The Store-Bought Shortcut Ina Garten Refuses To Buy

If you've binged a few episodes of "Barefoot Contessa," you've likely heard Ina Garten utter the phrase "store-bought is fine" while she whips up anything from garlic-roasted chicken to an old-fashioned apple crisp. A fan of cleverly combining good store-bought ingredients into homemade dishes, Garten is happy to cut a few corners as long as it doesn't curb on quality. However, according to what she shared with Today, there's one store-bought shortcut that she refuses to buy; grated Parmesan. 

While a packet of grated Parmesan is convenient for lending a savory saltiness to pasta sauces, it's better to take the time to shred it yourself so you can be assured of its quality and origin. Garten told Today, "I actually always grate Parmesan myself, because when you buy it grated, you have no idea what you're getting. It could be something like Parmesan, and you want the real thing."

Indeed, you can't be certain whether a lesser grade of Parm has been used in a pre-shredded bag and neither can you know how long it's been sitting in that packaging on the grocery store shelf. Grating a wedge of Parmesan from scratch, however, guarantees that you're using a piece that's fresh and flavorful. 

In a clip from Garten's "Barefoot Contessa" cooking show where she's making Parmesan chicken, she takes the time to chop her fresh wedge of Parmesan into chunks before grinding it up in a food processor. The entire process takes less than a minute because the internal blades are sharp enough to whizz through the hard texture of the cheese. The result is finely ground Parmesan that's perfect for evenly coating the chicken.

The beauty of shredding your own Parmesan is that you can control the final texture of the strands. For example, a super fine grind can be achieved using a microplane and is awesome for seamlessly mixing through breadcrumbs to make an umami coating for chicken schnitzel. However, thicker shreds made with a box grater are ideal for scattering over mac and cheese (where they'll melt to create a golden, crispy, crust) or preparing a recipe of Keto Parmesan crisps. If you're generous with your use of Parmesan, it makes sense to prep a big batch by grating it all and placing it in a lidded container, like this Parmesan keeper available on Amazon, before popping it in the fridge. That way you can grab a spoonful whenever the mood strikes. However, do your best to use it within a week before it loses its flavor (exposure to the air can degrade the aroma and taste of any grated cheese over time).

Some pre-shredded cheeses contain additives, like anti-caking agent, to stop the individual shreds from sticking together, which can hamper their melting capability. Luckily, authentic Parmesan only contains milk, salt, and rennet (along with the bacterial cultures responsible for imbuing it with Parmesan with its characteristic nutty tang).