Pimento cheese is one of those weird foods that shouldn’t actually be good when you look at the ingredients, but it’s just absolutely delicious. I didn’t grow up eating it, but as a fan of golf I’ve been making it every April for years during the week of The Masters and I love it.
What is pimento cheese?
Well, it’s basically just cheddar cheese, cream cheese, mayo, pimento peppers, and some seasonings. There are variations, of course, and everyone has their own recipe. Some add pickle juice. Some say you have to use Miracle Whip while others (me included) swear by Duke’s. And while most associate it with the South, it actually got its start in New York.
According to Serious Eats, farmers in New York started developing what would become cream cheese in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Also at that time, Spain started importing sweet red peppers (pimentos) into the United States. By the end of the first decade of the 1900s, recipes started combining cream cheese and pimentos spread onto bread. Finally, in 1910, a grocer in Minnesota advertised “pimento cheese – something new”.
A year later, it hit the South. The Georgia Experiment Station in Griffin, Ga. started growing pimentos and built an industry around them over the next few decades, which increased the popularity of pimento cheese enormously.
Fast forward to today and you can find it in most southern restaurants, many grocery stores across the country, and of course, traditionally served at The Masters every April.
A couple of years ago I made a big batch of pimento cheese the week of The Masters and started to get bored of eating it on bread or crackers. So I thought, why not try making mac ‘n cheese with it? And the rest was history. It turned out so good it became my go-to mac ‘n cheese recipe, along with a few tweaks along the way.
The Recipe
Start by making your bacon. I use our thick cut Signature Bacon, which is absolutely perfect for this, but any bacon will do. Just make sure to let it cool and then chop it up really fine like Bacon Bits before you put it into your pimento cheese.
Note: If you have your own family pimento cheese recipe, then by all means, use that and skip down to the pasta part of this recipe. I’m not saying you have to use mine, but this is the way I prefer to make it.
Using a stand mixer, mix together your cream cheese, Duke’s mayo, 2 jars of diced pimentos (and juice), granulated onion, granulated garlic, salt, pepper, and about 1/4 of your bacon bits until nicely mixed. Working in batches, add in the cold shredded sharp cheddar cheese until it’s all mixed together well. It should be nice and thick like a spreadable cheese ball.
Get your smoker fired up to 225 degrees indirect heat using your choice of wood. I used Chigger Creek apple wood for this, but any mild wood will do.
Boil your pasta to al dente. Instead of the traditional elbows for mac ‘n cheese, I use fusilli for this one because I love the way the cheese sticks to each noodle. The spirals have so much surface area to collect cheese and smoke. It’s important not to over cook your noodles because you’re going to be smoking them and you don’t want them too mushy.
Drain them and pour them into a 9×13 pan or a half foil pan (or two). Then, scoop your pimento cheese over them and mix well. Place onto your smoker along with your poblano peppers, making sure to stir your mac ‘n cheese every 15 minutes.
After 30-45 minutes, remove the poblanos, dice them up, and mix them into your mac ‘n cheese. Sprinkle your bacon bits over top of it and cook another 10-15 minutes.
At this point, you’re ready to remove and serve. You can leave on longer if you want more smoke flavor, but about an hour is all you really need. You want the pimento cheese to be nice and melty and thoroughly mixed into the noodles.
It’s certainly different from your standard mac ‘n cheese, but give it a try next time you’re craving a comfort food and I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Equipment
- Smoker
- Half foil pans or 9×13 pan
- Griddle or stove top for bacon
- Stand mixer for pimento cheese (you can mix by hand, but it's easier with the mixer)
Ingredients
- 32 oz Fusilli pasta (the spiral kind)
- 4 lbs Sharp cheddar cheese
- 8 oz Cream cheese softened
- 1 ½ cups Duke's Mayonaise
- 2 jars Pimentos diced
- 1 TBSP Granulated onion
- 1 TBSP Granulated garlic
- 1 tsp Coarse ground black pepper
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 2 Poblano peppers
- 1 package Bacon
Instructions
- Cook bacon, cool, and chop up into really fine pieces, kind of like Bacon Bits.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the 8oz of softened cream cheese, 2 jars of diced pimentos (with the juice), 1 ½ cups of Duke's Mayo, 1 TBSP of granulated garlic, 1 TBSP of granulated onion, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tsp Kosher salt, and about ¼ of the bacon bits.
- Mix together until well blended with a stand mixer.
- Add 4 cups of cold sharp cheddar cheese, in 2 or 3 batches, and mix until it's all blended together.
- Get a few Ritz crackers and eat with the cold pimento cheese while you make the pasta.
- Boil your pasta until al dente.
- Drain and pour the cooked pasta into a half foil pan or 9×13 pan (you may need two half foil pans).
- Fire up your smoker to 225 degrees using indirect heat and your choice of wood. I went with apple for this cook.
- Scoop the pimento cheese into the pasta (divide evenly if you're using two half foil pans) and mix it together.
- Once your smoker is up to temp, place your pans onto the rack. Also set your 2 poblano peppers on to roast.
- Make sure to stir every 15 minutes or so to mix the pimento cheese in as it melts and create more surface area for the smoke.
- After about 30-45 minutes, remove the poblanos and dice, then mix into your mac 'n cheese.
- Sprinkle the rest of your bacon bits over the top and let go for another 5-10 minutes to heat them up.
- Remove from the smoker and serve!
