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Pimento Cheese Balls

May 22, 2012 By Renee 27 Comments

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Pimento Cheese Balls

Do you like cooking with friends? I do! I have been contemplating starting a series of posts about it. I have many friends who like to cook and share their favorite recipes. Being in the kitchen with a friend is much better than alone. Open a bottle of wine, do a little cooking, and have a big fun time. It is exactly what happened when I went to cook with my friend Terry. To top it off, the recipe was for pimento cheese balls.

Oh yes, pimento cheese. What an indulgent and decadent food it is. Cheese, mayonnaise, pimentos, and spices all mixed together for a true Southern treat. It gets better because the little balls of cheese are rolled in toasted pecans. Oh. My. Goodness. I loaded my KitchenAid food processor and camera in the car and headed over to Terry’s house. Then the fun began. There was a lot of cheese. Guess what we were snacking on while making these balls? Wine and more cheese, a gouda that someone had brought back from Germany. Want some cheese to go with your cheese? Why yes, thank you!

First we had to shred the cheese (well, after opening the wine and munching on gouda). You might be tempted to use pre-shredded but please do not. Fresh grated cheese is the way to go. Get the good stuff and use the food processor to do the shredding work. Oh, and Terry took photos as I was messing up her kitchen.

Placing grated cheese on prep board for pimento cheese balls

Next is grating an onion. I cut it by hand and used a regular grater. I did need a little workout to burn off the cheese indulgence.

Cutting onion for grating and adding to pimento cheese balls mixture

All the ingredients wind up in the food processor (except the pecans). Remember I said I was messing up Terry’s kitchen. There was cheese everywhere.

Ingredients for pimento cheese balls in the food processor

It goes into a bowl once it is combined. Yes, I dropped more cheese on the floor when I was scraping it out of the food processor bowl. It was only a tiny little bit, enough for a good laugh though.

Putting the pimento cheese balls mixture into a bowl

Time for the mixture to chill. It spends some time in the fridge before it is rolled into balls. It is a good time to clean up a mess, drink some wine, and eat some cheese.

Pimento Cheese Balls Mixture in Bowl

After an hour we headed back to the kitchen. We rolled the mixture into little balls and then coated them with toasted pecan pieces.

Rolling the pimento cheese balls in toasted pecan pieces

Then we ordered pizzas because we did not have enough cheese that day. Actually, it was to feed our husbands. Okay, we did order one for us with vegetables on it. We finished up rolling the pimento cheese and set them out on a platter. They certainly are tasty looking.

Finished pimento cheese balls on a tray

Last step is taking the final photos. I took them out to a pretty bench on her patio. She had to take a photo of me taking photos. I could swear she captured me taking the photo at the top of the post.

Photo of taking a photo of pimento cheese balls on a bench

Cooking with friends is such a good time. What is even more interesting is the recipe is one from Comfy Cuisine. Patti is one of my fellow Inspiring Foodies bloggers. I recognized her blog as soon as I saw the recipe. I was cooking with an in real life friend using a recipe from one of my online friends. It is a small world. I adapted the recipe to reflect the cheeses and amount of pimentos we used and I changed the method slightly.

When was the last time you cooked with a friend? What did you make? If you have not in a while, call a friend and make a cooking date. Laughs, good food, and fun times are to be had.

Thank you Terry for a wonderful afternoon. I cannot wait until our next cooking adventure.

Pimento Cheese Balls
2 from 8 votes
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Pimento Cheese Balls

A recipe for pimento cheese balls rolled in toasted pecan pieces. Great appetizer for cheese lovers!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 6 people
Author Renee

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup cream cheese softened
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon grated onion
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • Pinch of fresh ground pepper
  • 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese
  • 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • 1 jar chopped pimentos 4 ounces, drained
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped toasted pecans

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a knife blade, process cream cheese until smooth. Add the mayonnaise, grated onion, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and pulse until combined. Add the shredded cheeses and pimentos and pulse to combine. Transfer the cheese mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days. Place pecans on a baking sheet or in a medium bowl. Roll the cheese mixture into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the pecans to evenly coat them. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

A recipe for pimento cheese balls rolled in toasted pecan pieces. Great appetizer for cheese lovers!

Like this?  Pair it with a sweet tea recipe from our guide to Southern sweet tea!

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Filed Under: Appetizer Tagged With: appetizer, cheese, pecans, pimento cheese, recipe

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Comments

  1. Jen @ Juanita's Cocina says

    May 22, 2012 at 6:54 am

    Renee,

    My first love is cheese and these look FABULOUS!!!

