Few foods stir up Southern pride quite like pimento cheese — and few spark more debate. Duke’s or Hellmann’s? Should it have cream cheese or not? Served on white bread with the crusts cut off or spooned onto celery sticks?
Anne Byrn, former food editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and bestselling cookbook author, has spent years tracing pimento cheese’s winding story. And she’s quick to remind people that its origins aren’t Southern at all.
“The first pimento cheese was a blend of Neufchâtel cheese and diced pimento peppers,” Byrn explains. “It was sold by the slice or in a jar in early 1900s groceries all over the country, from Richmond to Portland.”
That early mixture — mild and sliceable — was born of two converging trends: American cheesemakers experimenting with their own softer version of French Neufchâtel and a boom in canned goods like the sweet Spanish pimiento. Together, they formed what was essentially a novelty cheese spread — more industrial than homemade.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
But the story of pimento cheese isn’t really about who invented it. The more fascinating question is, how did it become a Southern delicacy so iconic it’s the signature concession at the Masters Tournament, taking place April 10-13 in Augusta?
To answer that question, we look not to a kitchen, but to a field, a lab and the town of Griffin.
Before Georgia became the pimento capital of the U.S., most Southerners had never even seen a pimento, much less tasted one, according to Cindy Barton, archivist for the city of Griffin.
According to an article in The Georgia Review, the pepper’s first known appearance in Georgia may have been in 1891 when Henry McHatton of Macon brought back a few cans of Spanish-grown pimientos from a trip to Cuba.
His son Hubbard, who would later head the University of Georgia’s horticulture department, recalled: “While no member of our family had ever seen pimientos, we soon learned to like them very much. When our limited supply was exhausted, we tried to buy canned pimientos in Macon and Atlanta, but were unable to find a store that carried the product.”
In the late 1800s, pimientos were a true foreign delicacy — imported from Spain or its colonies — and was considered both expensive and exotic. But by the 1910s, Southern farmers began to see opportunity. Georgia’s warm climate, long growing season and sandy soil were ideal for growing peppers. And one family decided to take a chance on the unique vegetable.
In 1916, in a Georgia town fittingly named Experiment, the Riegel family began experimenting with Spanish pimiento seeds, which were sourced from Spain by Rep. Charles Lafayette Bartlett. Not content to simply grow them, the Riegels improved them — developing the thick-fleshed, canning-friendly version they called “Perfection Pimento,” dropping the second “i” from its name.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
The Griffin Regional Welcome Center is home to the Griffin Museum, which preserves a large trove of Griffin-centric materials well beyond pimentos. Last month, Barton hauled out three massive, brown-with-age binders of pimento-related materials from the region, containing everything from farm pictures and nutritional information to newspaper articles and early pimento recipes.
One article pointed out that traditionally in Spain, canning was done slowly by hand. This would not do in America, a culture that preferred to develop machines and innovations to improve the process. So Mark Riegel invented a roaster to char and remove the tough outer skin from the pepper, making large-scale canning possible. It became known as the Georgia Method of pimento processing.
As production scaled up, the Riegels sold their patents and techniques to Pomona Products Company, which began canning peppers for mass distribution. Griffin was soon crowned the “Pimento Capital of the World.”
Much of this success was because of the Georgia Experiment Station, now part of the University of Georgia system. At the government-funded research outpost on a former working farm in Griffin, scientists researched challenges such as how to manage plant disease, how to optimize fertilizer and how to maintain pure seed stock. Botanists performed the world’s first research on pimiento-specific plant pathogens. Chemists discovered that the red pigment in the pepper, capsanthin, could enhance the color of chicken skin and egg yolks — a marketing edge for Georgia poultry farmers.
And behind the scenes, a different group of researchers was shaping the pepper’s future: home economists, many of them women.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Beginning in 1918, home demonstration programs through the University of Georgia provided vital information to homemakers regarding cooking, canning, gardening and more. These researchers studied the nutritional value of pimentos (rich in vitamin A), developed recipes, and taught homemakers how to prepare them safely and affordably. Their work helped turn the Spanish pimiento from a luxury import into an everyday ingredient.
