How To Make A Next-Level Pimento Cheese Sandwich For The Masters

If you're a golf fan, the Masters Tournament taking place April 8-14 is certainly a much-anticipated event. Even if you're not making the trek to the Augusta National Golf Course, you can still invoke the Southern spirit of the Masters by preparing its famous pimento sandwich. Each year, the sandwiches takeover concessions stands, concocted from a recipe that's simple, unpretentious, and delicious: pimento cheese spread between two slices of white sandwich bread.

However, if you're preparing your own pimento cheese sandwiches, there are plenty of tweaks and upgrades you can make to take the classic recipe to the next level. Start with simple additions to the spread itself, which is a blend of mayo, diced jarred red bell pepper, and cheddar cheese. Spice it up with garlic salt, cayenne, and smoked paprika. Or reach for pickled jalapeños, dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and grated onions to add bursts of umami, tang, and heat to the mix. You could also blend cream cheese with the mayo for a richer indulgence overall.

Not a fan of soft white bread that sticks to the roof of your mouth? Swap it for sturdy crusty bread like sourdough, pumpernickel, or rye. Tasting Table staff recommends making a pimento grilled cheese sandwich adorned with smoky Gouda and aged provolone, to which you could add fresh jalapeños, cherry tomatoes, and crispy bacon. Fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese biscuit sandwiches would be the ultimate Southern treat.

One of the most important golf tournaments in the world, the Masters was established in 1934 on what is still one of the most famous golf courses in Augusta, Georgia. In short order, the tournament drew crowds of spectators, known as patrons. It was a family of local patrons named the Herndons who managed the concessions stands for the tournament and started the now beloved tradition of pimento cheese sandwiches at concessions. During the late 1940s husband and wife team Hodges and Ola Herndon prepared pimento cheese sandwiches at home, which their son Tom drove via delivery truck to the Masters course to sell for $0.25.

The pimento cheese sandwich that won over patrons and golfers so long ago remains exactly the same cheap and simple favorite to this day. While they no longer cost a quarter, pimento cheese sandwiches will only set you back $1.50 each and continue to be the cheapest food option at the Masters. As per tradition, pimento cheese sandwiches come wrapped in green plastic bags as a nod to the green jacket awarded to the Masters winner.