that?!).
Just curious what you recommend…?
Lisa
August 9, 2010 at 10:26 amYou know we happen to have this random brand mustard that has been in our fridge for a while. I don’t remember where I bought it, but I know we got it to go with a Polish sausage meal we were making (a long time ago – way before our 100 days!). The brand is Kosciusko and the ingredients are: white distilled vinegar, #1 grade mustard seed, water, salt, spices. So I guess the vague “spices” thing is common in mustard, but it definitely does not have sugar in it or it would say that specifically. I think the Earthfare brand organic mustard is pretty decent with 6 ingredients (one of them being water which my husband says doesn’t really count as an ingredient).
Violet Monkey
August 19, 2010 at 10:24 amThanks. I saw the Kosciusko brand of mustard at Earthfare and purchased that. (Even though it’s technically a “spicy brown” mustard, and not a Dijon (no white wine in it), it had the best looking list of ingredients).
I made this last night, and oh my goodness – so delicious! I love, love pimento cheese – but had to say goodbye to the orange-colored tub of chemical goo – this was a fantastic replacement. Yum!
Lisa
August 19, 2010 at 9:59 pmI am so happy to hear of someone else sharing the love of this sandwich!
GourmetOnADiet
February 21, 2011 at 11:11 pmOkay, I’m going to keep searching, but have you found a whole-wheat sandwich bread with five ingredients or less? (Should I call my bakery to see if they’ll tell me the ingredients?) I am really thinking about doing this, but I don’t know if I will really have time to make my own bread…and my husband wouldn’t last one meal without it. I made the roll recipe you had on here once too, but now I can’t find it and I also think it had white flour in it? Couldn’t be, but I swear I think it did! I’m going to at least get the stuff for the tortillas and biscuits…
100 Days of Real Food
March 1, 2011 at 4:09 pmYour bakery should definitely tell you the ingredients! I wouldn’t buy anything from a place that won’t tell you what they put in it. Oh just saw your other comment that you found a Great Harvest…that’s great! We love their honey whole-wheat loaf (5 ingredients and 100% whole-wheat), but you have to be careful because they also offer a lot of options made with white flour and sugar. Good luck!
GourmetOnADiet
February 21, 2011 at 11:14 pmNever mind, there is a Great Harvest relatively close to me!!! I’m so excited!!! (Will call the bakery too, anyways — thank you!)
Elroy Escober
May 20, 2011 at 9:51 amnice post,enjoyed reading it
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Aubry
June 20, 2011 at 5:45 pmDisclaimer: I try to eat whole foods but am not at 100% yet. I tried this last night, it was awesome. I am from charlotte (but moved to CA) and loved Penguins Winky dinky dog. So, we used it as a topping to our hot dogs to help with the craving. It was amazing, thank you for posting this!
Laverna
July 7, 2011 at 11:34 amOn the first sentence it seems to look like it was valid but if you prove it there is no point of this!!
Stephanie Purdy
August 4, 2011 at 9:08 pmTry the grilled pimento cheese topped with grilled fresh pineapple, too!
Lynette Pinson
August 19, 2011 at 1:21 amTry it on raisin bread! Awesome savory combination!
Ashley
November 1, 2011 at 1:00 pmThis was DELICIOUS!!! I got the honey whole wheat from Great Harvest and had it for lunch. I’ve been using the spread as a dip with pita chips as well. Love it!
Mary
March 11, 2012 at 12:31 pmI didn’t read all of the preceding comments, but just wanted to say that I love to use a roasted red pepper, chopped up, instead of jarred pimento. Here’s my recipe, which, besides that one change, is very similar to this one : ) http://chattavore.com/2012/02/28/roasted-red-pepper-cheese-my-version-of-pimento-cheese/
Angi
May 15, 2012 at 12:23 pmwanted to LYK that I made this, doubling the recipe, and it fits PERFECT in a 3cup Pyrex glass storage container such as the one here… http://www.amazon.com/Pyrex-Leak-Rectangle-Baking-Plastic/dp/B0030T1U9I/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1337098859&sr=8-6
This is delicious! Can’t wait to make a sammie for my hubby– he’s at work.
Justyna
May 17, 2012 at 5:34 pmThese were delicious! Thanks!
Anna
June 1, 2012 at 4:38 pmThis is so exciting! I used to stay away from Pimento Cheese because it has mayo in it. I don’t like Mayo. I am sooooo excited to try this
Brandy
June 25, 2012 at 11:12 amTried this last night….We are new to the “real food” concept…Well actually my DH and DD have no idea that we’ve been doing any of these recipes. My husband loves Pemiento Cheese and we have tried a few recipes over the years with little success. I did this one last night and he LOVED IT! He kept commenting on the “kick” it had to it and I said if you don’t like the Kick I could leave out the hot sauce and he said no…that was one of his favorite things about it. We have a new must have in our house! Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
Brandy
June 25, 2012 at 3:41 pmupdate…We ate some last night with some cornbread crackers (I’m sure they aren’t real food!). When I went home at lunch he had a sandwich and then finsihed off the rest on a tortilla shell. I can always tell if he liked it or didn’t by if 2nds are had or not…Yep this one is definately a hit!
Clifford
August 10, 2012 at 6:09 pmMy tip is to spread a layer of basil pesto on one of the breads and the pimento cheese on the other. Delicious combination!
