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Pimento Cheese Creamed Spinach

Pimento Cheese Creamed Spinach is a delicious southern twist on creamed spinach. It’s creamy and rich like a traditional creamed spinach, but with lots of cheddar cheese flavor plus the wonderful red specks of color from the diced pimentos.

Spoon scooping Pimento Cheese Creamed Spinach out of baking dish.

It’s a wonderful southern side to add to a holiday meal. On top there’s a layer of a buttery panko crumbs.

Creamed Spinach is the ultimate indulgent side dish and I love serving it for special occasions. It goes so fantastically with beef.

There’s so much to love about this Pimento Cheese Creamed Spinach. It has a full 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese for lots of cheesiness. The creaminess comes from a combination of cream cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise. It’s a great Thanksgiving and Christmas side dish, but it also works as a party dip with tortilla chips or Frito chips.

Spoon scooping up creamed spinach.

Use Frozen Chopped Spinach

You’ll need 3 (10-ounce) boxes of frozen chopped spinach for this recipe. You’ll need to thaw them. The easiest way to thaw them is to place them in the refrigerator the day before. Be sure to place them in a bowl or on a plate. If they are packaged in a box, water will leak out as the spinach thaws.

Tips For Making Pimento Cheese Creamed Spinach

  • Be sure to thaw the spinach before using it. You can either place it in the refrigerator a day or two in advance or you can quickly thaw it by defrosting it in the microwave.
  • Spinach has a ton of water in it. To avoid making a runny and watery creamed spinach, squeeze the thawed spinach in paper towels or a dish towel.

I love adding pimento cheese to foods for extra flavor. This uniquely southern food can up the flavor of just about anything.

Pimento Cheese Creamed Spinach in a baking dish.

More Pimento Cheese Recipes

Spoon scooping Pimento Cheese Creamed Spinach.

Pimento Cheese Creamed Spinach

Pimento Cheese Creamed Spinach is a delicious southern twist on creamed spinach. It’s creamy and rich like a traditional creamed spinach, but with lots of cheddar cheese flavor plus the wonderful red specks of color from the diced pimentos.
PREP: 20 minutes
COOK: 45 minutes
TOTAL: 1 hour 5 minutes
SERVINGS: 8

Ingredients

  • 3 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach thawed
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 medium sweet or yellow onion chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 4 ounces cream cheese softened
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 (4-ounce) jar diced pimentos, drained
  • 1 egg lightly beaten
  • 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese divided
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 cup Panko crumbs

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 2 1/2-quart baking dish.
    Drain spinach well, wrapping it in paper towels and squeezing to get liquid out.
  • Melt butter over medium heat in a large pan. Add onion and cook until somewhat soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. 
  • Add garlic and cook another minute.
  • Add cream cheese and stir until melted.
  • Remove from heat and add spinach, milk, sour cream, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and pimentos. Stir well.
  • Mix in the egg and then all but 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese.
    Mix in the salt and pepper.
  • Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish.
  • In a bowl, combine the melted butter, Panko crumbs and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Sprinkle over casserole.
  • Bake for 45 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 415kcal
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Southern
Keyword: Casserole, Thanksgiving

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Recipe adapted from: Southern Living

Originally posted October 19, 2018.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

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