It's vegan pimento cheese, y'all! I'm completely enamored with this cheese spread and hope you love it, too. Made with the usual vegan cheese ingredients PLUS a surprise secret ingredient standing in for shredded cheddar. This vegan pimento cheese is so delicious, easy to prepare, and perfect for snacking, dipping, spreading and taking to parties. Bonus! It's also oil-free and gluten-free.
Updated 3/3/20 with a nut-free option.
I seriously can't wait for you to try this vegan pimento cheese! I. Am. Hooked.
I've eaten it daily for over a week and can't wait to make another batch. I'm tempted to call it an "instant" cheese except that it does taste best after a minimum of 3 to 4 hours in the fridge. And overnight it gets even better. But you certainly can eat it right away if you want.
In addition to being easy, it's surprisingly innocent nutrition-wise. Considering what's in traditional pimento cheese, this might as well be a bowl full of kale.
The Secret Ingredient
I won't keep you waiting.... it's rice! I specifically tested this recipe with Calrose rice. It's a medium-grain, sticky and starchy white rice. Depending on where you live you may also see it labelled as Japonica rice. If you can't find Calrose you can substitute jasmine, arborio, basmati, or even sushi rice.
The rice is actually our textural replacement for shredded cheddar cheese, so we want it to be the perfect balance of soft yet chewy. We also want it to absorb some of the blended cheese mixture, and the softer, white rices do that really well.
August 2020 UPDATE: I've now also tested the recipe with brown rice, and it worked great! The difference was barely noticeable. So if you prefer to use brown rice, by all means, go for it!
A local vegan restaurant inspired this idea to use soft, starchy rice as a replacement for the cheddar typically found in pimento cheese. Bean Vegan Cuisine is known for their epic pimento cheese, and I once heard a friend say that she suspected they use rice in their recipe. But beyond that brief mention I really don't know anything about their recipe (and believe me I've scoured the internet for clues).
For several years now I've intended to experiment with the rice idea in an attempt to replicate their pimento cheese. But you know how it goes... so many ideas, so little time. Recently while planning content for the blog I started pondering Super Bowl recipes, and that's when I knew it was time!
Round one of recipe testing was pretty good but needed more flavor. After round two I knew we had a winner. But since this pimento cheese is easy to make, easy to eat, yet surprisingly difficult to photograph, I still ended up making it two or three more times over the course of a few days.
Mark and I weren't sad at all about having a bounty of pimento cheese in the fridge, believe me.
Ingredients
This is a summary to show you what's in this pimento cheese and how easy it is to prepare! Be sure to scroll down for the complete recipe.
Just ten ingredients plus water and salt are all you need to make this creamy and rich vegan pimento cheese.
- cooked rice
- raw cashews (for nut-free, sub raw sunflower seeds)
- water
- pimentos (usually found near the olives; sub roasted red peppers only if you can't get pimentos - they're firmer/tougher)
- nutritional yeast
- lemon juice
- rice vinegar
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- sea salt
- cayenne
- hot sauce (I like Crystal brand)
How to Make It
A high-speed blender makes prep really easy, but if you don't have one you can still create smooth and creamy cheese. It will just take a bit of planning ahead.
*If NOT using a high-speed blender, soak the raw cashews in hot water for about 2 hours (or raw sunflower seeds for 30 min). Then drain and pat dry before proceeding with the rest of the recipe. Use a food processor if you have one, and if not, use a standard blender.
- Combine everything except the pimentos and cooked rice in a blender. Gradually increase to high speed, and blend for about 30 seconds or until mostly smooth.
- Add half of the pimentos to the blender. Blend until completely smooth.
- Pour the cheese mixture into a bowl, using a silicone spatula to scrape as much as possible from the blender. Stir the rice and remaining pimentos into the cheese.
- Press a piece of plastic wrap down onto the cheese. Cover and refrigerate for several hours to allow the rice to absorb the cheese flavors and for all of the flavors to mingle.
