Pistachio Cake

This easy retro cake mix recipe uses pistachio pudding in the cake AND in the frosting for tons of pistachio flavor and a super moist cake. Also called Watergate Cake, it's perfect for Easter, St. Patrick's Day and Christmas!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. JUMP TO THE RECIPE
2. HOLIDAYS VARIATIONS FOR PISTACHIO CAKE
3. A FEW NOTES ON INGREDIENTS
4. MORE RECIPES MADE WITH CAKE MIXES

I take a lot of flack when I publish a recipe that uses short-cut, instant or imitation ingredients. Let me put something out there with Cool Whip in it and I always, always get the comment, “This looks good but when I make it, I’ll use real whipped cream!”

You do you, Brenda. You rock it out with the real deal, if you want. You don’t have to convince me that homemade is usually better.

But most of my recipes are family favorites that have been handed down through the years OR come from limited time (and budget) so I have lots of ‘whip it up quick and cheap’ recipes. And I love them.

I can’t wait to see what kind of feedback I get on this one. Not only does it use a cake mix and instant pudding mix but - oh, LAWWW - this one doesn't even use Cool Whip... it's made with Dream Whip! 

Ha!!  Don't stroke out, Brenda! Short-cut ingredients or not, this cake is delicious and I wouldn't change a thing about it!

This was originally published in Southern Living magazine. And it must be old because the magazine page, which Mama has in one of her many, many three-ring binders of recipes, is in black and white.

The cake is rich and light which is a hard combo to come by. The club soda is surely what contributes to the lightness of it and the pudding mix is what helps make it so rich.

With all the fun flavors of seltzer out there now (La Croix, Bubbly, etc.), I've been tempted to use a pineapple seltzer in this but haven't tried it yet (I wonder if they make pistachio flavor??).

I mention pineapple because this cake tastes SO MUCH like Watergate Salad, which is made with pistachio pudding and crushed pineapple so I know the flavors go well together. Side note: I love Watergate Salad so much, I could eat a quart of it without batting an eye.

PISTACHIO CAKE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Pistachio Cake is always a favorite of mine during the holidays because it's so easy to decorate.

Easter - Omit the pecans on top then dot the frosting with Cadbury Mini Eggs. The little chocolate eggs are colored yellow, blue, pink and white (with no green eggs) so they are gorgeous on the green frosting. Consider sprinkling the frosting with green coconut first to make it really look like an Easter egg hunt! Toss sweetened flaked coconut with a few drops of green food coloring to make green coconut "grass".

Christmas - Garnish the cake with maraschino cherries to look like a holiday wreath (lay cherries on paper towels to dry a bit so the juice doesn't bleed onto the frosting). Make it with or without nuts on top.

St. Patrick's Day - Garnish with green maraschino cherries (stock up at Christmas because that's usually the only time I can find them) OR fill the hole of the bundt cake with gold foil-wrapped chocolate coins once the frosting has set up well in the fridge.

A FEW NOTES ON INGREDIENTS

• Use the 4-serving size boxes of pistachio pudding. Ounces vary depending on brand and whether using regular or sugar-free.
• For a cooler green color in the cake, use egg whites only instead of whole eggs.
• You can use a yellow cake mix if needed but white will give you a prettier color green and you'll be able to taste the pistachio flavor more.
• Dream Whip is a powdered mix used to make whipped topping. It's usually sold in boxes of four packets. The recipe on the box for pudding pie is pretty good if you're looking for something to make with the other packets!
• Use club soda, not tonic water or sweetened soda. Club soda is usually sold near cocktail mixers in grocery stores. 
• I've made this topped with pistachios and with pecans and actually prefer the pecans but feel free to use pistachios (or omit the nuts altogether).

MORE RECIPES MADE WITH CAKE MIXES

• CHERRY DANISH CAKE - An easy semi-homemade cake recipe dotted with cherry pie filling, drizzled with sour cream icing and topped with slivered almonds.
• EASY PECAN PIE BARS - All the fabulous flavor of pecan pie in a chewy, gooey bar recipe made easy with a cake mix base.
• IMPOSSIBLE 5-INGREDIENT CHOCOLATE CAKE - A moist, fudgy, decadent chocolate bundt cake recipe made with just five ingredients.
• WHITE WINE CAKE - A super moist, rich cake recipe made with white wine and a touch of cinnamon.

