This gorgeous appetizer will wow your guests – sharp cheddar cheese and cream cheese are covered with a sweet and tangy herb focused marinade that results in a very flavorful bite! This herb and pimento marinated cheese is made ahead of time making this a very easy preparation for your next get together!

Oh what was I thinking? This would have been the perfect Christmas appetizer! I can’t help it – this idea didn’t pop into my head until recently…missing the holiday. Oh well – next year!

My good friend made this dish awhile ago and I recently asked her for the recipe. I adapted it to my liking and here it is! Herb and Pimento Marinated Cheese. The idea is genius, right? We all eat cheese and crackers so why not add to the goodness by pouring a flavorful marinade over the cheese and then stuffing our faces?

Talk about fresh flavors here – basil, parsley, green onion, pimentos, garlic… what a great combo. I added a touch more of sugar to lessen the tanginess of this marinade as my taste buds tend to enjoy sugar over salt. 

The key to this dish, is to let the marinade, marinATE. It needs to to hug and kiss and hang out for several hours for all the delicious flavors to combine to form what’s intended to do. 

I love this part about the recipe because it’s done AHEAD of time. Pop in the fridge the night before and it’s ready to be served the next day. Simply, cube up some cheese and get some crackers out!

Enjoy!

Yield: 8-10

Herb and Pimento Marinated Cheese

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Cheddar and Cream Cheese are covered are with a sweet and tangy herb marinade resulting in a delicious appetizer!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 8 hours

Total Time 8 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon dried basil
• pinch of salt or to taste
• pinch of pepper or to taste
• 2 ounce jar diced pimentos, drained
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 3 tablespoons chopped green onion
• 1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, grated or finely minced - careful with too much garlic as raw garlic can be very spicy tasting.
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
• 8 ounces cream cheese, cubed

Instructions

1. Prepare you ingredients - slice, chop, mince, drain, etc.
2. Add all of the marinade ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Taste for salt and pepper. At first, it may taste a lot like vinegar but as the ingredients settle, it becomes more mild. Cover and place in refrigerator to marinade for 8 hours.
3. When you're ready to serve, remove marinade and let sit out at room temperature for 30 minute - 1 hour - the oil needs time to come to room temperature.
4. Pour marinade over cubed cheese and serve with crackers.

Notes

Such a fun appeizer that can be made ahead of time and assembled when your guests arrive. It has tons of fresh, vibrant flavors that pair well with the sharp and mild cheese. I tried marinating the cheese overnight with the marinade and it made the cheese soggy and milky so I prefer to let the marinade settle on it's own before pouring over the cheese. Recipe was adapted from food.com