How to Grate Parmesan

Last Updated: April 21, 2021 Tested

The flavor and quality of freshly grated Parmesan is highly superior to pre-grated, packaged cheese. Grating your own cheese is not as quick and easy as using pre-grated cheese, but the flavor results are well-worth the extra preparation time. Using a grater, as opposed to thinly shaving the brick of cheese, or cutting it into chunks, makes the parmesan perfect for a pasta topping or to use in recipes requiring freshly grated cheese.

Ingredients

Servings: Makes enough to top 4 to 6 servings of pasta.
Prep time: 10 minutes

1 8-oz. (225 g) brick of Parmesan cheese

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:
Grating Parmesan Using a Hand Grater

Using a hand grater is a quick way to prepare small amounts of grated cheese to use in recipes.

1
Place your cheese grater in a shallow bowl. You could also use a flat chopping board or a large plate, but you’ll want to make sure that it’s big enough to catch the bits of grated cheese that will be hard to contain.
2
Grasp the fresh brick of Parmesan and slide it up and down the grater. If your grater has multiple-sized holes, use the side with the larger holes that produce an extra-course grate.

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3
Use a knife or spoon to scrape any cheese clinging to the grate. If you are using a box-type grater, be sure to scrape the cheese clinging to the inside of the grater as well.
- The colder your Parmesan, the less likely it will be that the grated cheese will stick to the grater.
4
Transfer the grated cheese to individual serving bowls.

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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:
Grating Parmesan Using a Blender

Use a blender to grate fresh cheese if you don’t have a hand grater or if you are grating a large amount of cheese to use in a recipe.

1
Place the brick of cheese on a cutting board.
2
Cut the Parmesan into 1/2" (1.27 cm) chunks using a knife.
3
Toss 3 or 4 chunks into the blender at a time.
4
Use the “grate” setting. If your blender doesn’t have a “grate” setting, use the pulse function and pulse the cheese in short bursts.

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Community Q&A

Question

Should I grate the rind?

Community Answer

People do not generally grate the rind.

Warnings

Keep your hand in a vertical position while grating to avoid scraping your knuckles, and stop grating when the brick of cheese is too small to comfortably hold.

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Use the slowest, lowest setting on your blender or food processor when grating Parmesan. Otherwise, the cheese can quickly turn into a clump of mush.

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