Recipe for Pistachio Cake

Pistachio Cake

Yield: 10 Servings

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 55 Min

This easy retro cake mix recipe uses pistachio pudding in the cake AND in the frosting for tons of pistachio flavor and a super moist cake. Also called Watergate Cake, it's perfect for Easter, St. Patrick's Day and Christmas!

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 small box instant pistachio pudding
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup club soda
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or pistachios

Frosting:

• 2 envelopes Dream Whip whipped topping mix
• 1 small box instant pistachio pudding
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans or pistachios

Instructions

Make the Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a standard bundt pan.
2. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, oil and eggs in a mixing bowl then mix at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.
3. Add club soda then mix until just combined.
4. Fold in nuts then pour batter into a prepared bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
5. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then turn out onto a serving plate. Cool cake completely.

Make the Frosting:

1. Combine Dream Whip with pudding mix in a mixing bowl.
2. Slowly add milk then mix with an electric mixer on low speed until combined.
3. Increase mixer speed to high then beat frosting for 4-6 minutes or until soft peaks form.
4. Spread frosting evenly over cooled cake. Garnish with finely chopped pecans or pistachios.
5. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve and to store.

Notes

• Feel free to omit the nuts from the cake batter and/or garnish on top.
• See section above recipe card for more notes about ingredients.

https://www.southyourmouth.com/2013/09/pistachio-cake.html

Images and text © South Your Mouth LLC 2013

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Pizzadillas

A cross between a PIZZA and a QUESADILLA, this is a super quick and easy recipe for weeknight meals or hot lunches that takes all your favorite pizza toppings and cooks them in a skillet on a tortilla. 

I really like to cook things that the kids can get involved with. I find they are more prone to try new things and eat more healthy foods when they are the ones doing the cooking.

Plus I secretly pretend that I’m on my own cooking show when I’m walking them through the steps.

I’d usually use canola oil but today we’re using olive oil since we’re using Italian ingredients. [holds up bottle of olive oil]

We’re going to soften the green peppers up in the microwave a bit because the pizzadillas cook super-fast. [shoots cheesy smile at the camera]

I hope they actually retain some of what I tell them. I think they do.

And I hope they remember these times when they’re sixteen and think I’m a the meanest, lamest mom e v e r and want to duct tape me to the washing machine so they can run off with their misunderstood and “actually very cool if you’d just get to know them” high school dropout BFF.

[shudder]

Along with being super fast and easy, the other thing I love about these is that we get all the yumminess and flavors of a pizza without all the dough!

Use whichever pizza toppings you like best! I most often use the toppings listed in the recipe but the possibilities are endless! Here are some ideas:

• Pepperoni
• Ground beef
• Italian sausage
• Grilled chicken
• Ham
• Mushrooms
• Onions
• Green peppers
• Pepperoncini peppers
• Black Olives
• Pineapple

Pizzadillas

Yield: 6 Servings

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

prep time: 10 Mcook time: 2 Mtotal time: 12 M

A cross between a PIZZA and a QUESADILLA, this is a super quick and easy recipe for weeknight meals or hot lunches that takes all your favorite pizza toppings and cooks them in a skillet on a tortilla.

ingredients:

• 6 large (10-12 inch) flour tortillas
• Olive oil
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 16 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Dried oregano and/or Italian Seasoning
• 1 jar pizza sauce or marinara, heated
• Pizza toppings of choice; this is what we like:
• Sliced black olives
• Pepperoni
• Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled
• Thinly sliced green peppers

instructions:

How to cook Pizzadillas

1. Prep all toppings and cheese and have them close-by as the pizzadillas cook quickly and you need to be able to get everything assembled fast. I set everything out by the stove in small ramekins (because they look great on my pretend cooking show).
2. Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil and swirl pan to coat. Add tortilla to pan. Sprinkle with a little parmesan then a good handful of mozzarella (about a heaping cup). Sprinkle on a little oregano or Italian seasoning. Place desired toppings on cheese.
3. Lift up one side of the tortilla after about 1-2 minutes to see if it has browned. Once it’s nicely browned and crispy, fold half of the tortilla over onto the other half. Remove from pan and cut into wedges.
4. Serve with pizza sauce or marinara for dipping.

