Creamy vegan pimento cheese is just as easy to make and decadent as its dairy-based cousin. Use it in sandwiches or as a spread for crackers.
Pimento cheese is a Southern summer staple. It's basically required by law at cookouts across the Southeast United States. This vegan version is going to blow your omnivore friends away!
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Recipe notes
There are basically infinite ways to make pimento cheese, but this recipe is my absolute favorite. It's rich and creamy, and it only takes about 20 minutes to throw together.
Start by pureeing fresh garlic along with half of your pimentos. Leave the other half of the pimentos as-is.
The puree gives the finished recipe its vibrant orange color, and the pieces add a nice texture and freshness to what's otherwise a very rich dip or spread.
This vegan pimento cheese recipe is super versatile. You can change things right up to suit your tastes. Does two teaspoons seem like too much hot sauce or not enough? Change it! Can't find the exact cream cheese that I used? Substitute it!
My favorite part about this Southern staple is that everyone has their own favorite way to make it. There are basically infinite combinations of mix-ins like pickled relish, chopped olives, and all sorts of fresh or dried herbs and spices.
Feel free to taste and then add in anything that feels right to you to truly create the vegan pimento cheese of your dreams!
What the heck is a pimento anyway?
A pimento (aka pimiento) is a variety of chili pepper with a very low rating on the Scoville scale, meaning that it isn't spicy. You can usually find it in cans or little jars alongside the pickles or canned vegetables at your grocery store.
When they’re not featured in pimento cheese, they're often stuffed into green olives.
There are green and yellow pimentos, too, but they're not as common at regular grocery stores around here. You definitely want red pimentos, so your finished cheese will have that lovely, vibrant color.
How to serve and store it
Pimento cheese is great as a sandwich spread, and you can also use it as a dip for chips or crackers.
If you do have leftovers, keep them in the refrigerator in an airtight container. They will keep for three to four days.
Do not freeze this, because the texture will change when it thaws.
More vegan summer recipes
📖 Recipe
Vegan pimento cheese
Ingredients
- 1 8 oz. container vegan cream cheese
- 4 ounces pimentos - drained and divided
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cups vegan cheddar shreds - Jack-style vegan cheese shreds also work well.
- ¼ cup vegan mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- 2 teaspoons your favorite hot sauce
Instructions
- Dump the cream cheese into a big bowl, so it can get to room temperature. Meanwhile!
- Put half of the pimentos plus your garlic into your food processor. Puree until as smooth as possible.
- Transfer the pimento puree to the bowl of cream cheese, add the remaining ingredients, and mix everything together until it's well combined.
- Chill until you’re ready to serve.
Patricia
This was different than I expected but not entirely certain why. I used the recipe but reduced the hot sauce because my family does not really like very spicy food. I only used 1/4 tsp and it seemed to be the perfect amount of heat. I then divided the finished product into two different containers and added a small chopped kosher dill to one half. I liked that better but will see what the rest of the family thinks when we use it for dinner tonight with some vegan chik'n patties. Thank you for making the recipe available!!
Linda
I was craving pimiento cheese and made this using Tofutti cream cheese and Miyoko's Farmhouse Cheddar. Wow, it's so incredibly delicious! I'm not even sure non-vegans would know it's vegan. Great recipe!
Becky Striepe
Thank you so much, Linda! I'm glad that it hit the spot. :)
Mary
Amazing recipe!!! Love how simple it is! Follow your Heart products are my favorite and they all taste sooooo good in this recipe!! This literally makes me so happy since I have not been able to have one of my favorites since going vegan but I like this replacement even better than the original!!!
Thanks again
Becky Striepe
Mary, I am so delighted to hear it!! I definitely know what it's like to finally find a good, vegan version of a childhood fave.
Winnie
Made this today and it is a deliciously huge hit with my family! Thank you for this!
Becky Striepe
I love to hear that! Thank you for coming back to let me know, Winnie!
Colleen Roberts
I love this recipe! I have made it before and it was so wonderful! I am curious if this can be frozen?