    I can’t wait to try them out. And now I feel like I need a cooking with friends day!

    Reply
    • Renee says

      May 22, 2012 at 3:59 pm

      Thanks Jen! Cheese glorious cheese! I hope you do have a cooking with friends day. Good food can be prepared and shared with friends.

      Reply
  2. Soni says

    May 22, 2012 at 11:36 am

    Awesome!!Love these cuties!Sure looks fab and makes for a great appetizer!Cooking with friends is always fun 🙂

    Reply
    • Renee says

      May 22, 2012 at 4:00 pm

      Thanks Soni! They are mighty cute little cheese balls. Perfect little round bites.

      Reply
  3. Terry B Gardner (@tbgdesign) says

    May 22, 2012 at 11:51 am

    yum and more yum. It doesn’t get better than that. Life’s good.

    Reply
    • Renee says

      May 22, 2012 at 4:00 pm

      So true!

      Reply
  4. Patti says

    May 22, 2012 at 12:15 pm

    Hi Renee! Thanks so much for the mention! Weren’t they delish! Great photos!

    Reply
    • Renee says

      May 22, 2012 at 4:01 pm

      Thank you Patti! We had so much fun making these and eating them even more. Wow they are so good.

      Reply
  5. Joy says

    May 22, 2012 at 2:28 pm

    Those were so good ! I think I ate about 8 of them .

    Reply
    • Renee says

      May 22, 2012 at 4:02 pm

      Oh yes! I certainly had my share too. Yummy.

      Reply
  6. amy @ fearless homemaker says

    May 22, 2012 at 3:04 pm

    would you believe i’ve still never had pimiento cheese?! 12 years in the south + still haven’t tried it. must change that soon – these look great!

    Reply
    • Renee says

      May 22, 2012 at 4:04 pm

      What? You have not had pimento cheese? You must try it. You are a southern gal now.

      Reply
    • Terry B Gardner (@tbgdesign) says

      May 22, 2012 at 4:25 pm

      don’t buy the stuff in the grocery store, though….yuk.

      Reply
  7. Family Foodie says

    May 22, 2012 at 6:14 pm

    Renee I can’t wait to try these and love that they were a recipe from one of our Inspiring Foodies! I just wish I could be there with you and Terry enjoying this treat!

    Reply
    • Renee says

      May 26, 2012 at 9:18 am

      Thanks Isabel! Hopefully one day you can visit and the three of us will cook together.

      Reply
  8. Lane @ Supper for a Steal says

    May 22, 2012 at 8:20 pm

    Yum these look delicious. I wish I had friends that liked to cook, but at least I have a mom who does. We have cooking days together!

    Reply
    • Renee says

      May 26, 2012 at 9:19 am

      Cooking with family is just as good as cooking with friends. Any company in the kitchen is a good thing.

      Reply
  9. Susan says

    May 23, 2012 at 10:53 am

    These look so good! I didn’t become a fan of pimento cheese until recently, and now I understand why! It’s hard to cook with friends in NYC. Our kitchens are too tiny, but I do have friends over and cook for them!

    Reply
    • Renee says

      May 26, 2012 at 9:22 am

      So nice of you to cook for friends. I am sure they are very happy when you do. Sad the NYC kitchens are so tiny.

      Reply
  10. Karriann says

    May 23, 2012 at 1:42 pm

    Feed me with your pimento cheese balls please 😉

    “Spice it Up”

    Reply
    • Renee says

      May 26, 2012 at 9:24 am

      Sure Karriann! I am ready to make another batch any time.

      Reply
  11. Baker Street says

    May 24, 2012 at 10:35 am

    I LOVE pimento cheese! These would make for a great app to serve the crowds. Lovely clicks too, Renee! 🙂

    Reply
    • Renee says

      May 26, 2012 at 9:30 am

      Thank you! And thanks for Terry for taking the great photos as I was messing up her kitchen.

      Reply
  12. traci says

    May 24, 2012 at 7:20 pm

    These look great! We have an old.family recipe.that looks.exactly.like.this. its wonderful!

    Reply
    • Renee says

      May 26, 2012 at 9:38 am

      Thank you Traci!

      Reply
  13. CJ at Food Stories says

    June 2, 2012 at 1:53 pm

    I’ve been enjoying your site for a while now so I’ve nominated you for the Illuminating Blogger Award for illuminating, informative blog content. If you’re interested, you can check out the details at my site … http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/ … Hope you’re having a great day!

    Reply
    • Renee says

      June 2, 2012 at 3:27 pm

      Thank you very much for the award! I am on my way to your blog to check it out.

      Reply

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