NOTES:

If you're using fresh veggies, slice them thin then place in a single layer on a plate. Microwave for 1-2 minutes or until slightly cooked and softened.

supper, dinner, easy, weeknight, italian, mexican, pizza, Pizzadillas, tortillas, kid friendly, recipe, how to, best, ideas

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Coca-Cola Poke Cake

This one’s for Ninja Barb. Ninja Barb is my seventy-frbrngtn  year old neighbor. And my dear friend. If you’d asked me who in the neighborhood I’d become closest to when we bought our house all those years ago, I would never had imagined what a spark she and I could have made together!

She tells me I have an old soul and I tell her she just drinks too much and shouldn't listen to me ‘cause what do I know. I think she and I relate because we’re both from the country (like country country). And living in the ‘burbs like we do now, finding someone who knows about black-water creeks and slop jars and scuppernongs and dirt roads is a rare thing. And it makes home feel a little more like home.

NB’s been hinting to me about this cake for a while now. So I thought I’d make her one this weekend. I’d never made one so I looked at tons of recipes (most of which she’d stapled to my forehead over the last three weeks). There were variances here and there and after enough research, I scratched out a recipe and gave it a shot.

Looking at the glaze recipes I saw, I could tell I was going to have a boatload of it. So instead of reducing it, I thought I'd leave out the customary buttermilk in the cake, finishing the cake off with a little less liquid and then use the glaze to make a poke cake.

And it was gooood! Ninja Barb said so.

Coca-Cola Poke Cake
for the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup Coca-Cola

for the glaze:
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Coca-Cola

To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13x9 baking pan; set aside.

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder; set aside.

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat together butter, oil, sugar, vanilla and eggs until creamy (about 2 minutes). Add Coca-Cola and mix on low speed. With mixer still set at low, add flour mixture and continue mixing for one minute or until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Once done, poke holes in the cake at about 1-inch intervals using a serving fork, skewer or whatever gets it done (try not to use a regular fork if the tines are pretty close together because it might tear up the cake too much); set aside and make the glaze.

To make the glaze:
Sift together powdered sugar and cocoa powder*; set aside.

In a medium-sized saucepan heat butter and Coca-Cola over medium-high heat until boiling. Once mixture starts to boil, continue cooking for one minute. Remove pan from heat and whisk in sugar and cocoa mixture until smooth.

Slowly pour glaze over cake. If your cake isn't completely level (and mine wasn't), using potholders to handle the pan, slowly tilt cake back and forth, forward and back until all the glaze has soaked into the cake. This prevents all the glaze from settling into the low spots.

Cool at room temperature for 1-2 hours before serving.

*you don't have to but you see that little glump in the glaze near the edge of the cake directly under the hyphen and capital C in "cola"?  That's from me not sifting my powdered sugar.

This recipe was featured at the Weekend Potluck!

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Honey Bun Cake

An easy cake recipe with all the classic flavors of a honey bun (including that signature white icing!) made with a doctored up cake mix, cinnamon and brown sugar.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. JUMP TO RECIPE
2. WHAT IS HONEY BUN CAKE?
3. RELATIVELY FUNNY ANECDOTE INVOLVING DADDY AND A RACCOON
4. WHAT KIND OF ICING DO HONEY BUNS HAVE?

The one about Daddy and the racoon

I kept noticing boxes of honey buns at my parents’ house whenever I’d go visit. I thought this a bit odd since I've never known them to keep honey buns around. So I asked…

Me:  What are all the honey buns about?

Dad:  We got them for the raccoon.

Me:  Oh, okay. Wait. What?

Dad:  We had a raccoon that kept eating all of your mama’s birdfeed and I couldn't catch it.

Me:  Well, that explains everything.

Dad:  Um-hmm.

Me:  Daddy!  What did the honey buns have to do with the raccoon?

Dad:  Well, your mama wouldn't let me shoot it so I had to catch him. And the sombitch didn't want anything I put in the trap. Somebody told me they liked honey buns.

Me:  Ahhh. OK. Did it work?

Dad:  Yeah, eventually. We kept running out of honey buns because me and your mama kept eating them.

Me:  What did you do with the raccoon?

Dad:  Oh, I took it down to Doug’s so his coon dogs could get a little practice.

Me:  I’m pretty sure that isn't what Mama had in mind.

Dad:  Humph. Maybe not but I didn't shoot it.

Lawzamercy! Never a dull moment over there!

I've been thinking about honey buns ever since. So this weekend I thought I’d make a honey bun cake.

Wonder if I ought to take one down to Doug’s for that raccoon?

WHAT IS HONEY BUN CAKE?