Elizabeth
August 17, 2012 at 2:28 pmI LOVE pimento and cheese! It is a favorite my grandmother used to make for me. Unfortunately I had to start following the SCD diet and that meant no cream cheese! I modified my grandmother’s recipe to make an SCD legal version. So delicious!! I LOVE it!
melissa
August 17, 2012 at 8:12 pmthis makes the best pimento cheese….evah!!! i left out the hot sauce and garlic for the kiddies, and i still managed kill half a package of ak-mak. LOVE IT!!
Cori
August 22, 2012 at 1:42 pmThis is fabulous. We made this and ate it on homemade italian herb bread toasted on the stove top. AMAZING!
Candice
September 22, 2012 at 1:25 pmI’ve tried several of your recipes, and all have been really good -but this is the best. I left out the hot sauce to see if my 2 year old would eat it and she did. I love that it has no mayonnaise. I’m not a mayonnaise eater and like the cream cheese taste so much better.
Thanks!
Ann
December 29, 2012 at 2:34 pmI made these sandwiches and your tomato bisque today. They were so fabulous together. Thank you for the excellent recipes!
Kathryn Briner
November 18, 2013 at 11:10 amI just read this while eating homemade tortilla soup for breakfast :-)This sandwich would go perfect with the soup!Nom nom nom…
Diedre Birkmeyer
December 7, 2013 at 10:27 pmI have tried to find a jar of pimentoes but no luck. I have gone to several groceries stores (whole foods and Trader joes) but when I ask them they look at me strange. I am from Carolina but now live in Michigan. I want to try this recipe. Any thoughts?
Lindy
March 6, 2014 at 12:33 pmHello!
I just found this recipe. When I went to the grocery store to find the pimientos, I naturally assumed they’d be near the olives. Nope` they were by the beans! Baked beans to be more exact. Weird, but true. Good luck!
Kira
April 20, 2014 at 10:42 amThey might not be obviously labeled “pimentos.” I just made this recipe for the first time, and the peppers I used were just labeled as Spanish style red peppers.
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
December 11, 2013 at 1:21 pmHi Diedre. That is strange. Pimentos are typically with botttled roasted red peppers, artichokes, etc. Pimentos are chopped and roasted pieces of a sweet cherry pepper but you can also substitute roasted red pepper, though it will not be as sweet. ~Amy
Cassandra
February 9, 2014 at 3:21 pmThis was so good! I mixed everything earlier so all I had to do was put the sandwiches together. Combined with tomato soup-great lunch!
Amy Murphy
March 14, 2014 at 12:34 pmThis was an awesome sandwich! So glad I found this recipe! My son loves it too! Thanks for all the yummy recipes.
Lisa
March 28, 2014 at 11:13 pmYum! One son loves this and one doesn’t. The third eats almost nothing, so he wouldn’t even try it. For a tip, we added spinach and a tomato slice to ours (not the kids). It was yummy! And I used roasted red peppers, but I’ve always used these instead of actual pimentos in my pimento cheese recipes…so I guess I should call it “Pepper cheese.”
Dana @ 3boysunprocessed
July 9, 2014 at 9:17 pmThis sounds really good! I’ve never had pimentos, I’ was just wondering what kind of liquid they are in?
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
July 13, 2014 at 6:46 amHi Dana. Usually just water. ~Amy
Robyn
July 10, 2014 at 10:34 amThis sounds amazing and I will be trying it this weekend. I just love your recipes and that they have simple and easy to find ingredients. They always come out tasting great too.
Erica K
July 13, 2014 at 3:03 pmWe love grilled cheese in our family and this was a great change of pace!
Beka
July 14, 2014 at 2:02 pmMmmm … this is yummy! I’d read about pimento cheese in old Southern cookbooks, but I’ve never tried it. We tried it hot and cold and I think I actually prefer it cold on a piece of whole wheat toast. I used a sprinkle of garlic powder instead of chopped garlic, because I’m pregnant and my stomach is a little sensitive to strong garlic flavors at the moment. My husband suggested a thin slice of tomato on top, which is also delicious, especially sprinkled with salt and pepper. :) Thank you!
Robyn
July 15, 2014 at 12:58 pmI am from Texas and have enjoyed store-bought pimento cheese salad all my life. I was delighted to find out that I could make it myself. I made it last weekend and it is good but the garlic is way too much. If I were to make this again, I might try just a little bit of garlic powder instead. I didn’t try it grilled, just cold as this is what I have been used to, but I bet it would be good grilled.
MICAH
September 2, 2014 at 4:35 pmThis looks wonderful. I’m always in charge of food for trips and I will be using this for our big group trip to the beach in two days! We have picky eaters but with this recipe it should be terrific. Thanks (also Im obsessed with garlic so Im using cloves like recommended).
Becky
November 2, 2014 at 11:36 amI just made this and it is SOOOOOO good. It totally hit the spot and it took all of five minutes to pull together. I was born and raised in the south so I’ve definitely had my fair share of pimento cheese through the years but I swear this is the best version. I love that there’s no mayonnaise. I’ve never liked that addition in traditional recipes. Thanks for everything you do, Lisa!
Becky
February 16, 2016 at 9:17 pmI found this VERY strong on the garlic. Next time, I think I may make it without garlic altogether.
Page Fulton
May 28, 2017 at 8:01 pmOh my gosh. I just made this exactly as written and served it with Mary’s gone crackers (black pepper) and it is an awesome combo. I am supposed to be saving it for a snack tomorrow, but I’m not sure it will make it through dinner.