Straight out of the blender the cheese mixture might seem too thin, but don't worry! Two important things will happen once you add the rice and refrigerate the pimento cheese:
- Starch from the rice will thicken the pimento cheese and add to the overall creaminess.
- Refrigeration will help it firm up.
Voila! Perfectly spreadable vegan pimento cheese!
Ideas for serving
Whether spread between two slices of bread or slathered onto celery as an afternoon snack, you really can't go wrong. Here are a few more delicious ways to enjoy vegan pimento cheese:
- scooped on top of a big green salad
- as a dip for crackers and veggies
- stuffed into baked mushrooms
- piled onto baked potatoes or as a dip for potato wedges
- stirred into a warm bowl of grains
And in these Pimento Cheese Twice Baked Potatoes!
I hope you love this Vegan Pimento Cheese, too! If you try it it would make my day to hear from you. Comment below and give it a star rating to let everyone know how it turned out. And feel free to tag me in a pic on instagram anytime with @myquietkitchen!
More vegan cheesy recipes:
Vegan Pimento Macaroni Salad (perfect for potlucks!)
Cheese Stuffed Breadsticks
Easy Oil-Free Queso
No-Cook Cashew Cheese Sauce
Quesadillas With Easy Cashew Cheese
The BEST Vegan Stovetop Mac & Cheese
Crostini With Herbed Almond Ricotta
Vegan Pimento Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked rice such as jasmine, basmati, or Arborio (see Notes section) When measuring the rice, spoon it into a measuring cup, don't pack it completely full. You can always add more rice later, but you can't take it away. More rice = drier/firmer pimento cheese.
- 1 cup raw cashews (for nut-free sub ⅔ cup raw sunflower seeds) If not using a high-speed blender see instructions below.
- ⅓ cup water
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp hot sauce (I like Crystal brand; sub other red hot sauce if desired)
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- ⅛ tsp cayenne, optional
- ⅓ cup chopped pimentos (4 oz. jar), drained and gently squeezed to remove some of the liquid If your pimentos are in strips be sure to chop them.
OPTIONAL smoky version:
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- ⅛ tsp liquid smoke
Instructions
- NOTES:It's important to measure accurately, especially with acidic ingredients. Small variations can throw off the salt/acid balance.Don't have a high-speed blender? Place raw cashews in a bowl, and cover with hot water. Let soak for about two hours (or soak seeds for 30 minutes). Then, drain very well, and proceed with steps below using a food processor if you have one, and if not, a standard blender.
- Combine the cashews, water, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, rice vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, hot sauce, salt, and cayenne in a blender (this is everything except the rice and pimentos). Gradually increase to high speed, and blend for about 30 seconds or until mostly smooth. Add half of the pimentos, and blend until completely smooth.
- Pour the cheese mixture into a bowl. Use a spoon or silicone spatula to remove as much of the cheese as possible from the blender. Stir in the rice and remaining pimentos. Lightly press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of the cheese to protect from air. For the best flavor, refrigerate for several hours before serving. This allows the rice to absorb the cheese sauce and for all of the flavors to mingle. It tastes even better the next day.
- The pimento cheese will firm up as it chills. Serve cool.
Notes
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific products and ingredients used. We calculate this information using the online calculator cronometer.com. For the most accurate nutrition information we recommend calculating it yourself to reflect the specific ingredients used in your dish.
Sylvie
I found an article about this. They add Miso in theirs.
https://www.bharmless.com/this-eaterys-vegan-pimento-cheese-is-completely-addictive/
Lori
Oh very cool! And it turns out, I actually know the author of that article. Thanks for sharing, Sylvie. Maybe I'll try it with a little miso next time.
Jackie
This is my go to every time use up the weeks left over rice. Hubby and I can barely make it last the weekend! Thank you!