Honey Bun Cake is a yellow cake with a cinnamon and brown sugar swirl baked in the middle topped with a thin white icing like the individual snack cakes the recipe is based on.

This recipe starts with a butter cake mix then adds sour cream and a dash of nutmeg for a flavor and density similar to the danish-like dough honey buns are known for.

WHAT KIND OF ICING DO HONEY BUNS HAVE?

There are two basic types of honey buns: iced and glazed. Iced Honey Buns are topped with a thin opaque white icing made with sour cream and Glazed Honey Buns are topped with a semi-transparent simple glaze made with water or milk.

I like them equally but for this cake, I prefer the white icing over the thin glaze. Maybe because this recipe tastes a bit like a danish to me and I associate the white icing with danish?

If you prefer the simple glazed icing, see notes in recipe card.

NOTES ABOUT THIS RECIPE FOR HONEY BUN CAKE

Different cake mix manufacturers call the butter cake mix different things (Butter Golden, Butter Yellow, etc.) just look for a 15-15.5 ounce yellow-colored cake mix that has butter somewhere in the name. If you can't find one, just use a vanilla, yellow or even white cake mix - they'll all work just fine!

If you prefer the simple glaze instead of the white icing, make your icing using 4-5 teaspoons of water instead of the sour cream and milk.

If you have more than one cup of sour cream (if you're working from a pint container, etc.) add the full cup of sour cream to the cake batter then use an additional 2 tablespoons in the icing.

Even though the icing is made with sour cream and milk, there is enough sugar to prevent the icing from souring at room temperature. You can certainly refrigerate it if you prefer but I never have.

Recipe for Honey Bun Cake

Honey Bun Cake

Yield: 12 Servings

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 45 Min

An easy cake recipe with all the classic flavors of a honey bun (including that signature white icing!) made with a doctored up cake mix, cinnamon and brown sugar.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream, divided
• 1 box butter cake mix
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl then mix well and set aside.
3. Reserve 2 tablespoons of sour cream to be used in the icing. Add remaining sour cream, oil, and eggs to a medium-sized bowl then mix with an electric mixer until well combined.
4. Add cake mix and nutmeg to wet ingredients then mix at medium-low speed for two minutes.
5. Pour a little more than half of cake batter into baking pan (between 1/2 and 2/3 of batter). Sprinkle brown sugar mixture evenly over cake batter. Pour remaining cake batter over brown sugar mixture then spread evenly.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Let cake cool 15 minutes then prepare the icing.
8. Combine reserved 2 tablespoons of sour cream, powdered sugar, milk and salt then whisk together until smooth. If icing is too thick, add milk – one teaspoon at a time – until it is thin enough to spread.
9. Drizzle icing over warm wake then spread evenly using the back of a spoon.
10. Once cool, cover and store cake at room temperature.

Notes

• If you prefer the simple glaze instead of the white icing, make your icing using 4 teaspoons of water instead of the sour cream and milk.
• Different cake mix manufacturers call the butter cake mix different things (Butter Golden, Butter Yellow, etc) just look for a 15-15.5 ounce yellow-colored cake mix that has butter somewhere in the name. If you can't find one, just use a vanilla, yellow or even white cake mix - they'll all work just fine!
• Even though the icing is made with sour cream and milk, there is enough sugar to prevent the icing from souring at room temperature. You can certainly refrigerate it if you prefer but I never have.

https://www.southyourmouth.com/2013/09/honey-bun-cake.html

Images and text © South Your Mouth LLC 2013

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Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles

Slow-cooked chicken with egg noodles made easy in a crock pot.

One of these days I’m going to set out to recreate my grandmother’s chicken and dumplings. I think I haven’t done it yet because I know it’s going to take several attempts to get it right. And I know mine will never be as good as hers.

Nanny’s dumplings were not the traditional doughy dumplings but more like big, wide noodles. She would roll out her dough very thin, slice wide ribbons from it and then leave them to dry out on kitchen towels all day. Every surface of her kitchen would be covered in dumplings and you better not get your nasty hands near them or leave the back door open for flies to come in either.

One of these days I will try. But it wasn't this day. This day I just made chicken and noodles. And while the noodles will never match her dumplings and she wouldn't have had to use the soup (the dumplings would have thickened everything up beautifully), the rest of the recipe is pretty dang close.

And at the end of the day I still had a big ole pot of chicken goodness and a whole day spent thinking of my Nanny.

