The Fastest Way to Grate Parmesan Cheese, According to Ina Garten

Whether you’re a novice home cook or as seasoned as your favorite cast iron skillet, there is one thing we all have in common: Each of us has a kitchen activity that we despise. Maybe it’s something during prep, like peeling vegetables or remembering to leave butter out to soften. Or perhaps your annoyance shows up after the meal is served, when you’re facing a sink full of dirty dishes, half of which need to be washed by hand.

I have gone on record stating that grating cheese is my least favorite kitchen prep activity. I would rather do anything else than break out the box grater and a block of cheese. However, I also refuse to buy shredded cheese; the anti-caking agents added to pre-shredded cheese always seem to dry it out, and I don’t care for that texture or flavor at all.

So, what’s a cook to do? I can’t very well avoid cheese—that would be complete torture. If I have a kitchen helper, I will always offload that duty to them. But when I’m flying solo, I turn to the advice of Ina Garten and use a food processor.

Why You Should Grate Cheese Like Ina Garten

I will always listen to Ina—especially when it comes to Parmesan cheese. This is actually one of the six ingredients she always keeps stocked in her kitchen. I love that she grates Parmesan cheese the easy way, by blitzing it in a food processor.

At first, this seemed like kind of a hassle. I don’t keep my food processor out on my counter because I have a very small kitchen. But then I actually tried it, and it blew my mind. In about 15 seconds, my wedge of Parmesan turned into crumbly bits. I put the food processor in the dishwasher, and didn’t even get a knife or cutting board dirty—two things that I normally have to wash by hand.

This isn’t just a magical way to shred Parmesan; it works for any other hard cheeses as well. I’ve done this with Asiago and pecorino, too. It will work decently for a really sharp cheddar, but otherwise I’d probably stay away from anything softer—those shreds tend to clump together too much.

Using a food processor to grate cheese has completely upped my culinary game. Doing it this way results in a perfect crumble that looks like I bought it at the grocery store, but has a better freshness and tang. It’s kind of like how grinding your own coffee beans always yields a cup of coffee that’s slightly more flavorful, since the oils have just been released.

So, maybe I need to change my tune on grating cheese. I absolutely can't stand doing it—unless my food processor does it for me. Once again, the Barefoot Contessa has saved the day.