Pimento Cheese Frittata Recipe (2024)

I make a frittata almost every week and I’m buying the ingredients for this combination of flavors. Out of experience, I plan to do a few things differently (gasp!). First, I will use 10 eggs rather than six for my 10 inch pan. I find that a nice fluffy frittata requires one egg for each diameter inch of the pan. Second, I will also use half-n-half rather than heavy cream-gives a better texture. Third, I will mix the cheddar and chives into the eggs before pouring over peppers and cream cheese.

This is very close to my southern mom’s best breakfast casserole recipe (from her mother’s church cookbook). We always whip the egg whites in a blender for extra fluff to counteract the heavy ingredients. New Yorkers always want to take credit for everything. Tomatoes didn’t originate in Europe - does that mean tomato recipes aren’t Italian? Pimiento cheese is a southern staple, period.

As a note about pimento cheese: most of the recipes I have from here in the South do not include cream cheese for making pimento cheese. Homemade mayonnaise gives it the richness and there are endless additions we use.

Darned good, even though I had to make a couple substitutions, notably chopped pickled jalapeño peppers and brine instead of jarred pimientos and brine. I also added one extra egg and a splash of milk, and a tsp of Aleppo pepper instead of 1/2 regular red pepper flakes. Will definitely make again. And if you make Melissa Clark’s oatmeal sandwich cookies, you will have the extra 2 ounces cream cheese you need for this frittata recipe. Win-Win.

Southern pimento cheese does NOT contain cream cheese. EVER. Cheddar, pimentos, mayo, salt.

Used a NYT recipe (that includes cream cheese) to make pimento cheese for my southern husband - first comment out of his mouth was that real pimento cheese doesn't have cream cheese in it. He still ate it :)

I love this recipe. Yum! Cream Cheese has its origins in France, it migrated to Italy (Mascarpone), Denmark(Emborg) to Upstate New York, where a heavier version (Philadelphia Style) was made. Cream Cheese didn't start appearing on bagels until the late 1940's. Pimento comes from Spain and Sicily. Put that together with Dukes Mayo and "Government cheese" and you get a truly southern delight.

I followed the recipe as written other than adding 3 more eggs. It was pretty good. However, next time I'll use chunks of goat cheese or queso fresco instead of cream cheese for more flavor. BTW, southern pimiento cheese does not include cream cheese. We use a little mayo (Hellmanns brand) as a binder for the extra sharp cheddar and peppers. Cream cheese is bland; mayo adds a little tanginess to the mixture.

Ignore that advice. I use cast iron all the time on my glass top stove. Just don't slide it around on the stove which can score the glass surface or drop it which could crack the glass. I can make a mean steak by heating the skillet screaming hot before searing the meat. Having cooked for 50+ years on every kind of stove there is and a lot of campfires and grills, I can attest that a modern electric glass top stove makes food just as good as a gas stove!

OMG, this was delicious! I only had 8 eggs so I used my 8 inch pan, kept all other ingredients at the same concentration. It came out as a lovely 2 inch thick fluffy and creamy frittata. Never used cream cheese in my frittata before and now plan to experiment more with it and other soft cheeses. Fantastic! This is a real keeper.

Response for Katie, re: cooking on glass top electric stove - I’ve used enameled cast iron cookware for 10 years, with no problem, including making frittatas in Le Creuset 10 inch skillet.The only thing I’m careful with is not to drag the skillet across the glass burner, to avoid potential scratching of surface. I’m sure to set it down and lift straight up - not slide around.

Or, if you don’t have time for homemade, Duke’s!

We didn't have Cheddar so used an aged pecorino instead and it was delicious as well.

Just stopped by to say that we southerners don't put cream cheese in our homemade pimiento cheese. Duke's mayo only. Therefore the connection between pimiento cheese and New York isn't a thing at all. But this recipe sounds delicious.

The original. canned. "pimiento cheese" was made with Neufchatel cheese, a soft cheese but *not* cream cheese, which has a much higher fat content. When Southerners started making their own version, mayonnaise was used as the binder, not cream cheese. See the history of "Duke's", for example.

This was delicious and we prepared it exactly as written. The only and important note is that we baked it in the over 400 for closer to 17-18 minutes. This was also true for the Quiche Lorraine recipe written by Pierre Franey and also published in the NYT. The baking times are much longer than the NYT directions indicate.

I made this and it could use more than 6 eggs to fill the 10" frypan but other than that it was good.

Has anyone used actual pre-made Pimento Cheese instead of cream cheese and shredded cheddar? Wondering how that would work?

Pimento cheese didn't become a Southern thing until after World War II. The original recipe was created in the North and spread across the nation. After the war, the spread dropped in popularity and pre-made versions became harder and harder to find. In the South, were it was still in demand, cooks made their own home versions. Those home versions settled into what we now think of as the Southern classic.

Yes Kat!! Get them city slickers

The kind of meal that made us open our eyes wide and say Oh My God. Surprising, satisfying, delicious - a breakfast with the brine of vinegar and zing of hot peppers is the way to wake up. Here’s how I made do without a jar of pimentos or a block of pure cheddar: a yellow pepper, about a tablespoon of rice vinegar, and a tasty cheddar-gruyere (Aldi!). If your eggs and cheddar aren’t room temp, plan on baking longer than noted. SO GOOD.

Does anyone know why you freeze the cream cheese and what happens if you don’t?

I'm baffled by all you people who say Southern pimiento cheese spread never contains cream cheese. Maybe it depends on what area of the South you come from? My Tennessee grandmother and my friend's Mississippi grandmother both used cream cheese in their recipes.

Excellent dish. Made a few changes: -10 eggs instead of 6 as per another comment.-Added six slices bacon crumbled. Cooked separately then added in the same step as the cheese. -Increased cook time by about 10-12 minutes to compensate for more eggs. A

Very good recipe and forgiving. No jalapeno on hand as well as garlic (did use garlic powder). I did up the eggs from 6 to 8, 10 seemed way too many for two people. Very puffed coming out of the oven but quickly settled. Flavor is really good and especially like the cream cheese. Even at 400 for 18 minutes, the cream cheese did not completely melt from freezing it. Thanks for this.

It was delish! Full disclosure: I used prepared pimento cheese spread, and it was fine.

Used sweet peppers instead of pimento - worked fine. Used 9 eggs, 3 oz cream cheese, otherwise followed recipe. Cooked in oven for 15 min. Let sit for 3-5 min. Very good.

I made this with 10 eggs and mixed the cheddar and chives into the eggs as mentioned by Susanna, plus I added about 1/3 more of all the other ingredients. Except for lengthening the baking time by about 8 minutes - that was the only change to the original recipe. This is a 5-star keeper and my husband wolfed it down - moist, filling, not too heavy, creamy, tasty with depths of flavor - absolutely yummy!

I followed other commenters’ advice: I upped the eggs to 10 and traded heavy cream for half-n-half. I found that the frittata took a bit longer in the oven than in the original recipe (probably due to the extra eggs). I’d recommend tacking on an additional 3 - 5 minutes. Otherwise, it was great and got rave reviews all around.

Lots of opinions here on what is authentic and what is good as a binder. I’ve made it as-written four or five times and it works great for me. I’ll try it with Duke’s instead of cream cheese the next time I get a chance to buy any. I live in NYC and it’s not common but you occasionally see it. But this is a wonderful dish made just as instructed here. It’s now in semi-regular rotation for me, especially now with friends and family gathering on summer weekends.