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.
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.
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.
More Pimento Cheese Recipes
- Pimento Cheese Squash Casserole
- Pimento Cheese Grits
- Pimento Cheese Rice
- Pimento Cheese Potato Gratin
- Southern Pimento Cheese Burger
- Buffalo Pimento Cheese
- Baked Pimento Cheese Dip
Pimento Cheese Creamed Spinach
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe adapted from: Southern Living
Originally posted October 19, 2018.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Hi,
We enjoyed this dish. I wish it had been a little more creamy. Perhaps the egg is not necessary?
Healthy and tasty week dinner ! Thank you for lovely idea !