Becky Striepe
Thank you so much! I'm glad that you're enjoying it, and I appreciate you taking the time to leave a rating, too. I haven't tried freezing it. We've never had enough left to freeze! I do worry that freezing might mess up the texture, though.
Angela
LOVE LOVE LOVE! I am not vegan but “vegan-ish” as everything dairy must be cut from my diet. I so miss pimento cheese and not a big fan of nondairy cheese unless melted. I combined Daiya cream cheese and Miyokos chive cheese wheel to make the 18 oz. Added fresh green onions with garlic and pimentos. Threw Miyokos farmhouse cheddar shreds added a dash of sugar and baking soda ( to cut the vinegar in Miyokos cheese) and I was so excited with the end results. This is a keeper Yum!
Becky Striepe
Thank you, Angela! I appreciate you taking the time to rate and comment and share your tweaks. They sound delicious!
Anonymous
Excellent vegan version of pimento cheese - the only one I've found which accurately interprets the texture as well as zingy flavor of the full dairy recipes!
Becky Striepe
Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and rate and comment. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Mickey
This recipe is amazing! I made it for teacher appreciation week at my school as there are several staff members that are vegan. They loved it! Even some of my omnivorous staff members tried it and raves about it!! Definitely a keeper!
Becky Striepe
Oh my gosh, I am so happy that this recipe made teachers happy this week! Thank you for taking the time to comment and rate the recipe - it means so much to me!
Barbara Stull
While visiting my daughter in Athens Georgia, we went to North Carolina for a Cher concert.
We stopped at this Vegan Restaurant for dinner, and hers came with a scoop of pimento cheese
spread on it. Mind you I am newly heading to eating Vegan, but do love my cheese and pimento
cheese spread is a lifetime favorite! She offered me a taste, and all I can say is Wow! It was
amazing, better than the regular. We bought some to take home, and I proceded to try to duplicate
it. Your recipe is the one I liked best and I use it to share with other vegan friends. Thank you for
this amazing recipe!
Becky Striepe
Oh, thank you so much! I appreciate you coming back to comment and rate the recipe, too. I wonder if the restaurant you ate at in NC was Bean. They make a killer pimento cheese that we got with our Thanksgiving spread in November. I love that place! It's a must-go when we visit my sister-in-law in Asheville.
WandaJ
Barbara, would you mind sharing the name of the vegan restaurant you went to in North Carolina? I'd love to check it out.
Jacey
Made this recipe for Friendsgiving and it was amazing!
Do you know how long this keeps? There was some leftover that I want to bring to a friend to try, but it will be a week old by the time I see her.
Becky Striepe
I am so glad to hear that! We had pimiento cheese on Thanksgiving, too! I am not sure I'd serve it a week later, but I am a stickler for food safety after getting food poisoning 3 times in the same year a few years ago. Usually, I keep leftovers for 3-4 days max, especially a dip that a lot of people likely had their hands in.
Mel | avirtualvegan.com
It sounds awesome! Extra hot sauce for me though!
Becky Striepe
I like the way you think!
Cadry
I just tried pimiento cheese for the first time while in North Carolina at Fern in Charlotte. A few places had it, and I knew it was a Southern staple. Their version was just okay, but I'd be interested in trying some other versions. Yours looks tasty!
Becky Striepe
Thank you, Cadry!
Leinana Two Moons
I used to watch my (Southern) grandmother make pimento cheese, and serve it spooned onto celery sticks. I hadn't made a vegan version yet and will definitely try yours!
Becky Striepe
Yay! Enjoy it!
Beth
This sounds incredible. I love pimiento cheese and have missed it since going from lacto-ovo to vegan. Thanks!
Becky Striepe
I'm so glad that I could help bring pimiento cheese back into your life!
betsy
BEST. THING. EVER.
Thank you so much for this!!
Becky Striepe
Woo! Pass the crackers!
Jes
Hell yeah and hot damn! Seriously looks amazing. I'm a pimento cheese freak but would definitely try this in a heartbeat. Time to see if anyone around here sells any decent vegan cheese....
Becky Striepe
Ooh let me know how it comes out with the cheeses you find!