9/10/13

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!

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

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:
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.
charleston, pimento, pimiento, cheese, spread, dip, hot, baked, southern, appetizer, masters, best, authentic, traditional, recipe, cheddar, bacon, crackers, topping
Created using The Recipes Generator


This recipe was shared at the Weekend Potluck!

Keep up with my latest shenanigans by following South Your Mouth!


7 comments:

  1. This sounds great....With lots of chips..yummy

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  2. om gosh, this sounds amazing! Im making this for the Cowboy game..

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  3. You know what else is great with anything "pimento cheesey"? Pretzels! Pretzel rods or pretzel crisps for dipping, yum!
    btw......love your blog, recipes and humor! Maybe it's because I live in the same area of SC too, but your page is just right up my alley! Keep up the good work!

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  4. I loved this dip! Being from the east coast of Canada, I'd never had pimento cheese dip / sandwich. I tried this for an apps party this past weekend and it was a hit! I used good quality bacon from the Farmers Market, and it was just so simple and easy to make, it was definitely well received and will be made again. I love your blog!

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  5. What is the oven temperature?

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    Replies
    1. GAH! I didn't realize I left that out! Sorry! Bake at 350 degrees.

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  6. It looks so delicious, I will try to make it. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
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    ReplyDelete

Hi there! While I’m not able to respond to every comment, I try hard to answer any questions that haven’t been addressed in the post, recipe or in other comments.

I can tell you now 1) I have no idea if you can substitute Minute Rice or brown rice in my recipes because I’ve never used them and 2) If I know how to convert a recipe to a Crock Pot version, I will make a note about it (otherwise, I don’t know).

And though I may not respond to them all, I do read each and every comment and I LOVE to hear from you guys! Thanks, y’all! - Mandy