Crock Pot Chicken & Noodles
1 5-6 pound chicken
3 cups water
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 12-ounce bag home style or extra wide egg noodles
1 can cream of chicken soup

Add chicken, 3 cups of water, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder to a large crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 5-6 hours or until chicken is cooked through and tender.

Remove chicken from crock pot. I usually have to do this with tongs and a slotted spoon as the chicken will fall apart. Set chicken aside to cool a bit.

Pour broth from crock pot into a large measuring pitcher (or whatever you have that will hold the liquid). Measure 5 cups broth and add back to crock pot. Your chicken will have put out a lot of liquid and you should have about 5 cups but if not, use water to make up the difference.

Cover crock pot and heat broth on high until broth reaches a low boil. Add noodles, cover and cook on high for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove skin, bones, etc. from chicken and pull/shred chicken into bite-sized pieces with fingers or two forks.

Add chicken pieces and cream of chicken soup to crock pot and gently stir until combined. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 10-15 minutes or until noodles are tender.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Charleston Cheese Dip

A warm and creamy Southern Baked pimento cheese dip recipe with bacon, green onions and cracker crumb topping.

So, you remember how I had 47 pounds of cheddar cheese the other day and I made Pimento Cheese? Well, after I made the pimento cheese I decided I wanted to use it to make baked pimento cheese (aka Charleston Cheese Dip) and serve it while we watched the game which is how this batch came about!

Charleston Cheese dip is a very simple dish made with homemade pimento cheese spread, bacon, green onions and a cracker crumb topping that's baked until bubbly. It is glorious and the leftovers added to a tomato sandwich the next day will make you want to keep this on-hand all the time!

Pimento Cheese is the caviar of the South. We even proudly serve pimento cheese sandwiches at The Masters! It's most commonly used as a sandwich spread but we also serve it as a cold dip, top hamburgers with it, pipe celery with it and serve it like this!

I like to serve this with an assortment of crackers and celery sticks. Another thing that tastes AND looks great served alongside this is red grapes.

I like to set my serving dish on a big wooden cutting board or serving tray and surround it with crackers, celery sticks and little clusters of grapes. It’s kinda like a countryfied cheese board :)

Enjoy!

Charleston Cheese Dip

Yield: About 6 cups

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

prep time: 10 Mcook time: 20 Mtotal time: 30 M

A warm and creamy Southern Baked pimento cheese dip recipe with bacon, green onions and cracker crumb topping.

ingredients:

• 8-10 slices bacon
• 1 pound cheddar cheese (medium or sharp)
• 1 4-ounce jar pimentos, drained well
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 bunch green onions, diced
• 1 cup crushed crackers (such as Ritz or Tollhouse)

instructions:

How to cook Charleston Cheese Dip

1. Cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces then cook until crispy. Drain bacon on paper towels. Set aside.
2. Shred cheese then add to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add cooked bacon, pimentos, mayonnaise, salt, cayenne pepper and garlic then mix well until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Fold in green onions.
3. Spread cheese mixture evenly into a medium-sized shallow baking dish (I usually use an 8x10 oval dish). Sprinkle crushed crackers evenly on top of cheese then bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until crackers are golden brown and cheese is bubbly.
4. Serve with crackers and/or celery sticks.

NOTES:

Pimentos are jarred/canned diced sweet red peppers.
You absolutely MUST shred your own cheese when making pimento cheese (or anything, really).
This recipe is also fabulous served cold.

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This recipe was shared at the Weekend Potluck!

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Old-Fashioned Pimento Cheese

A simple recipe for classic Southern pimento cheese spread made with cheddar cheese, pimentos, mayo, a little seasoning (and no cream cheese), perfect for sandwiches, burgers, crackers and The Masters!

JUMP TO RECIPE

I must have been hungry when I went shopping for groceries this week. I spent about $150 more than I usually do AND I decided I needed to buy two pounds of cheddar cheese.

Two POUNDS of cheddar cheese. And enough canned beans to get through a nuclear winter. I don’t know why.

I got home and looked at that mammoth-sized block of cheese and thought well, now what are you going to do with that?

So, I did what any good Southerner would do. I made my Baked Macaroni & Cheese and about a quart of Pimento Cheese.

If you’re not familiar with pimento cheese (sometimes called pimento cheese spread), it’s a creamy sandwich spread made with cheddar cheese, diced pimentos (roasted red peppers), mayo and a little seasoning. Sometimes you see it with diced jalapeños too.