By the 1920s, canneries were thriving across the state. Pimentos were bringing jobs to rural communities, expanding Georgia’s agricultural economy and becoming a fixture in kitchens across the South.
While the story of the pepper is well-documented, the same can’t be said for the recipe that transformed it. In all of the archives Barton looked through, even in the town of Griffin’s historic cookbook, there is not a single recipe for pimento cheese as we know it today.
No one knows who first mixed shredded cheese, chopped pimentos and mayonnaise into the creamy spread we now call pimento cheese. It likely began with those early college educated women home economists who shared recipes, often without credit, through Extension publications, newspaper columns and word-of-mouth.
According to Barton, speaking for many Southern cooks, you don’t really need a written recipe for pimento cheese.
“Shred one block of New York Cheddar, mix it with one small can of drained pimentos and add just enough Miracle Whip to bind it together,” she said. “I don’t like those gussied up recipes that use cream cheese.” She prefers to eat it on “soda crackers” and not bread.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
What we do know is that by the 1940s, pimento cheese was everywhere. Homemakers across the South made it by hand, while commercial versions began to appear in grocery stores. Whether packed into lunchboxes or offered as canapés, it became one of the most versatile and beloved foods of the region.
And that, says Anne Byrn, is the real beauty of it. “There are many ways to make pimento cheese,” Byrn explains. “The addition of chopped pickle, onion or jalapeños — it’s natural that a cook is going to tinker with a recipe and add the embellishments they like.”
But these differences aren’t flaws says Byrn — they’re part of the appeal.
Pimento cheese isn’t just a food. It’s cuisine. It reflects time, place and person. A batch made in Memphis 1950 tells a different story than one made in Charleston in 2024, but both are part of the same Southern lineage. Each new version references the ones that came before, in flavor and in feeling.
Cuisine, after all, is more than a recipe — it’s a ritual. And pimento cheese is served at all of them: weddings, wakes, football games, baptisms, board meetings, baby showers. It’s the kind of dish that travels well and keeps longer than most. But more importantly, it sticks in the memory.
Georgia’s reign as the pimento world capital eventually faded. Barton’s archive of pimento-related materials slows down around the ‘60s and stops altogether in the 70s; it was at this time when most large-scale productions had shifted West, and consumers began preferring fresh peppers to canned ones. Today, Georgia ranks third in overall pepper production, behind California and Florida. The commercial canneries that once dotted the state are largely gone.
But the spirit of innovation is alive and well.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Today, the UGA Extension in Griffin operates the Food Product Innovation and Commercialization Center. Here researchers continue to connect farm to fork in creative ways. Up-and-coming food entrepreneurs turn to the center to scale up everything from barbecue sauce to balsamic vinegar glazes. Recent projects include a chocolate-flavored pecan milk.
According to David Buntin, professor of entomology and an Extension specialist with UGA, the work being done in Griffin still helps farmers and food producers across the state.
“We look at new ways to support agriculture to fit the needs of Georgia,” says Buntin. “We have one of the largest academic food safety centers in the nation. Our campus in Griffin also hosts one of the nation’s major seed depositories with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, which was set up after World War II to preserve cultivars and wild types of seeds for future generations.”
Just as UGA scientists once helped farmers perfect the pimento, today’s researchers are helping Georgia growers and producers meet new market demands. And while the tools have changed — automated labs instead of hand-turned roasters — the goal is the same: make food better, safer and more accessible.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
In an era of budget cuts and research rollbacks, it’s worth remembering what public funding can yield. Without the government funded work done by the Experiment Station, and generations of underrecognized home economists, we might never have had the Southern treasure that is pimento cheese.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Pimento cheese in four variations
Original Swan Coach House Restaurant Pimento Cheese
Adapted from a 1967 recipe by Doris Cook, this was the original recipe served at the iconic Atlanta tearoom.
- 2 pounds sharp Cheddar cheese, freshly shredded
- 1/2 pound cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup diced pimentos, well-drained
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened cream cheese and drained pimentos. Beat with a hand mixer or stir vigorously with a sturdy spatula until the mixture is creamy and the pimentos are well incorporated.
