How to Grate Parmesan

While you can buy grated Parmesan cheese in your local grocery stores, nothing beats freshly grated Parmesan cheese in your favorite recipe. It is very simple to grate Parmesan cheese at home if you have a few basic kitchen tools and a few minutes of time.

Things You'll Need

• Cutting board
• Box grater
• Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Cover a work surface with a cutting board.

2. Put the box grater upright on the cutting board.

3. Hold a piece of Parmesan cheese firmly with your dominant hand.

4. Place your other hand on the box grater to hold it steady.

5. Grate the Parmesan cheese by moving it up and down along the side of the grater with the small holes.

6. Continue to grate the Parmesan cheese until you have the desired quantity of Parmesan cheese or until you have finished grating the piece of Parmesan cheese.

7. Serve the freshly grated Parmesan cheese with various pasta dishes such as spaghetti, lasagna or macaroni and cheese or in any other recipe that calls for Parmesan cheese.

Tips & Warnings

• Some box graters have an attached container to catch the grated cheese. These can be useful because they prevent messes.

• You can grate Parmesan cheese into a variety of different sized shreds by using different sides of your box grater.

• You can also use a microplane grater to grate Parmesan cheese. Find microplane graters in your local cooking store.

• Be careful not to cut your fingers on the box grater while grating the Parmesan cheese.