Some more modern pimento cheese recipes are made with cream cheese (to make it creamier), but I’ve found that so long as you shred your own cheese and don’t use the pre-shredded stuff that’s coated with cellulose and other additives to keep it from sticking together, your pimento cheese will be plenty creamy. 

Your granny didn’t make her pimento cheese with cream cheese 50 years ago. And she didn’t use pre-shredded cheese. If she was like mine, she was using that big block of gubment cheese. Trust me, you don’t need cream cheese for creamy pimento cheese. 

The most common way to enjoy pimento cheese is to make sandwiches with it. On white bread. The kind that’s so fresh and soft it sticks to the roof of your mouth. Or you can treat it like an appetizer spread and have it on crackers or celery sticks.

But if you’re really lucky, you’ll have some around when you’re grilling burgers because a pimento cheese cheeseburger is just about one of my favorite things on the planet to eat. The cheese gets all melty and ooey and creamy and gooey and it’s… well… it’s just amazing.

If you’re ever in Columbia, South Carolina, stop by Rockaways on Rosewood Drive for the absolute best pimento cheese burger in the whole wide world. Get that sucker all the way, get a pile of napkins, then enjoy what ought to be considered a rite of passage in the South. 

WHAT TO DO WITH PIMENTO CHEESE

• Use as a sandwich spread (obviously)
• Serve with crackers or celery sticks (still pretty obvious)
• Make Charleston Cheese Dip 
• Serve with strawberry jam or red pepper jelly on crackers (seriously SO delicious)
• Mix in chopped pecans then serve with crackers
• Top hamburgers for a Pimento Cheeseburger
• Use as a filling for jalapeno poppers
• Make sliders with King's Hawaiian Rolls
• Use in Tomato Pie instead of cheese and mayo

Oh, I should point out that I have no idea what the proper spelling is. Pimiento and pimento are both acceptable but it could be spelled puhmennah because that’s how everybody says it!

A FEW NOTES ABOUT MAKING THIS PIMENTO CHEESE RECIPE

• I usually use medium cheddar but if you prefer sharp, go for it! 
• Do NOT use pre-shredded cheese to make pimento cheese. Just trust me on this.
• I add a little grated onion to my pimento cheese and I love it! I think it's what *makes* it but you can certainly leave it out if you'd like!
• It will seem like you don’t have enough mayo at first but keep stirring until everything is very well combined and it will come together fine. Definitely add more if desired but don’t add it until everything is mixed well.
• For a creamier texture, let pimento cheese come to room temperature then mix with an electric mixer on low speed until creamy.
• Add diced jalapeños if desired.

Recipe for Old-Fashioned Southern Pimento Cheese

Old-Fashioned Pimento Cheese

Yield: 3 Cups

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Prep time: 10 MinTotal time: 10 Min

A simple recipe for classic Southern pimento cheese spread made with cheddar cheese, pimentos, mayo, a little seasoning (and no cream cheese), perfect for sandwiches, burgers, crackers and The Masters!

Ingredients

• 1 pound cheddar cheese
• 1 4-ounce jar pimentos
• 1/4 cup grated onion (optional)
• 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon white or black pepper

Instructions

1. Shred cheese then add to a large mixing bowl.
2. Drain pimentos very well then dice into small pieces then add to cheese.
3. If using onion, press out any excess liquid (I just squeeze it in the palm of my hand) then add to bowl with cheese.
4. In a separate bowl, combine mayonnaise, salt, cayenne pepper, onion powder and garlic then mix well. Add mayo mixture to cheese then stir until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
5. Taste for seasoning then add more if desired. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to two weeks.

Notes

• I usually use medium cheddar but if you prefer sharp, go for it! 
• Do NOT use pre-shredded cheese to make pimento cheese. Just trust me on this.
• I add a little grated onion to my pimento cheese and I love it! I think it's what *makes* it but you can certainly leave it out if you'd like!
• It will seem like you don’t have enough mayo at first but keep stirring until everything is very well combined and it will come together fine. Definitely add more if desired but don’t add it until everything is mixed well.
• For a creamier texture, let pimento cheese come to room temperature then mix with an electric mixer on low speed until creamy.
• Add diced jalapeños if desired.

https://www.southyourmouth.com/2013/09/pimento-cheese.html

Images and text © South Your Mouth LLC 2013

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