- Add the shredded Cheddar cheese in batches, gently folding it into the cream cheese mixture. You want to preserve some of the texture of the shredded cheese, so mix just until combined.
- Add kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. The sharpness of the cheese will do much of the heavy lifting, so season lightly and let the flavors speak for themselves.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving to let the flavors meld and firm up the texture. Makes approximately 8 cups.
Presentation: Pipe onto cucumber rounds or stuff into mini phyllo cups or use as filling for a grilled cheese sandwich.
Per 2-tablespoon serving: 73 calories (percent of calories from fat, 76), 4 grams protein, trace carbohydrates, trace total sugars, trace fiber, 6 grams total fat (4 grams saturated), 18 milligrams sodium.
The New Swan Coach House Restaurant Pimento Cheese
Updated in 2021, this recipe takes the bones of the original recipe and brightens it with bolder seasonings, deeper flavor and a touch more complexity. Courtesy of Chef Kayla Solomon Gatti.
- 2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, freshly shredded and well chilled
- 1/4 cup roasted red bell peppers, finely diced (jarred is fine, homemade is better)
- 1/2 teaspoon Coleman’s dry mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons sweet yellow onion, finely grated
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup Duke’s mayonnaise
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, Duke’s mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, grated onion, kosher salt, and cayenne. Mix with a spatula or hand mixer until the mixture is smooth and cohesive.
- Fold in the diced roasted red peppers. Their mellow sweetness balances the sharpness of the cheese and brings a pop of color that’s as much visual flourish as flavor punch.
- Add the chilled shredded Cheddar and stir just enough to combine. Resist the urge to overmix — you want to keep some of that signature shredded texture, with strands that give it both body and soul.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. This gives the flavors time to settle in and harmonize. Makes approximately 2 cups.
Per 2-tablespoon serving: 172 calories (percent of calories from fat, 85), 5 grams protein, 2 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram total sugars, trace fiber, 16 grams total fat (7 grams saturated), 35 milligrams sodium, 206 milligrams sodium.
High Museum of Art Pimento Cheese Spread
From the 1992 “Recipe Collection” by the High Museum of Art, submitted by Colonel Alton R. Taylor
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 (4 ounce) jar chopped pimentos, drained
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup Durkee Famous Sauce (available in the condiment aisle)
- 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, freshly grated
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, Durkee sauce, Grand Marnier, cayenne pepper, and minced garlic until smooth and fully combined.
- Fold in the pimentos and chopped parsley.
- Add the grated Cheddar cheese and gently stir until evenly distributed. Be careful not to overmix — you want some of that shredded texture to shine through.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld. Let come to room temperature before serving for best texture and flavor. Makes approximately 4 cups,
Per 2-tablespoon serving: 96 calories (percent of calories from fat, 77), 4 grams protein, 2 grams carbohydrates, trace total sugars, trace fiber, 8 grams total fat (4 grams saturated), 17 milligrams cholesterol, 162 milligrams sodium.
Emma’s Pimento Cheese Bake
An Atlanta Junior League Classic, submitted by Emma Hardman Thomson and published in their 1982 book “Atlanta Cooknotes.”
- 2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, freshly grated
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 (4 ounce) jar chopped pimentos, drained
- 1 tablespoon sweet onion, finely chopped
- 12 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Heat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, mix the grated cheese, mayonnaise, pimentos and onion until well combined.
- Using about three-quarters of the pimento cheese mixture, spread evenly over one side of each slice of bread.
- Roll each slice jelly-roll style and arrange seam-side down in a 9x13-inch baking dish.
- Spread the remaining cheese mixture over the tops of the rolls and sprinkle with dried oregano.
- Bake uncovered for 25–30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown. Makes approximately 2 cups.
To serve, cut each roll in half diagonally for a finger-friendly hors d’oeuvre, or serve whole with a side salad for a vintage luncheon main course.
Per 2-tablespoon serving: 154 calories (percent of calories from fat, 58), 6 grams protein, 10 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams total sugars, 2 grams fiber, 10 grams total fat (4 grams saturated), 18 milligrams cholesterol, 236 milligrams sodium.
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