Lori
You're so welcome, Jackie. And I can totally relate. 😀
Liane
This is delicious! I had a pimento cheese sandwich last night for the first time in YEARS! I'm definitely going to make this again, but next time I'll cut the vinegar and lemon juice in half - it was a bit too tangy for my taste. But still so yummy! Thanks so much for this recipe. I might try it with sunflower seeds next.
Carol F Davis
One of the best vegan cheese recipes I have made. It reminded me of a cheese spread I used to eat as a kid, that came in a Swanky Swig glass. OK, I'm dating myself, lol!
Varpu
Lovely!!! I've tried quite a few vegan cheese recipes but this is the first one that I like! It actually tastes like cheese (unlike the others) and is wonderful in a sandwich! Thank you so much!!! <3
Jana
I tried this recipe and found it to taste like hot sauce only. I don't care for spicy stuff, so I skipped the cayenne. I didn't think that little bit of hot sauce would over power the flavor so badly. I appreciate the work you put into creating vegan options for non vegan foods,but this was a miss for me. I've made other recipes of yours and they were great.
Lori
Hi Jana, that's a bummer! I bet we could make a few tweaks to the recipe so that it would suit your tastes better, make it less pimento-y and more plain cheesy.
You're right that the hot sauce shouldn't come through strongly, but what *does* come through is the flavor of pimentos. Since pimentos are essentially hot sauce minus the heat (primary flavors are peppers + vinegar), maybe that's what is coming across as hot sauce for you? You could reduce the amount of pimentos used and omit the hot sauce if you feel like giving it another try.
Glad you've liked other recipes!
Jana
Thanks for the reply. I will try the tweaks you suggested and let you know how it goes.
Morgan
100/100 surpasses any expectations I had. Omg wow. Lovely !! I added a little less rice in mine but I may end up adding more.
Lori
Yes!! So glad you loved it, Morgan. Thanks for coming back to share!
Estee
Where are my pimento cheese lovers!!! ✋oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I finally got around to making version. I used basmati rice because that's all I buy and I added another 1/2 jar of pimentos because..why not ?? It is totally pimento all the way through..texture, taste and all. The rice is a great texture addition. If you're dairy free and love pimento cheese, please go try this version. You will not be disappointed!! ❤️❤️ Thank you for creating this one Lori.
Lori
Woohoo! You sound as excited about it as I am, Estee. 😀 Thanks so much for the awesome feedback! So glad you love it.
kate
just made this with arborio rice and it is absolutely amazing! thank you so much for sharing.
Lori
Hooray! So glad you loved it. Thanks for sharing, Kate. ?
Jennie Mestel
Allergic to cashews - substitution ideas, please?
Lori
Sure thing! If it's only cashews you're allergic to, and not all nuts, almonds would be good substitute. For a seed version, I would go with raw sunflower seeds. Pumpkin seeds would taste great too but might create an odd color. 🙂
Hope that helps, Jennie.
Jackie
My first thought of taste was HOLY CRAP! LOL I had a plethora of sunflower seeds so I used those and my hot sauce is a super hot Korean Style so I only put half.
This is AHMAzing!!!
Beth
Wonderful flavor! I do find the texture of the rice in a "cheese" dip to be a little strange. Is there a reason the cooked rice couldn't be blended in the first step with everything else? I'm thinking that might make it a creamier rather than chunkier texture which would be more to my taste.
Lori
Hi Beth,
Glad you liked the flavor! Traditional pimento cheese isn’t smooth, so that’s the reason for the rice. But absolutely, if you don’t like the texture you could blend the rice, or even partially chop/pulse it in a food processor. Another option would be to increase the cashews and leave the rice out altogether if you prefer a smooth dip.
Sitara
This came out awesome! What a brilliant idea to use the risotto-type rice. Works perfectly! This is def getting added to the rotation, thank you! PS. Next time I’ll add a little more salt and heat but that’s just my preference.
Lori
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the feedback, Sitara! 😀